Help! My bed’s been kidnapped…or is it catnapped.
Taken with an iPhone SE II
Cat on a bed
A stone wall
This ordinary picture of a somewhat unassuming wall is all that remains of what was at various times the site of three different bodies that played important roles in the history of Briarcliff Manor:
- The School of Practical Agriculture and Horticulture.
- Pocantico Lodge
- Miss Knox’s School
The building that housed these three entities remained more or less the same (see below). It was just the occupants who changed. It burned down during the occupancy of Miss’s Knox School and was not rebuilt. The attractive Tudor revival building seen in the background in the second picture above is called The Manor House. It was built later (in 1925) and I’ve already posted about it (See: The Manor House).
If you’d like to know more about this story, take a look here: The School of Practical Agriculture and Horticulture/Pocantico Lodge/Miss Knox’s School. Notebook 2024 – 11
Taken with a Sony RX100 III
Lunch in Manhattan
Last Tuesday I went into New York City (Manhattan) to have lunch with an old friend and her daughter. She was meeting someone at the UN at 4:00pm so we decided to have lunch at a Georgian (that’s Georgian as in the country not the state) restaurant a block away from the UN. It was very close to where I used to work, but it wasn’t there before I retired, and I had never tried it.
The ambience was great, the service was friendly, and the food was exceptional. I’d definitely come again.
Taken with a Sony RX100 III except for the last one which was taken with my friend’s daughter’s phone and then edited a bit by me.
Snakeskin
It’s seems that Sunday, September 22 was my day for wildlife.
I had no sooner finished with the vultures (See: Vultures on my roof) when I came across this by my front door.
A couple of snakes live under my porch (see below). I used to see them basking in front of my door. As soon as they heard me coming, they’d slither away at high speed. I haven’t seen them for a while, but I guess that at least one of them is still around as I just came across this molted snakeskin. This individual seems be a little over three feet long.
Taken with a Sony RX10 IV
Vultures on my roof
Warning: the last picture is rather gruesome. If you have a sensitive nature you might want to avoid it.
Almost two weeks ago I was reading in my bedroom when heard the sound of something running around on the roof above me. I thought – maybe squirrels? I’ve heard them before and didn’t think much of it. However, as time went on the sound continued and seemed rather loud for squirrels so I went out onto the balcony outside my room to see if I could find out what was going on.
This is what I found:
It’s a vulture. We have two types of vultures in the Hudson Valley:
Turkey Vultures. Turkey Vultures are large dark birds with long, broad wings. Bigger than other raptors except eagles and condors, they have long “fingers” at their wingtips and long tails that extend past their toe tips in flight. When soaring, Turkey Vultures hold their wings slightly raised, making a ‘V’ when seen head-on. They’re smaller than an eagle; larger than a Red-tailed Hawk – about the size of a goose. They appear black from a distance but up close are dark brown with a featherless red head and pale bill. While most of their body and forewing are dark, the undersides of the flight feathers (along the trailing edge and wingtips) are paler, giving a two-toned appearance. The Turkey Vulture uses its sense of smell to locate carrion. The part of its brain responsible for processing smells is particularly large, compared to other birds. Its heightened ability to detect odors — it can detect just a few parts per trillion — allows it to find dead animals below a forest canopy. The Turkey Vulture maintains stability and lift at low altitudes by holding its wings up in a slight dihedral (V-shape) and teetering from side to side while flying. It flies low to the ground to pick up the scent of dead animals.
Black Vultures. Black Vultures are relatively new to this area. They are smaller than Turkey Vultures and more aggressive. Where the Turkey vulture has a bare red head, black vultures have a grey, or black head. They don’t have as good a sense of smell as the Turkey vulture so to find food they follow the Turkey vultures around.
These were Black vultures, and there were five of them. At first, I was a little concerned for my cat, but after some more research I discovered that Black vultures (like other vultures) are primarily carrion eaters. Turkey vultures eat only carrion whereas the more aggressive Black vultures have been known to go after newborn or sick (but still living) animals. However, they won’t go after a healthy, full-grown cat. It’s too dangerous. They might get seriously hurt and a badly injured vulture wouldn’t last long. In any case, after seeing my cat in action I’d fancy her chances. She’s a Maine Coon and fairly large. She also has extremely fast reflexes and very sharp claws.
After a while they all flew off, and I spotted them on a nearby dead tree. Eventually, they disappeared entirely leaving me with a mystery: why were they bouncing about on my roof in the first place?. At first, I thought that maybe one of them had taken a small, dead animal up onto the roof and the others had followed.
But I was wrong about that. Eventually, I figured out why they were there. I was sitting on the balcony eating lunch when I looked into the meadow in front of my house and noticed something I hadn’t seen before. It was some distance away and at first glance it looked like a fallen branch, but it couldn’t be as there were no trees nearby. I had a camera with a long telephoto lens in my bedroom, so I took a closer look. It was a dead deer! Of course, I had to go down and take a closer look. I also took a couple of pictures, one of which is below.
Since then almost two weeks have passed, and the vultures have not returned. I guess they must have had their fill.
First picture taken with an iPhone SE II, others with a Taken with a Sony RX10 IV