Not Too Shabby!

With all of my post Hurricane work done, i.e. yard clean up, tree chopping & helping the neighbors, it was time to take a walk to check out my local patch. The nearest wooded area near my house is Grekowski Park or as Townies know it, Bissett's Pond. It was named after a lifelong resident and first Mayor of the Borough of South River, James Bissett. If you are a Ham Radio Operator, you know what I'm talking about. For a small patch of woods (58.6 Acres, 38.9 acres are preserved Middlesex County Open Space) it usually has something interesting to find. Of course the eyesore of a baseball field they built sometimes distracts from the fun. I wonder how many Box Turtles were displaced during the construction of it?

Usually one can find at this time of year, White-throated Sparrows, Dark Eyed Juncos, Tufted Titmouse & Song Sparrows going about their business in the mixed woods. These being the most noticeable bird species other than Canada Goose & Mallard. While watching a flock of Junco's, I hear a Alarm Squeak from a Titmouse. Only to look up and see a Hawk flying overhead at about 12 feet of the ground. And not just any hawk but a Red-shouldered Hawk! I can recognize that rufous anytime, most likely because I only see it once in awhile & think is was female based on size. She can to rest on a large branch about 25 feet away with prey in the talons (smaller than a Chipmunk maybe some type of Vole). I made a move to line up a photo, but she moved up to a higher branch. Trying to be extra quite and sneaking trough some dead Goldenrod, I stepped on a branch and spooked her off.

Done with lunch

After letting the trees hear my sailor trained language skills, I headed off to check the banks of the South River. As luck would have it, she didn't fly that far off, managed to pop a few shoots off, then I let her be.

Eyes are some what too soft.

Post Hurricane Blog

So like many other East Coast Bloggers here is my Hurricane Sandy post. As one can see I survived, only lost a few roof shingles and a mid-sized tree. My house sits right at the edge of the flood plain for the South River. With the surge I actually had water up to my second front step, only 3 days with no power, cell or internet. I was horrible!  Anyway here are some pics of the aftermath.

Before the storm

After the flood

I think I had one of these as a kid

Floated into the street from a block away

Across the street from the trailer

Flood Line

Trash

More trash

Downed Pole

Two days later

Flat Roof Gone

Thursday Morning

Apparently one needs to be from a newspaper to take this photo

Local Lads cleaning up Main Street

Someone should of told Sandy

Lazy Sundays

Took a double trip this Sunday, Part A was to the Schiff Nature Preserve. Never been here before so I didn't know what to expect. It was a nice & quick walk, the air was filled with Bluebirds and Goldfinches. Saw a large Red-tailed Hawk sweeping over the Great Meadow, which was a nice sight. Ran into a herd of deer but that was it for excitement.

Part B found me wandering around Natirar Park. While not my favorite park in Somerset County, Trail #2 makes up for any rough terrain that I would want on a hike. It has a pretty sweet view and you can almost feel a little lost while on it. Yet another quick & easy walk, this time a ran into a herd of humans on the Loop. A nice amount of Bluebirds were seen on the forest edge. 

Hell or Hibernia

I started out my Saturday with a trip to the "Cat" to hike the Four Birds Trail. On my way up I-287 it was a steady downpour which was making me wonder if I would make it to the Bat Cave just to turn around, but on Exit 41B to 80 West everything cleared up.

You can't miss this sign.

Starting out at the Bat Cave Property I headed to the cave, haven't been there since my 37th birthday and there was a cold wind blowing out of the cave, that's something I forgot about. The trail was extra moist & slippery, but that didn't stop me.

I missed this early on but saw it on the way back. 

That's not Ectoplasm but a slight fog from the cave.

From here I headed off to the Beaver Pond. The trail was very quite for the most part, a few birds calling & a slight drone of traffic from Green Pond Road. The sun was starting to break through the clouds & canopy but for the most part it was a dark trail, it was quite awesome. Even spotted a salamnder, looks like a Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens).

By the time I made it to Beaver Pond the Sun was getting stronger & I was getting sweaty, time for my first break. The pond was loaded with Water Lilies, I'm not well versed in Botany so I don't know the species. While leaning uneasily over the pond to get some pics, I heard some crashing through the brush, which cause a quick turn. I spotted a small rufous mammal darting in the wood line, I thought it was a fox, but it seemed a little to agile moving over downed trees & large rocks. After talking to Dave from National Moth Week, he said his companies trail cams have spotted Bobcat in the area, so maybe it was maybe it wasn't. I give myself a 10-15% chance that it was but most likely it was a fox.

After this I headed over to the Hawk Watch and with an eye out for a red brown mammal. I did see some young White-tailed Bucks with velvet antlers. They didn't stick around long enough for a photo session. The hike was enjoyable, cool & boggy but I was ready for another break by the time I hit the watch. Not many birds spotted while sitting on the rock ledge, but there was quite a few Turkey Vultures flying overhead.

My tripod was level.

Waiting for lunch.

After an hour break, back on trail I went. Graffiti Cliffs was my destination, but I got a little off track and wanderer around some of the unmarked trails and old roads. I ran into a couple who had somewhat of the same problem, but we sorted it out and went in different directions after 10 minutes of map & gps study. The biggest concern during this time frame was not been off trail but the tree top that crashed through the canopy, my first thought was "Bear". I did make some noise on trail after that, just incase.

No help here

This didn't help either.

Back on Four Birds after some sidetracking, I made it to the Hibernia Cemetery. I have to say is this would be a great project for the local Boy Scouts. It was in a pretty bad state since the last visit I made, but it did make for interesting picture taking. 

After spending about 6 hours wandering around Wildcat Ridge WMA, I decided to head home but not without taking a stop at the Hibernia Diner! 

Babbling Bamboo Brook

I swung by Rutgers Gardens the other day to ease my want of hiking. While it was no Hackelbarney State Park, it was still a fun walk. Usually I head right off to the Pine Stand but decided to spend some time in the Bamboo Patch. While I don't know if the stream there has an actual name, I always call it Bamboo Brook.

Near the new Footbridge

It was flowing a little quicker than usual, which was quite fine with me. There was a lot of entomology activity along its shallow banks. Mud Dabbers were gathering building materials, Ebony Jewelwings fluttered around looking for mates (counted around 13) and once again many Water Striders.

Still wanting to photograph flowing water, I scouted some positions. One of the best spots in my opinion is right near the spot of the old footbridge. There is a nice slab of rock that the water flows over.

Just above a little pool

The sun was getting low and the camera was metering at around 10 sec exposures at f/11. So I was a happy camper, just right around were I like to take my slow shots. I'm thinking of doing some extra long shots soon, minutes not seconds. Any way here are a few more tight shots from slightly different angles.

Just long enough for a bit of blur

While not the slowest shot, I'm always interested in these roots. They make for a great subject and look extra awesome come Winter.

Roots with a bit of flow.

Slow And Flow, That's My Tempo

I've been quite behind with my Summer this year, the plan was to visit many State and County Parks, which has not been happening. Today although, I did finally make my way to Hackelbarney State Park in Chester, NJ. Its awesome & one of my favorites! Maybe because it is almost always void of any human sounds for long periods of time or that I really just like to walk next to water but this is one of the best of NJ's State Parks. Even with the Jersey Humidity, I made my way round the Red Trail. Did I tell you it was Jersey Humid?

Would this be considered swimming?

My first bit of travel fun was driving a few miles past my turn off point, can anyone say Netcong! Second the Farm Cider Mill was closed so no Cider Donuts for this photographer, good thing I brought Fig Newtons. But that was the only bad things to happen today.

While on the trail I spied a Cooper's Hawk and a Belted King Fisher, as well as heard many bird calls in the late afternoon. Tried to chase down a Ebony Jewelwing but no luck getting a picture. Also I am assuming that it is Peak Season for Water Striders because I have never seen so many before.

I did get was some sweet water shots, well not the greatest but not bad. So without any more rambling, here is what Hacklebarney is famous for.

A little bit of runoff.

Those are some tough tree roots!

Natures Junkyard.

Trout Brook meets the Black River.

National Moth Week, It's A Wrap!

That is it, NMW is over and done with until next year. It has been a huge success as for Citizen Science Programs go, we had 49 U.S. States, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico (North Dakota has no moths) & 28 Countries participate in events. It might even be the largest global citizen science project ever in regards to Moths. Part of this week has not only been about moths but nocturnal biodiversity. So here are a few images of insects that showed up on the sheet, for more of my moth photos click here.

First up is what looks to be a Leptoglossus occidentalis / Western Conifer Seed Bug, this was found on opening night at Elk Pine Woods in East Brunswick, NJ. Here is the Bug Guide on this species.

Also from Opening Night, Eburia quadrigeminata - Ivory-marked Beetle. This was quite a treat to photograph and was the first time I have ever seen this species. For a little info on this go to Bug Guide.

Here is a Tibicen canicularis / Dog-day Cicada from Wednesday over at Dekote Park in the Meadowlands. This was fresh out of the ground.

What I think is Vespula maculifrons / Eastern Yellowjacket stopped by Friday at Frost Woods in East Brunswick. Also had some Bald Faced & European Hornets to the sheet but I did not have enough time to photograph them all.

So that is it for now, but you have more than enough time to get ready for next year's National Moth Week. And if North Dakota is reading this, "Get with the program would ya!"