Archive for the ‘Cormorant’ Category
unknown caller
It’s National Escargot Day, in these United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A humble narrator is fairly crispy around the edges, and in a state best described as “too little butter scraped over too much bread.” The ridiculous schedule I’ve been keeping throughout the months of April and May is beginning to wear me down a bit, and I’ve got literally thousands of photos to process and deliver to various entities. Busy is good, admittedly, but “man alive” do I need a day or two off.
Pictured above is one of the Cormorant breeding/habitat stands which are observable beneath the Bayonne Bridge, at the intersection of the Kill Van Kull and Newark Bay
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Ultimately, it’s the dog who suffers. Poor Zuzu the dog didn’t get out for her slow motion walk last night until after midnight. She’s a bit pissed off at me, my dog. Saying that, she was quite engaged with the late night sniffing, probably because every other dog in the neighborhood had already taken care of business and every tree pit was redolent with their scents and “pee mail.”
Pictured above, the spring blossoms of a tree you might observe on the corner of 45th street and 34th avenue in Astoria, Queens.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s entirely likely that, as we descend into the madness of a holiday weekend, you’re going to be greeted with single image posts tomorrow, Friday, and Monday, so apologies are offered. My services have been engaged by one of the local newspapers to photograph the Maspeth Memorial Day parade on Sunday, incidentally, so if you’re there and you see some weird looking old guy with a camera and a Newtown Creek Alliance hat, say hi.
Pictured above, a double entendre laden bit of signage from Third Avenue in Manhattan. If you don’t know the street slang meaning of “Toss my salad” I’d suggest you google it, as this is a family blog.
Upcoming Tours and events
Newtown Creek Alliance and Riverkeeper Visioning, June 3rd, 1-4 p.m..
Imagine the future of Newtown Creek with Riverkeeper and NCA at the Kingsland Wildfowers Green Roof (520 Kingsland Avenue in Greenpoint) – details here.
Newtown Creek Alliance History lecture with NCA historian Mitch Waxman, June 3rd, 5:00- 7:30p.m.
An free hour long lecture and slideshow about Newtown Creek’s incredible history at the gorgeous Kingsland Wildfowers Green Roof (520 Kingsland Avenue in Greenpoint) followed by a walk around the roof and a Q&A – details here.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
strange cry
Aprils Fool’s Day is for the birds.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Normally, one would present some sort of elaborate gag to you on April Fool’s, but I’m not in a joking mood at the moment. Accordingly, here’s a few shots of the feathered variety. It has been an intensely busy few weeks for old Mitch, and I think it’s likely that the two remaining posts this week will be single image ones (unless something interesting happens right in front of me, of course).
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Unfortunately, the busy time has little to do with actually producing anything worth talking about – accounting tasks for the annual tax filing, negotiating the sometimes hostile waters of setting this year’s walking and boat tour schedule… the whole Sunnyside Yards thing… it’s been a doozy of a March in 2015.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
All of this, coupled with the interminable darkness and gloomy cold of a never ending winter, has really kept me from producing images worth seeing in March. Looks like there’s a day or two of OK weather ahead of us now, so if you spot some mendicant in a filthy black raincoat scuttling along the pavement in Ridgewood or Queens Plaza or something – that’ll probably be me.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
half impassable
I’d say I was getting old, as if I wasn’t already there.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A few archive shots in today’s post, as your humble narrator is busy licking his wounds. A tear to the skinvelope on my left foot, a minor injury, has been causing me to walk “funny,” or at least funnier than usual. The changes in my normal gait have, over the course of the last few days, created a few sore muscles in the lower back. This, in turn, has transmitted along the entire spine. Accordingly, today, I’m a hunched over malcontent given to emanating odd sighs and groans whenever a transition from sitting to standing is required.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The foot injury itself is decidedly superficial, a few irritated and or raw spots on the top layer of skin that don’t “hurt” but which are uncomfortable. Unfortunately, the affected area is found deep within my shoe, and walking mile after mile has caused further irritation on the tender spot. I’m a bit like a tropical flower, it would seem – delicate. I can tell you that twenty years ago, I could have laughed off a bleeding hole the size of a ping pong ball, whereas today an overly large pimple is capable of reducing me to bed rest. Summon the clergy.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, I have a long list of pedantic tasks to accomplish before the computer and a longer list of books that require reading. Unfortunately, infirmity means I won’t be walking that much for the next couple of days in the hope that my skinvelope will regenerate enough tissue to protect the underlying firmament of tendon and muscle. The back thing has to sort itself out, as usual.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Upcoming Walking Tours-
Saturday, September 27th, 13 Steps Around Dutch Kills
Walking Tour with Atlas Obscura, click here for tickets and more info.
Sunday, September 28th, The Poison Cauldron of the Newtown Creek
Walking Tour with Brooklyn Brainery, click here for tickets and more info.
angry sky
Want to see something cool?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I got to go to South Brother Island with the Audubon Society once, whereupon these three presented themselves. Baby Cormorants, soon after this shot was gathered, the one on the right vomited half a fish at me. Baby birds are bastards, but they are cool looking.
Nature wants to kill you, and one should never be seduced by its beauty. That’s nature’s game, and it’s why our ancestors paved over everything in retaliation, which brings me inexorably back to Newtown Creek.
There are three public Newtown Creek walking tours coming up, one in Queens and one in Brooklyn and one that walks the currently undefended border of the two boroughs. I have another iron in the fire, which I’ll tell you about later this week. As you’re reading this, I’m likely on a boat with the Working Harbor Committee’s Education program, showing off the harbor to a group of high school students.
Plank Road, with Newtown Creek Alliance, on April 19th. This one is free, click here to get on the list.
Poison Cauldron, with Atlas Obscura, on April 26th. Click here for more info and ticketing.
Modern Corridor, with Brooklyn Brainery, on May 18th. Click here for more info and ticketing.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
spoke deeply
Year’s end archive shots begin.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned last week, I’m a bit out of it and require a holiday recharge. Accordingly, a series of archive shots will be greeting you here at Newtown Pentacle until 2014 rolls into town. The shot above depicts a Jamaica Bay Cormorant, who was observed loitering at the Park Ranger’s dock at Breezy Point a few years back.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
The Newtown Pentacle 