Recently a friend pointed out a tall dead tree being converted to a bird apartment.  There appeared to be multiple levels and a diversity of residents.  Red-bellied woodpeckers live on upper levels.  The outside wall showed some interesting drawing patterns looking like Martian language to me.  European starlings occupy lower levels.  A brown-colored bird claimed residency in a middle-level unit.  House hunters like downy woodpeckers and Northern flickers come by regularly to visit and check out remaining units.
Both the red-bellied woodpeckers and European starlings had babies or youngsters.  The little ones are always hungry and stick their heads out.  The parents are constantly going back and forth bringing food home and taking the garbage out.



Recently pointed to by a friend Danny Mo, I saw a tall dead tree being converted to a bird apartment.  The tree is located on the left side passing the Prospect Street entrance of Brightwood Park, right outside the fence of the nearest house.  There appeared to be multiple levels and a diversity of residents.  I have watched the tree holes for about a week.  Red-bellied woodpeckers live on upper levels.  The outside wall showed some interesting drawing patterns looking like Martian language to me.  European starlins occupy lower levels.  A brown-colored bird claimed residency in a middle-level unit.  House hunters like downy woodpeckers and Northern flickers come by regularly to visit and check out remaining units.

Both the red-bellied woodpeckers and European starlings had babies or youngsters.  The little ones are always hungry and stick their heads out.  The parents are constantly going back and forth bringing food home and to take garbages out.

Recently pointed to by a friend Danny Mo, I saw a tall dead tree being converted to a bird apartment.  The tree is located on the left side passing the Prospect Street entrance of Brightwood Park, right outside the fence of the nearest house.  There appeared to be multiple levels and a diversity of residents.  I have watched the tree holes for about a week.  Red-bellied woodpeckers live on upper levels.  The outside wall showed some interesting drawing patterns looking like Martian language to me.  European starlins occupy lower levels.  A brown-colored bird claimed residency in a middle-level unit.  House hunters like downy woodpeckers and Northern flickers come by regularly to visit and check out remaining units.

Both the red-bellied woodpeckers and European starlings had babies or youngsters.  The little ones are always hungry and stick their heads out.  The parents are constantly going back and forth bringing food home and to take garbages out.

Recently pointed to by a friend Danny Mo, I saw a tall dead tree being converted to a bird apartment.  The tree is located on the left side passing the Prospect Street entrance of Brightwood Park, right outside the fence of the nearest house.  There appeared to be multiple levels and a diversity of residents.  I have watched the tree holes for about a week.  Red-bellied woodpeckers live on upper levels.  The outside wall showed some interesting drawing patterns looking like Martian language to me.  European starlins occupy lower levels.  A brown-colored bird claimed residency in a middle-level unit.  House hunters like downy woodpeckers and Northern flickers come by regularly to visit and check out remaining units.

Both the red-bellied woodpeckers and European starlings had babies or youngsters.  The little ones are always hungry and stick their heads out.  The parents are constantly going back and forth bringing food home and to take garbages out.

 The summer this year has come with plenty of rainfall.  The heat and the humidity have created an ideal environment for fungi to sprout and grow.  In the past few weeks, just walking on the trail surrounding the large pond of Brightwood Park, I saw a variety of them.  Some are colorful like opera performers and others are like ballet dancers or gypsy dancers.  I particularly marvelled at red jelly fungi.  They seemed to be here for a special exhibition, appearing one day and gone the next day.  The patterns looked like work presented by designers.  Some looked like cute stuffed animals.  Others were like a touch of the magic brush in an artist's hand.  

If you are interested, you can look for a clown face wearing a chef's hat in one of the polyporaceae fungi.  You can also look for two slugs crawling among dried up red jelly fungi.

I included a few pictures of the sun shining through the woods and spraying the light on tree leaves.  These were taken this morning, before the police department announced closing the park because of coyote sightings.

Also included is the recording of the dancing performance by a psaudopollenator using a flower as the stage.

 I find it interesting that some wild animals can treat you as a friend once they get used to you being around and presenting no threat to them.  Today when I was watching a turtle digging in the mud at the junction of the large and the small ponds, a buck walked to me and tried to get my attention.  I almost screamed to warn him not to step on the turtle.  He was like a dog, sniffing on me and was waiting for me to touch his head.  Because of the concern of deer ticks, I had to disappoint him.  I felt guilty and therefore walked with him for a bit.  When I came back to check on the turtle, she abandoned egg-laying and returned to the pond already.  I was unsure whether she was scared by the buck or was disappointed by me turning my attention away from her.


Frogs are usually quite sensitive.  They jump away or dive into the water when people are approaching.  Recently I found some frogs not minding me being around.  One of them crawled to the land and checked me out the other day.  This morning a frog sat like a statue to serve as my model for photography..  I guess they begin to trust me.

The red color in one of the turtle pictures was the reflection of a male cardinal.  The bird did not allow me a chance to take another picture by including him.

A doe greeted me at the parking lot when I was on my way out, by lifting a hind leg.  I wonder if it is deers' way of saluting.

 The recent rain over the weekend not only kept the plants healthy and the flowers pretty, but also cleared the pollen particles from the air.  After waking up the morning after the rain, I could not wait to take delight at the freshness of everything.   
I first took a walk around my house, and saw wisteria crawling over the fence from my neighbor's yard.  The flowers and the buds looked beautiful under the morning sun.  On the vine hanging water drops looked like crystal beads on a necklace.  Buds of new leaves were like professional dancers performing on the stage by extending multiple arms.  In Brightwood Park the overgrowth of wisteria has been a threat to many trees and there is a current effort to remove it.  Yet at many homes it remains ornamental as long as the growth is under control.  
 
Going to the park early in the morning, the chance of seeing birds and animals is higher than the rest of the day.  Although the great-horned owl was not home, I was able to see a gray catbird on a nearby tree branch and a green heron from a distance away.  Along with the catbird and the heron, a mallard duck served as my photography model.
 
The reflection of the trees in the pond has always been an attraction to artists.  Today I saw a triangle-shaped stone located across from the dam and bridge.  With a fresh impression of the waterfront area of Manhattan where I visited a week ago, I named it Brightwood VIA 57 WEST.

The rain we had yesterday and last night not only kept the plants healthy and the flowers pretty, but also cleared the pollen particles from the air.  After waking up I could not wait to take delight at  the freshness of everything.  

I first took a walk around my house, and saw wisteria crawling over the fence from my neighbor's yard.  The flowers and the buds looked beautiful under the morning sun.  On the vine hanging water drops looked like crystal beads on a necklace.  Buds of new leaves were like professional dancers performing on the stage by extending multiple arms.  In Brightwood Park the overgrowth of wisteria has been a threat to many trees and there is a current effort to remove it.  Yet at many homes it remains ornamental as long as the growth is under control.  

Going to the park early in the morning, the chance of seeing birds and animals is higher than the rest of the day.  Although the great-horned owl was not home today, I was able to see a gray catbird on a nearby tree branch and a green heron from a distance away.  Along with the catbird and the heron, a mallard duck served as my photography model.

The reflection of the trees in the pond has always been an attraction to artists.  Today I saw a triangle-shaped stone located across from the dam and bridge.  With a fresh impression of the waterfront area of Manhattan where I visited a week ago, I named it Brightwood VIA 57 WEST.

The rain we had yesterday and last night not only kept the plants healthy and the flowers pretty, but also cleared the pollen particles from the air.  After waking up I could not wait to take delight at  the freshness of everything.  

I first took a walk around my house, and saw wisteria crawling over the fence from my neighbor's yard.  The flowers and the buds looked beautiful under the morning sun.  On the vine hanging water drops looked like crystal beads on a necklace.  Buds of new leaves were like professional dancers performing on the stage by extending multiple arms.  In Brightwood Park the overgrowth of wisteria has been a threat to many trees and there is a current effort to remove it.  Yet at many homes it remains ornamental as long as the growth is under control.  

Going to the park early in the morning, the chance of seeing birds and animals is higher than the rest of the day.  Although the great-horned owl was not home today, I was able to see a gray catbird on a nearby tree branch and a green heron from a distance away.  Along with the catbird and the heron, a mallard duck served as my photography model.

The reflection of the trees in the pond has always been an attraction to artists.  Today I saw a triangle-shaped stone located across from the dam and bridge.  With a fresh impression of the waterfront area of Manhattan where I visited a week ago, I named it Brightwood VIA 57 WEST.

The rain we had yesterday and last night not only kept the plants healthy and the flowers pretty, but also cleared the pollen particles from the air.  After waking up I could not wait to take delight at  the freshness of everything.  

I first took a walk around my house, and saw wisteria crawling over the fence from my neighbor's yard.  The flowers and the buds looked beautiful under the morning sun.  On the vine hanging water drops looked like crystal beads on a necklace.  Buds of new leaves were like professional dancers performing on the stage by extending multiple arms.  In Brightwood Park the overgrowth of wisteria has been a threat to many trees and there is a current effort to remove it.  Yet at many homes it remains ornamental as long as the growth is under control.  

Going to the park early in the morning, the chance of seeing birds and animals is higher than the rest of the day.  Although the great-horned owl was not home today, I was able to see a gray catbird on a nearby tree branch and a green heron from a distance away.  Along with the catbird and the heron, a mallard duck served as my photography model.

The reflection of the trees in the pond has always been an attraction to artists.  Today I saw a triangle-shaped stone located across from the dam and bridge.  With a fresh impression of the waterfront area of Manhattan where I visited a week ago, I named it Brightwood VIA 57 WEST.

 It has been a while since I last shared my Brightwood Park adventures.   While I still have hundreds of photos to process,  I would like to present to you a few interesting developments which caught my eye.

First, it is confirmed that a great horned owl moved into the famous old tree house near Prospect Street.  When I examined the image I took, I am unsure whether this fellow was making a funny face to me, or was born with cross eyes.

Second, sandpipers appeared last Saturday and almost visited the park everyday at the small pond.  I think I saw a male and a female today.

As far as the plants are concerned, a large flora of bluebell flowers (with blue-purple, pink, and white colors) came on stage.  Nearby there were a few jack-in-the pulpit plants.  The flowers of the latter almost changed everyday and developed beautiful colors and patterns.

The fungi are not lagging behind.  Near where the bluebells are, a group of mushrooms of schizophyllaceae grew in adorable formations on a fallen tree branch.  Some looked like Chinese fans and others appeared like human feet with multiple toes.  A few tree fungi (polyporaceae?) grew on a large log.  One of them had a shape like a heart, which reminded me of a patch of moss that I saw and shared a picture of two years ago (included in this album).  When you fall in love with Brightwood Park, you can really experience a heart-to-heart relationship with the plants, the birds, and the animals here.

 Spring is the home-coming season for many birds.  A few days ago I saw a pair of blue herons flying over the large pond, possibly on a house-hunting tour.  This morning I saw one standing on a tall tree in the central island.  The big bird opened the beak as if to say "good morning" to me, and then did several postings for me to take portrait shots.

A northern flicker couple are apparently hatching eggs in their lovely home overlooking the pond and the central island.  The expecting mom looked tired and was waiting for her husband to take the next shift.  Lo and behold, he came home and after a soft and sweet whisper, took over the job.

New flowers and leaves are now everywhere, bringing delight to both people and animals.  The picture of orchid flowers were taken at home.  They are new members added to my family.  I have been watching the buds for almost 5 months.  The waiting finally paid off.
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Last Saturday while I was walking in the park, a pair of wood ducks flew from the pond across the trail into the woods.  They dated on trees and did not mind my presence and picture-taking, as if being hired by me as models.  Instead of making sounds of high pitch and pace, they talked to each other very softly.  The motions of the male approaching the female and of both responding to each other reminded me of the good old days when I was chasing my girlfriend (now my wife, of course).

I have never been allowed by wood ducks to get so close to them.  I changed my position several times and worked for almost 30 minutes.  Believe or not, even when I felt it was time to wrap up, the couple still wanted to go on.  Now I need to figure out whether they use email or other media tools to allow me to send the images to them.

  During a brief walk in Brightwood park this morning, I had encounters with a few interesting objects and would like to share them with you. 

Watching the plants and the flowers made me feel like being in a concert.  The program included but not limited to quartets, solos, and choir performances.

A  log of a fallen tree, located on the Prospect Street side of the trail, across from the picnic area, appeared like a giant snake waking up in the spring concert.

On nearby trees, two blue jays performed singing and dancing.  A mourning dove made a silent special pose.  I wonder if this was inspired by the bald eagle sign of the US Postal Service.

On my way back home, I was attracted by the beautiful magnolia and forsythia flowers.  The last two pictures were taken from my yard, outlooking those of my neighbors along Brightwood Ave.  To me the stars-and-stripes is one of the most beautiful among all national symbols.   

On Sunday in the first week of April, I visited both Brightwood and Mindowaskin Parks, in the morning and before sunset.  As I was watching the flowers and greeting the birds, one classical music piece and one modern (sort of) pop song came to my mind.  The classical one was the Pastoral Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven.  From one day to the next, the change of weather patterns was like the rolling of the movements in the symphony.  The pop song was "Beautiful Sunday" by Daniel Boone, which I learned as a college freshman.  Now after 50 years, I am blessed with a "her" to say "Beautiful Sunday" to each other every Sunday.  Also it is a blessing to live in Westfield and sing the song to friends, plants, flowers, and many lovely creatures.

At Brightwood Park, a northern flicker got out of the tree house after hearing my whistle.  Likely we developed some kind of common language by now.  On the side a blue jay sent a greeting by fluffing the hair.  The geese and ducks were like professional dancers, performing on a stage with beautiful background scenery and special light effects.