Avalon and Cape May

Yesterday I finally got my sea air and got to walk on some sand. We went out to do a spot of seawatching at Avalon, New Jersey.  It was cold and windy but sheltered as we were it was just what I needed. We saw lots of Scoter, Black. Surf and White-winged, there were loads of Double Crested Cormorants and a solitary Great. Common and Red-throated Loons, Brant Geese and lots of Sanderling. We then went down to Cape May and had a look for a  Skimmer flock. Finally we went to the Hawkwatch and saw loads of Raptors. Very nice day out.

Avalon Seawatch

Black Skimmers

Black Skimmer

Black Skimmer

Sanderling

Sanderling

American Widgeon

Ricketts Glen 3

Heres an HDR looking down Ganoga Glen in the early morning light.

Ganoga Glen

Ricketts Glen 2

A few more from yesterdays hike down and up the Ganoga Glen Trail (plus a bit of the Glen Leigh Trail). I tried to make sure I stayed properly hydrated and I even took a banana as a snack. It failed miserably as I woke at 11pm with horrendous leg cramps. An hour later, 3 glasses of water and 2 bananas I went back to sleep. It was worth it though, the colors were stunning in the sunshine.

Oneida Falls

Wyandot Falls

Mohawk Falls

Tuscarora Falls

Don't think it has a name.

Ricketts Glen 1

I survived. This is a just a taster of Ricketts Glen in mid October. I left home at 5:30am for the 2 and a bit hour drive to Ricketts Glen. It took me a bit longer due to a pit stop and a bite for breakfast. I met this little guy on the way down and stopped to take his picture. More to come.

Ganoga Glen

Green Frog 

Green Frog

No trip to Maine this year.

Regular readers of this blog (all 3 of you) will know that Maine is one of my most favorite places. Sadly not this year. Here's one from 2013 I think it was of waves breaking on Schoodic Peninsula, part of Acadia National Park. Sigh.

Black and White........

...... Cats. It's a very dull grey overcast Saturday morning, it might rain or it might not. In the meantime while it makes up it's mind heres a couple of Black and White Cats. Chickadee and Momma.

Chickadee

Momma

Late Butterflies

I spent a couple of hours up at the Hawkwatch again this afternoon and was photographing the butterflies on the Aster and Knapweed.

Clouded Sulphur

Monarch

Monarch

Variegated Fritillary

Variegated Fritillary

Nice October Afternoon

It was nice this afternoon, not too hot, very little wind so I popped up to the Hawkwatch not expecting to see much and I wasn't wrong. I did see, hear and swat a gazillion Stinkbugs which drove me away after about an hour. I stopped off at the Lake for a little walk around and to take some pictures.

The Sea

I read an article the other day that said I'm not the star sign I thought I was. I always thought I was a Pisces, which because I love anything to do with water explained it. Not that I read or believe a horoscope BTW. Anyway this article said that I'm now an Aquarius which is supposed to be a air sign. Bullshit, Aquarius is the water carrier so it's water sign, well it is from now on. Anyway it got me thinking that I haven't seen the sea for almost a year. Not that it's that far away, probably 2-3 hours at best. Where I used to live it was 40 minutes thereabouts so I used to walk along the beach often. The smell of the seaweed, the fresh salty air, the sounds of waves breaking on the shore, I miss it all.  I'm planning a bit of a trip to do a bit of seawatching in the near future so hopefully I'll get my sea fix soon enough.

The Sea