Around the Neighborhood – Memorial Day

May 27, 2019 by Howard Dale Posted in Around the Neighborhood, Events, Landscapes Leave a comment

It’s Memorial Day today, the unofficial start of Summer in the US, and this is the war memorial in Law Park, Briarcliff Manor.

History.com has an interesting piece on the history of memorial day including this quote:

Cities and towns across the United States host Memorial Day parades each year, often incorporating military personnel and members of veterans’ organizations. Some of the largest parades take place in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C.

Americans also observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries and memorials. Some people wear a red poppy in remembrance of those fallen in war—a tradition that began with a World War I poem. On a less somber note, many people take weekend trips or throw parties and barbecues on the holiday, perhaps because it unofficially marks the beginning of summer.

Memorial Day is more or less equivalent to Remembrance Day in the UK in that it remembers those who died in service. The US also has a second holiday: Veterans Day, which celebrates all who served (i.e. whether they died or not).

The memorial in Briarcliff commemorates the dead of World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War. In my walks around I often find that the Korean War is missing. I wonder why?

Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.

Busy on the lake today

May 26, 2019 by Howard Dale Posted in Landscapes Leave a comment

It’s been busy on the lake – surely because it’s Memorial Day weekend. All kinds of watercraft: rowing boats; canoes; kayaks and even a paddleboard with a dog on it (See: Unusual sight on the lake today).

This is the latest one: a catamaran with a brightly colored sail.

Our patio is right outside our front door (i.e. facing the lake). From there a lawn slopes downhill to the dock. Since we’re often on the patio our dog is usually found there too. However, every time something passes on the lake he dashes down to the dock at full speed, barking like crazy. When the boat passes he makes his way back up to the patio. When another vessel passes he repeats this process. A lot of boats have passed today so I’m sure he must be exhausted. I’m in the house at the moment and he’s next to me – fast asleep, snoring and twitching, which normally indicates that he’s dreaming – possibly of boats passing on the lake.

Taken with a Sony A77II and Sigma 400mm f5.6.

Unusual sight on the lake today

May 26, 2019 by Howard Dale Posted in People, Wildlife & Animals Leave a comment

I had just finished the preceding post when I heard my wife shouting from the garden: “H come and look at this. You’ve got to take a picture”. Since I always do as I’m told I grabbed a camera and dashed into the the garden to do her bidding.

Not a stunning picture but I’m sure the grandkids will like it. They’re obsessed with dogs and it’s not everyday that you see one on a paddleboard on a lake.

Taken with a Sony A77II and Sigma 400mm f5.6.

Around the Neighborhood – Attempts at bird photography part II: Fishing for Tadpoles

May 26, 2019 by Howard Dale Posted in Around the Neighborhood, Wildlife & Animals Leave a comment

My second attempt at bird photography took me to the pond in Law Park, Briarcliff Manor where we’ve lived for the past 20 years. I’ve seen and photographed great blue heron, cormorants, and egrets there before usually in the distance, with inadequate lenses which then required me to crop drastically (with subsequent lack of quality) to make anything visible. That was why I wanted the 400mm lens. (See:A birthday present).

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the 400mm lens with me. I’d left it with my Sony A77II up at our lake house. Instead I used an older Sony A500 and Minolta Maxxum 100-200mm f4.5 lens that I’d left in our house in Briarcliff Manor. Luckily the bird allowed me to get fairly close.

It’s a green heron. It’s quite small (about 1.5 feet) and somewhat brightly colored in a dull sort of way. Actually there were three of them vying for possession of the small branch in the middle of the pond. Eventually the largest of the three took possession and held it for the remainder of the time I was there. Apparently green herons are one of the few species of bird known to use tools. In particular, they commonly use bread crusts, insects, or other items as bait. The bait is dropped onto the surface of a body of water in order to lure fish. When a fish takes the bait, the green heron will then grab and eat the fish. When green herons catch large frogs, they will drown before before swallowing whole.

I’d already taken a number of pictures of it when I suspected that it was getting ready for action. It sort of crouched, looking intently into the water and then uncoiled: the body tilted, the neck extended to an incredible length and in a flash it was into the water and then back out again with a tadpole in its beak. Actually if you closely at the last picture you see that rather than grabbing the the tadpole it has speared it. I had thought that it would dive into the water (e.g. the way a kingfisher or a cormorant might) but it didn’t. It’s legs never left the branch.

Incredible! I was so excited to get this.

Attempts at bird photography part I: Searching for birds

May 26, 2019 by Howard Dale Posted in Wildlife & Animals Leave a comment

In a recent post (See: A Birthday Present) I mentioned that I wanted “have a go” at bird photography. I also noted that to this end my wife bought me a 400mm lens for my birthday. This same post showed my first test shots in our garden – regrettably no birds.

So I went out the other day to try to find some birds. Our lake has five small beaches. I visited all of them – no birds. I did find some turtles though.

I was returning home when I remembered there was one place I hadn’t tried. Ironically it’s the closest to our house – less than a five minute walk. A small stream meanders under a small wooden bridge and down to the lake. Maybe I’d find something there. And, indeed, as I walked down I heard a “quack, quack” sound. Promising. Then I spotted a goose. Finally a bird! I took a couple of pictures and then moved on. A few steps on I realized that the goose wasn’t moving. I took a closer look and it wasn’t moving because it wasn’t a real goose. It was some kind of decoy. Curses – foiled again!

Choking back my disappointment I started to trudge back home. Then it occurred to me – if the goose wasn’t real then what was making the “quack quack” sound? In any case even if the goose had been real it would have been going “honk honk” rather than “quack quack”. Back I went and sure enough hidden under the leaves of an overhanging tree was a flotilla of five ducks.

I expected them to be mallards because that’s what you usually find around us. There was a female mallard, but a couple of the others I’d never seen before. When I got home I did some “googling” and consulted with some more knowledgeable friends. We concluded that it wasn’t a wild duck at all. Rather it was a mix of domestic breeds. I thought that the body coloration looked like that of a Buff Orpington and the head like that of a crested duck. The presence of the female mallard may indicate there’s some of that breed in the mix. Apparently mallards will mate with any duck that moves.

Above a large snapping turtle on an island in the middle of the lake. If seen one (maybe the same one) in the same location before. Possibly this is it’s domain. It’s big and they have a very powerful bite (that can take off a finger) so I’m not going to contest it.

Four smaller turtles on a rock in one of the coves.

The dreaded decoy goose. Fairly realistic at a quick glance.

The unidentified duck.

Another picture of the unidentified duck with a female mallard on the right, and another unidentified duck behind.

I’m ready for my close up Mr. de Mille.

The other unidentified duck with the female mallard.

Taken with a Sony A77II and Sigma 400mm f5.6