A little songbird told me

Finding the brain's common language
by Erin Wayman, Science News, July 22, 2013

Birds do it

Bird Night at the Disco
by Sindya N. Bhanoo, The New York Times, June 10, 2013

Dance in flight

How starling flocks create their aerobatic displays

by Matt Walker, Earth News, BBC.co.uk, November 11, 2010

Dancing in the park

Kinesis Project Dance Theatre

(Zoe Bowick, Hilary Brown, Madeline Hoak, Benjamin Oyzon, 

Jun Lee, Rebecca Patek and Melissa Riker)

at Bosque Garden and Fountain, Battery Park 

all photos (c)2010, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

Photographing Melissa Riker's Kinesis Project Dance Theatre--on a perfect day at Battery Park--turned out to be a slippery affair.

First, I had to find the troupe. I headed towards the Bosque Garden fountain--since I'd read that the company planned to dance in it. Riker's announcements invited the public to bring towels if they wanted to join in. But I found only pigeons, English house sparrows and starlings sipping and bathing in the fountain--oh, and a batch of tourists taking snapshots of loved ones posed in the midst of the spray. No dancers, though.

(c)2010, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

I wandered a short distance and discovered that Kinesis Project is a movable feast in more ways than one. Riker and her dancers were gradually ambling and scrambling towards the fountain, often landing on benches and slipping over one another in a rapid, nonstop way that challenged my photo skills.

Eventually, dancers displaced avian denizens and tourists as you will see in this photo collection. Click the photo player to see larger images.

Birds and KPDT at Battery Park 
(c)2010, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

Watching the birdies

St. George Ferry terminal bus stop
(c)2010, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

View down from Alice Austen House, Staten Island
(c)2010, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

Best ways to contribute to Gulf charities

Send Money to Effective Oil Spill Charities and Avoid Scams

by Kevin Purdy, Lifehacker.com, June 15, 2010

Gulf disaster: what's at risk

The National Audubon Society's site has many resources concerning the BP oil spill's devastating effect on the environment and wildlife around the Gulf of Mexico as well as suggestions of things you can do to help. Here's one video from that site.

Guitars for the birds!

Céleste Boursier-Mougenot at Barbican Centre

by Eddy Lawrence, TimeOut London, March 18, 2010

What does it feel like to have wings...?

Native Element
by Verlyn Klinkenborg, The Rural Life, The New York Times, April 5, 2009

See ya later!

InfiniteBody blog and Body and Soul podcast are on hiatus for a few weeks while I take a much-needed birding vacation! See you all in March!

The necessary wild

A Wilderness, Lost in the City
by William C. Thompson, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., The New York Times, May 29, 2008

I was delighted to be introduced to Ridgewood Reservoir by dancer-choreographer Jennifer Monson who is devoted to keeping it as a wild, natural preserve. I ran into her last night at Susan Rethorst's (wonderful!!!) show at Danspace Project, and we were both excited about this op-ed piece in the Times. But Ridgewood Reservoir is not the only "teeming wildlife preserve" in New York City. One of my favorite city haunts is Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, located in Queens, just off Cross Bay Boulevard, about a 10-minute walk from the A train's Broad Channel station. Having access to nature is as necessary to me as the food I eat and the dances I witness!

We are family.
Canada geese at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Photo by Eva Yaa Asantewaa
(c) 2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa


Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, May 26, 2008
Photo by Eva Yaa Asantewaa
(c) 2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

Save Ridgewood Reservoir

Riverkeeper

iLand--Interdisciplinary Lab for Art, Nature and Dance

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

Seeking dancers for National Pigeon Day

This is what comes of mixing one's involvement in the dance world with one's involvement in the birding world! This morning, I received an email from Anna Dove who is helping to organize the first National Pigeon Day in Central Park on Friday, June 13, and would love flocks of dancers to get involved. (Anna Dove! Just got that! :-D)

The event is scheduled for 4-8pm at Pilgrim Hill, and you can get more details at the National Pigeon Day blog. The project was featured in a recent Daily News piece and in a New York Times article in November 2007.

Dove is requesting assistance or suggestions for this event and also invites interested bird-loving dancers to check out the People for Pigeons blog.

For the birds

Not dance, I know. But you all know I'm an avid birder, and you might just find a new mascot for InfiniteBody!

If you go, have a good time! I'll be away (May 15-22), birding in Arizona!

Eva :-)

*************

Central Park birding

Guided Bird Walking Tour

9am-Noon
Central Park
Tour Guide: Randy Schutz
$5

We'll meet on the southeast corner of 81st Street and Central Park West on the park side entering the Park directly and taking in what wildlife may be in evidence along the way. Dependent on what we find we'll visit Tanner Spring, the Shakespeare Garden, pass by Belvedere Castle and head into the Ramble. Much will depend on what we find and where we find it.

Almost 200 different species of birds can be found in Central Park during the year. Most birds are more active in the early morning and late afternoon, although there will be some activity throughout the day.

If you are new to birding, you will be given a few pointers about using binoculars and doing birding.

Please RSVP: plsreserve@yahoo.com

The Turning World (33)

Did Your Shopping List Kill a Songbird?
by Bridget Stutchbury, The New York Times, March 30, 2008

New mascot contender

A new contender for InfiniteBody blog mascot has been making stunning repeat appearances at the southwest end of Union Square Park, near the Gandhi statue! Click the following links to see photos of the bird--recently ID-ed as a very rare (for New York City) Scott's Oriole--that has NYC birders all atwitter.

http://www.jczinn.com/birds/Passerines/scor_3870a.jpg

http://www.ardithbondi.com/slideshow28.html#0

Happy Winter Solstice!

Wishing you all a beautiful holiday season and every blessing of the coming year. Please enjoy this remarkable story!

Eva

clipped from www.youtube.com

So I think he can dance!

And now, another challenger for the crown of InfiniteBody blog mascot! Introducing Snowball the Dancing Cockatoo!

An alternate mascot for InfiniteBody?

From the You Just Never Know Where You'll Find Dancing in New York file

A fellow birder posted the following message to the eBirds NYC list, and I'm reposting it here with her permission.

While enjoying a stellar day of birding at Prospect Park this afternoon, which was awash in hordes of warblers, vireos, et al pushed in by the previous evening's north/northwest wind, I observed a little brown wren doing an odd little dance.

The wren was perched on a log by some broken down cement steps, near a culvert by the main road, across from the zoo. As I slowly walked over with my pit bull, it began to raise its wings, drop them down, and frame its lowered head with the fanned, stubby wings. It performed the display several times, in a ritualized manner, facing me and my pit bull (though any number of other intruding birds in the immediate vicinity could have been the target of the display).

I'd never observed this behavior in any bird before, so a little research on the Internet was in order upon reaching home. I found a pdf study of Chickadee anti-predator display patterns. The wing wave was clearly illustrated and perfectly matched the wren's antic display. Basically, the bird faces the threat, lowers its head, and waves its wings downward around its head.

The wren was found in an area where I have frequently observed both winter wrens and house wrens for at least 10 years. This individual sported a distinctive white eyebrow marking, so may have been a Carolina wren.

I still don't know how that wren thought she was going to initimidate a pit bull with that cute little performance.

Kim E.

Thanks, Kim, for that stellar bit of dance writing! As for the wren's strategy: whatever it takes, cookie! But click here and on the Play button to see InfiniteBody's considerably fiercer official mascot.

In need of a good laugh today?

Aren't we all? Try this. Not dance-related, but what the heck!

Winging It

[Editor's Note: I loved the following story which was posted on Friday by my fellow birder Carolyn Kay Carson on the eBirds email list. In a city like New York, every where you look there's potential for high drama and comedy! Have a beautiful--and proud--Sunday!]

At the opening gala for Shakespeare in the Park's Romeo and Juliet this past Tuesday evening, guests were seated at tables on the lawn in front of the theater for a pre-show dinner. A fledgling grackle decided that the abundance of gourmet food was too good to pass up. S/he started flying from table to table startling the well-dressed guests. The young bird would climb up the side of a tree trying to get a good look at the plates of food. Attempts to target a meal didn't work out so well--s/he wasn't on the guest list! Mom and Pop were hopping from tree to tree keeping a proud eye on the youngster. When I saw the flustered bus boys trying to nab the bird in a napkin (!), it was time to rescue it from being rescued. They were relieved to know that the bird was ok, but, they insisted on trying to help it back up into the tree hoping it would leave the guests to enjoy their dessert! A happy ending for the grackle and even for Romeo and Juliet because it started pouring rain just after Juliet's tonic-to-sleep scene!

Others birds on set: ROBINS & CHIMNEY SWIFTS' pre-show chorus, a BLACK CROWNED NIGHT HERON fishing in Turtle Pond behind the set during the performance, and a large raptor (too dark to i.d.) flew very low from the west down toward the pond after sunset then back toward the west about 20 minutes later. Black skimmers were a no-show.

Carolyn Kay Carson