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MON MAR 29th
I will start with a WARNING: this is a Very Picture Laden Post. It has been so long since I have posted that I guess I am just making up for those past missed posts. :D Also, I know that a good number of you are mainly visiting here for SVU pics. I do love SVU, but I want people to know that those pics represent only a very small percentage of the type of pics I take. :D
Well Spring started this last week at 1:32 pm EST on Saturday, March 20th and NYC is definitely showing some WONDERFUL signs of the season. All one needs to do is take a walk through either Central or Riverside Park in order to see the fantastic proof.
In Central Park the birds sre definitely out! Some of these are just "the regulars", but I still find "the regulars" to be quite outstanding!
Let's start with the Common Grackle. The first three pictures are of Males. The first two pictures were taken last week and the last one I took a few years back.
The next picture I also took a few years back and is of a Female CG and the one following (which is not my picture) is of a Juvenile CG.
The next bird is a Morning Dove and ....
.... this is a Male American Robin. In the second picture of the Robin you can see its translucent nictitating membrane, which is one of its three eyelids (the other two are the upper and the lower.) The membranes are used to clean and protect their eyes.
The next bird is a Downy Woodpecker. The first picture is from last week. The other pictures, which I took over the years, I am including so that you can see the differences between Males, Females, and Juveniles.
Male Downys have a red patch on the back of their heads.
Juvenile Downys, on the other hand, have their red patches on the top of their heads.
And Female Downys have no red patch at all.
The next bird from last week is the Red-bellied Woodpecker.
The first one is the Male and it has a complete red nape.
This pic, taken a while back, is of a Female and you can tell it is a female because she has an incomplete red nape.
You might ask why this woodpecker is called Red-bellied. It is not obvious in the above two pics, but as the season progresses their bellies become darker, as seen in this pic I took awhile back.
The next birds I saw last week were House Finches. The Male is red colored and the Female is brown. Occasionally, due to dietary changes, the Male can be orange or yellow colored, instead of red.
Isn't that Male's red eyebrow just Spectacular?! :D
While I was at the feeders in The Ramble in Central Park another birder/photographer spotted a pair of Cedar Waxwings. I thank that birder for pointing them out to me and I wish I could remember the birder's name. The CWs were so high up that I was only able to get this poor quality photo of them.
However, these birds are just TOO BEAUTIFUL for me to only put up that one bad picture of them so I am also posting up pictures I have taken of them in the past. They really are BEAUTIFUL Birds.
This picture that I took, also a while back, at Tanner's Spring is of a Juvenile Cedar Waxwing.
Also last week Central Park saw the first butterflies of the season. This picture is of a Mourning Cloak Butterfly and they are usually the first butterfly to appear in Spring. I took the picture about 10 days ago at the feeders in The Ramble.
All of the bird pictures above were taken at Central Park, but CP has far more than just birds, butterflies, and trees. As I was entering The Ramble on the east side, right by The Boathouse, I saw Marcia Gay Harden enjoying some ice cream with her son, Hudson. Just a typical day in Manhattan. Walk down the street and see a celebrity.
At first I thought I might have been mistaken and that it wasn't her, but then I found this 2007 photo which makes me think that my photo is indeed of her and her son.
Now don't think Central Park was having all the fun. :) Spring is also showing "its colors" in Riverside Park. Flowers are blooming all over the place. :D I don't know the names of flowers, except for a few, so if you know what these are feel free to leave me a comment with their names. TIA. I have some books on flowers and trees, so hopefully I will find some time to teach myself the names.
Riverside Park was also teeming with dogs! :D LOVE DOGGIES!! One of my favorite doggies that I regularly run into is an albino Basset Hound named Paul Newman (so named because of his eyes.) He is the most ADORABLE and FRIENDLY dog!
Things were hopping at the 105th St. Dog Run!
And many CUTE doggies were out strolling with their owners.
I just LOVE this dog!!! Is it a Chow Chow? I don't know. I just know that to me it looks like what Aslan would look like if Aslan was transformed into a dog.
The dog ....
.... and Aslan.
Ball games also were staring up again, with both boys and girls playing softball/baseball. (I have no idea what is the difference between the two. Lol!)
A "lonely" toy caught my eye. :)
Finally, the kids of West 83rd St. knew what time of year it is! :D :D
Now on to the part that some are looking forward to the most. :D
Please click here for the SVU Pics.
MON MAR 29th
Part 1 of this post can be found HERE, but now on to the part that some are looking forward to the most. :D
Early last week Law & Order: SVU was shooting up in Harlem yet again. I know the show shoots in several locations, but they seem to shoot here with such high frequency that I am starting to think that the show should be renamed Law & Order: SVU Harlem, just like how all the different CSI shows are named after their locations. Lol! :D
Well it was a chilly, rainy, somewhat miserable and dreary day. Luckily, I caught a glimpse of this dodad that was on someone's car and it made me smile.
The shoot mainly took place on 121st St. between Manhattan Avenue and Morningside Avenue, but there was also a set on Morningside Avenue itself.
By the time I was able to get there they were filming inside of 345 W. 121st Street, one of Harlem's GORGEOUS brownstones. This was Set #1. I think earlier on they might have shot some exterior scenes because the old brown car that I have seen them use before was parked right in front of the building.
At first it was really slow and all I saw were extras ....
... and I started to think that I wouldn't get a chance to see any of the regular cast because I was pressed for time and not able to stay for long, but then Christopher Meloni went by and entered the interior set. With the cap on I almost didn't recognize him because so many crew members had caps on that day. He was eating while he was walking so this was the only usable picture I got, as I don't think he would like pics of him chewing put out on the web.
A short while afterwards Richard Belzer walked by and entered the set. He then came back out, got some thing to eat, chatted with a crew member for a bit and then went back inside to the set. In typical NYC fashion some people walked right by him while he was on his break and didn't pay him or the set any mind whatsoever. That is so NY! I LOVE NYers! :D (Ok, so I am biased. Lol!) I was going to ask him for his autograph, but I thought better of it given his recent incident with an Apple store employee. I thought he might be a
little bit weary of people approaching him.
'Law & Order' star Richard Belzer says Apple Store harass accuser targeted him because of fame
BY Kerry Burke AND Helen Kennedy
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Thursday, March 11th 2010, 5:57 PM
Braganti for News
Richard Belzer at the grand opening of the Apple Store, at 67th and Broadway in New York, NY, in November.
"Law and Order" actor Richard Belzer says the Apple Store employee who called cops on him targeted him because he's famous.
"I guess she was trying to shake me down. She clearly knew who I was," Belzer told the Daily News Thursday. "Sometimes when you are a celebrity, people try to take advantage of you."
The too-close encounter between Belzer, 65, and Milan Agnew, 21, happened Wednesday at the Apple Store at 67th St. and Broadway.
Belzer says he put his hand on her shoulder when she offered to help him. She says he grabbed her by the shoulders, shook her, choked her and barked, "I need help!"
She called 911 and filed a harassment complaint.
Belzer told The News the whole thing was caught on a security tape - and it vindicates him.
"I didn't scream. I didn't choke her. Go to the videotape. The police did. A bunch of New York's Finest reviewed the tape, and they saw that there was nothing," he said. "I was not charged. There is no charge."
Belzer - a standup comedian who famously has played the same character, sarcastic detective John Munch, on a record nine different television shows - said his sympathies were with the cops Agnew called.
"It's too bad our fine police officers had to waste their time. They should ticket the girl," he said.
NY Daily News Source Link
A bit after he went inside Tamara Tunie came out. She is BEAUTIFUL and Real looking in person. Can you believe that, at least according to IMDB, she just turned 51?! You Go Woman! :D I wanted to ask her for her autograph, but the set seemed a bit tense so I didn't, but if I see her and Belzer again I am definitely going to ask. :)
No one immediately followed her out of the set and things were quiet for a while. I was pressed for time and I was also cold and wet so I decided to leave, but just as I was getting ready to put my camera away the set completely emptied out and it turned out that almost the entire regular cast (Richard Belzer, Ice-T, Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay) was inside. I don't know if they had just finished an emotionally draining scene and/or there was some sort of "work relations strain" on the set, but they looked very tense when they came out. I have seen them in the past joking and smiling in between takes and scenes, but this was definitely not one of those times. Maybe everyone was in a somewhat foul mood because of the crappy weather? In addition, Richard Belzer appeared to be in pain as he walked up the stairs from the brownstone. Maybe he has knee joint problems?
I also caught this bad picture of one of the semi-regular cast members. I think she plays a crime scene tech. If you know her name, please leave me a comment with it. TIA. :)
ETA: Thanks to Linda I was informed that this cast member's name is Caren Browning and she now plays CSU Captain Judith Siper. Like many other SVU actors, she has portrayed other characters in past SVU and regular L&O episodes. Thanks again Linda for the information! :D The picture below is not mine. It is a NBC photo still.
From there they went around the corner, onto Morningside Avenue, to Set #2, which was also an interior set, inside of The Church of The Master.
I had to leave at that point, but I can't complain at all because a day that initially started out with me thinking I would only get some shots of the crew and some extras ended up with me getting shots of practically the entire regular cast. I have met B.D. Wong in the past, when he was walking with his friends on the Upper West Side, but that was years ago when he was on Oz. I have also met Benjamin Bratt (GORGEOUS!), S. Epatha Merkerson, and John Fiore (Det. Profaci) but they are all from the parent show. So now the only cast members from SVU I have left to see in person are Stephanie March and Judith Light. I would love to meet Judith Light because I think she is a phenomenal actress and I have admired her work since she played Karen Wolek on One Live to Live. Is that show even on anymore?
Hope you enjoyed the pics! :D
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