Time for a change!

 I've moved here. https://mike17042.com/

It's very much a work in progress but we'll have to see how it progresses.

Fall Colour

 As I should have been on the New Jersey and  Delaware coast on Friday but wasn't (see previous post) I decided to take some fall color snapshots on and around 2nd Mountain instead. I stopped at Memorial Lake on the way home and had a little stroll along to Middle Road.

Just before you hit the dirt road.

They've graded the dirt road

the Bend

Typical Woodland

To the 2nd Mountain Hawkwatch

I can see my house through the Gap (not really, but its there)

One of the low Bald Eagles

Leaving the Mountain

Memorial Lake

Memorial Lake

Memorial Lake

My two day trip to the Coast

didn't go as expected. I had planned a two day trip to the East Coast starting at Brigantine (now Edwin B Forsythe NWR, why do they rename places after fucking politicians?)  then heading down to Cape May where I would spend the night. Early next morning I had planned on catching the 7am ferry from Cape May to Lewes in Delaware to do a bit of seawatching on the hour and a half crossing over Delaware Bay. From Lewes I was going to drive up to Bombay Hook and then home by mid to late afternoon missing the Friday afternoon traffic. It definitely didn't go as planned. As 18th Century Scottish Poet Robert Burns once wrote "The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men /Gang aft agley.". Written in 1785 but still holds true today. A modern version would read "Shit happens" or "Your plans can turn to shit in a heartbeat".

I was driving around the 8 mile loop at Brigantine not seeing much to photograph in the very harsh light. When the car gave a ding. Out on the raised embankment without shade it was a bit difficult to see the console and warning lights that appeared. The car was driving fine, no noises (other than the occasional ding) no vibrations other than the gravel roadway of the embankment. I carried on round to the car park and parked under the shade and got the manual out looking for the meaning of the amber symbols on the console. The operators manual (the driver) is about 20mm thick and full of safety crap like how to fasten your seatbelt, warnings on driving with the door open, useful stuff for the morons out there. Could I find the meaning of these symbol/icons? Could I hell! Fuck it. The car starts and runs just fine so do I carry on with my planned trip or do I cut my losses, play safe and head home. Yeah, I chickened out and headed home. The car ran just fine, no issues at all. Damnit, I could have carried on with my trip.

I didn't take many shots in the harsh light but here's a couple.

Pied-billed Grebe

Snowy Egret

In between

While I've been taking a few shots in the yard the last few days there's nothing in the way of new arrivals yet though I did see a White-throated Sparrow which is the first for the season.

 Last winter was pretty mild and very little snow and it didn't hang around for very long. I look forward to a good fall of snow as it concentrates the field birds along the road side where they pick the edges for seeds. This being an El Niño year I'm not sure if we're in for some snow or not. I certainly hope so. I'm also looking forward to heading over to Barnegat in the next few months to sit on the freezing extremely dangerous rock jetty to photograph the sea duck, in particular the Harlequin's that spend the winter there. In the meantime here's a couple from earlier.

Snow Bunting

Harlequin

More Carolina's

 Just one species today during a quick session at the rearranged feeder setup.

Carolina Chickadee

C

Carolina Chickadee

Carolina Chickadee

Sunrise at the Lake

As it was partly cloudy I got my arse in gear early and headed up to Memorial Lake in the darkness hoping to capture a nice sunrise at the lake. On the drive up I was looking over my right shoulder wishing I was already there as the sky was amazing. I'll have to get out there earlier next time.

Memorial Lake

Memorial Lake

Memorial Lake

Carolina's

 Not North and South but Chickadee and Wren, along with a few others from this morning at the feeder.

Carolina Chickadee

Carolina Wren

Heres some of the supporting cast.

 

Blue Jay

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Starling

White-breasted Nuthatch

Molting and Scraggy Birds

This time of year some of the birds having finished breeding molt in time for winter. The Cardinal's in particular look awful! Some molt earlier and some I suppose a little later. 

Mourning Dove

Northern Cardinal

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

White-breasted Nuthatch

Branches, roots, interesting bits of wood.

I'm always on the look out for suitable new perches for my bird photography setups. I'll be driving along and stop to examine a lichen covered fallen branch to see if it's suitable for a perch, or if I come across an old tree root. One of the best ones I've found was a moss covered branch that had small ferns growing from it. Recently I noticed quite a large branch had fallen from a Walnut tree in the front yard and I dragged it up to the house and cut it into 3 pieces, one of which is in place right now.

My all-time favorite branch, wish I could find another like it.

Blue Jay

Northern Cardinal

I was a bit dubious at first but it's a keeper.

 Literally years ago, maybe 2019 or 2020 Nikon announced they were working on a 200-600mm zoom lens for the Z series mirrorless cameras. I immediately phoned Allen’s Camera and had my name put on the list for one. I waited and waited and waited and eventually it morphed into a180-600mm. I was a little dubious as although every Z series lens they've released have been phenomenal the 180-600 was a budget style and not one of the top end series of lenses. Being priced at only $1699 I wasn't sure I was going to keep it. Years ago I had previously bought the F series budget 200-500mm zoom and sent it back.

 In a fixed set up the ability to get close up shots of a chickadee at 600mm and being able to zoom out to 500mm to get a Blue Jay in the frame is ideal. 

I'm keeping it 👍👍

Blue Jay

Carolina Chickadee

Mourning Dove

A 2 Pelican Day Out, but long.

Finally a whole day off,  all to myself. It's been a while so I was up at 2am, feed the beasties, make her a cup of tea for the Yeti and on my way South over the Mason-Dixon Line to Delaware. I got to Bombay Hook way too early and took a few pre-sunrise photo's and if you look closely you can even see Venus in the pre-dawn sky.

One of the nice things about arriving early is the Red Foxes are still active. The fox kits are quite used to being photographed. It was a great opportunity to try out my new lens, a Nikon 180-600mm zoom, at $1699 it's pretty amazing. The first 2 shots were wide open at 600mm f/6.3 and the last one was at 210mm f.5.6. With a fixed focus lens you’d never get both shots , with a zoom you can  

Red Fox Kit

Red Fox Kit

Red Fox Kit

Theres been a pair of Sandhill Cranes at Bombay Hook for a while and as they're not a bird I see very often I was keen to try and get some photographs. They didn't disapoint.

Sandhill Crane

Sandhill Crane

Sandhill Crane

Sandhill Crane

Not only have there been a pair of Sandhill Cranes at Bombay Hook theres been a pair of American White Pelicans, these I've seen in Florida and Utah over the years but not recently. One 'expert photographer' I spoke to and asked if he'd seen them told me they were long gone. Bullshit! If the dispshit owned a pair of binoculars he'd have found them easily. Ok, they were a long way out but easily to find. 

American White Pelican

Lots of the usual birds around and I took a few shots here and there on my multiple loops round the 3 main pools.I wasn't thrilled with the lighting where the large flock of Caspian Terns were roosting and they didn't seem interest in flying which was a bit disapointing as I like the big carrot bills.

Great Blue Heron preening

Great Egret

Great Egret

It was always my intention to make it a 2 day escape from my House Elf servitude so when the light got a bit harsh and glarey I headed south towards Cape Henlopen to do a bit of Hawk Watching. The birds leave Cape May in New Jersey and fly across Delaware Bay to the nearest landfall in Delaware which is Cape Henlopen Point. The Hawkwatch is on top of what I believe is an old WWII gun emplacement. When I got there around midday I found the Hawkwatch manned or womaned by 4 'ladies'. What a load of Harpy Bitches they were, I asked a simple question and nearly got my head removed from my shoulders. Screw that I didn't stay long after that welcome. I went up to the furthest car park overlooking the Point but it was 80F plus and I was hungry so I drove the short distance to the Cape May-Lewes Ferry Terminal. The Cappuccino and Sandwich filled the hunger gap. I got on the 1:45 ferry to Cape May and saw what was probably 10 or more large ships further up the bay which I assume were sheltering from Hurricane Lee just offshore. The ferry was certainly rocking a lot more than I have experienced before and setting off several car alarms. I photographed the gulls and Brown Pelicans on the journey which got into Cape May maybe 3:30ish.

Brown Pelican

Brown Pelican

Brown Pelican

Sister Ferry leaving Cape May

Cape May Lighthouse and Hawkwatch Platform

I drove to the Lighthouse and Hawkwatch Platform and quietly sat listening to 3 20 something birding types discussing topics ranging from mid NJ birding suppression to past and future intense birding trips to see amongst other things an Imperial Parrot. None of them raised their bins for at least half and hour to see the raptors flying overhead. The official counter was doing his best but certainly could have used some help as the birds were not only high but coming along various tracks. I didn't stay long, not my day for Hawkwatches obviously. I normally stay at the Jetty Motel at the very end of the beach road but that was full as were the several others I tried, the ones that did have room were charging hundreds of $ for one night. Screw that. I though about Atlantic City but thought better of it so I headed home and got there just before 9pm making a long day out. I slept well!