Saturday, June 12, 2010

This Morning ...

I woke up way to early.

Saw eerie lights in the pre-dawn fog.

Had coffee with friends.

Discovered my waterproof boots weren't.

(And squished about all morning.)



Saw a red-winged blackbird riding a red-tailed hawk.
In flight.
While its mate tried to pluck feathers from the red-wing's tail.

(And my camera was a hundred meters away in my car!)

Saw and heard half a dozen eastern meadowlarks all at once,
none to happy with my walking through their field.

Saw singing grasshopper sparrows.



Saw toads and frogs and turtles.

Had breakfast with friends.

Saw more Pine Barrens flowers.



Saw a tundra swan in New Jersey in June.
Sadly, it is only here because of an injured wing.



Watched as a green heron stalked, caught, and
swallowed (in one gulp!)
an almost fully mature bullfrog tadpole.

(Where's that camera?)

Had my first wild blueberries of the year.

(Yummy!)

Got checked out by a great crested fly catcher and a tree swallow. At the same time.

(And again I wasn't ready with the camera! D'oh!)

Saw chimney swifts fly into a chimney. 

Took a bunch of crappy pictures (some of which I've shared here!).

Pretty much in that order. And I was home in time for lunch.

How was your morning?


4 comments:

LauraHinNJ said...

Sounds like a great morning, Steve.

Myself... I slept till about lunchtime.

;-)

Louis Dallara Photography said...

Hi Steve... top of morning to you !
cheers
Lou

Susan Gets Native said...

I like the sparrow photo...not crappy. It's minimalist.
And what's up with the tundra? Is it at a rehab?

MevetS said...

@ Laura, sleep is for wimps!

@ Lou, same to you!

@ Susan, thanks. The swan is not in rehab. Tundra swans over winter at Whitesbog, and this one was unable to leave with the rest. There was a flurry of discussion about the bird on the Jersey Birds yahoo group recently, which is how I learned of it. The upshot is that, unlike a raptor, waterfowl can survive with a damaged wing. And while the local rehab centers would accept the bird if brought in, they are not interested in trying to capture it.