I am always in awe of the many wild birds that live and fly around my Bedford, New York farm and its surrounding areas - from the majestic hawks to the more diminutive hummingbirds searching for nectar in my gardens.
Earlier this month, on a beautiful Saturday morning, I joined a special birdwatching expedition offered by the Bedford Garden Club - "Naturalist Series - Raptors and Eagles." Our guide was Tait Johansson, Naturalist-in-Residence at the Bedford Audubon Society. The walk took us through parts of the 504-acre Croton Point Park, the largest peninsula on the Hudson River. This area attracts bald eagles, hawks, owls, waterfowl, and depending on the season, provides habitat for sparrows, American Pipits, Horned Larks, Snow Buntings, and many others. As a lover of birds and conservation, I was delighted to go and learn more about our avian friends.
Enjoy these photos.
Our journey started early. Our group gathered by 8am. It was a glorious autumn morning and we were all eager to see and hear some interesting birds. Birds are some of the best ambassadors from the natural world. There are roughly 10-thousand species spread across the habitats on all seven continents. With their voices, plumage patterns, colors, and antics, birds provide countless information about the various types of birds and the ecosystems they inhabit.
It was also quite frosty on this morning at Croton Point Park located on the Hudson River. We were all told to dress warmly and to wear comfortable shoes.
We started on a 100-foot hill that covers more than 90-acres of the park. This hill is a capped landfill which was operated by the Westchester County government from 1927 to 1986 when it was capped and restored to green space. Croton Point is a very important stop for migrating birds.
Our guide on this nature trip was Tait Johansson, the Naturalist-in-Residence at the Bedford Audubon Society. Tait has been birding for more than 34-years.
Here is a photo of some of the participants in our group listening carefully to some of the natural bird calls. Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of science. A birdwatcher observes by using using the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope, and by listening for bird sounds.
In this photo, our group is listening to a juvenile Bald Eagle.
And here it is – a young Bald Eagle, characterized by its dark brown head and body. The Bald Eagle develops from a dark headed, dark-bellied bird in its first year to a white-headed, dark-bellied bird by age four. It was definitely a highlight of our walk.
At this juncture, we stopped to look at Hook Mountain in the distance. To early Dutch settlers, Hook Mountain was known as “Verdrietlg Hock,” which means “Tedious Point.” It is located within Hook Mountain State Park – a 676-acre undeveloped park, part of the Palisades Interstate Park system, just north of Nyack, New York.
We stopped often to listen for birds. Birds don’t live in isolation. In fact, each species interacts with numerous other animals and plants, as well as geologic formations and weather systems. When birding, it is important to be quiet. Birds are easily startled by loud noises and will flee to cover. It is also wise to avoid sudden movements.
Here is Joe looking off into the distance for hawks or other raptors. Our group also saw a red-tailed hawk. The red-tailed hawk is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members within the genus of Buteo in North America or worldwide.
This is Beth Sachs, Founder of the nature series and President of the Bedford Garden Club. This outing is just one of the many wonderful and informative activities organized by the Bedford Garden Club. The BGC works tirelessly to preserve wildlife habitats in the greater Bedford community, conduct conservation research, and lead environmental education and native garden programs throughout the year. Go to their website to learn more.
Varner Redmon and Dana Worlock stop for a quick photo.
In this photo are Eric Kronenberg, Joe, Tait, Audrey Zinman, and John Redmon.
I wonder what Joe and Tait have spotted?
This image was taken right after Tait pointed out a close view of a Cooper’s hawk. Cooper’s hawk is a medium-sized hawk native to the North American continent and found from southern Canada to Mexico. There have been many sighting of Cooper’s hawks at my farm.
And here is a beautiful view across Croton Bay from the top of the Croton Point grassland. I hope this short blog inspires you to take a nature walk this holiday weekend to look and listen for these astonishing creatures. If you live in the area, look out for some of the other programs lead by the Bedford Audubon Society. Tait’s next excursion is in December – a field trip to Read Sanctuary/Marshlands Conservancy to look for Great Horned Owls, winter waterbirds, and lingering songbirds.
And here is a short video of our group listening to the sounds of a Northern Cardinal and a White-throated Sparrow.
Over the weekend I hosted a lovely Moroccan-style dinner party for 17 at my Bedford, New York farm. My friend, Chef Pierre Schaedelin, from PS Tailored Events, and I, planned a delicious menu. The first course was Bisteeya, a traditional Moroccan dish, followed by Couscous Royale, made with chicken, Merguez sausage, lamb, and root vegetables. And for dessert - homemade pomegranate sorbet with brown butter shortbread cookies.
Enjoy these photos.
Whenever I host dinner parties, I always include place cards and menus – it is a personal detail that is very important to me. The card stock is printed with the symbol of my farm – the great sycamore tree of Cantitoe Corners.
In my Brown Room, Kevin took a photo of this nice fire built to warm everyone on a cool, autumn evening. Follow Kevin on his Instagram page @seenbysharkey.
The table is all set and looks so wonderful – just in time for my guests to arrive.
Here is a view of my table setting – so simple, yet so elegant. Each dinner menu is placed on the plate. This one listed Cantitoe Chicken Bisteeya, using poultry raised right here at my farm, Couscous Royale with Chicken, Lamb Chops, Minted Lamb Rissoles, Merguez sausage, Vegetables, and Ras el Hanout and Saffron Broth. Ras el Hanout is a spice mix found in Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. The name in Arabic means “head of the shop” and implies a mixture of the best spices the seller has to offer.
In my servery, we always prepare the bar. I decided to make bourbon sour cocktails using cider made from my apples picked this season. This year, my granddaughter, Jude, pressed all the apples for the cider – it’s so delicious.
I sugared all the glasses for the cocktails. I top the rim with a little lemon juice and then dip the glass in some brown sugar – it works perfectly for these drinks. When hosting a party – get as much done beforehand as possible, so there is no rush during the party itself.
These domed dishes are Moroccan tagines. The base is wide and shallow, and the tall lid fits snugly inside the rim. As the food cooks, steam rises into the cone, condenses, and then trickles down the sides back into the dish.
The meats are all seared in the Flower Room kitchen, before they are finished in the oven in my Winter House. Here are the lamb chops for the couscous dish.
Chef Pierre took a snapshot of the finished lamb chops cooked to perfection. Follow Chef on Instagram @pstailoredevents.
Here I am with the Bisteeya just before the three are placed into the oven.
All the vegetables are prepared early in the morning as part of the “mis-en-place” meaning “set in place”. It refers to having all the ingredients prepped and ready to go before cooking.
Chef Pierre cooks an assortment of fresh vegetables for the Couscous Royale.
The pomegranates are all emptied of seeds and then strained to make a gorgeous bright colored sorbet.
Back in my Winter House Kitchen, dishes are taken out for the sauces, lemon, and harissa for the couscous. At the bottom of this photo, Biquinho peppers I grew in my garden. These “little beak” peppers are small, pointed fruits that have a unique, slightly tart flavor with a tiny bit of heat – so delicious. They are my favorite peppers – I pickle jars of them every year.
Here’s a photo Kevin took of Chef Pierre, myself and Sous Chef Moises with the three Bisteeyas fresh from the oven and ready to cut. The tops are sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar and cinnamon – see my video at the bottom of this blog.
If you’ve never tasted Bisteeya, it is a traditional Moroccan dish similar to an elaborate meat pie and encased in phyllo dough. Bisteeya combines sweet and savory flavors all in one. The chicken, almonds, garlic, herbs, and spices are covered with layers of eggs and Phyllo – paper-thin sheets of dough used for baking pastries in Middle Eastern, Balkan, and Moroccan cuisine. We always try to vary them just a bit for every party. Pierre made a decorative Phyllo top on the smallest Bisteeya pie.
As each guest arrived, they enjoyed a refreshing cocktail – my bourbon sour.
Guests also enjoyed hors d’oeuvres – gougeres, or airy French cheese puffs, flavored with Gruyere cheese. This is Tyler Salamone, one of the evening’s wait staff.
Here is one Bisteeya pie as it is carried into the dining room.
The bisteeya was sliced into pie-shaped wedges and served. It was so savory, sweet, and fabulous!
For the entre, couscous topped with perfectly roasted tender lamb chops, lamb rissoles, and Merguez sausage, chicken, and the vegetables.
Dessert always looks so beautiful plated up. Pierre uses some of the fresh pomegranate seeds to garnish the sorbet. Each serving is plated with a Moro blood orange and brown butter shortbread cookies.
Everyone devoured dessert and even asked for more cookies, so we always make a few extra. It was a very delicious meal and a very enjoyable evening with friends.
Watch this video of me sprinkling the sugar and cinnamon on the Bisteeya.
This year's autumnal hue-fest continues at my Bedford, New York farm.
We've had an unusually warm fall, causing much of the delay in the changing leaves. It's the shorter days and cooler air temperatures that cue trees to change their leaf color from green to red, yellow, brown, and gold. The vibrant fall colors are also an important indicator of a forest's health - that the trees are getting the rainfall and temperature they need to thrive. We captured some of the late season colors after a recent rain, and they did not disappoint.
Enjoy these photos.
This time of year, my outdoor grounds crew is busy blowing all the autumn leaves that have fallen from the trees. It’s a tedious chore, but the process of dropping leaves is actually very important – it gives the plant a fresh start in spring. Autumn leaves are not simply blown off their stems, but separated from the plants as day length shortens and temperatures cool. The hormones within the plant are activated to begin the abscission process. Chlorophyll production stops and the pigment starts to degrade, often revealing reds and yellows that were once bold green. These are the leaves of a maple, which turn a golden yellow in fall.
Here are the mighty bald cypress trees across from my winding pergola. This photo was taken the morning before a heavy rain. The fallen foliage is covering the carriage road below, but we raked all the soft needle-like leaves and used them as mulch in my cold frame and beneath the berry bushes.
This is my grove of American beech trees, Fagus grandifolia. These American beech trees offer a beautiful autumn show every year. American beech is native to the eastern United States and Canada. It is a deciduous tree with smooth gray bark.
My original linden tree allee is always eye-catching. It is located near my peafowl and pigeon pens, close to my stable. Lindens, Tilia, are medium to large shade trees that are easy to maintain and beautiful in any landscape. They turn pale green to pale yellow in autumn.
This ginkgo lost all its leaves ahead of the giant female ginkgo in my sunken Summer House Garden. Ginkgos lose all their leaves at the same time because of the way their petioles, known as stems, work. As the weather gets colder, the petioles get what’s called scars to protect the tree from disease after the leaves fall. For most trees, that happens on a leaf-by-leaf basis. But in the case of the ginkgo, all the scars form at the same time.
Here’s an autumn leaf from the sweetgum tree, Liquidambar styraciflua. The sweetgum’s glossy green, star-shaped leaves turn bold shades of gold, red, and orange in fall.
Some of the familiar scenes around my farm look beautiful any time of year. Here are the majestic eastern white pines in front of a beautiful autumn landscape. Pinus strobus, commonly known as the eastern white pine, white pine, northern white pine, Weymouth pine, and soft pine is a large pine native to eastern North America.
And remember my Japanese maple trees? They’ve been putting on a lovely show of color, but these trees are deciduous, meaning they lose their leaves in the fall. These trees will soon be bare.
This newly planted Japanese maple from my friend, Steven Gambrel, has already dropped its leaves – such a beautiful palette of reds.
Along the carriage road in my upper hayfield is this stand of red maples, Acer rubrum. Red Maple is one of the most colorful in autumn.
Here’s a closer look at the red maple. It is one of the earliest trees to show color changes – shades of yellow, orange, and red, sometimes on the same tree, that last for several weeks.
Across from the red maples are these larch trees. Larches are one of the few coniferous trees to change colors and lose their needles in the fall.
When the leaves of larch turn color, the greenish-yellow transform to golden yellow – a beautiful contrast with all the surrounding evergreens in the woodland.
Along another side of the carriage road are the changing leaves of the dogwood. Kousa dogwood shows blood-red fall leaves.
Here are more of the changing colors of the dogwood leaves – it’s nature’s ombre.
Look closely beneath the towering maples at the new allee of pin oaks we planted two years ago – 104 pin oaks are lined up along both sides of the carriage road leading to my “Contemporary House.” In time, these trees will grow to 60 or 70 feet.
Burning bush is a striking shrub, with bright pink to scarlet foliage in fall. They show off a beautiful sweep of bright color throughout the shaded woods.
At the back of the upper hayfield, I have a grove of dawn redwoods, Metasequoia. These trees have feathery, fine-textured needles that are opposite each other and approximately a half-inch long. Don’t confuse them with the bald cypress needles, which grow alternately. In autumn, these dawn redwood needles are different shades of golden-brown. And look at the bark – the dawn redwood becomes deeply fissured as the tree matures.
One of the babbling brooks in the woodland is full of water after the rainstorm.
And of course, don’t forget to look up for more autumn color. Some maples can grow up to 150-feet.
And here is my old sycamore tree, the symbol of my farm. It has already lost its leaves for the season. I hope you have been able to enjoy some of the autumn colors where you live. Most areas are now past their peak with winter officially only 29 days away.
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