A week in New Hampshire

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New Hampshire in early February is cold. It snows a lot (twice in the week I was there, with more on its way as we left). And every four years it teems with presidential candidates, campaign staff and media.  It’s not just easy to meet candidates in New Hampshire; it’s impossible to avoid them. Imagine sitting with friends in your hotel lobby, chatting companionably, only to look up and see Ted Cruz posing for a photo with the hotel manager.

Now that I’ve thoroughly traumatized you, let me add: New Hampshire in early February in a presidential election year is something everyone should experience at least once. Continue reading →

200 Bird Thursday – Week 6 (New Hampshire primary edition)

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No new birds to report this week. That’s not surprising, as I spent most of it in New Hampshire doing political work. (I packed my binoculars just in case, but was too busy to take them out of my bag. Birdwatching opportunities were limited to roadside red-tailed hawks and whatever happened to be visiting the feeders of Democratic primary voters, which did not, alas, include boreal chickadees, evening grosbeaks or crossbills.)

Birding posts will resume next week. Between now and then, look for an account of my New Hampshire adventures. Unfortunately, my working title – “The special hell of a Ted Cruz rally” – has already been claimed by another blogger.

200 Bird Thursday – Week 5 (Coney Island Winter edition)

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imageThe two feet of snow dropped by the Historic Blizzard of 2016 had mostly melted by last weekend. Nonetheless, you’ll find no snark here on the Brooklyn Bird Club’s decision to cancel a planned Sunday excursion to “Brooklyn’s southwest coast” (starring the back of the BJ’s Wholesale Club) because of “unsafe conditions” . . . other than to say that I managed a solo trip to Coney Island that day without incident. Continue reading →

200 Bird Thursday – Week 4 (blizzard edition)

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Birding conditions this weekend were less than ideal.

Saturday’s blizzard pretty much precluded birding over the weekend, and a blizzard-induced food and TV coma (not to mention an aversion to ankle-deep slush and torrents of slush-melt) wiped out Monday as well. I did manage a loop of Prospect Park on Tuesday, binoculars in hand. I was hoping the winds might have blown in some new birds, and that the snow might have pushed them to the Breeze Hill feeders, but no such luck. It was the same familiar crowd of downy woodpeckers, white-breasted nuthatches, tufted titmice and goldfinches. Continue reading →

200 Bird Thursday – Week 3

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If you were a horned lark, you’d look at this scene and sigh at its beauty.

From now until the beginning of spring migration, this is how it will be: new birds added in dribs and drabs (and then just in dribs), a measly return on hours invested tromping through cold and desolate landscapes.

But, you know, it’s at least as fun (and far less painful) than marathon training. And just as long training runs became a way to explore my new city, this year’s bird quest is taking me to parts of Brooklyn I’d barely heard of, much less set foot in, before. (On a related note, look for a new food series on the cuisines of Avenue U to start soon.) Continue reading →

200 Bird Thursday – Week 2

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After ticking off dozens of common winter birds in week 1, I knew this week’s total would be much lower – and, of course, it was. But it includes three (count ’em) “life” birds, a few birds I’ve seen before that still take my breath away, and a grand finale.

Here they are, all seen within the five boroughs of New York City, listed in the order in which I saw them: Continue reading →

There goes the neighborhood

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Really rich people make really bad neighbors.

The process of gentrification is pretty far along in Park Slope, but the above-pictured sign on 1st street between 4th and 5th avenues still stopped me in my tracks. The block is divided between commercial spaces and condos at the 4th avenue end, and nice (but modest) brownstones closer to 5th avenue. It’s not, in other words, the kind of block you’d normally associate with house-hunting oligarchs.

And therein lies a tale. Continue reading →

200 Bird Thursday – Week 1

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long-tailed duck

I’ve wanted to see one of these for ages. This week, I finally did. (Many thanks to Rob Jett at citybirder.blogspot.com for permission to use this image.)

Thursday is now “Bird Day” around here. That’s when I’ll report on new birds seen in the previous seven days, my total count for the year, and any particularly noteworthy birding adventures (or misadventures). As a special bonus feature, I’ll also profile a “bird of the week.” Continue reading →

A Mexican epiphany

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All along 5th Avenue in Sunset Park this week, bakeries and grocery stores are advertising “Rosca de Reyes.” Peek through a steamy bakery window, and you’ll see giant pastry wreaths bedecked with unnaturally bright candied fruits and sparkly, multi-colored sugar stripes.

It’s part of the celebration of Epiphany, or Three Kings Day. Tomorrow night, families and friends will eat rosca, drink hot chocolate, and try not to ingest or break a tooth on the tiny baby Jesus figure baked inside each ring. Continue reading →

A walk on the beach

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Somewhere out there, there are long-tailed ducks.

Here is what I put on yesterday morning for my excursion to Brighton, Manhattan and Plumb Beaches (aka the Brooklyn Riviera):

  • Long underwear
  • Pants made from a miracle fiber created by Canadian scientists to withstand arctic conditions
  • SmartWool® socks (over DumbBlend undersocks)
  • Undershirt
  • Shirt made from a miracle fiber created by Japanese scientists to heat up as you move
  • Fleece
  • Fleece-lined parka
  • Fleece neck gaiter
  • Scotland Run hat
  • Mittens and gloves
  • Hiking boots

I felt slightly overdressed as I lurched toward the train station – until I turned the corner and the wind slapped me in the face, forcing me to wonder if I couldn’t perhaps have managed a few more layers. Continue reading →