Blog
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The Bird Bar
February 27, 2014
Drink recipes from the Bird Bar -- that little known, famous, discreet and raucous watering hole of birders. Where every bird has its drink and every drink is named after a bird. Read more » -
Owl Notes
March 13, 2013
I saw the saw-whet. It was sitting in a yew tree at the corner of the Shakespeare Garden in Central Park. The tree itself is small, hardly more than a bush, but I had to walk around it several times before I caught sight of a puffed-up, rufous-on-white streaked breast. The little owl was on a high branch close to the main trunk. My friend M. came along and we both stood under the eight - inch bird. As we watched, it gave a little hiccup and spit out a pellet that fell to the ground with a metallic clink. It was a leadgray, still wet, with tiny hairs embedded in it and a glint of mica. I put it on the stone wall and M. and I went off to the Metropolitan Museum. When I came back a few hours later, the owl was still there. A well-dressed woman passed by and asked what I was looking at. I showed her the owl, and the pellet. "You should take it," she said. Her name was Regina. After she left, I picked up the pellet and took it home and put it on the windowsill by my desk. Read more »
