June 16. Today I revisited Inwood Hill Park

I spent a couple of hours working hard taking pictures of various birds, including a Great Egret and the most numerous residents, of course: Canada Geese. But none of the photos pleased me at the time. Then, as I was about to leave, I saw some bird tracks in the mud just as the tide was coming back in and I snapped two quick shots. I like one of those two the best. There is a lesson there.

Bird tracks and reflections

Great Egret (Ardea alba) diving for fish

Great Egret gets the fish

Since last October our old friend the Muscovy duck
seems to have gotten himself a new family.



Next generation: born, bred and grass fed in Manhattan.

Canada Geese caught in the wake of the Circle Line boat.


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Tackling the Bronx

Yesterday I decided I had neglected the Bronx long enough. I have traveled all over that borough and I can vouch that it has some of the ugliest sights in New York City. It is the poorest and most culturally deprived. The Grand Concourse was long ago stripped of its stained glass. Its art deco building have been defaced. And most of its once luxurious apartments have been converted into cubicles by greedy -- or desperate -- landlords, as fear-driven middle class families abandoned them for the Coop City wasteland. Another landmark, the Kingsbridge Armory has been plundered and raped. I could go on.

But the Bronx's past greatness is still evident in its majestic parks such as the Botanical garden and one of the world's grandest zoos. And, adjacent to Van Cortland Park, there is the gem, Woodlawn Cemetery, 400 acre, a final resting place to over 300,000 people, home to thousands of geese and ducks, site of hundreds of the City's oldest and most beautiful trees and the most amazing repository of human grandiosity and foolishness since 1863.

I spent a couple of hours exploring a small part of this sprawling museum of the bizarre and planning out the best way to photograph some of its remarkable monuments. I took just a few photos as a place mark for future adventures.

January 30

Riverside Park and Roosevelt Island

November 8

 Ted Roth and I went shooting first in Riverside Park in the morning and then on Roosevelt Island in the evening. Ted was carrying a heavy pack with camera, lenses and a tripod attached. I had my point and shoot... and a light tripod that I never used. Now when I see a lot of blurry night photos, I'm sorry that I didn't. But it was a good day anyway, with great light and some night shots I like.

Two weeks ago I thought "Gantry" referred to Elmer. But there we were, on the West side of the West Side Highway, with a gantry in plain view.

Gantry through grass and trees

May I join in?

This park is clean and safe

Editorial: This new Southern stretch of Riverside Park, when first encountered seems lovely, with modern sculptures, decorative grasses and a bicycle path. But these cannot distract from the realities: its location in the shadow of of the Trump eyesores and the noisy West Side Highway -- nor from the smells that waft from the nearby sewage plant.

Night falls on Roosevelt Island










Corny, but I couldn't resist