Tree walk with a dendrophile*

KEN CHAYA -- tree expert extraordinaire

Last night from 6:30pm to about 8:45pm  I  and about 25 other fortunate people went on a Tree Identifying walk with tree expert and naturalist KEN CHAYA. I'll write again with more details of that we learned on Ken's walk, but now all I can say is that It was one of the most educational, inspiring and delightful experiences I've had in all my years as a park enthusiast. Ken is a marvelopuys walk leader, with an infectious passion for nature in general and trees in particular  The walk, given under the aegis of  Outdoorfest [www.outdoorfest.org]    began outside Strawberry Fields at 72nd Street and Central Park West, and ended up at Oak Bridge, the lovely structure  connecting Bank Rock Bay with The Ramble.  The participants, a group that included one well-behaved canine, were exceptionally well-behaved themselves. Very few engaged in private conversations with fellow walkers -- and everyone ended up with a different attitude towards trees. For a small group of New Yorkers who went on that transformative walk with Ken Chaya yesterday, trees will forever be transformed  into objects of reverence.

KEN CHAYA and co-author EDWARD SIBLEY BARNARD with their masterpiece map - CENTRAL PARK ENTIRE

Here's what the map looks like. It's folded in a clever way, and made of some kind of waterproof paper.  To buy map: http://www.centralparknature.com/store/index.html

*PS A dendropbhile is simply a tree lover

Loon update

Common Loon - The Reservoir - 11 April 2007 - photo by LLOYD SPITALNIK - Lloydspitalnikphotos.com

LYN DOMINGUEZ reports on ebirdsNYC today- 6/7/14:

This morning at 6:25 AM from the north, looking across the placid Reservoir, the common loon was resting in the southeast quadrant.

At 8:35 AM, with ripples on the water and a breeze from the north, when I got back on the Reservoir path at the southeast corner, the loon was at the northwest end (!) but it soon appeared near 90th St. and was fishing and diving actively along the eastern edge of the Reservoir. There were one or two good long looks at it.

Best regards,

Lyn

30 Year old Redtail!

The Raptor Trust - Millington, NJ

Received the following e-Mail from a correspondent in Camarillo CA I haven't heard from for a long time:


Hi Marie, a month or so agao I opened one of my bird books and out fell the newspaper clipping about the 27 year old hawk found on a road in rural NY.  She was picked up but escaped when being transferred.  A few days later she was picked up again on the same road and was transfered to Len Soucy.  I e-mailed them and asked about her and I thought you would LOVE the answer.  She's 30!


Betty Jo




-------- Original Message --------


Subject:
27 year old female redtail
Date:
Tue, 03 Jun 2014 16:20:51 -0400




Hello Betty Jo,

 Thanks for asking about the 27 year old female redtail.  She is now  
30 (!) and doing well.  She was not releasable after rehab.
 She just didn't have the stamina for life in the wild.  So she  
stayed with us and is just fine .  She even has a purpose in life.   She
 fosters and "big sisters" the orphaned red tails that we get each  
summer, teaching them red tail language and how to catch
 mice.  They seem to adore her, sitting near to her all the time,  
when they're not practicing flying in the large flight chamber.

  I agree that the fact that Pale Male is still alive is a miracle.   
I cross my fingers every time I think of him.

  Best regards,

  Diane Soucy
   The Raptor Trust

27 year old female redtail
Tue, 03 Jun 2014 16:20:51 -0400