10.20.2022 Fall Migrations and Winter Storage.

Summer ends all too quickly. It seems I just get into a summer routine and I need to shift gears into an Autumn routine. And with the change in seasons means autumn chores! 

One of the things I have wanted to do was to go to Cape May, New Jersey and watch the Fall hawk migrations. A long time ago I had gone to Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania to watch the hawks migrate. Since covid had restricted most of my international travel, I had planned on doing some trip Stateside. So off to Cape May I went at the end of September and I was not disappointed.

Had the opportunity to watch not only hawks, merlins and kestrels but also many songbirds, shorebirds and monarch butterflies.

My favorite bird had to be a little pine warbler.  He was, shall we say, a captive audience so I took many, many photographs of this little songbird. We were crossing the Delaware Bay on a ferry when another passenger asked me to check on this bird.  He had flown into a window on the ferry and the passenger thought he was dead. But I watched him carefully and saw him take a few breaths, so I sat by his side watching and waiting and of course, photographing!  He was apparently dazed. But finally, he was wide awake and did fly away. I do hope he was strong enough to find his flock onto wherever he might be migrating.  I wonder what that little bird was thinking about all of the attention he was getting. O - what a splitting headache I have may be his only thought!

 Pine warbler.

Perched on the rail and ready for take-off. He flew away and I hope he remained safe.

While on a bird watching tour, one gets used to early morning starts (just like at home!) I really enjoyed getting up before sunrise so I could take a nice walk along the shore. It was beautiful and peaceful and allowed me to take a few sunrise pictures. There are two skimmers (seen as dots) flying across the sky.

There were so many birds and so many pictures that I still need to do more edits. But here are a few photographs of birds seen from various locations on Cape May, from along the bay to along the sea and inland at the Cape May Birding Observatory.

Cormorant - beautiful blue eyes.

Cure little fawn. 

Royal terns and ruddy turnstones.

A long shot of a ruddy turnstone.

Setting sun from the Lewestown to Cape May ferry across the Delaware Bay.

Ruby throated hummingbird.

Mockingbird.

One of many raptors.

Sharp shinned hawk.

Kirtland's warbler.  A rare bird, generally found in the Midwest. This was the first siting in Cape May. As one of the birding capitals of the states, there is a bird alert that goes out when rare birds are found. You wouldn't believe how many people had gathered to find this little one.  I was most fortunate to snag a couple of photographs before he headed back into the brush. Warblers don't hold still for long! A second warbler was later reported along the scrub on the beach a few miles from this location. Most likely blown off course die to storms and winds. 

Savanah sparrow on a fence.

Monarch butterfly. I tried all week to get a photograph of one on a flowering bush - finally!

osprey.

Sharp shinned hawk. There were quite a few of these and some flew close enough for me to not only see but also photograph. 

Cedar waxwing. 

Flocks of cedar waxwings. What a sight to see so many of them in a flock.

Bird counter. Cape May Birding Observatory hires skilled people to count the birds migrating. They work full shifts - sunrise to sunset. 

Red fox.

Seaside sparrow found in the rushes.

 Black crowned night heron.

Sandpiper.

Avocet. We observed large flocks of these beautiful birds. They are as graceful as they are beautiful. 

A fast moving bald eagle. While he is blurred, I couldn't resist adding him to the blog. We saw quite a few eagles - what a beautiful site watching them soar high up in the sky.

It would not be a trip to Cape May without seeing a Cape May warbler. Here she is - eating berries in this tree.

The black and white warbler is one of my favorites. And I am always delighted when I can spot it. This is the first time I have been able to get a picture. 

Mourning doves. 

Great heron.

Lesser yellow legs.

Sunrise with skimmers.

Seaside sparrow.

Monarch butterflies.

Swans.

Big spider in a web.

All in all, this was a great trip.  There is so much I need to learn in order to identify birds and I am enjoying these opportunities. And one more picture of that little pine warbler.

Winter storage? Yes, I had to put my Rhodes 19 Mimi away for the winter.  Went to see her after returning from the trip. She is all wrapped up and ready for a long winter stay. It was good to dry dock her before I left as the hurricanes were coming up the coast and one never knows if they will hit us or safe. So best to keep her safe!

Getting her ready for her long winter's nap! Preparing for another summer sail - the last of the season.

Hope you all are well. It has been sometime since I wrote. Will try to do better and post again soon.

And Shorty, Gunnarr and Fionnegan are doing quite well. I think they are enjoying the cooler temperatures. 

Until next time.................. 

09.05.2022 Summertime

 We are all enjoying the last days of summer. Even though it has been hot, really hot, we are doing our best not to complain as soon it will be cold, really cold.

It has been nice having my little sailboat Mimi back in the water. It is a good break from being landlocked and I do enjoy the time sailing. And the views of the city skyline at dusk are always very special!

 Our drought is ending much to the relief of everyone, especially those of us with water wells and gardens. I refrained from watering the flower beds and they do look sad. Spent most of the time pulling out dead leaves from the lilies so when it does rain we won't have mold!

Here are the last of the summer flowers. The Stella d'Ora is a twice bloomer, once early and once late so it is a welcome site. This is the last of the blooms.

Mandevilla  - A very pretty tropical vine and one of my favorite flowers. Not many flowers this year but we will take what we can get! I bring it inside in the winter and so far it has survived the indoors and summer drought. Have  you noticed I have a lot of favorite flowers??

We have become fond of marigolds.  This is our one and only marigold so we are enjoying it. For some reason the plant is about three feet tall! A bit unusual!

Unless the garden shop gets some monkhood plants, it looks like we will have very few, if any to bloom. They are a fall favorite as they bloom well into November until the hard frost. They have these beautiful blue flowers that are showy and blend well with the lilies that are past bloom. But only a couple have survived the drought - barely survived. Maybe we will just get a few mums for color around the porch. I did get a black-eyed Susa and potted it. It is one of the few plants that I will water. Not putting it in the ground because of our bunny.  Run Bunny Run! 

Much to our surprise, the apple tree has done great. There have never been so many apples and we all are enjoying them - me, the boys and a few critters that get to them before me! They are small green apples and are mildly tart. But they are delicious.

Everyone has healed and all are doing well. Fionnegan still has a few setbacks from time to time from the Lyme disease with joint pain and Gunnarr had a late wound complication from his earlier surgery (what would you expect from a surgeon's dog??!!).  Shorty has been doing great and is as good as they come. They are a delight and good company. Sometimes I think it might be fun to take them sailing but then reality strikes me and I know that would be a very bad idea. Best to enjoy my boat without them! 

Fionnegan and Gunnarr just had a haircut, so Shorty and I spent some quality time together on a special walk. It is so much easier to walk one dog who is rather indifferent to other dogs on the trail! 

Am not only trying to learn my birds (taking another Bird Academy course online) but I am also trying to learn the birds by their calls. I have an app on my phone that identifies bird calls, so now I know who is singing early the  morning and who is a night owl! The one rare bird that I saw was a barn owl. It started calling outside the bedroom window in the wee hours of the night, then started perching in the trees alongside the driveway. I think he had his eyes on Fionnegan and Gunnarr. But that allowed me a chance to see him in all his glory and watch him soar to a different location twice.  Maybe he will return next year. But we have a great horned owl and a few barred owls nearby to entertain us in the night. .Must be good critter hunting ground for them.

One night a Carolina wren was buzzing past us in a tizzy. I was sitting on the porch doing my bird courses and playing a few bird calls. Maybe too many for her! So she flew into my sun umbrella! It was getting dark but you can still see her face and eye markings! I was wondering if she had a nest in there but it seems she just flew in there for cover!  She is a beautiful little bird and we have had a pair here for a couple of years. She also sings early in the morning. 

Do you see her in the umbrella?

Here is a closer look at this little bird.

It started to rain early this morning and so we will all just rest indoors today, no gardening or sailing or cookouts on Labor Day. Today I am going to make cauliflower soup as there was a special on cauliflower at the market and I decide why not? Something good to do while it rains outside. I am not much of a cook, but the dogs are happy to eat what I make for them so it cannot be all bad! Of course, they will not get the soup, but just a few pieces of cauliflower.

I do hope you are having a good Labor Day weekend. If you have travel plans please be safe.

And please check out Shorty's blog - he posted a few cute pictures of him and his brothers! We are trying to catch upon our blog postings on this rainy holiday morning! 

09.05.2022 Lazy Days of Summer

https://mydogshorty.blogspot.com/2022/09/09052022-lazy-days-of-summer.html

Until we meet again .............

08.07.2022. Summer, Gardens, Sailing, my boys, and the locals

What we really could use now is a nice, long and steady rain. Not only is it hot and humid, but the earth is parched, and the gardens are dry and some of the well established plants are struggling. Fortunately I did not plant many new shrubs or flowers. We had a sprinkle of rain yesterday, not even enough to call the dogs inside the house. 

We are seeing the last of the daylily blooms. This one is delicately colored but quite large.

The last tiger lily bloom.

Stella d'ora reblooms.

The star gazer lilies survived the bunnies!

We have quite a few little grasshoppers that seem to like the daylilies.

We have a resident Mr. Toad to add to our menagerie of animals around the house. He stays on the kitchen porch, quite often just under the kitchen door step. He also sleeps in the flower pot that contains a large rosemary plant. On occasion he has been "watered" before I notice him half buried in the soil! He doesn't really seem to mind. But I have to teach the boys "no touch" as they are very curious about him. Fionnegan in particular keeps a close eye on him. While Gunnarr and Shorty will ignore Mr Toad after a minute or two, Fionn will recline on the porch and just watch him.

And I have mentioned the bunnies. They are voracious eaters and have enjoyed all of my black eyed Susan's and daisies. Last night we watched one on the other side of the fence nibbling away at the leaves on a low branch of an azalea. The dogs were all excited and barked but settled down on command. Leave the bunny alone, I tell them repeatedly. Leave the bunny alone. So Fionn and Gunnarr just sat in the driveway laser focused on him as he happily nibbled  his dinner.

We have planted flowers to attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. We do have all three is the gardens and it is especially enjoyable to watch the hummingbirds. No good pictures yet, but here are some of the bees and black swallowtail butterfly. Maybe the butterfly is just as happy on the grass!

Happy bees.

The boys are staying cool with ice cream and watermelon treats.

Nice, cold watermelon hits the spot.

We have one new visitor to our yard. There is a barn owl that has been here at night and in the very early morning hours. One night it was calling and woke me up. I had never heard of such a call and thought it was the snoring of one of  the boys. An online search brought me right to the bird. One night it perched on a tree along the driveway. So I was able to get a good look at it and watch it fly from one tree to another. Fortunately it did not bother Fionn or Gunnarr as they were just outside for their late night excursions.

And yes, my girl Mimi has stretched her sails and had some nice adventures in Boston Harbor. Here she is on her morning. It is also enjoyable to just sit on the deck and watch the sun set. I now have an electric motor for her. It does make it easier to get to the mooring. 

We also have early morning walks when we can. I was trying to get Gunnarr to look at the camera, promises of treats and kisses didn't work. So I asked them if they wanted to go for a walk. That got their attention, so we did. After the photography session, of course!

. So off we went, walking in the cool of the forest.  They love the walks. And it is refreshing. And they love the cool of the car air conditioning when we are done!

How have you all been? Are you surviving the heat? What do you do to stay cool? 

Stay cool.

Until next time........................