Spotted one of my favorites on the Appalachian trail near Cold Spring last weekend--an Indigo Bunting! It was happily singing right next to the path. 💙💙💙 #Bunting #CentralPark #birdcpp

This is an adult North American bobcat, a mid-sized wildcat with distinctive white and black facial markings, prominent ear tufts, and a robust ruff of fur around its neck. Populations have been gradually recovering across the northeastern United States, including N.Y.

Juliet the Central Park coyote sneaking around in the lush spring landscape. #birdcpp #nature #wildlife

Great Blue Heron at the Central Park Pond on Friday. #birdcpp

Forty years ago this month. Boomer looksmaxxing (but for Brosnan it worked!)

The writer W. Somerset Maugham at his home, Villa La Mauresque, on Cap Ferrat in the South of France. He was one of my favorite writers when I was in my late teens.

In 1696, the British government decided to tax sunlight. Under the Window Tax, households were charged according to the number of windows in their homes. To avoid paying, many people simply bricked up or boarded over their windows, choosing to live in darkness rather than hand money to the state for daylight. The tax was presented as a fair way of taxing wealth, since larger houses tended to have more windows. In practice, it proved crude and damaging. Tax inspectors were given the power to enter homes and count the windows, which was widely resented as an invasion of privacy. The consequences were severe. Poorer families, in particular, bricked up windows to reduce their liability, leaving homes darker, damper and poorly ventilated. This contributed to higher rates of disease, including tuberculosis and rickets. Architects began designing houses with fewer windows to minimise the tax, resulting in buildings that were less healthy and less pleasant to live in. Far from being an efficient revenue raiser, the Window Tax distorted behaviour, harmed public health and became increasingly unpopular over time. Yet it remained in place for 155 years until it was finally abolished in 1851. The Window Tax required invasive enforcement and created more resentment, hardship and economic distortion than revenue. It is a classic example of the unintended consequences of taxation.

The ultimate power couple. Red-tailed Hawks in Prospect Park this morning. @prospect_park @BirdBrklyn