Last week, I took Thursday and Friday off of work to get in some extra beach time and walks in the woods. I like to take a brief vacation at the end of the summer to fully enjoy the hot weather once more before fall begins. In honor of my last night of vacation (this Sunday night), I am going to stick to brief mentions of common names for animals only - in a future post (at the conclusion of 2010) I will endeavor to list the full Latin name as usual.
On Wednesday evening around 6pm- to start things off right - I took a pleasant walk in Colonial Park in Franklin Township, NJ. Heavy cloud cover had the rain drizzling down throughout the day and a light shower took me at the end my walk. The air was relatively cool and comfortable, but humid. Many critters where out enjoying the (slightly) refilled lake.
An egret and some brown, duck like birds relax on the far side of Spooky Brook Pond. A Great Blue Heron joined them for a short time, but flew off when I approached the nearest bird blind along the trail to photograph them.
A muskrat pauses to enjoy some water plants just as I passed by on the trail. As he swam over to his chosen spot, I clearly saw the long snake-like tail this creature uses to propel itself through the water.
I observed a total of 3 Green Herons perched around the far side of the pond that day.
A doe White-tailed Deer and her two fawns stared at me, but did not take flight - even after several pictures further along the trail. The only clear image I ended up with was of one of the fawns, above.
After its departure from the pond, the egret flew into a nearby oak tree.
The Blue Heron flew downstream to another part of the waterway, where I took several pictures despite the failing light. When I reached my car around 7:30pm, it was quite dark due to the cloudy conditions and the shorter days we are experiencing.
On Thursday, I drove out the Watchung Reservation in Mountainside, NJ. The day dawned clear, with less humidity and temperatures ranging from 60 to 80 or more degrees. I followed a lovely nature trail which begins on New Providence Road, on the southern side of the parking lot for the Trailside Nature and Science Center.
Tall, impressive trees like the White Pine above line the trail.
After this first visit, I was quite taken with the scenery and facilities within the Union county park.
A frog I have yet to identify (not a Spring Peeper) clings to a rock on running stream.
By a stroke of luck, I caught a photo of this Rat(?) Snake as I crossed a bridge over the Blue Brook. After just a moment more in my presence, the snake swam away under the water, out of sight.
A water snail crawls among the water lilies in Lake Surprise.
Three large turtles, most likely Painted Turtles, sun on a fallen tree in Lake Surprise.
I was privileged to spend Friday and Saturday in Atlantic City with my boyfriend, Aengus. We had wonderful time hitting Historic Gardner's Basin, the beach, boardwalk and of course Lucy (a giant elephant stachue in Margate, NJ). Above is the Children's Garden in Gardner's Basin.
Butterflies enjoy the many flowers surrounding the Atlantic City Aquarium, which we also visited.
No trip to the Jersey shore would be complete with multiple gull sighting. Here an adult (on garbage can) is pestered unceasingly by two juveniles (smaller birds with brown plumage) in their eternal search for food.
Couldn't resist posting this shot of the boardwalk from our boat trip on the Crusin 1 of Atlantic City Cruises.
On Sunday, unable to resist the continued clear weather, I took an hour or so to walk through Sourland Mountain in Hillsborough, NJ. A Monarch Butterfly, along with a host of other flying insects, enjoys the wild flowers growing throughout the meadow areas of the park.
A toad I encountered along the trail.
A bloom of fungi I assume took advantage of the moisture in the air earlier in the week.
I greatly enjoyed my time out of doors and can't wait for next weekend where I have some fewer and shorter but still great hikes planned. Enjoy the warm weather while it lasts!
It's hard to describe Jim Thorpe, PA. 
The small town nestles within the hills of northeastern Pennsylvania. 
The main street is dominated by a train station featuring rides to nowhere - excursion trains travel out for about 30 minutes before returning to the station. This weekend I undertook a short visit, complete with lunch in town and a long walk on the park bike path.
Venturing into the park, trains pass by mysteriously.
Is the train's driver waving at me?
I have discovered several species of butterfly which the above insect may be: Diana (Speyeria diana), White Admiral (Limenitis arthemis) and Blue Admiral (Nymphalis canace). In a future post, I will attempt to narrow it down...
After a short time, the same train passes by, headed back to the station.
As one travels down the bike path, curve after curve appears in the distance.
A beautiful fresh smell rides the wind that blows over the forested slopes and throughout the valley. It is pleasant to look up and see - not condos in the distance, but rocky outcrops pushing out of the trees. It was exceptionally cool and pleasant this weekend and I hope there is more sunny weather next week. The break in humidity and lower temperatures further reminds me of fall. I notice that, while it is dry, brown and crispy here in NJ, in PA it is still lush and green in Jim Thorpe.
Saturday August 7th dawned cool, around 63 degrees. However, the temperature rose steadily, reaching about 85 degrees or more by mid-day. Hiking this morning was especially comfortable after the recent heatwave. I had several activities planned for the day, and took just an hour or so to walk through Washington Valley park from the Gilbride Road trail head.
The main highlights of this trip were the continued dry weather (dust blanketed most of the trail and had to be shaken out of my socks at the end of the day) and the two critters below.
I believe this is a Ladder-backed Woodpecker (Picoides scalaris). He was hammering was at a dead pine tree. I caught just a few lucky shots as he worked his way upward to the very top.
Saturday morning, July 31st, dawned cool (63 degrees) and clear for the first time in several weeks. I visited Sandy Hook in Highlands, NJ with my family and enjoyed the fine, comfortable, weather on a beach with quiet surf.
While conditions were too cool for me to enjoy swimming, a long walk on the beach was possible in the pleasant (vs. baking) sunlight.
Seagulls (or Common Gulls) (Larus canus) pick a spot free of sun bathers and fisherman to hang out.
In the distance on South Beach, the ongoing bridge/road construction project looms in the distance.
On Sunday, I enjoyed a walk in Colonial Park, in Franklin, NJ. I am fond of Colonial Park due to the large amount of birds, fish, snails and reptiles that abound there. On almost every trip, I capture a new photo of an interesting species.
With the lack of rain this season, duckweed quite covers every stretch of water.
The area has become redolent of swampy smells due to the stagnant water. I found that certain spots are quite stinky now. Large muddy beaches have formed due to the low waterline. Broken shells of snails and even some large, freshwater clams litter the fermenting earth.
Above is an interesting bird that looks just like a Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes). While my field guides indicate their typical range is throughout Canada, I can confirm the bird looked just like the picture on the Cornell Lab Ornithology website.
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An egret and some brown, duck like birds relax on the far side of Spooky Brook Pond. A Great Blue Heron joined them for a short time, but flew off when I approached the nearest bird blind along the trail to photograph them.
A muskrat pauses to enjoy some water plants just as I passed by on the trail. As he swam over to his chosen spot, I clearly saw the long snake-like tail this creature uses to propel itself through the water.
I observed a total of 3 Green Herons perched around the far side of the pond that day.
A doe White-tailed Deer and her two fawns stared at me, but did not take flight - even after several pictures further along the trail. The only clear image I ended up with was of one of the fawns, above.
After its departure from the pond, the egret flew into a nearby oak tree.
The Blue Heron flew downstream to another part of the waterway, where I took several pictures despite the failing light. When I reached my car around 7:30pm, it was quite dark due to the cloudy conditions and the shorter days we are experiencing.
On Thursday, I drove out the Watchung Reservation in Mountainside, NJ. The day dawned clear, with less humidity and temperatures ranging from 60 to 80 or more degrees. I followed a lovely nature trail which begins on New Providence Road, on the southern side of the parking lot for the Trailside Nature and Science Center.
Tall, impressive trees like the White Pine above line the trail.
After this first visit, I was quite taken with the scenery and facilities within the Union county park.
A frog I have yet to identify (not a Spring Peeper) clings to a rock on running stream.
By a stroke of luck, I caught a photo of this Rat(?) Snake as I crossed a bridge over the Blue Brook. After just a moment more in my presence, the snake swam away under the water, out of sight.
A water snail crawls among the water lilies in Lake Surprise.
Three large turtles, most likely Painted Turtles, sun on a fallen tree in Lake Surprise.
I was privileged to spend Friday and Saturday in Atlantic City with my boyfriend, Aengus. We had wonderful time hitting Historic Gardner's Basin, the beach, boardwalk and of course Lucy (a giant elephant stachue in Margate, NJ). Above is the Children's Garden in Gardner's Basin.
Butterflies enjoy the many flowers surrounding the Atlantic City Aquarium, which we also visited.
No trip to the Jersey shore would be complete with multiple gull sighting. Here an adult (on garbage can) is pestered unceasingly by two juveniles (smaller birds with brown plumage) in their eternal search for food.
Couldn't resist posting this shot of the boardwalk from our boat trip on the Crusin 1 of Atlantic City Cruises.
On Sunday, unable to resist the continued clear weather, I took an hour or so to walk through Sourland Mountain in Hillsborough, NJ. A Monarch Butterfly, along with a host of other flying insects, enjoys the wild flowers growing throughout the meadow areas of the park.
A toad I encountered along the trail.
A bloom of fungi I assume took advantage of the moisture in the air earlier in the week.
I greatly enjoyed my time out of doors and can't wait for next weekend where I have some fewer and shorter but still great hikes planned. Enjoy the warm weather while it lasts!
