Month: January 2017

As I drove around while running errands today, the contrast in weather conditions was vast.  It was sunny and 50 degrees at home, but a short drive South brought dense fog and clouds.  I packed a camera in the car just in case a photo opportunity cropped up along the way.  On my way home, the fog was intensifying and I thought of this pretty church along my route.  How pretty it would be in the fog at sunset.  Or not!  You can’t predict Mother Nature!  At least the sky was interesting!

Meet 21 year old Golden Eagle, Julia.  Julia is another of the beautiful birds of prey that I had the privilege of seeing at the presentation by Bill Streeter of Delaware Valley Raptor Center earlier this month.  Julia was hit by a car and, as a result, is blind in her right eye and unable to fly.  Julia weighs 14 pounds and has feathers from the top of her head right to her toes, which is why Golden Eagles are also called Booted Eagles.  They are one of the most powerful eagles in the world and Julia is an exceptional ambassador of her species.

The Ring-billed gull is one of the most common gulls in New Jersey.  They not only frequent the beaches, but also parking lots and shopping malls inland … wherever they can find a tidbit of food and some water.  I’m a huge fan of gulls.  My family went to the beach in New Jersey every summer when I was little.  For me, there were three indications that we were “almost there”.  One was the first sighting of a gull, the second was the cloud formations as we neared the ocean, and the third was noticing that the soil was sandy.  On this cold January day, what could be better than dreaming of warm days with the gulls at the shore?                                                                                                                                                                      (This image from Cape May, NJ – December 2016)

I’m thankful to whoever left their boat on the shore at the lake because it became the focal point of my photo during yesterday’s snowfall.

It was a crisp 25 degrees and snowing this afternoon at the lake.  Before long, there will be ice fisherman and skaters enjoying winter-time activities on the ice covered water.  In the summer, this beach would be buzzing with swimmers and there would be boats on the water.  Today, I was the only one who ventured out onto the snow covered sand.  I love the solitude of a beach in the winter.