Birding in Cape May

  I thought I would make birding my number one hobby in retirement but it hasn't happened.  As a matter of fact, this is the first birding walk or hike that I have ever done thanks to my son who drove my sister and her husband and I down to Cape May Lighthouse area. 

http://www.njaudubon.org/SectionCapeMayBirdObservatory/CMBOHome.aspx

I have toured around with a naturalist for a day in the Pinelands but that is about it.  We had an excellent birder in Chuck Slugg and his wife.  It was a wonderful tour and he certainly knew more than I did about the local shore birds.  Maybe with repeated tours I would be able to retain more of the birding information which he shared.  Mr. Slugg described the differences in the swallows and the purple martins.  He also would describe the bird habits and all the other small details that lend themselves to making firm identifications.  I think I am more into the bigger picture of how all the parts of the eco-system work together and identifying much more than just the birds.  So today wasn't just for the birds, it was for the insects, the flora and the highlight was the muskrat! I guess if I really want to retain more knowledge about the birds, I have to go at a slower pace. I want to linger in my favorite spots and bring my field guide. Investing in better optics is probably another good idea.  I was like the straggler and had to keep up with the group.

Swallowtails are named for the tails on their hind wings that resemble the long tail feathers of swallows. Papilio is from the Latin word papilio meaning "butterfly."

 

Hibiscus is found growing in some parts of New England, by the sides of streams; it has large pink flowers.

    Mute swans are very aggressive even toward people. They chase water birds including loons, and can keep those birds from nesting. One bird can uproot about 20 pounds of submersed aquatic vegetation daily, reducing important native aquatic plants.

   The elegant Great Egret is a dazzling sight in many a North American wetland. Slightly smaller and more slender than a Great Blue Heron, these are still large birds with wide wingspans.

The cat birds, mockingbirds and the thrashers will love these wild blackberries.

 
    Above is the perfect one but below is the more interesting one.  I guess some insect got hungry.

 

Below my brother-in-law listens to Mr. Slugg:

My son liked the opportunity to photograph some of the nature:

    Muskrats are large rodents that always live near water. They have thick brown fur and a long, fur-less, scaly tail. They can grow up to two feet long (with tail). Their rear feet are webbed for swimming, and their eyes and ears are very small.  Muskrats live in marshes, or alongside ponds, lakes, rivers, and streams.

 

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    Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles often occur all over the plant – on surfaces such as those of the stem and flat parts of leaves. These are adaption  that protects the plant against herbivorous animals, discouraging them from feeding on the plant.

Lambertville, NJ and Bucks County, PA

    My son and I took day trip trip to Lashaska PA,  New Hope PA , and Lambertville, NJ on August 4, 2012.   We had planned to visit Rice's Flea Market.  It is a 30 acre outdoor market that opens on Tuesdays and Saturdays in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  If I had to compare it to Columbus Auction in New Jersey, my pick would be Columbus Auction.  You may find some of the same vendors at Rice's but you will be missing the real interesting cellar, attic or garage clean-outs that you sometimes find at Columbus.   I like that type of vendor who has absolutely no organization---just boxes of stuff and they say anything in these boxes @ one dollah!!  I am writing this a week later so my memory is fuzzy but let me say that even if I had to account for all the places we stopped on that day it would have been a challenge to me.  I know we stopped at Rice's Flea Market, the Golden Nugget Antiques Market in Lambertville and on to other places in Lambertville, Peddler's Village in Lahaska, and a place in New Hope.      
                 

           

Lambertville House Hotel

   Near the banks of the Delaware River Lambertville, NJ offers a delightful day trip for people from New Jersey, Philadelphia Area or the New York area. It is historic and picturesque and the beauty continues across the Delaware River into New Hope, PA and Bucks County.  Boutique Hotel is pictured above and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.  It has been host to celebrities, dignitaries, and government officials since 1812.   The 26 guestrooms reflect the grace of the early 19th century.

Toll taker on the bridge:

Rabbits for sale!

Can't remember the specific place for this one:

Cone flowers:

 Would have loved to have purchased

this one for my sister but it was just too pricey:

 Bought some beads.  But this Asian guy

was very interested in my

 Cannon camera with the big lens:

Last time I saw this was about 35 years ago

when my husband and I took my son to Peddler's Village

 but today he is the driving me:

 Typical road in Bucks County---hilly:

 This scene has about twenty-five signs:

 We stopped at a scenic rest stop on the Delaware and viewed the water sports.  A quick shot through the car window gives evidence that many wealthy people reside in the area.

 

Derecho June 29th, 2012--Worse than a Hurricane

    It finally feels like we have recovered from a "Super Derecho".  The memory of the storm is fading as people remove the evidence in the hundreds of downed trees in the area especially in Atlantic County.  Many people lost their power for a week.  I was one of the lucky ones in Egg Harbor City that only had power out for a day and a half.  I got to try my new generator that I bought because of hurricane Irene that caused outages the year before.  I am still a bit upset with the TV news weather reporters.  Why is it that most of us young and old had never heard of the term derecho?  It is only after the fact that they are describing these storms and their attributes and telling us that they are not unheard of even in our area. 

     Aside from the deaths and home damage,  the trees suffered the most.  If they were old--- maybe 100 plus years or so--- with rotting problems,  they were coming down in the strong winds. Mays Landing, NJ was hit especially hard right near the court house.

    Katherine Flegal, 66, of the township’s Weymouth section was hurt critically when the derecho’s 80-mph winds brought a large tree down on to her trailer. Police arrived to find Flegal trapped in her trailer because of the tree.   Flegal died from her injuries on July 10, 2012.

     Other storm related deaths include business owner Ming Zhen Chen, 48, of Egg Harbor Township who died during the storm when his boat capsized near the Brigantine Bridge in Absecon Bay. Also, two children were killed during the derecho when a tree fell on their tent in the Parvin State Forest in Salem County.

    According to the National Weather Service, a derecho is a gigantic wind storm coupled with thunderstorms. These are as powerful as tornadoes, but they don’t twist. They drive in a straight line. They’re described as land hurricanes because they have wind gusts of at least 58 miles per hour and higher.  They had no reports for severe storms for the South Jersey part of our area that was hardest hit.                               

   

     

 Here is a youtube video of the storm's origin in Iowa to New Jersey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lqRDMRmIbo&feature=related
 

  The following photos were from Egg Harbor City.  Some found it notable that that one tree missed the blessed Virgin Mary Statue at the St. Nicholas Church.

 

     I remember this sweet girl from my time as a teacher at the Spragg School.  It was her mother's car that was smashed by the tree: