WE GO TO OUR GRANDPARENTS' HOME IN IRELAND

For the next two weeks this Hudson River Birder, with my brothers John and Dan, will visit Ireland. The main part of the trip will be to visit the family of our maternal grandfather in Mountcharles, Glencough, Co. Donegal in Ireland. In 1991, when I had celebrated the previous year my first 25 years as a Redemptorist priest, I went to visit our Irish relatives. What I most remember on the "natural/spiritual level" was a very spontaneous, free, silly moment in Co. Galway. It was, as it mostly is there in Ireland, a cold, cloudy, windy day. I has asked my cousins to stop by a pasture that was full of an enormous flock of hugely wooly sheep. I then proceeded to "run after the sheep". I am sure that next week my cousin Eileen will delight the family recalling that moment when...."Father Tom oft and ran with the sheep".
Back at Esopus there are no sheep. We just have groundhogs, possums, coyotes, wild turkeys, deer, our new family of American Bald Eagles, and the many birds that are our visitors each spring and our year round residents.
----I am trying to put together a new retreat at The Mount. I am thinking of calling it: "Running with the Sheep--Strengthening our Bond with the Natural World".
I truly, truly believe that most of God's important messages and blessings are right here before us in the Natural World. The other day I was reading Rusty Johnson's most interesting book called "Twilight of the Natural World". Now I, like many aging persons, have memory problems. And so his data on the Clarke's Nutcracker really got my attention. The Clarke's Nutcracker is an inhabitant of the southwest. It feeds on pine cones which it gathers and buries in various spots so as to find them and enjoy them in winter time. This bird has the mental capacity to remember up to 20,000 distinct hiding places!!! I thought, Might not the secret of reducing demential or at least increasing our power of recall be found in the brain chemistry and structure of this humble little bird.
Anyway, during the next few weeks I will have two or three pictures of beautiful places and maybe animals in Ireland. Check in!

KAYAKING THE HUDSON RIVER

As you may or may not know the Hudson River is what is known as a "tidal estuary". It is like a tongue of the sea that stretches up towards Albany as the tide rises. Then it retracts towards New York City as the tide lowers. The other day I went kayaking for the first time ever. I went with Mike Sweeney who is on our Mount Retreat Team, is our Music Minister and is a fine young man and musician. I was surprised how easy it was for me, especially as last Monday (May 18th) was quite cold and windy. But the tide was falling from from Kingston towards Hyde Park (right across from The Mount), and so we went "against it" up towards the Esopus Meadows Lighthouse. That way it would be "smooth sailing" to come back to our dock. Our biggest treat was seeing an eagle not 50 feet from us, just on the shore. It ignored us like we were "just another part of the scenery". Unfortunately I had not brought my digital camera. Next time I will. I will keep it in a tupperware container. This way it won't get wet. And, if it falls out of the kayak it will float. It's a good thing to bring one's cellphone also placed carefully in another tupperware container.
Our grounds are literally "bursting" with Red Wing Blackbirds, Northern Mockingbirds, Chipping Sparrows, House Finches, Song Sparrows, House or Winter Wrens along with the Carolina Wrens, Baltimore Orioles, Brown Headed Cowbirds (with their "ice cube" clunking sound), . I wrote something a while back on Bird Listening. How true this is. The "invisible but audible birds" are often what I most identify: Common Yellowthroats, Hooded Warblers, Eastern Towhees, Red Eyed Vireos.... Most disappointing of all for me are the fact that I "hear but have yet to see this year my good friends the Greated Crested Flycatchers. Years ago at Huntington State Park south of Myrtle Beach a Great Crested Flycatcher was my constant companion as I wandered through that truly great birding spot. It is part of what is Brookgreen Gardens founded by the great millionaire Arthur Huntington and his artist, sculptress wife Ana Hyatt..

TRIP TO AWOSTING FALLS AT MOHONK PRESERVE

On Sunday, May 17th I spent five hours walking from the Mohonk Preserve Visitors' Center, up the East Connector Path to the Trapps Trail. It was very steep. On the East Trapps which is the great rock climbing spot on the Preserve there were many, mostly young, rock climbers. I had a real good feeling about youth as I saw them enjoying the challenge that rock climbing is. (For me it is a "road not travelled". In "another lifetime...maybe!!) The day was wonderful. Streams of spring rain poured over one of the climing areas eliminating it for the day. Between two sections called "Bitchy Virgin" and "Awolding" the ascents have been discontinued because of Peregrin Falcon nesting. I could "hear" the falcons but it was hard to see. There were the fresh reddish color of recently fallen rock in those sections....and "added" reason for calling off climbing there. What a great spring day. I "heard" many Wood Thrushes, Red-Eyed Vireos ("Here I am...There Your Are")..But THEY could probably see ME. But I could not see...THEM.
Awosting Falls with the strong flowing river which is the Awosting River I presume and forms a lake below was powerfully falling. It was a true "thunderous" roar which I much enjoyed. I hope you enjoy some of my pictures.

AWOSTING FALLS AT MOHONK PRESERVE

ROCKS OF THE MOHONK SHAWANGUNKS

MOHONK PRESERVE--TABLE AND PINE ROCK

MOHONK PRESERVE--ROAD TO AWOSTING FALLS

MOUNT LOOKING "HUDSON RIVER SOUTH"

MOUNT LOOKING HUDSON NORTH

THE MOUNT LOOKING ACROSS THE HUDSON

HUDSON RIVER CLOUDY SUNRISE

IN THE HEIGHT OF SPRING

I wrote before that I am more of a "Bird Listener" than "watcher". It is true. If one has half decent hearing, as I do, they can hear, as I did yesterday invisible Easter Towhees, House Wrens, Baltimore Orioles, Tufted Titmouses, Carolina Wrens, Common Yellowthroats. The birds that I actually "see" here at the Mount are: Bald Eagles, Red-Winged Blackbirds, Blue Jays, Chipping and Song Sparrows, Mourning Doves, Rusty Blackbirds, Carolina Wrens, Northern Mockingbirds... There are hardly any Nuthatches and Chickakees around. Oh yes, the Swifts, Tree and Barn Swallows are back. One thing that has fascinated me are the very varied Northern Cardinal calls an songs. I have gotten used to the great variety of Robin song. But I am now "getting the hang" of what I would call "Cardinalish song". If you go to the sounds easilly obtainable on the Internet (especially the Cornell Site to which there is a link at your bottom LEFT) you will find a good "sample" of bird songs and calls. But there is an infinite variety. (The truth seems to be that birds are learning different ways of expressing themselves just like us human beings). At least that is the way I see it. Right above you have a picture of a beautiful cloud-filled Hudson River sunrise. And here a "Mom Eagle" caring for her two invisible eagletts.

FERRY FEEDING THE LAUGHING GULLS AT OCRACOKE ISLAND

WARBLER FOOD (POKEWEED) AT PEA ISLAND

ELIZABETHAN GARDEN--MANTEO, NC

HUDSON RIVER "BIRD LISTENER"

I have been in Kitty Hawk/ Cape Hatteras and Ocracoke Island the last week. Spring Migration is very strong here. There is a Kitty Hawk Woods Trail that goes up The Woods Road and breaks across Twifford Road crossing W. Kitty Hawk Road and heading towards Kitty Hawk Landing. Here there are many small inlets that are part of the waterways flowing out of Currituck Sound where the huge bridge crosses into Kitty Hawk.

The reason I title this blog BIRD LISTENING is that I have heard so many birds: Hooded Warblers, at least one Kentuck Warbler, hundreds of Carolina Wrens, Great Crested Flycatchers, Eastern Towhees, Ovenbirds, House Finches, Pilated Woodpeckers, Flickers, ....etc. But the ones I constantly see are the Boat Tailed and Common Grackels, Robins, Red-Winged Blackbirds. (Down at Pea Island Wildlife Refuge I saw a Blackburnian Warbler that is quite rare to see in that spot. I also saw a Blue Bunting skipping along the beach there. Bird Listening is the way to go. How frustrated I would be if I actually had to see the bird I am identifying.

THE TREE SWALLOWS AND TOWHEES ARE BACK

It is GOOD FRIDAY. And indeed a good Friday it is, as Jewish people have celebrated Passover and Christians are in the midst of celebrating Christ's Paschal Mystery....

SPRING....is a Mystery of Life. The Tree Swallows, Towhees, Chipping and Song Sparrows, Phoebees, Robins galore, Bluebirds galore, nestings Eagles, Red Winged Blackbirds "screaming up a storm" this morning as well as the White Breasted Nuthatches, Chickadees and Tufted Titmouses that have "stayed with us". Today was really the first time this spring I've "heard" (FIRST), then "seen" the Chipping Sparrows. The Song Sparrows are really not singing that much. (I guess they have "nesting work" to do first!)

I have seen Herons which I am "pretty sure" are Great Blues on two of our ponds. What gracious flight they have!

HAPPY EASTER ALL!

YES, I THINK THAT WILLOWS....REALLY WEEP

I think that Weeping Willows really weep. I am serious. Today, a misty, foggy day here at Esopus I walked over to the former Pell Farm. There is a beautiful Willow there. It was the "greenest thing around". And, as I looked closely at the long greening branches reaching almost to the ground, I could see that indeed it is true. "They were really weeping!" At least that is the effect that the small, clinging rain drops gave me to imagine. They were like "God's own glad spring tears" that give life, not, of course, just to Weeping Willows, but to the Crocus, the Forsythia and other "early spring bloomers".

And I thought, For whom and for what are they weeping? The answer would have rather been, For whom and for what are the willows NOT weeping" this spring. Many things: wars, injustices, hatreds, oppressions came to mind. But, being a Hudson River Birder as I am and a former Central Park Birder as I was, I said a silent prayer for ALL my birding friends in Central Park. Some of them don't agree with everything the others do and say. They ALL love the park, the birds, the owls, the hawks, the herons and the now arriving warblers. But some of them don't agree with feeding birds; others do. Some don't think that the owls or even the nesting birds should be "called" or even "searche for" after hours....

Well, I just hope that, as each day goes by, we give Willows and everyone else....."less reasons to weep"
Another PASSOVER approaches. Another EASTER approaches. Let's have More Alleluyas and Shaloms and ....less weeping.

BUDDING WEEPING WILLOWS

DID HE TAKE MY CAR KEYS?

I don't like to be accusing people....or criatures!! But let me explain something, and you can maybe help me be a less aggressive judge. I think this crow might have taken my car keys. Let me explain. I came up here to Saratoga Springs yesterday around 2pm. I had some time before I celebrated the 7:30pm Sunday Evening Mass at our parish of St. Clements which is right next to St. John Neumann Residence where our sick and elderly priests and brothers live. Well, I took an hour walk up Lake Ave, over Salem St, up Fifth St., did a loop and then went down Caroline St. all the way (I think!!) to either Madison or Court. When I got back my keys were gone. Well I have walked about three hours trying to retrace my steps. And nothing. THE SUSPECTS: 1.Grey squirrels?? 2. Human Beings?? ........But then I looked up into the sky. There they were, squadrons of them: Amerian Crows mostly. But there were many Fish Crows too, with their "namby, pamby" apparently "innocent" baby talk. Well they weren't fooling me!! I even shouted up to them. If any of you has my keys, please bring them back!! I really won't hold it against you. I know how curious you are. Being a bird watcher,as you know I too am curious. But please!!! I've got to get back to Esopus. I am the THE HUDSON RIVER BIRDER.

QUESTION: HAS THIS HUDSON RIVER BIRDER BEEN HARSH IN SUSPECTING THE CROWS?