Adrift

Good Things

A lovely, cold, windy walk today.  I went out in search of owls, Snowy, Long-eared, Great Horned, and Saw Whet and found none of them.  On the other hand I got a great look at this Peregrine Falcon and a number of sparrows and a whole huge flock of Rusty Blackbirds.  So while I have yet to figure out how to order up birds I do have good luck in finding great ones.  And, unlike many other things in life, I've never finished a walk and thought "Argh, I wish I hadn't done that."  A walk is always a good thing.

Pennypack on the Delaware

Friday's fog and rain cleared away and left us with a warm, beautiful, and wet Saturday.  Those aren't ice floes on the river, that's the trail.  Hooray for waterproof boots.  This was my first visit to Pennypack on the Delaware.  Despite the absence of ducks and owls the warm weather and sunshine made for a beautiful stroll.  And now that I know where it is I'll be prepared the next time everything freezes over...say on Tuesday. 

A Little Less Contrast...

I took a foggy walk around Heinz on Friday.  Tough birding when you can't see any color.  There's a cardinal in the second to last photo.

A Bit of Contrast

Snowy Walk

A walk through 10" of untrammeled snow.  Well, mostly untrammeled, there were little foot prints here and there. 

Sunrise Snow

We've had so many beautiful snow storms this year I will miss it when it's gone.  On the other hand I'm pretty excited about the prospect of spring. 

On the Rocks

Harlequin Ducks

The stars of Barnegat never fail to entertain.  I love their squeeky dog toy noises and bickering. 

More from Barnegat

I do love this spot along the Jersey Shore.  Everything was so unbelievably close this time.  A Common Loon, Black Scoter, and Red-breasted Merganser all enjoyed the day.

Shore

This flock of Purple Sandpipers, with their Rudy Turnstone friend, were actively digging for food along the rocks at Barnegat on Sunday. 

Towhee & Thrush

This Eastern Towhee joined my Hermit Thrush at the feeder today.  With the snow falling all day I had quite a variety of birds visiting.  Even some starlings who flew off when I opened the window. 

More Snow

I took my camera when I walked the dog this morning.  The snow was still falling although it was starting to be more sleet than snow.  Overnight about 10" had fallen and been blown around.  More is supposedly on the way tonight so with any luck I'll have a nice walk at Heinz tomorrow.

Long Tail

A little white for what should be a snowy day.  The Long-tailed Ducks were nice and close to the jetty on Sunday.  I always feel like I'm taking too many photos when I'm on the jetty, in this case more than 1800.  But at home it never seems like I've taken enough.  It would be great to spend a couple days in Barnegat to have time to reassess my light and focus needs and get back out there.  It's very different from taking photos at my refuge and once a year just isn't enough.

Barnegat

My activities have kept me close to home this winter.  As a result Sunday was my first trip out to Barnegat this season.  Despite an unpleasant forecast it turned out to be a great day.  Lots of sunshine and nearly all the birds I saw were close to the jetty.  This is my first good look at a Surf Scoter.

Moosewood

I'm pretty devastated that the Scott Arboretum cut down my favorite tree without telling me.  Of course they had no way to notify me, sob, and the tree was diseased, sob, sob.  But I still had plans to get over there and do more drawings.  I will certainly have to do something with all of the images I did take.  But not too far from where the purple beech used to stand I found this beautiful little Moosewood Maple tree that I don't remember seeing before.  Perhaps it was there in the shadow of the giant tree and I overlooked it. 

Feeder Time

Now that the pine tree has lost half it's branches we get a lot more sun on the birdfeeders.  Most of my birds are acclimated to my camera leaning out the bedroom window through my vertical Blind.  Some of them more than others.  It took over a year for the Red-bellied Woodpecker to allow this and the Hermit Thrush, who just appeared two days ago, was having none of it.  So he's shot through the window and during the snow storm.  But the rest were shot in the brilliant, pine treeless sunshine.  The snow makes a great light reflector.