Birds, PSA, Snapshots, Travels with the flock

Cape May lineup

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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.

Birds, Snapshots, Wanderings

Nap time

3 Comments

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?

: )

Birds, In the neighborhood, Snapshots

Some Sandy Hook birds

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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.

I like to make lists, Snapshots

How to: be happy no matter what

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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!

Birds, PSA, Wanderings

A Jersey stare down

2 Comments

: )

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!

Birds, Seasons, Snapshots

The birds of summer

2 Comments
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!
Birds, Half-finished ramblings, Remembering, Snapshots, Wanderings

Careful scrutiny

6 Comments

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.

From the field

Our options have recently changed

11 Comments

“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.”

; )

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TGIF!

Just me rambling about birds, books, bunnies, or whatever!