On Saturday
December 29, 2008 | Filed Under Animals, Birds, Cathedrals/Churches, City Streets and Sidewalks, Dogs, Doors/Doorways, Harlem, Holiday Decorations, Neighborhoods, New York City Wildlife, Sparrows, Squirrels, West Side | 15 Comments
A few things that caught my eye on Saturday. Like this decorated church entrance.
Hungry but cautious sparrows
Another decorated church entrance.
A busy squirrel that spared a few seconds to pose for me.
A festive apartment building door.
A dog waiting patiently at the post office.
Ecological Day – October 2, 2008
October 1, 2008 | Filed Under Bloggers, Ecological Day, Environment, Leaves of Grass blog, New York City Wildlife, Photo Blogging Theme Day, Squirrels | 23 Comments
My very first squirrel photo, first posted in December 2007. Yay!
This squirrel sat still for about five seconds — long enough for me to finally take a photo.
It’s ECOLOGICAL DAY, a blogging event started by Sonia at LEAVES OF GRASS. The event takes place the second day of every month. I originally posted this squirrel photo in December 2007. However, I wanted to post it again for Ecological Day.
What do squirrels have to do with this event? Well, a few weeks ago, Abraham wrote a touching and eye-opening post about how the pesticides that many people use in their gardens and on their lawns poison squirrels and other wildlife (I’m unable to provide a link to the post because it’s no longer available.). The animals suffer a slow and painful death. So sad.
Lawn treatment is poison to the environment.
We only have one earth, folks. So, let’s be good to it and its inhabitants.
Happy Ecological Day! Stop by LEAVES OF GRASS to see a lineup of other Ecological Day posts.
Paz
Ed. Note: Abraham was kind enough to give me one of his photos of a sick squirrel, which I’ve posted below. Check out the photo and what he writes about it. Thanks for your contribution, Abraham!
A squirrel nest made from leaves (Photo taken December 2007).
According to Abraham, the hole nest in the tree (first photo above) is better than the nest of leaves because it’s stronger — better protection for squirrels.
2008 © Abraham Lincoln – All Rights Reserved
Here is a photo that Abraham graciously provided for this post. He writes: "This photo was taken of a squirrel who started out with a spot on this eye and everything else looks good. Over the weeks that followed he got worse and this was his condition towards the end. I don’t know what causes it but suspect something about that spot on his eye that may have itched and he was blind in it and rammed his cheek on that side into a pointed stick or something as this gash began as a small cut and festered into what you see, filled with puss and surely was an agony."
The Squirrel and Kentucky Fried Chicken
July 11, 2008 | Filed Under Animals, Parks, Riverside Park, Squirrels | 14 Comments
Walking in the park, a super chubby young girl about 13 years old, caught my attention. Dressed in an oversized neon orange tee shirt, with matching colored shorts, orange sneakers and an orange cap, I could see that she liked to make a fashion statement.
She threw some kind of food at a squirrel standing in front of her. The squirrel ran to the food, sniffed it and ran up a tree close by, then peered at the girl from behind the tree trunk.
"Yo, I just gave you my Kentucky Fried Chicken. You’d better eat it!" She hollered with indignation at the squirrel. She sounded insulted that the squirrel didn’t want her precious Kentucky Fried Chicken. Clearly, giving up her Kentucky Fried Chicken was a big sacrifice for her.
"I gave you my Kentucky Fried Chicken! You’d better eat it!"
When the squirrel didn’t come down, she picked up the chicken piece and threw it to another squirrel that had come to investigate what was going on. The second squirrel sniffed the chicken, left it there, and ran away.
I guess it’s safe to say that squirrels don’t like fried chicken.
The girl looked so disappointed, I had to stop and talk to her. I tried to let her know that she did a good thing by thinking about the squirrels and sharing her meal and that they liked different foods like peanuts in the shell. To make her feel better I told her that perhaps the squirrel would come back for the chicken when no one was looking. She didn’t buy my last suggestion. "They turned their nose on my Kentucky Fried Chicken," she sniffed.
I complimented her bright orange shirt (I wish I could have taken a photo of her). She smiled. "I wanted to stop traffic with it," she told me after thanking me for the compliment. LOL! What a character.
Then I took a photo of the squirrel. That seemed to distract her from the sting of the squirrel’s actions. She watched with great interest and I showed her the photo I’d taken. Time to keep moving, I wished her a good day and she wished me the same.
The squirrel didn’t say anything to either of us. It scurried off the bench, ran up the tree, and we all went our separate ways.
Note to self: Buy some shelled peanuts for the next time I go to the park.
Paz
New York City Wildlife
December 10, 2007 | Filed Under New York City Wildlife, Riverside Park, Squirrels | 12 Comments
Inspired by Abraham of Backyard Wildlife Photography, who has more beautiful wildlife blogs here and here, I set out to capture some New York City wildlife? No, no — Not the wildlife that wears clothing, shoes and have iPod ear phones streaming out of their ears. I’m talking about the ones that fly, climb trees, chirp, and are so beautifully and wonderfully created that you’re in awe when you look at them. You know what I mean. If you don’t, definitely check out Abraham’s blogs.
I’ve mentioned in a past photo when I tried to take some pics of pigeons that it was pretty difficult. They moved so fast. I set out to the park and had the same problem with the squirrels and birds that I saw. They wouldn’t pose and stay still for me. *sulk* Abraham posted some wonderful tips on his site and after returning home with frozen fingers and blurry bird and squirrel photos, I appreciated more the steps he goes through to photograph the wildlife that visit his backyard.
I tried a second week to take photos of the wildlife I saw. I was a little successful. I still have a long way to go in capturing these living creatures out in the open, but it’s a start. I’ll continue to practice. So here are my first set of pics — squirrels and their nests. Interestingly enough, I never noticed the squirrel nests before. I do now and find that now the trees are naked, they’re not hard to miss.
A minute before and after I took the photos the squirrels moved around very fast — up and down the tree trunk.
Thanks for the tips and inspiration, Abraham!
Paz
P.S. Oh, by the way, I draw the line on photographing rats. I consider them NYC wildlife. LOL! I’ve seen plenty of them — some the size of kittens. You won’t find that type of NYC wildlife on this blog. No, sirree. 
