COMFORT MUSIC..INSPIRED BY YO YO MA

Yo Yo Ma has been playing what he calls..COMFORT MUSIC from his home on the Internet. Other musicians and ordinary people, like me have followed his example. In this video I use the music of
FRERE JAQUES and say:

BROTHERS, SISTERS..EVERYWHERE

PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL,

WASH YOUR HANDS, BE CAREFUL,

FEEL THE PAIN OF OTHERS

LIVE IN LOVE

LOVE THE WORLD

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO CHEAP GREEN LIVING

Even though I do not weigh in that much on this blog because, since moving to Philadelphia, and  have asked me to put a link to their blog which is below..Here I cite the first few paragraphs you will find there on their blog:
with my new work as a priest here in St. Peter the Apostle Parish and the National Shrine of St. John Neumann, I haven´t done much "serious birding" here in the CITY OF FRATERNAL LOVE. But the people who have a site on THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO CHEAP GREEN LIVING

While the planet we live on has suited human needs for thousands of years, Earth's bounty may not last forever. Based on research and observation, scientists and environmentalists have good reason to believe our planetary home is in trouble.

According to the United Nations, a whirlwind of issues, many of which are likely caused by man, threaten to harm our precious Earth in irreversible ways. From greenhouse gas emissions to air pollution, deforestation, and issues with water and waste, the human impact on our planet has become real. And if we don’t change, we face both unintended and potentially permanent consequences........

On their blog there are a number of very good suggestions on how to live in a way that shows respect for our most fragile environment here on earth.
IN THE NON-BIRDING LINKS BELOW IS ONE TO...

GUIDE TO CHEAP GREEN LIVING
https://www.couponchief.com/guides/guide_to_cheap_green_living

WHO IS THIS NEW LIBERTIES BIRDER

WHO IS THIS NEW LIBERTIES BIRDER?

It has been a long time since I did anything with this blog.  While I was in the Hudson Valley I did some serious birding.  But then my ministry to Hispanic and Latino people in that area absorbed most of my time. My main birding was along the railroad tracks and marsh areas near my home there. I saw so, so many Great Blue Herons.  And in the spring the Red Winged blackbirds truly loved those marsh areas as did many Baltimore Orioles,  Phoebes, Eastern  Pewee, Woodthrush, Hermit Thrush, as well as occasional Indigo Buntings, both Scarlet and Summer Tanagers..to name a few.

Here in the Philadelphia my first trip will be to the Heinz Wildlife Preserve which is near the Delaware River inland in an area called Tinicum.  (There also seems to be a small island in the Delaware River which is also a good birding area.

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/john_heinz/

There may not be anyone here in cyberworld paying attention to my blog.  But I do make this promise, that, besides continuing my work as a priest here at St. Peter the Apostle Parish which is also the National Shrine of St. John Neumann,

whose picture is here, as he worked and died in Philadelphia,  I will try hard to be..NOW..a New Liberties Birder

DID YOU KNOW OR WORK WITH RAPHELL SIMS LAKOWITZ

I am still looking and hoping that some of the undergrads from Queens College who graduated around 1968, and who had worked with RAPHELL SIMS LAKOWITZ at Creedmore Hospital in Glen Oaks, Queens, NY will contact me..Just so you might know something about RAPHELL I give here a LINK to an article written by her mother, Leonore Lakowitz, explaining the legacy of her daughter and the "history" behind this most beautiful Reflecting Pool and Sculture done by Brune Luchessi on RAPHELL.

LEONORE LAKOWITZ TELLS US ABOUT RAPHELL

FRIENDS OF RAPHELL SIMS LAKOWITZ

I have not been using my site actively for  Birding Information for a long while...Now I have a special concern to find out more about a most wonderful young psychologist, RAPHELL SIMS LAKOWITZ who, after contributing a wonderfu, new, compassionate approach to working with patients with mental and emotional sicknesses, died at the most young age of 29.  Raphell, as an undergraduate at Queens College had initiated a program at Creedmore Hospital to deal on a much more human and compassionate level with the patients. She actually encouraged another 60 or so undergrads at the time to accompany her.

I first found out about RAPHELL when, quite by chance, I visited Brookgreen Gardens, south of Myrtle Beach, FLA.  Brookgreen Gardens has many Reflecting Pools and wonderful sculptures in stone and bronze from many world famous and other artists. There I found this Reflecting Pool Sculpture of Raphell which her parents: Irving and Leonore Lakowitz, had commissioned by the artist Bruno Lucchesi. It is inspired by words written by Raphell to her boyfriend, Barry.

IN AS MUCH AS WE GIVE LIFE WILL WE RECEIVE LIFE...

IN AS MUCH AS WE GIVE STRENGTH WILL WE RECEIVE STRENGTH..

Reflecting Pool for Raphell Sims Lakowitz in Brookgreen Gardens, Myrtle Beach SC

SPECTACLE FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR

This was sent to me by my friend in Grand Prairie, Luisa Lee.  Luisa is Chinese, was raised in the Dominican Republic and was the coordinator for a Spanish Parish Mission we Redemptorists gave in that area a few years ago. Thank you, Luisa

A EUROPEAN STARLING "MURMURATION"

When I began this blog..THE HUDSON RIVER BIRDER I had just finished 10 years in the South Bronx.  During those years my Thursdays were largely spent 1st walking from 149th St. in the South Bronx,  Immaculate Conception Parish where I lived, to 110th St and Central Park West.  There, at what is called the Harlem Meere, I entered the North Woods of Central Park to head down through the Park, heading toward Belvedere Castle and Turtle Pond where a lot of birders "hang out". My first encounter with European Starlings were precisely that!! That had been brought to Central Park, precisely to the area around Belvedere Castle where the Delacourte Theatre and the Shakespearian Garden are located.  "Someone" (I never found out who) thought that the Shakespearian Garden should have all the various birds that Shakespeare mentions in this play.  (The Starling was one of those birds that we did not "have yet" in the States).  So "that" or "those" "someone" brought us the European Starlings.  Now, as they are such hearty birds, they are one of the most numerous species in the USA.  Anyway you don't have to go out of your way to see a European Starling nor a House Sparrow in the USA...
Anyway, as you'll see in this film the "murmuration" is a humungous flock or flocks of Starlings deciding just where it is best to roost "or "rest" for the night. I's quite impressive. They seem to be a swarm of locusts.
ENJOY