Bad Bird Photo of the Week

They usually arrive around Thanksgiving, although we've had them as early as Halloween.

We've had over a dozen in the yard at time.

This year, not so much.

In fact, this is only the second sighting this winter. And it took until January to show up.

This was five days ago. We've not seen any since. 

Is it that warm up north? Is there that much food in the woods? Are there just not that many birds anymore (I surely hope not)?

Maybe it's the deer fence.

And if you're keeping a blog bird list, you can add Fox Sparrow.

Happy Thanksgiving!

From my place to yours.

With apologies to Lené at Counting Petals, who has a much nicer place than I do. But I've got turkeys! (Snapped with my cellphone.)

[The first wild turkeys I ever saw were in a tree at my cousin's place, on Thanksgiving, roosting for the night, in 2001.]

In With The Old, Week Twenty-Four

Anna's Hummingbird (April 2006)

It is not obvious but the background of this image is the wall of the gift shop at the Boyce-Thompson Arboretum in Arizona. The plant was in a large pot next to the door of the shop. Mama hummingbird decided that this would be a great spot for a nest. Perhaps she realized the presence of humans would keep predators at bay. This isn't the only humming bird I've photographed there. There's this one and this one.

In With The Old, Week Twenty-Three

Carnivore (July 2006)

Venus flytrap taken at Longwood Gardens on a brutally hot and humid day made worse yet by being inside a greenhouse. A friend and I visited the gardens on a photo outing. We each made a number of nice images, but it was just to hot to stay much past noon. 

We'd not planned staying anyway, as we were heading to a colleague's home for a barbeque. We had picked the gardens as a photo destination based on the proximity to the barbeque. I've a friend who works there now and she's been wanting me to visit, so maybe I'll have some new images to post.

In With The Old, Week Twenty-Two

Superstition Mountains (April 2006)

I mentioned my annual trip to Arizona in last week's image. This shot was taken the year before that one. I have relatives in the Phoenix area, and I went wandering in the Superstition Mountains with my cousin's (now ex) husband. I left my hotel before sunrise, and by the time we got to the trail head it was already 90º F. I had questioned his suggestion to wear long pants, but I'm glad I did, given the number of cactus needles I'd later need to remove from them. 

I greatly missed the trip this year.

In With The Old, Week Twenty-One

Saguaro National Park (April 2007)

My company used to host a conference every April in Scottsdale, Arizona. Economic issues saw the cancellation of the conference this year. But for the past several I would spend a few extra days out west and in 2007 visited Saguaro National Park outside of Tucson. I had planned to visit several places in the Tucson area, but I liked Saguaro so much I spent the entire day there. 

Having a sunny day with temperatures in the mid seventies (Fahrenheit) with a steady breeze made for a wonderful day of wandering in the desert. As you can see, I'm not the only one who had visited the area.

This is a variation on a theme by Bo.

In With The Old, Week Twenty

Valley Forge (November 2005)

My sister and her family live a few miles from Valley Forge National Historic Park in Pennsylvania. And my niece and nephew love to go 'hiking' their, where hiking means we walk down the same trail along a stream every time. I always bring a camera and have gotten a few nice shots. Including this one, although I missed the peak of fall color.

In With The Old, Week Nineteen

Millcreek (January 2003)

Millcreek (March 2003)

Millcreek (March 2003)

Millcreek (April 2003)

Millcreek (May 2003)


Millcreek (October 2003)

The changing faces of Millcreek, the creek from which Millcreek Park in Willingboro, NJ gets its name. This park opened in 1973 and at the time was the largest municipal park in NJ. Millcreek flows into the Rancocas Creek, which is in the far background of these images. The sun is setting over Philadelphia and behind the trees on the right is NJ Route 130. But from this vantage point you think you are in the wilderness. Millcreek Park is less than two miles form my home and has a nice trail system that wanders through a wooded area bounded by the two creeks. A nice getaway close to home.

In With The Old, Week Eighteen

Sparring Deer (September 2006)

One the same trip described in the In With The Old image for Week Nine we also visited the Grand Canyon. After we checked into our rooms, we stayed in the park, I went out for a walk around. And found these two less than fifty meters from the room. They were obviously preoccupied and paid no attention to me as I snapped away. I felt like I was in an episode of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.

In With The Old, Week Seventeen

Frog Eyes (May 2006)

My friend Mary was doing a breeding bird survey as part of the NJAS Citizen Science program and she asked if I could accompany her on her initial scouting trip. The trip took us into the White Oak Branch WMA where we found a number of very large puddles which made the road impassable. But the frogs seemed pleased with the situation.

In With The Old, Week Sixteen


Dew Drops (August 2007)

Two macro images taken at the Brigantine Division of the Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. It was early in the morning and I was waiting for some friends when I spotted these mushrooms behind the small visitor center. Here are links to larger versions of the top and bottom images. I liked the form of the drops and how they sparkled in the early light of dawn.

Another image of this set was accepted on Bug Guide, a site where you can post your North American insect images and have the little beasties identified. I've had six images accepted into the permanent collection on this site.

In With The Old, Week Fifteen

White Fringed Orchid (July 2006)

I was a week behind in my In With The Old images, not posting while I was in Mexico. So a second flower. This image was made two days after the water lilly in the previous post. It was taken at Whitesbog in the New Jersey Pinelands. It wasn't quite as hot that day.

In With The Old, Week Fourteen

Water Lilly (July 2006)

I was a dreary rainy day today, and I spent most of it doing my taxes (good news, I'm getting a refund. Bad news, I already spent it (on my new camera, a Canon 50D, my 20D had an accident in Mexico)).  So I thought an image with a bit a color would be nice to take my mind off taxes and rain, and get me thinking of spring. So I picked (pun!) this one out of the archives. It was taken at Longwood Gardens on a very very hot summer day. 

If anyone knows what species this is please let me know in the comments. Thanks.

In With The Old, Week Thirteen

Red-headed Woodpecker (March 2005)

Another use for dead trees. There were several pairs of red-headed woodpeckers nesting in the Batsto Village area of the Wharton State Forest. This one was flying about the picnic area and I followed it back to its nest tree. I wasn't really this close; this is a crop of an image made using a 100 - 400 mm zoom lens at 400 with a 1.4x teleconverter. 

I mentioned the access restrictions placed on the great horned owl nest in my March 22nd Sunday Six set. Nesting birds can be very sensitive to activity around them and humans are rather large animals. To much activity too close and the bird may abandon the nest site.  Clearly some birds are more tolerant than others. The great horned owl that nested in the parking lot at the Everglades visitor center, shown in the Sparkle theme shot for the 366 Project, didn't mind the commotion below. But is prudent to err on the side of caution and leave nesting birds in peace. And keep saving for the 600 mm f/2. 

In With The Old, Week Twelve

Anna's Hummingbird (April 2006)

Taken at the Boyce-Thompson Arboretum in Superior, Arizona. I'd been trying to photograph hummingbirds in the gardens with little success. I was taking a break when this bird alit on branch behind the bench I was sitting on. Moving very slowing I swung my camera around and got a few shots off. This is my favorite.

In With The Old, Week Eleven

Monument Valley Sunrise (September 2006)

One final Monument Valley image, as I catch up with my In With The Old Challenge. This was earlier on the same day as the sand storm. We, my brother and I, had planned to photograph sunrise on the two mornings we were at Monument Valley (dad and Uncle John were back at the hotel sleeping). But it was not to be. Our rental car, an SUV, had one key hole, on the driver's door. It did not have a keyless entry system. And the lock cylinder became detached from the door. We could put the key in and it would turn, but so would the entire lock. Round and round. So we all got to sleep in on the second morning, as the nearest locksmith was three hours away. 

In With The Old, Week Ten

Monument Valley Sand Storm (September 2006)

Another image form the trip discussed in my last post. This time there is no lull in the sand storm. And again we can see one of the mittens in the background. This shot was taken at 4 PM on an otherwise cloud free day.

In With The Old, Week Nine

Monument Valley Sandstorm (September 2006)

I've been tagged twice with the "66 Photo" [my name] challenge:

•Go to your photo folder on your computer
•Go to the 6th folder of photos
•Go to the sixth picture
•Put the picture on your blog and a description of it
•Invite six friends to join the challenge
•Link them in your blog

I don't have *a* photo folder on my computer, I have several, depending on if they are originals, derivatives; If they are awaiting ingestion, key wording, editing, or archiving as per my standard workflow. But in an attempt to follow the spirit if not the letter of the challenge I've selected this image. It is the sixth image in the sixth folder of my "finished" images.

This is an image taken at Monument Valley in Arizona. You can see one of the mittens in the background. This was taken during a lull in a sand storm (which made for some nice photo ops). Let to right are my brother Jeff, my 'Uncle' John, my dad, and me (the camera ads ten pounds!).

We were in Monument Valley in Septmeber because we weren't there in April. We had planned to be there in April, but while at the Winter Star Party in February 2006 I got a phone call from my dad. He was apologetic as he told me we would need to postpone our trip. He had gone to the doctor that day and the doctor told him to go home and do absolutely nothing. The doctor also scheduled him for triple bypass surgery. That surgery would happen in April.

As you can see the surgery was a success. And we went on our trip. My dad is a big western movie buff. He and my 'Uncle' John (more on him later) have been traveling together for over ten years and have known each other since my dad was five (dad will be 80 this year). They've been to Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Hong Kong, India, Egypt, Israel, Russia, England, Scandinavia, the Baltics, Checkoslovakia, and most recently Hawaii this past February to visit John's son and his wife. But dad had never been to the American Southwest. So my brother and I decided to take him, and he invited his childhood pal. We started in Los Vegas, visited Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest/Painted Desert, Canyon de Chelly, Monument Valley, and the Grand Canyon. We had a great time. Dad was a little winded at times, but otherwise fine.

Dad is still doing well, and he will be traveling along with myself, my brother, and the rest of our families to Cabo San Lucas the first week of April.

The same cannot be said of 'Uncle' John. As you probably gathered from the scare quotes, Uncle John isn't really my uncle. He is my godfather. And my dad's oldest friend. And this week he moved into an assisted living home. Uncle John has Alzheimer’s. The trip to Hawaii was very difficult for my dad, as Uncle John could not take care of himself. To the point were he couldn't even buckle his seatbelt on the plane unassisted.

I saw Uncle John a couple of times after this trip, but this was the last time I spent any real time with him. I have a lot of great memories. But right now I feel very sad.

In With The Old, Week Eight

Rainbow (July 2004)

The same week that the dam burst at the Girl Scout camp, and elsewhere in and around Medford, NJ, I was on a family vacation in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. And it was a rather rainy week there as well. This rainbow was produced by the same storm complex that resulted in the floods back home. 

In With The Old, Week Seven

Monarch Butterfly (April 2004)

Taken at the Rancocas Nature Center's butterfly garden.