Curious Happenings in Central Park

One of my favorite things to do in New York, is walk around Central Park. I try to go there as often as possible to get out of the fast pace life in the city and see what masterpieces Nature has produced. Whenever I go and regardless of with whom I walk, I unfailingly end up at the Model Boat Pond.

 

 I don't mind, it's a great place to be. Birdwatchers know that it's the best place to do some serious Hawk watching as Pale Male, the resident Red-Tailed hawk, has built a nest on one of the 5th avenue buildings. Interested? You should read Red-Tails in Love by Mary Winn, a great book I wrote a short review about earlier. You can read about it by clicking here. 

It's also a great place to get some people watching in. There are people sailing model boats or driving speed boats, lovers holding hands, artists, readers, ducks paddling and kids all around.

My first visit taught me that you can earn a living dressing as a fairy and dancing for money - to everyone's delight. This particular fairy lives in my neighborhood, my friends and I just happened to take the same train as her one morning. It created quite a stir in our little group of fairy fans. We lost track of her on 81st street, near the Natural History Museum - our destination.  We hadn't managed to snap a picture but the Model Boat Pond provided both a great view of the fairy and Pale Male (the reason for our visit). 

But that's not all, besides, the boats, the ducks and the fairies the pond has something else to offer : FISH. 

I first noticed the presence of fish when my husband and I wanted to see how deep the pond was. To my delight,as I carefully leaned over to edge, I could see hundreds of little fish, mostly brown with some bright orange ones thrown into the mix. How wonderful! I shared my excitement with the nearest kids and together we watched the wee fish swim around just out of reach under the surface. Once I had used up my hubby's patience, we moved on only to witness this feeding frenzy happening on the other side of the pond - this was in the beginning of November.  Someone had thrown bread crusts into the pond, probably for the ducks. The ducks didn't stand a chance! These fish were hungry. Piranha fans eat your hearts out!

Have you seen something quite like this? If so where, when, with who and why?
Have you seen the Central Park fish? Do you know what kind they are?

Take care!