On Sunday we visited Lee Turkey Farm in East Windsor, New Jersey. Across from the farm is a stream, and some lovely wildflowers were growing. The yellow wildflower above seemed to attract bees.
This droopy pale orange flower added a wispy look to the scene.
These green, round leaves were growing in the stream, but I didn’t see any lilies.
This white flower seems to be a kind of honeysuckle.
Would this little daisy-like flower be a fairy aster?
I finally got to see a heron while visiting my in-laws who live near the Jersey Shore. Wouldn’t you know it, I only had my little phone camera with me. My daughter called the heron a “gray flamingo.”
In more mundane news, the parsley seeds I planted in August have germinated. No sign of the kale seeds germinating. I plan to plant whatever I get in my little front yard so I have greenery in the late fall and possibly through winter (not counting when there is snow on top, but the kale has survives through the snow).
Update: I went outside to check on my few germinated seedlings, and an animal had eaten them. Or maybe they died of “damping off” – too much wet. Sigh. I moved them to our front yard, where we’ve had fewer animal problems, and the sun hits the area.
There are many gulls sitting on these rocks at the Asbury Park beach. But you will see at the end of the post, the humans out number the gulls.
One lone gull (is he a gull? See this list of sea birds) flies away from his friends. This one appears brown.
A brown gull flies by the active waves. Crafty Green Poet writes: “the brown bird is probably a young gull, most species of gull have I think three years in brown plumage (slightly different each of the years) before they take on adult plumage” – thank you!
A few brave souls sit on the rocks at the beach. My kids both went dunking into the freezing May waters. I just put in my toe. My husband relaxed on the beach – too cold for him.
This photo should give you an idea of how crowded it was on the beach. And economically, this is good news. Asbury Park was very depressed in the past thirty years. My husband grew up in this area, and he saw the decline. About one hundred years ago, it was quite a fashionable place. People may no longer walk in fancy dresses and suits, but the new restaurants and shops are upscale. I hope the gulls don’t mind.
Pictured in the crowded beach photo are the Asbury Park Theatre (see it in my Asbury post from last year) and the Berkeley Carteret Hotel.
There is a path at the edge of Highland Park by the Edison border that leads to my children’s school. On one side are houses, but on the other side of the path are lots of brush and trees and weeds and who knows what else. The brook runs alongside all this woodsy brush.
Anyone able to identify these large leafy plants growing on the path?
I spotted a robin! There’s something green in the robin’s mouth: a worm, catepillar or a leaf?
These two wet tulips are relaying the weather we have in New Jersey today.
The pink petals of my neighbor’s dogwood are showing off.
Yesterday I spotted this robin in a tree. Do you think he spotted me?
Today in the gray I saw two birds in a tree – the left bottom one is a robin. Can’t make out the right one – he’s so far off! Michelle suspects the one on the right is a “she” robin – the males have the brighter breast. Mating season?
We still have a bunny rabbit living in our backyard.
I saw one then two then three deer in a neighbor’s backyard. I approached them with my camera, and they backed into this corner. Then two hopped the fence. The last one stayed behind and nibbled an evergreen bush. New Jersey is getting so developed the deer are living everywhere, or so it seems.
This rabbit seems to be living in our backyard. I saw him twice yesterday.
My neighbor’s magnolia tree has started to blossom. You can see the buds of the magnolia on this post. The yellow background in this photo is from the forsythia.
I decided to give my magnolia blossom a blue background.
This is the sky early Monday morning at the bottom of Stratton Mountain in Vermont. At the top, it was about -30°F – frigid, frost-bite weather.
Here you can see some of the Stratton Mountain condos.
In the top photo, do you see the large, black bird swooping by? The bird (is it a hawk?) swooped and swooped all around, but I only managed to capture him in that one photo before he flew away. I wonder why this bird chose to stay in cold Vermont?
For more Nature Notes, visit Rambling Woods. For more Sky Watch photos:
Our street early in the morning, January 12
And in New Jersey we have: snow! What a surprise (not). I decided to travel around the world via blogs and see what the weather is like elsewhere.
I planted portulaca (also called moss rose) from seed late this year (late means June), so I only got a few blossoms. Here is one that was still alive in October. These flowers are delicate, open only in late morning and die when it starts to get cold. Sometimes they reseed – hopes for next summer.
