On Friday, 12 May, Gabriel Willow, a well known nature guide in the city, took us into the park to see birds. It started auspiciously about  6PM. with a Red-tailed Hawk circling high above Cabrini Boulevard. The usual plebians - Sparrows, Starlings and Pigeons were ubiquitous, the former however behaving more like warblers as they foraged in the treetops for more protein rich foods for their young.
Avoiding these birds however, we focused on the less common, such as the Catbird and Baltimore Orioles,  a pair of which were seen as we ambled down the boulevard. A Mockingbird was spotted on the ground, along with a Robin's nest, with the hen brooding, just over eye level stuck into a brickwall.
Overhead, and appropriately near the tall chimney at 193rd St or so - a pair of Chimney Swifts hawked for high flying insects, while two Herring Gulls, a 1st and 3rd year - also flew quite high. Briefly a Canada Goose caused us to crane our necks as it made its brief appearance. Non-stop it flew to some point south.
This May has been unseasonably cold, after a warm winter, and the migration patterns are disrupted, along with plant cycles. This of course limited our pick of birds on the tour, by this time of year migrants ought to be coming back in full force. For instance, we did not even make the usual sightings of Cardinals, though they are spotted in the area. Bluejays did appear on occasion, flitting through the branches, and an Mourning Dove flew out of the trees to pose for a good ten minutes on a ledge.
Despite the paucity of avian species, it was a good walk, with a number of tree species noted. Gabriel pointed to the scarification in the London Planes just outside the Stan Michel Garden - caused by Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers who peck the young bark to get their sugary meal from the inside.
This stretch of woods has a great variety of trees, from including hardwoods - oaks and maples were predominant, with the Norway Maple - an introduced species of little use to the birds seen often; a gigantic Chestnut Oak and of course Pin Oaks, the latter the most common oak in the US; Honey Locusts with their long, dark pods, a Bitternut Hickory, and most impressive of all, at the south end of the Stan Michel Garden, either a Dawn Redwood or a Bald Cypress, my knowledge of trees is not that complete but it can easily be narrowed down to one or the other. It towers above just about everything including the century-old London Planes.
And of course another tree worth mentioning is the Poison Ivy, actually a Sumac, which can adapt its growth habit from treelike to vinelike. It abounds in these parts so watch out! And then there are the skunks, which mostly come out at night for garbage.
So thanks to Gabriel, he did a great job, and thanks to the Fort Tryon Park Trust and Con Edison which sponsored the event.
Gabriel can be seen all around the city, he is an expert on the wildlife of the parks from the tiny and tony Bryan Park to the massive Jamaica Bay Wildlife Preserve and of course Central Park, in which he can claim to have seen Pale Male doing unchivalrous deeds with other birds' nestlings!

Since the early 1950s, Washington Heights and Inwood have had a good library. 4790 Broadway is the address of this local hangout for bibliophiles - and much more; this facility gives space to computer users, English classes, immigration seminars - and many children's activities. It is located around the corner from a major school. The entire upstairs is dedicated to children.

But if the developers have their way, children will be out in the street. Cold. Along with immigrants, computer users - and readers. Books and newspapers, the latter perused by a faithful crowd of locals who like to stay informed - will not be available. But that may be a part of the plan; King Charles III of England, when faced with an informed public meeting in coffee houses, levied taxes to discourage assembly. Assembly continued. Charles did not; his head rolled from the scaffold.

And heads may roll today if the madness continues. Parents are not happy with losing a safe after school haven for their offspring; immigrants are in shock; liberals and conservatives alike are looking into this rotten scam - and scam it is; the developers want to buy the building and property for $1. Which measly sum is the same as was paid for the Kingsbridge Armory, the largest building of its kind in the world, which sits on 10 acres of land near the river and major transportation.

Just who are these stingy developers? And why are they allowed to rob the children and future citizens of the realm, for the price of a cup of coffee?

The answer is the long history of corruption in the city. Remember the Wollman Skating Rink in Central Park? Over 10 years of nothing doing while the city gave tens of millions of $ to 'developers'. And what did they develop? Excuses; they got good at this and fooled the public, till it  got so bad that a character as brass as Donald Trump came along and offered to do it for half a million in a matter of weeks; and love him or hate him, most I suspect the latter, he did it. It is open to this very day. The developers were thieves and nothing more. Trump was brass but honest. Call him bad, or terrible if you wish, and you strengthen the arguement; the developers and their cronies are worse than Trump!

Despite the fact that this library, at 4790 Broadway, is in one of the most liberal constituencies in the United States, there are those who would rather see Trump than see a bunch of lying, stinking low life thieves deprive their children of a place to learn.
But the lying low lives have one trick up their sleeve, as if the devil had taught them well; they are claiming that this is for affordable housing - and that the library will re-open in five years. As these promise are rarely, if ever kept, only a fool plays into this. And as for housing, there are large vacant lots - one a block or so away, that could house hundreds - in addition to the two other lots the city already owns in the district. Further, citywide there are buildings and lots that are begging to be developed.

So what makes 4790 Broadway so special? Could it be in the devil in the  details, - such as the re-zoning that will occur if this rotten deal goes through? Nothing to see here folks seems to be the attitude of the councilman and his gang of lowlifes. Yes folks, nothing to see here. Go away and take those brats away  so we can make $! And give Ydanis Rodrgiuez yet another hefty pay raise as he votes against pay raises for city servants. Nothing to see here....

There was a meeting about this on Monday, 8 May, at the school around the corner, and both sides showed up; the conservationists with facts, the agents of the developers with lies. So we will be watching this issue on this site and working to keep our children safe from nasty politicians and their developers.