It's That Time of the Year

Needle Ice time.

These needles were in the parking area and I spotted then when I got my car.

So, on a cold day after a warm-ish wet day, look around on the ground for Needle Ice.

I think it is cool (pun!). 

Walking

Among the perks of working from home is that I can go walking at lunch time. 

And of course I have my phone, which is also a camera.

I've mentioned before that we live directly across from Budds Bogs, a cranberry farm. And cranberry farms need water.

I like the cloud reflection framed by the water control structure.

This old structure has the feel of a rainforest, helped no doubt by the spiky plant in the lower right.

🚶🏼‍♂️  🚶🏼‍♂️  🚶🏼‍♂️  🚶🏼‍♂️  🚶🏼‍♂️

Being able to wander about in the time of the plague has been wonderful for my sanity. I can't imagine what it is like living in an apartment in an a city (ok I can, but only because I've colleagues who do so).

I hope you too have found a way to deal with this.

Back By Popular Demand

The Winter Solstice Bonfire Yule Log Spirit Animal Music Jam.

That's what's back, after a one year hiatus due to the plague.

Our friend Russel once again provided the music in the Music Jam ...

... this time accompanied by my brother-in-law Dano on guitar.

Fire ...

... friends ...

... and food (and drinks!).

It doesn't get any better than this.

Everyone enjoyed being back together. 

And we all enjoyed getting our spirit animal.

For this coming year, mine is a zebra.

🔥  🔥  🔥  🔥  🔥

So, maybe some year I'll remember to get the camera before the event starts, and get some pictures of the Yule Log ceremony. 

A very big thanks to our friend The Goddess for introducing us to the Yule Log ceremony, providing the Yule Log each year, and leading the ceremony. 

It Is Balloon!

I had to take my car in for service today, to get the electronic system upgraded. The STARLINK system uses the 3G cellular network and that network is being retired.

But this post is not about car service issues that didn't exist when I got my first car. Which for the record was a Chevy Chevette that did not come with a radio. 

No, it is about what I saw as I was retuning the loaner car.

This:

It Is Balloon!

I would occasionally see these floating in the distance out my kitchen window when I lived in my condo. Now I occasionally see them form the other side when I'm out and about, although I've not seen them from our place ... yet. Maybe someday one will float over while I'm sitting out on the deck.

Pretty cool to see.

🎈 🎈 🎈 🎈 🎈

The title is from an episode of a TV show that I watched over and over as a kid, as it was shown over and over on channel 11, and I, and my siblings, would often watch TV when we got home from school. The show was F Troop. And this was the scene from the episode. I have no idea why this bit stuck in my memory. But it did.

Pinelands CBC

Once upon a time skill with a rifle meant food on the table. And birds were food.

And as with anything humans do, that skill was turned into a contest. And that contest became a team game, seeing which team could shoot the most birds in a day.

A skill useful to survival, putting food on the table, became one of excess and needless death, most of the birds (and other critters) shot in these contests left to rot.

A stream at our fist stopping point.

Then at the start of the 20th century Frank M. Chapman proposed a different activity. Instead of killing birds let's count how many birds we can see. And thus the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was born.

And for over a hundred years folks have been going out around Christmas time and counting birds. An incredible scientific resource, a database of bird population changes over the years.

Image courtesy Patty Rehn

A Golden-crowned Kinglet, one of four at this site, 

taken by Patty with her phone.

Patty and I have been adding to the database, for Area C of the Pinelands Christmas Bird Count for the seven years we've been here, including this past Sunday, when saw 35 different species (in line with previous years) and 986 individual birds (a bit on the low side, it was windy).

There is still time to get in on the fun. Here is a link to find a CBC near you. So get out and count some birds! It's fun, and it's science!

First Day Hike, Thanksgiving Edition

One of our friends Terry coordinates a First Day Hike every non-pandemic lockdown year. 

And this year is no different. 

Terry takes this responsibility seriously, despite what the image may convey.

So a couple of days after Thanksgiving we were wandering down muddy dirt roads in the Pines. Checking out a potential walking tour.

Looking at the occasional bird.

We wandered about a very picturesque area.

Once upon a time populated, now part of NJ's State Forest system.

And that's a good thing.

Some of the land is still privately owned, the bit on the other side of the dirt road by the Nature Conservancy. And to the that to the right of this image on this side by a cranberry farmer.

It was a very nice day for a ramble. And while we're not out of the woods yet (pun!), if we're smart about it we can return to normal-ish life.

But in the end, Terry decided that this was just a bit to remote for a First Day Hike. 

So she'll be leading a walk somewhere else on January 1st. 

And I hope you all find a First Day Hike to start your new year.

Yard Spider of the Week

The other day, while out in the yard, I noticed a strand of spider web drifting by. Knowing that baby spiders use such strands to fly about. So I intercepted it, and dragged it across the deck railing.

And I was rewarded with this critter:

A Magnolia Green Jumper, Lyssomanes viridis. 

It is tiny!

BugGuide notes that the habit range is generally considered to have its northern edge in North Carolina, but that there are "several images from New Jersey, Virginia, and Colorado". And we do have a Magnolia in the yard.

🕷  🕷  🕷  🕷  🕷

You can find all of the Yard Critter posts listed here.

Thanks to CapeMayWren for help with the ID.