Snow Days Remembered

Found a few misplaced rolls of 120 film a few weeks ago, so off they went to The Darkroom. Not the cheapest of places out there (any type roll $10 plus shipping), but the email stating that the film is processed and ready for online viewing, is quite nice and usually I get it within 3 days. These are not the greatest scans either, but one can always pay more to get better quality. If you are like this photographer, a scanner already sits upon the desk.

These look to be shot at Rutgers Gardens & Davidson's Mill Pond, and the date on the roll was from DEC 10. Nothing like a cold & snowy morning walk with my Mamiya Pro TL 645 in the woods. Even with all this digital stuff, this camera is always the favorite. I just might take a walk there on the next snowstorm, whenever that happens. Oh I guess an order of pull-a-part would be needed for proofing. BTW Fujifilm makes a nice instant film.

Rutgers Gardens Creek

Davidson's Mill Pond

Some building at Davidson's Mill Pond

Herrmann-Aukam Handkerchief Factory

I been doing some legal research these last few days, which will be the next post most likely, but had some time to take a walk through the neighborhood. Herrmann-Aukam Handkerchief Factory has long been an local decaying icon. Word on the street is, its not long before this area becomes a lot. Any here are a couple of shots from today. A little info regarding this site here.

A staple of Herrman Street

Second Floor Fire Escape

A View From The Public Space

Yo, Represent!

There are times that the term" Jersey Shore" gives me the shivers but I'm a true Son of the State and quite proud of going down the shore. This weekend my travels took me to Sandy Hook and Red Bank, NJ. Here's what the real Jersey Shore looks like and I'm glad you went home ya frickin' Bennys!

View ruined by Brooklyn

Stay off my dunes, Benny!

Visitor Center

After my life sighting of Snow Buntings in a mixed flock with Horned Larks. I headed to the land of Monster Magnet to meet up with an old friend from RIT. Don't tell anyone but she's sort of a Benny but she was one of the few who kept me sane in Rochester so I forgive her for that transgression. Anyway here some sweet real estate on the Navesink.

What do you think it costs to live there?

or there?

So the next time you hear "Jersey Shore" think of this post, not some greasy orange idiots from NY.

Miscellaneous

With running timelapses, scouting locations, searching for those last few insects, panoramas, finding old grave sites and collecting seeds, I have been like a chicken without a head these past few weeks. So lets get too it.
While scouting on Sundays for cool locations for timelapses, I also do panoramas. It is my dream to set up two or three cameras in sync, then stitch them together for a pano TL. Maybe one day even HDR, even though I hate HDR. Learn to meter properly & average all ready, will ya!
So here is a couple of panos for my travels, the first one is a small bit of flooding on the Causeway in South River.

Like Venice, only in New Jersey

This second one is from by the Veteran's Memorial Bridge also in South River. I cropped out the lovely Edgeboro Landfill on the left. On a warm Summers night you can really smell the Jersey Pride.
Anyway once you crop, its a pretty nice view.

Fall in The Garden State

Now I took a little trip into East Brunswick last Sunday to get some me time. I've just discovered this place Ireland Brook Conservation Area, also Know as "The Pig Farm" to some. It is not the whole park just an area off of Riva Ave in East Brunswick. Find this sign and you will be there.

IBCA has about one trail so far, there might be others but I haven't explored enough to tell you. What it does have is a old family grave plot. Only one of the stones was readable and it marked the grave of Jonathan Provost 1803-1839. Finding it was quite a suprise, while walking on the "Blue Trail" I ran across it after crossing a large clearing. It looked recently cleaned up, figured it was family but after some internet searching, found out the Nov 5th was Fall Trail Day in NJ. Must have been cleaned up not one day before my visit. There were also a few broken stones, so who knows how many people are buried there. Will be sending an email to the East Brunswick Historian to find out more, will keep you up dated. Anyway here are some pics, Provost headstone was taken on my Crackberry, because I forgot my normal lens in the car. My favorite is the second one, kinda weird!

 

A tough read, I know.

Hey wait, That ain't no 19th Century keepsake!

After the walk at Ireland Brook my travels took me to Davidson's Mill Park. You may have remembered that place from the last post. Fall was in full effect here, don't know if it was peak, but it was pretty sweet. The air was warm with a light wind and the trees were a whispering. That is the sound that they make when the wind blows. I strolled around looking at some storm damage from Snowtober and made my way to the back pond. Spotted a few Autumn Meadowhawks and some Muskrat damage to a tree or maybe it was a Beaver, I don't know but it was either of those two. While that is some natural damage and just part of life, I did find some human troubles.

The plight of a Beech Tree.

I can't say, I've never tagged a tree, but this is a little to much for me. The path to the pond was quite an enjoyable time, saw some extremely large Oaks and Maples as well as some huge Beech Trees. No wonder they get sightings of Pileated Woodpeckers around here. I don't know if the tree stands at this park are old growth but they look it. The canopy is pretty high and dense, must be nice and cool on a summers day. Anyway that is about it, so I leave you with some tree pics from the park. Thanks for reading!

Who Knows? The Shadow Darner Knows!

I got real luck today while on an Entomology Walk today, spotted a Shadow Darner (Aeshna umbrosa) flying ahead of me on the trail. My first thought was it was just a Green Darner based on my distance from it, but as I got closer there was nothing recognizable to me. It flew into some dead Multifloral Rose and tucked itself in under one of the branches. Rats! I didn’t really say that but I’m trying to keep this tale from going Blue.

            Not wanting it to take off, I decided to approach from the rear. That means crashing through crotch high Multifloral Rose & native Blackberry shrubs. I managed to get into a sweet spot and luckily he changed position, which worked out for me. Was able to pop off about 25 images with 3 really good keepers and a few ok ones.

            At this point I still didn’t know what it was but after my return home my field guide offered some clues. Narrowing it down to Shadow Darner or a Green-stripped Darner, I sent the image off to my favorite website, Bug Guide. Within 30 minutes it was ID as a Shadow, which is the first reporting of a Shadow Darner in Middlesex County for that site. Yeah for me! It just goes to show what one will find in the Great State of New Jersey. 

Shadow Darner (Aeshna umbrosa)

            Just so you know, I use “Field Guide to Dragonflies & Damselflies of New Jersey” by Allen E. Barlow, David M. Golden and Jim Bangma, available here. Well worth the 40 dollar I paid for it.

Hurricane, Smurricane!

I woke around 5 a.m. and got ready for the 6 o'clock beating we were planned to take, but it was nothing more than a bad wind storm. Around 8, I ventured out of the house, nothing was blown over or missing from the yard.

Deciding to check out the town, I made my way to the Railroad Tressel which spans the river & connects Sayreville to South River. Usually the water level stays a foot or two below the bottom of the frame work but not today.

That's some big water!

Making my way down the street I reached downtown, it was some what of a mess. A lot of people standing around, some even took a water tour of the area. To be young and own a Kayak!

I then made my way to Main Street, there again were a lot of people standing round. The big show for this area was this Daredevil who tried to make it across a flooded road. Don't worry he was safe, a flat boat Captain & his dog oversaw his retrieval of personal paperwork from the truck.

I wonder if Maritime Law applied in this situation?

I worked my way back up the street and checked out my bank. In the lot next door some local canines got some exercise and a sweet stick. The only one with brains was that Great Dane that stayed on dry land.

At this point I was getting a little tired so I head home, while stopping to take some pictures.

Local youths enjoy a river tour.

So that's about it, until the next flood.