Paz's New York Minute » Starlings

In the Garden

Paz New York — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 07:06:25 +0000

As I passed by the garden of a church, I believe is called St. Joseph’s, the decorations of the shrine caught my attention.

I stopped behind the gate to take photos.

I had no idea that someone watched me when the minister/priest popped his head out the door.

"You can come in!" He called out to me and then disappeared.

Pleasantly surprised, I opened the gate quickly and stepped inside the garden to get a closer photo of Mary and Joseph…

… And a closer look at the humble, yet beautiful decorations…

… and the flowers…

… that surrounded the Mary and Joseph.

The starlings and sparrows watched me from the safety of the high tree branches.

Soon one starling flew down to the water fountain.

A second starling joined the first. They took sips of water and started chatting.

"Don’t you just love the holiday atmosphere in the city?"

"Oh, yes. I’m lovin’ the decorations."

Ecological Day: Another Day…

Paz New York — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 03:38:19 +0000

… Another hawk.

Or perhaps it’s the same hawk that I saw the other day. I’m not sure. But as I was walking, again, in the park, the scenario was the same. I saw no birds or squirrels when I normally would. I looked up in the trees but didn’t see a hawk. It was super cold and an hour later, my fingers felt like they were about to fall off. I finally decided to put away my camera. That’s when I spotted the hawk sitting on the branches of one of the tallest trees in the park. It was very windy but she sat still as if the winds didn’t bother her. Instead, she focused on another tree not too far away from her. Correction, she focused on a group of starlings in another tree not too far from her. Those starlings sure looked nervous. I didn’t hang around to see what happened. It was just too cold.

This post is for Ecological Day, which was started by Sonia of Leaves of Green. This photo blogging theme day falls on the second day of each month. When we are good to our Earth, we’re good to the wild life and nature — like the hawk and starlings. When we’re good to the wild life and nature, we’re good to our Earth. We only have one Earth, folks, so let’s be good to it.

Paz

Nervous starlings in the tree, hoping not become a hawk’s meal.

Up Close and Personal II

Paz New York — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 04:04:07 +0000

Up above, I spotted some starlings in the tree. Like the sparrow in the photo below, I was able to see this starling because of the bare branches.

I enjoy seeing the different birds in the city. I recently discovered that there’s a hawk on my block. MY block!!! However, it cleverly remains out of sight, hiding on one of the roof tops, until it’s time to hunt one of the pigeons or sparrows for a meal. Ever so swiftly, it grabs a squealing bird and then disappears. It will be a miracle if I’m able to get a photograph of that hawk. A BIG miracle.

Happy Saturday, everyone!

Paz

European Starling

Paz New York — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:00:28 +0000

This starling sat on a rooftop watching me. I almost missed him until he sang out to me, causing me to look up and notice him. Handsome fella, I think.

Paz

My First Starlings

Paz New York — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 11:10:04 +0000

I’ve been trying to take photographs of these birds for some time but they’ve been too quick for me and fly away in a flash. I finally got lucky with these two. Yay! Here they are on the busy streets of NYC. They manage to find food and not get run over by passing or parking cars.

Paz