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2012-05-23 - 4:44 p.m. Headed out to meet the bird tour in Central Park. The bird tour was not there which means, I suppose, that a rare bird has been spotted elsewhere and they moved the tour. I don't even wanna know after the heartbreak of missing the Snowy Owl by one day in Dallas. Be that as it may, I made my own bird tour, which started with a bang. I saw two sleepy American Robin parents sitting near a nest full of babies, reluctant to get started with their day...and then, in the same tree, I was almost within touching distance of a beautiful Canada Warbler. The bird of the day, just like that.
I probably don't have time to input the entire bird list, but I did pretty well. There were still a few migrants left. Lots of Gray Catbirds. A proud male Baltimore Oriole. Red-Eyed Vireo. I swear I thought I saw Cedar Waxwings perform a nest exchange. Eye to eye with a couple of adult Black-Crowned Night Herons. But, honestly, nothing could quite stand up to the magnificent of the Canada Warbler. After the birding action started to peter out, I decided to see if I could find the famous Staten Island Ferry to get some viewpoints of the Statue of Liberty. I got more than I bargained for, since it's Navy Week. We had a breathtaking view of some Blue Angels practicing for the upcoming air show before it got too foggy. The various ships (or at least types of ships) that we saw in New Orleans were just beginning to stream into the harbor -- coming out we saw aircraft carriers with helicopters and other modern ships. Returning, we saw at least four of the tall ships. I noticed that one of them was from Indonesia and wondered if it was the same one we saw in New Orleans, but I'm about as good with ships as I am with cars, so I really don't know.
Once I was at that end of Manhattan, I felt somewhat obligated to stroll past the WTC site and visit some of the other freebies in the area such as the lovely Trinity Cathedral and the Museum of the American Indian. This latter museum is in the old customs house, so it has some spectacular decor that has eff-all to do with the American Indian. Well, I'm supposed to be getting ready for the dinner. And I just tried to check in on Delta, and I'm getting heat there. Pray for me.
All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2002-2017 by Elaine Radford
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