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!
