One does not have to walk far into the woods here to tell we have many woodpeckers. There are holes in a lot of trees. Many times they are just searching for bugs under the bark to eat. Sometimes it is to build a home. This woodpecker I saw near the Hudson River on one of my walks this week. A pair were flying tree to tree together and had a unique call. This woodpecker is the northern flicker.
I am hoping this year to find some babies peaking out of a hole. I am sure they are born already. I have seen some adults bringing back food to tree holes, but no heads peaking out. I think by the time they do that the leaves are fully on the trees blocking our view. One can only hope I will some day get lucky. Have a great weekend! Go slow enjoy your holiday!
It’s hard to tell how many eaglets there are in the nest when you look at the back of your camera. I visited this nest two times today. I thought I only saw one head. A couple of times I captured two. However, I was told there are actually three eaglets in this nest. The first may have been born I heard before the end of March. The others may have been the same week or maybe even the last one this week.
Two of the three are visible. Watching the other parent do a fly-by.Screaming or calling to spouse doing a fly-by. Bring more food, we have three mouths to feed.You can see one head to the right of the parent.
I am guessing the youngest one is the one I am not seeing. Someone was lucky enough to get all three in a picture. It was a cloudy day, but this is the best time I feel to get eagle pictures as there will be less shadows given where the nest is. Even on cloudy days there are things to see.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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?
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.
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 tipsA blue morph from the rear, coming in for a landingI 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.
