Curious

Most every picture of Royal Terns has this sort of feathery dandruff on their bills...

?

Ideas anyone?

Autumn on the doorstep

Some Borland tonight...

"Another week and Summer will be officially at an end, since we demarcate our seasons by the solstices and the equinoxes. We who live in a land of seasonal change will have Autumn on our doorstep. Even now the sun rises east and sets west, so far as the eye can see; and one hears regret that another Summer is gone.

In a sense, this is so; and yet no season, nor even any year, either stands alone or vanishes completely. Summer is rooted in Spring, and Autumn is essentially Summer's maturity. The apple now reddened on the tree was a fragile blossom, a delight to the eye and a host to the bee, only a few months ago. The honey in the comb was pollen when June was at its height, and rains of April and hot July nights now come to ripeness in the cornfields. Even before the leaves come swirling down, buds are on the bough for another Summer's shade.

Summer ends, and Autumn comes, and he who would have it otherwise would have high tide always and a full moon every night; and thus he would never know the rhythms that are at the heart of life. There is a time of sprouting, a time of growth, and a time of harvest, and all are a part of the greater whole. There comes the time now to savor the harvest, to pause and know another year not yet brought to full finality.

The rhythm of life and thought and change will be close around us now, and the restless energy of Summer will be distilled into the stout brandy of another season. Change is ours to know and accept and build upon, even as the skies of Autumn clear and the leaves begin to fall. Fallen leaves open wider horizons to the seeing eye."

No comment needed

Raiding my brother's garden

I made a late morning visit to my brother's house; I wasn't really expecting to find him at home, but

the welcoming crew assembled to greet me as I stepped from the car...

and the garden sentry was especially suspicious of my motives,

but look at the bounty he's charged with safeguarding!

I nearly tripped over this young member of the pest control crew...

(what funny curly feathers, btw!)

but this was my prize!

So Kev, those couple perfectly ripe tomatoes you thought the squirrels had stolen...

that was me!

; )

Bad bird photo of the week

It's reassuring to me that, even with a fancy new lens, I can still take especially bad bird pics...

;-)

Any guesses?

Cape May lineup

Are you in?

So far there's just Susan, Delia and me.

(pout)

That's a very small Flock.

BT3 is speaking on Saturday night.

There's the Hawkwatch and the Seawatch at Avalon.

Heck... there's Sandy Hook on the way from the airport.

The Fall Weekend at Cape May isn't anything like the New River Festival or Potholes and Prairies, but this isn't West Virginia or North Dakota. What NJ might lack in charm or hospitality, it makes up for in birds.

; )

And high prices, I know.

Don't let the registration fees dissuade you. Come for a day or an afternoon, even.

We're making it more affordable this year by staying together in some ramshackle hotel and only paying for a day's worth of programs. We'll spend the rest of the weekend wandering on our own, making up bird ID's and laughing together.

Sounds fun, no?

It's Cape May... THE birding destination. You know it's on your list for "someday"... why not make it this year?

The Flock would love to have you join us.

Nap time

A special treat of late summer in Cape May is the flock of Black Skimmers and Royal Terns that rest and spend the daylight hours half asleep, crowded beside each other on the beach near the 2nd Ave. jetty.

They present a curious site to beach-goers, I imagine, and always make me chuckle at just how relaxed a posture many take. How often do we get to see birds sleeping, after all?

: )

Some Sandy Hook birds

I wandered out the fisherman's trail at Sandy Hook late this afternoon, mainly to see the flock of Black Skimmers that nested there - for the first time in 25 years - but also just to enjoy some time alone. The day was perfect; warm and breezy and the throngs of beach-goers were heading in the opposite direction from me. I had the beach to myself, save for the fishermen and a couple other birders.

A couple Ruddy Turnstones wandered by and had a bath as the tide rose around us. Turnstones seem nearly as tame as the Sanderlings, yet they're much more gregarious.

Funny that I'm slowly learning the temperaments of shorebirds, even if I can't identify them most of the time!

The terns here at Sandy Hook seem like they're mostly done with feeding young, but still are spending a lot of time flying around, calling, with fish in their bills. Maybe parenthood is a hard habit to break. Maybe this fish was a bit too big and it was calling as an invitation to share.

A mystery for another summer, I guess.

The Black Skimmer colony is a joy... a finely choreographed chaos of long-winged birds and enough barking to drown out the sounds of the surf. Just amazing!

I couldn't get anywhere near as close as to those in yesterday's post (of the flock at the 2nd Ave. jetty in Cape May) but this is an active colony, with young birds not yet able to fly. By mistake I scared a couple fuzzy chicks out from their hiding spots behind bits of driftwood... that was enough to stop me in my tracks.

This pic is sweet, I think, because it shows the way that improbable bill of theirs lengthens and develops color as they age. The oldest bird, on the far left, was able to fly... the others not. I saw a couple that looked younger than even that one on the far right.

I feel very blessed that we have them breeding so close to home and hope they'll be back at Sandy Hook next summer...

Always there's one little Sanderling and I; this one almost too close for my camera.

: )

Here's hoping your Labor Day was filled with similar pleasures.

There's two sides to every story

And it's a happy one I can't wait to tell!

: )

How to: be happy no matter what

Say yes to a ridiculous idea.

Inhale deeply the scent of a beloved pet.

Walk barefoot on the beach.

Remember all the times you never thought you’d make it this far.

Ask a small child to help you paint your toenails.

Dance to that one song...

Take a nap.

Do something creative.

Have something wonderful read aloud to you.

Wear a shortish dress to show off your long legs. Accept all compliments graciously and with a wide smile.

Treat yourself. Maybe to ice-cream. Or fresh flowers.

Give away love everywhere and any way you can.

Go to the farmer's market and buy a pint of strawberries, then eat them quietly in your living room when you are all by yourself.

Make funny faces at very small children when their parents aren't looking.

Work out. Not to be skinny, but because becoming strong will make you feel powerful and confident in so many other ways.

Show up even if you don’t know what to say.

Water the garden.

Take time off. Travel. Meet strangers where and how they live; get a larger perspective of the world and its people and your place in it.

Read an old love letter as a reminder that you have been adored.

Sit with the ocean or under a huge old oak.

Want what you want just because you want it.

Compliment a total stranger.

Buy one bar of lovely dark chocolate and eat one tiny square a day like it is the secret to life and liberty.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Care to add to the list? What makes you happy no matter what? Let’s make a list we just can’t help but love!

A Jersey stare down

: )

The 7th Annual New Jersey Meadowlands Festival of Birding is scheduled for next weekend, September 11 and 12th. An urban oasis, the NJ Meadowlands is made up of more than 8,000 acres of wetland habitat and is home to better than 280 species of birds. A designated Important Bird & Birding Area, much of the prime birding habitat is situated on reclaimed landfill sites.

Richard Crossley, the author of The Shorebird Guide, is giving the keynote.

Maybe I'll get him to sign my book, finally.

; )

Hope to see you there!

The birds of summer

Sweet Summer...
don't end!

You bring me beach plums

purple under a September sun,

but you take the osprey

and the huge folded serenity of the egret.

The beach is more deserted every day

and the skies bluer, the shapes of clouds more bewitching

but it's too quiet!

A beach without laughing gulls is a sin against nature.

Well not really, but go with me on this people!!

; )

Summer is for sandcastles and buried treasure and sunburned shoulders;

laughing gulls animate the quiet between the tides.

Goldenrod and monarch butterflies populate the dunes

and the moon is heavy and yellow when it rises out of the surf,

but terns and swallows and kingbirds are departing

massing further south, out of earshot.

I'll miss them this winter.

The peeps, in all their feathered mystery, have been leaving since mid-July.

They come, in May, with colored finery and leave, too soon, in a confusing camouflaged rush.

They all look the same... I can't tell them apart

and don't care to, really.

Maybe if I had more time to learn them.

One more day is all I need, for sure.
Summer... don't end!

Wordless Wednesday

(my niece at the piano - she's amazing!)

Careful scrutiny

I'd wanted to write
about night herons
and their delight in the lowest tides
their thankless patience
their red eyes and startling cries in the gloom of night

or the careful scrutiny of a gull's eye
under the august sun
as the tide goes out
and sanderling plunder the wrack-line at my feet

instead there's the moon rising, lopsided and yellow
the promise of a little prince, enjoyed together
this deliberate probing of a heart's memory
and the shared revelation
of a whimbrel's decurved bill.

Our options have recently changed

"Hello.

You've reached Laura in the Rental Assistance Unit. I'm not able to take your call right now.

Probably because I'm avoiding you.

Before leaving a message, please listen to the following options, as they've recently changed:

If you're calling to request that I send a letter to your foodstamp/welfare worker verifying your rental share, press one (#1) to tell them to get off their lazy butt and walk upstairs to my desk to get it themself. It's not my job to do their job, too.

If you're calling to give me some lame excuse about why you haven't paid your rent in six months and are about to be evicted, press two (#2) and realize that I won't believe a single sad story you'll tell me.

If you're calling me for the fifth time in as many minutes, just hang up and accept that there's a reason I'm not picking up the phone.

Like, maybe, I'm avoiding you.

If you're calling from Georgia and want me to lie to my boss to save your ass, press three (#3) and reconcile yourself to the fact that you screwed up big this time and I won't stick my neck out for you, ever, again.

If you're calling to rat out your neighbor/ex-girlfriend/sister because he/she drives a nicer car than you/has more tv's than you/pissed you off/kicked you out yesterday, please press four (#4) until you're willing to put something in writing and sign your name to it. I love making fraud referrals with a real name attached.

If you're calling to explain to me how you're only "technically" married, press five (#5) and take a deep breath. I've heard it all before and this better be good!

If you make more money than me and still can't manage to pay your rent each month then press six (#6) 'cause, really, I'm a social worker now and should have taken that job on Wall St. instead.

If you're just lonely and need someone to talk to, dial x6023 to talk with Linda who's bored and doesn't have her fair share of nutty clients, frankly.

If you're calling about bedbugs, dial seven (#7) and thank you for the warning before I do our next home visit.

If, however, you're calling to thank me for my compassion and hard work on your behalf, please hold, as your call will be transferred directly to my supervisor."

; )

- - - - - - - - - - - -

TGIF!

Wordless Wednesday

A chuckle from the county fair.

; )

Memento mori

There is no need for me to keep a skull on my desk,

to stand with one foot upon the ruins of Rome,

or wear a locket with the sliver of a saint's bone.

It is enough to realize that every common object

in this sunny little room will outlive me.*

Yet another vacant lot in Asbury Park where urban blight is being reimagined daily as art (or kitsch?) The long abandoned foundation pillars were wrapped in colorful fabric months ago by a local artist; the stone cairns and mementos left behind lately seem a futile offering to the fickle gods of real estate development.

*from Memento Mori by Billy Collins

Seen along the boardwalk

This was one of those perfect days in late summer where the spirit of autumn takes a first stealing flight, like a spy, through the ripening country-side, and, with feigned sympathy for those who droop with August heat, puts her cool cloak of bracing air about leaf and flower and human shoulders.

~Sarah Orne Jewett

A little boy's (almost) smile

He's shy!

and a sweet little girl's crazy curls...

These made me smile today.

Linda lets me borrow her kids from time to time, to amuse myself from behind the camera. I love the open, unguarded faces of children. I love these particular children for their brown skin and laughing eyes, for the babytalk we share in Spanish, for the silliness they're learning from their mom.

Wordless Wednesday - Banded

Mid-week bunny fix

Fair Bunnies!

Lionhead Bunny

Currently quite the rage among bunny breeders, but I sneeze just looking at them.

English Lop Bunny

Those floppy ears can be as much as 22 inches long... kinda silly, I think, but breeders entertain themselves this way.

(snark)

Friendly 4-H People

Imagine that! I have to commend this group, unlike those at my local county fair, for actually engaging the public and letting us pet and enjoy the bunnies there on display. Usually the bunnies are left to pant for days in the heat, poked at by passerby, for the sake of a blue show ribbon. Getting the bunnies out of their cages where interested folks could touch them lovingly makes so much more sense, don't you think?

Tern, tern, tern

The birds shrug off

the slant air,

they plunge into the sea

and vanish

under the glassy edges

of the water,

and then come back,

as white as snow,

shaking themselves,

shaking the little silver fish,

crying out

in their own language,

voices like rough bells--

it's wonderful

and it happens whenever

the tide starts its gushing

journey back, every morning

or afternoon.

This is a poem
about death,
about the heart blanching
in its folds of shadows
because it knows
someday it will be
the fish and the wave
and no longer itself--
it will be those white wings,
flying in and out
of the darkness
but not knowing it--
this is a poem about loving
the world and everything in it:
the self, the perpetual muscle,
the passage in and out, the bristling
swing of the sea.

--The Terns by Mary Oliver from House of Light, 1990

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

All Commons, I guess. The Leasts are just too quick to photograph in the air. They're still feeding babies on my favorite sandbar at Horseshoe Cove on Sandy Hook, but today there were far fewer loafing around. Maybe it's just that the tide was higher this time.

I'm collecting tern poems if anyone has any to share...

Sea swallows

Field guides will tell you that terns are closely related to gulls and suggest that, because of similar feeding habits and a shared gregariousness, one might find all members of the Laridae family of birds equally deserving of our admiration.

That might be true for you, but I mostly ignore gulls in favor of terns. Exceptions to that are the handsome summer presence of Laughing Gulls and the dainty Bonaparte's in winter.

In terns I see long fast wings that dance over the sun-dappled sea as it heaves at my feet...

and

the hover-and-plunge feeding technique so suited to little waves and the little fish they pluck from the shadows...

and

the dark eyes and sharp downward-pointed bills, the rising cloud of white birds and the storm of their cries all around me...

A particular joy at this time of the season, late July, when young terns and young osprey at Sandy Hook are learning to fish and to make their way in the world is to place myself among them on the bay near to sunset: behind every shell or pebble or bit of sea-drift is the possibility of a young bird waiting for its next meal delivery; a feathered army of birds marching ahead of me until finally I settle myself amongst them, drenched and soggy in the tide, sand-covered and happy.

: )

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Photos:

#1: Common or Forster's? I'm thinking Common, but would welcome hints!

#2: Young Least Tern, begging (and squealing, almost!)

Bad bird photo of the week

(mostly in focus, tho!)

Blackberry

It's hard to appreciate in this photo, but when the sun hits it just right...

: )

So long as it gets me to work and back I'm happy, but a new car is kind of an occasion...

and this one makes me laugh when I see it...

IT'S PURPLE!!

and it reminds me not to take myself too seriously...

(important!)

I christened it properly this evening with a trip to the beach and a gallon of sand.

What I'm craving

change * sun-streaked hair * a warm Jersey tomato * beach, beach, beach * a Lensbaby * pure silliness * a sundress occasion * a picnic in the shade * easy laughter * floating docks * a good nap * daring in the face of reality * courage for a new plan * strength to say what i want, need and must have *grace enough to accept the fallout * a bubble bath * beach plum jelly * Luka kisses * a thunderstorm * black raspberry ice cream * blackberry pearl (please someone talk me out of buying a purplish car!!) * room in your sunshine * a book to get lost in * camel pose * honesty * ice-cold strawberries

Blue hydrangea with blurry kingbird

As you can see, all this time away from the blog has not improved my bird photography skills one bit.

;-)

I love having kingbirds around; they're among my favorite summer birds. A pair has nested in the neighborhood the past two years and I waste a lot of time just imagining explanations for their funny personality quirks...

I knew their babies had fledged this past weekend based solely on the increased frenzy in their parent's shrill, chattering cries.

I was hopeful that there'd be a snapshot like last year's, but no.

One of the parents, scaring up bugs in the hydrangea off the porch, was my best chance at a snapshot and I missed it. Darn misbehaving camera.

;-)