Young Hawk on 72nd Ave.

Thanks to Stewart for sending in this photo of a young hawk on 72nd Ave. between Queens Blvd. and Austin St.

Summer by the Lake, in Forest Hills!

After years of waiting, Forest Hills now has access to a beautiful lake! The City has finally opened the gate to the entrance to the Willow Lake Trail. The entrance is located on the Grand Central Parkway service road at the corner of 72nd Road. Be advised, however, while the scenic beauty of the lake is now easily accessible the second you cross over the Grand Central Parkway footbridge, the trail around the lake is quite muddy in locations within minutes of beginning the walk, forcing me, in my sneakers, to halt my journey pretty quickly and decide to continue on another day with some waterproof Timberlands. The Forest Hills entrance is open weekends.

The entrance is at the corner of 72nd Road and GCP Service Road.

A close-up of the entrance, with the footbridge over Grand Central Parkway behind...

Within a minute, you go from this...

.... to this...

... and finally, this.. I can't tell you how cool it is to make that quick transition.

The trail then begins around the lake...

Starting out as a stone path...

If it wasn't for the sound of the nearby parkway cars, I'd never know I was in NYC...

... the trail quickly gets very muddy in spots, so be warned, bring hiking shoes. And enjoy!

Lazy Squirrel Sunday

Found this lazy squirrel on my air conditioner this morning. Kind of odd behavior for a Forest Hills squirrel. They are usually so industrious. But after a lot of banging on the window, he finally woke up and reluctantly walked away.

Flown the Coop

My friend says this is his second sighting of our local chicken, this time at Continental Ave. & Dartmouth. Perhaps he escaped from a KFC or Popeyes, the Queens Zoo, or one of those pots of chicken soup I always smell my neighbors cooking up? Boy, I am getting hungry again now. What's wrong with me?