Author: sharonsiconictravelphotographyblog

Wizard Clock in New York City

I noticed the clock when walking south from Grand Central Station in Manhattan to a meeting last week. On top is a wizard with a sword and a blacksmith hammering something. On the side of the clock are mulberry leaves and silkworms. A lady emerges on the hour.

The clock was designed for Robert Schwarzenbach, silk merchant, by sculptor William Zorach in 1926.

This clock is on Park Avenue.

There is more than one story about the clock. The more backed story seems to be the wizard is Zoroaster. The blacksmith is a slave. He swings at a cocoon at the feet of the wizard which brings about the emergence of the Queen of Silk. She disappears when the hour is done striking.

The other story about this clock relates to one of the King Arthur stories. According to Ephemeral New York, the Lady of the Lake comes out on the hour after the wizard hits the blacksmith’s head with a sword.

In the King Arthur Story, Le Morte D’Arthur, written by Sir Thomas Malory, Arthur needed another sword. Merlin, the wizard took him to a place where Arthur saw an arm clothed in white samite (silk) holding a sword in the middle of a lake. The lady came out of the lake holding the sword. He asked the Lady of the Lake for the Sword and she gave it to him with the condition that he do what she asked.

Whether the story behind it is Zoroaster or King Arthur, it is an interesting find in New York. I understand the clock does not fully work as it originally did, but it is almost 100 years old. Walk slow if you can and look around closely. It is amazing what you can find along the path you take.

Arabic- Middle Eastern Food

We had an Arabic- Middle Eastern Food celebration at work last week. I did not know what foods would be brought in, so I have little in the lines of props. Everything that was brought in was delicious. My favourite was the chicken shawarma. It was also my favourite to photograph as it came with several sides.

Falafel
Hummus with Pita Bread
Cous Cous
Grape Leaves
Chicken Shawarma

Try something new. I have eaten most of these before. There is nothing like homemade though.

New Tree?

This tree had two visible holes, but the larger hole I did not think was large enough to host an owl that was egg sitting. After seeing an adult owl perched in the tree I realised it could. I also figured out there was another hole I could not view.

Not sure if this is a nest tree or the barred owl was just chilling. No wildlife seemed to spot this owl here so it seemed to be a good perching spot. I haven’t seen two owls together yet. I have not heard them calling to each other. It has been rather quiet this year in the woods. I am open to the belief this owl and its mate may be hanging out more on private property.

Despite that it was a cloudy morning, I was happy to spot this owl. The tell tale signs of the nearby wildlife being upset were not there. Looking at tree holes and knobs of branches helped today. Walk slow and appreciate nature.

Red Shouldered Hawk?

Is this a red-shouldered hawk? Another one was nearby and kept calling to it. The call sounded like the call of a red shouldered I heard online. What do you think?

If you have nice weather tomorrow, get out and enjoy it. For some it may be the calm before the storm.

Red Pepper Rises

A lot of restaurants struggled through the pandemic. Some suffered due to lack of people willing to work, lack of availability of supplies, or lack of customers. Some that were family run were able to plug on and thrive. Red Pepper Diner, a family run Sri Lankan restaurant, is one of the fortunate restaurants to make it through.

Location Change

Red Pepper Diner changed locations in February. They are now in a red brick building at 441 Fishkill Avenue (Route 52) in Beacon, NY, next to the Dollar Store.

Sri Lankan Spices

Some of the typical spices used in Sri Lankan food include the following: cumin, cinnamon, red chilli pepper, black pepper, cloves, cardamoms, turmeric, fennel seeds, curry leaves, pandan leaves, lemon grass, and coriander.

Sri Lankan Tea
Sri Lankan Tea (Ceylon) with Jaggery

This tea is Ceylon tea that is grown in Sri Lanka. It comes with milk, but if you want it without just ask. I prefer it with milk. It also includes kithul and is flavoured with ginger. Kithul jaggery is unrefined sugar made from the sap of the fishtail palm tree (or jaggery palm).

Mango Lassi
Mango Lassi

Mango Lassi is a drink whose two major ingredients are yogurt and mango. Think of a healthy smoothie.

Deviled Chicken

Most items are gluten free and dairy free. Be sure to ask to be sure.

Rice Noodles with Vegetables
Pol Roti with Coconut Sambol

Pol Roti is a vegan appetiser with coconut sambol.

Hoppers
Hoppers- I was able to try one of these during the Friday night buffet.

Hoppers are bowl-shaped pancakes cooked in a wok. They are made with rice flour, coconut milk and egg can be added in the middle. It is very thin and crunchy.

Sri Lankan Fried Rice
Watalappan

Watalappan is a custard made of coconut milk, palm sugar, cashews, cinnamon, cloves, cardamon, and nutmeg. It is very delicious!

Buffet
They have multiple items in a buffet on Friday nights. Offerings may vary from week to week.

During Covid they did not have a buffet. When they opened their new location in February, Red Pepper Diner started offering a buffet on Friday nights.

If you are traveling on I-84, visiting DIA in Beacon, or traveling through the Hudson Valley, stop by Red Pepper Diner’s new location. The food is flavourful and healthy.

For more information, check out their Facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057134334582

Hawk on Chimney

Do red tailed hawks have a sense of smell? This one makes me wonder. One of the hawk’s go to spots to perch is on top of a wildlife refuge’s latrine chimney.

I call this hawk Diva, because it seems to want all the attention at the refuge. It seemingly poses for photographers.

These were taken yesterday. It was sunny, but very windy and frigid. What do you think? Do hawks have a sense of smell?

Red Tailed Hawk on Sign

I don’t think this red tailed hawk was named by anyone, but I am going to call it Diva. Why? It has no problem being around people and will seemingly try to get the attention of the people taking wildlife pictures or with binoculars watching wildlife.

Maybe the hawk is trying to remind everyone to be on good behaviour. Only certain trails are open in winter due to the visitors from far up north.

If I had Google Translate set Hawk to English: This is a reminder. The area behind me is only for wildlife. Humans stay on the other side of the sign. Some wildlife sleep during the day on the ground.

Despite today being a very windy, frigid day it was great to see the hawk. I had to take numerous in the car breaks with the heat running. Frigid days can still be fruitful days.

Snow Geese in Flight

These pictures were taken on the same day as my other post on snow geese. It was a dark, windy, dreary day. I felt fortunate though to see them in flight.

I saw them arrive to the park from a distance. I walked closer to where they landed. After a while smaller groups among them took flight again above the park. It was like they were exercising, or possibly getting ready for another long flight.

They did several circles around the park before they landed again. Lucky for me they flew overhead.

A white morph- notice the dark wing tips
A blue morph from the rear, coming in for a landing
I was lucky to have overhead flights and fly-bys ahead of me.
Fly by.

Flaps down, floating in for a landing.

Not sure how they avoid landing on another bird from the flock. Add into the conditions that it was a very windy day and it seems like a difficult task.

Despite the weather and dark skies, great things can be seen! Walking outside is a great stress reliever. Seeing wildlife makes it more so.

Snow Geese

I went to a park that straddled two states to catch these. Two attempts after work did not yield results. The third attempt on a weekend was the charm. Warning: it was a dreary day, so the images are dark and not sharp as a result.

I saw them approach the park in a large group from a distance. I guesstimate the group was around a few hundred. I walked towards where they were. They slowly drifted towards my location. It helped few people were there.

When they arrived the swans were at the end of the water body closest to me. When the swans wanted to get to the other side, the snow geese gave them a wide path. I don’t know if that is respect or fear. What do you think?

This one was tagged around the neck.

Most were white morphs. According to All About Birds white morphs have black wingtips and a pink bill with a black grin patch.

One of these things is not like the others. I t appears to be a blue morph snow goose.

According to All about Birds blue morph snow geese have a white head and a dark body. The are the same size and shape as the white morph snow geese as well as the same pink bill with a black grin.

There was some loud communication between the snow geese.

I wish Google Translate had snow geese as an option. It would be interesting to know what they were saying amongst themselves.

They were here evidently a couple of weeks before I caught them. I have heard from multiple people this is unusual. There may have been a thousand or more at one point. At this location is is down to a couple hundred or less now. They do not usually come to this area in these numbers. I think our mild weather made this area and its ice free waters attractive as a long term stop.

Get out and enjoy nature! Even when the weather is not optimal. You may get to see something you have have before.

Red Tailed Hawk

I am doing overtime from January- March at least. December showed me you cannot take your health for granted. I do not have much time to take photos. Many times on the weekends it has been cloudy before sunset. After work it is usually dark or close to it by the time I get home.

I only saw the red tailed hawk up close this time. The short eared owls only came up after 4 and stayed far away. It was a very overcast day and it was not long before sunset, so the light is not good and they are not sharp.

This one wanted to be the star. It landed on the pole close to the parking lot for a while. Then it flew right over me and landed on the refugee’s latrine chimney. Then it flew on top of a bird house. All the while it was close to people and did not seem to care.

Don’t take your health for granted. Get out and walk! Enjoy nature. Be around people who are positive.

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