Skipped January

Never have I been a fan of January. I care little if anything transpires in January. That is probably quite evident by the attention not paid to this blog. Well, it is now February and the days are getting longer. It is after 5:00 p.m. and it is not completely dark yet. That is a very good thing. But, not much has happened or going on so far in February. We have spent most of the last five days bemoaning the abundance of snow that has come and is forecasted to continue to come and blanket us here. The natives are restless. School has been cancelled or delayed all week. Looks like a pretty ordinary snow scene to me. Friends in the west would surely laugh at the inactivity here in this snow. I wonder if I will ever get used to the differences in climate.

Saturday it snowed a bundle here. It was lovely powder and reminded me of Idaho winters. The guess-timators say we got 10 inches. That must be pretty close because in places it was above my knees. We ventured out on Sunday. We drove south to Ocean City, Maryland and turned around shortly after entering Maryland because the roads had not been cleared there. We then drove through Rehoboth Beach and then to Cape Henlopen State Park where folks were sledding and cross-country skiing. Many accesses to the beaches were closed because of the snow and possibly to discourage folks from sledding on the dunes. We enjoyed getting out and seeing the area in a different light.

Snowy roads at Cape Henlopen

Cold seagulls at Lewes Beach

On Monday, I drove to the Broadkill Beach area and to the Prime Hook Wild Life Refuge. What a surprise to see so few birds. This is where we have seen hundreds and hundreds of snow geese before and there were just a few this day. It was not that cold but the fowl had obviously sought different places to shield themselves from the foul weather. I was able to capture a few photos of on the outing including some of the geese and seagull enjoying the sunshine at Wagamons Pond.

A few snow geese

A gazillion other birds

Cold seagulls on Wagamons Pond

Quiet Pleasures

One of my very favorite things to do is to take my camera(s) out and try to capture birds in flight. Here is a seagull who was overhead on Saturday when we took some time to visit the beach on a outing just because we needed to do it. You know I think the reason I like to get pictures of birds because they seem so free.

The short outing took us to Ellendale just eight miles away to visit a little shop there. I had wanted to stop on our many trips to the Washington, D.C. area but have never taken the time so we just went there on Saturday. Interesting, I will probably go back there as we get closer to the holidays. Right now I just like to feel and see the seasons change.

The colors are really just now starting to show with drama. The soybeans in this photo are about ready to harvest. I love this little field that fills a bend in the road and pushes up against the trees. A few days ago when I was passing there were two deer just visible in the field. Perhaps later this week I will be able to capture more of the color along the roadsides.

Of course, an outing is a chore for Bill unless it involves the beach. So, we went to Rehoboth Beach anticipating smaller crowds because of the season change. Not!! There were a whole lot of people there but we braved the crowds, found a close parking space and ventured onto the beach. Here are some pictures of the area. Notice the mixture of attire – many having problems deciding what season they are visiting. It was fun to see the kites and the football and people enjoying themselves even though I prefer the beach to be more solitary.

I took 299 pictures. Now, what am I going to do with all of those? I suppose I can compose an album of seagulls and then one of beach scenes and one of trees alongside the road. But, I definitely will have to compose one of "My Boys" and their favorite spot.

Then I will have to do one of "Changes on the Pond." We'll see. For now I think I will just enjoy the images.

Three Weather Fronts

The weather around here has been very strange of late. Just last week it was 63 degrees at 6:00 a.m. and just pouring rain. The temperature was nice but outside was not. Here is a picture of run-off from the rain at the corner of lot where we live. It was a rather fast moving stream.

Well, the sky cleared and the temperature dropped. Saturday and Sunday were gloriously clear but really on the chilly side. We decided to drive to Ocean City since we have not done that for awhile now. Each time we go down there I am reminded of what a zoo it must be on holiday weekends in the summer. There were definitely more people about than when we visited last winter. Of course, it was a holiday weekend. Here two photos show how bright it was outside but also have a cold feel to them.

Of course the critters on Wagamons were also enjoying the sunshine.

Today I awoke at 4:00 a.m. to 64 degrees and howling wind with driving rain. Whose to figure? On a venture out I came across a field filled with snow geese. They seem to be enjoying their winter here. There are times they fly over and the sky is white with hundreds of geese. The shadows they cast are eerie. I am working on trying to get some photos of a fly over. Today I did get some of them in the field. I was really intrigued by the darker guy in this flock and then I when I was downloading the pictures from the camera I noticed the white goose standing close by.

This picture shows that there is something interesting around the white goose's neck.

In this next picture you can see that it is possibly a can that he got his head in and if it was open at both ends then it slipped over his neck. If I zoom in closer the photo gets too fuzzy (one more reason to get a camera with a telephoto lens).

So much for the wierdness, here is a picture of the snow geese in the field. You can see that they are eating the grass down. This is a problem in the area for grain farmers.

Just before I was going to publish this post a lightning storm with tons of rain hit. I unplugged the computer and did not return until this morning. It is now bright and sunny and only 34 degrees.

Could Spring be Far Behind?

We drive by Wagamons Pond every day. Every day I look for the heron. The heron has been gone for what seems several months now. The heron appeared again in the favored cove a few days ago. I am so intrigued with this bird because its favorite spot to stand is no more than six feet from the road. There are cars going by all of the time. That does not seem to bother this creature. Cars can be stopped six feet to the east of the bird and it just stands there. But, stop six feet to the south and the bird takes flight. The flight is not far. It is cannot be more than 30 feet to the other side of the cove. Of course, the position to the south is the best to capture a great camera shot.

Saturday I tried my luck again and true to form the heron flew away. I did get a few images while it stood in the backside of the cove. One of these days I will pervail and get a straight shot. Until then, the mallards will have to do.

There the frustrating bird is on the shadowed part of the cove. Here, the same shot, using the "pan" tool.

January -- Will It Ever End?

Lots of folks swear that January is never ending. For some reason I have always been very busy in January and never thought much about it. Oh sure, there were mild cases of after holiday letdown but for the most part January has been a month full of activity. That was until this year. Today is the 28th. I thought the 28th was at least 10 days ago. It's not that I don't have anything to do. Hardly, I have plenty to do but I have a burning desire for this month to end. You would think that I was a little kid waiting for Christmas to get here instead of the older person that I am now who has been fretting about lose of skin tone and elasticity and the such. Thank goodness for friends and family who keep me entertained with wonderful communications such as this that arrived via email. I guess I will just have to be patient and enjoy the sites and sounds of the area like these photos taken at Wagamons Pond last week.

The Elusive Heron

We live very close to a large pond. It is the size of small lake but is a pond nevertheless. Wagamons Pond is a man made body of water completed in the early 1800's and is apparently a great place to fish. Hardly a day goes by that we don't see at least one fisher testing the waters. For me crossing the pond is not about fishing -- far from it. I like to check out the other aquatic life there. There is always some kind of water bird there and now that it is summer there are also turtles to be seen. I go with camera ready and miss the shots either because the birds are flying away or we are just travelling too fast.

There is frequently a heron standing in a little cove. I have yet to get a good picture because he is so elusive. But I will keep on trying. The heron reminds me of the great whooping cranes I have seen in the Rockies. Well, so I haven't been able to get a good shot at Wagamons, but I managed a few good snaps last week at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge -- just minutes from our house.

Here, then, are a few pictures of a heron we spied there.