Barnegat Day One

 

It's spring in Barnegat. The bushes and grasses are thronged with Yellow-rumped Warblers, still clad in drab winter plumage, but ready to assault the great North any day now.

Kris and Kristen on the jetty. A younger me would have been out there hopping rock to rock, but it is a nope for an old lady with bad knees and questionable balance. Instead I walked the sand from where I took this shot.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

The sea there is likewise thronged with wintering ducks and geese that would trigger rare bird alerts here in NY and instantly bring flocks of birders, rivaling those of YRWA, to stand and stare while madly clicking camera shutters.

Purple Sandpiper...he knows exactly how cute he is!

My dear friend and Best Birding Buddy, Kris, invited me to share a quick trip there to view these amazing creatures, so we took off at o'dark-thirty Friday morning. On the way down we speculated about what we wanted to see most. I was hoping for Great Cormorants, and we both settled on Purple Sandpipers as grail birds so to speak. I had only encountered either on Bird Wise or on Cornell birding courses.

Once we found our way through the tangle of going south in order to go north engendered by the whole just one bridge to Long Beach Island thing, we were instantly greeted by a whole flock of Brant, one of those geese that get folks all excited here in this area. They were grazing on lawns and strolling in the streets, much like our local Canada geese do here. We were out of the car and pointing the cameras in seconds.

Soon, we met the other Kristen, an experienced birding guide who generously shared tips on where to go and what to see, as well as accompanying us out on the jetty at the lighthouse...well, K and K did the jetty. I walked out far enough to see the rock hopping that would be involved in going on the actual rocks. Not being a penguin, I hustled down to the sand route....

Within a short time we had spotted Great Cormorants drying their wings on another nearby jetty, and Purple Sandpipers hip-hopping and scurrying to forage among the stones. The latter were even more beautiful than I had imagined and tickled me....well, purple, not pink.

Red-throated Loon

Red-breasted Merganser

American Herring Gull

Among other notables was a Red-throated Loon that swam up right next to us, floating on a breaker just as it hit the beach. There were so many amazing birds that I can barely describe them. Mergansers, Long-tailed Ducks, all three scoters, a Gadwall, scads of American Black Ducks and Mallards. Gulls abounded, mostly the three common species here, Herring, Ring-billed and Great Black-backed. We found 31 species just on that walk.

American Black Ducks, strolling with a Gadwall drake

Later we went to Holgate to seek the Snowy Owl spending the winter there. Hiked 2.84 miles down a sand spit reaching out into the water, almost to the very dip, only to be unable to find it. It was less than thrilling to get a rare bird alert a short time after we trekked back to the car...someone had seen it almost exactly where we had been right after we left. It taunted us all weekend, being spotted off and on... Although it would have been nice to see it there were so many other birds to make up for it. Day two was even more amazing...TBC

I can't thank Kris enough for allowing me to share this incredible experience!

Twas

 

The night of the Full Moon

And all through the House

Every Creature was Frozen

Including the Mouse

The Toothpaste was iced in the Bathroom (unfair).

And Soap in the Laundry won't pour anywhere.

Are these Rock Pigeons or Willow Ptarmigan?
Note the protective coloring...

***And now you tell me that d*mned overgrown lawn rat saw his shadow etc. etc.

As I told the boss...as of the 2nd day of February in Upstate NY, there will ALWAYS 6 more weeks of winter.

Or really more like 12 or 14.

And that blasted marmot won't show his furry face until the beans and peas are sprouting up in the garden and he can have him a nice salad with the best of my lettuce.

Winter. 

I'm over it.

Snow Song

Rising, the sun trickles pink and gold across the snow. So faint you wonder if you really see it and miss the green of sweeter seasons.

Deer tracks trace a trail across the palette, stencil in the night. I think it's one of the summer fawns. He was tiny when the winter came but Alan said he'd be all right, and so far I guess he is.

American Tree Sparrow

No bird song now. Weeks ago it ended, as the focus turned to living through the winter, with no love in sight. 

Or sound

In a few weeks it will begin again, old as time and sweet as summer. The hills will ring with joy and hearts will leap with warming sun.

But for today, two ponies shred the snow with flying hooves, sailing by a dozen times, racing, dancing, manes a-flying, silent but for snorting, muffled by the banks of white stuff.

But where is Jack? Diamond and Gambit are in the strength of middle age and full of vigor. Jack is in his 20s and over all that stuff.

They scoop him out of his sheltered corner and it's a race, two on one; snow flies in their wake.

I go out with the camera and sing to them.

Di stops to stare down at me and then they're off again.

Critics

They're everywhere.

Snow rollers on the side lawn

Making Snowbanks

I imagine a large percentage of the population is or has been participating in this entertaining winter sport today. I got a head start last night thanks to the dog. At 12 pounds, with short little terrier legs, portions of his anatomy end up quite close to the ground.

This results in some daily bodily functions becoming....problematic... when the snow gets deep.

Last night he whined and wuthered and begged to go out.

Once out he would cringe and creep and race back in, his feet, and thus his nether regions, barely touching the ground...or the snow.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

 I eventually took pity and shoveled a potty portal for him.

He was delighted and tended to business with a will. 

This morning we all went out to play in the snow once more.  I shoveled out the car and bird feeders and refreshed the pup promenade. Becky cleared the snow off the car. The boss dug out the driveway with the skidsteer.

Enough snow has continued to trickle down that it will probably all need to be done again this afternoon....Yay!

BTW, weird snow. Sometimes when it snows just right a few loose flakes will sparkle on top. This snow resembled sugar or salt, rolled off the shovel with every scoop, and sparkled all the way to the ground.

Pretty I guess, but I am over it.

Stay warm and dry my friends, and do some baking and boiling to get your kitchen cozy. That is how we roll at Northview...Italian Sausage Soup and homemade bread, later turned into garlic bread....a fine feast indeed.

Fern

I have full respect for the coming storm. Experts are suggesting top ten all time, or even biggest one ever! 

Winters have been pretty easy in recent years. I remember much harder years.

Driving to work in minus 30 or 40 temps in a car with no heat or defroster. We kept a portable catalytic thingie on the passenger's seat pointed at the windshield. 

Keeping one tire on the snowbank to keep from sliding down the hills out of control. 

Several inches of ice on the milking parlor wall, from trying to keep the place clean when it was that cold.

Frozen water bowls in our conventional barn. Frozen stable cleaner. Frozen manure spreader chains. Frozen silo unloaders. Frozen every darned thing. Normal three or four hour sets of chores morning and evening morphing into sixteen or eighteen hour days and not really done then.

Earlier years when snowbanks were so tall and wide that Gloversville streets were reduced to one lane and you had to take turns and pray. Couldn't see over them or around them. Holidays when blizzards hit and no one could get home from college in distant states.

However I have lately been second guessing myself. After all, our parents walked to school barefoot, uphill both ways, right? Maybe my ancient memory was tricking me into thinking things were worse than they really were.

However, the almanac shows that the winter of 70-71 was actually the snowiest on record here. There were storms with over 30 inches of snow, so I guess I am remembering those snowbanks accurately after all. 

Turns out winter temperatures were the same story. In 80s when I was working at that farm with the milking parlor with frozen walls and driving that frigid car, some of the coldest temperatures on record occurred. 

Anyhow, I hope you can all stay safe and warm, and my heart goes out to livestock owners facing frozen equipment and monster snowbanks. And if you have to walk to school in this and it is uphill both ways.....maybe you could all chip in for a dogsled and a dozen huskies. Maybe we could all use a nice set of those. I have a couple sets of harness in the hutch in the dining room. 

It's snowing....

Calling Fellow Readers

Who are your favorite characters from books that you have read?

Some of mine are Stuart Ramey, James D. Cronley Jr., Kenneth R. McCoy,  Vetch, Avatre, any and all dust bunnies, Halt, Hal Mikkelson, Gunter and Houdini, Peaceable Drummond Sherwood, Brother Cadfael, Elvis Cole, Luis Mendoza, Good Luck, Annie Feeley, Agnes Tinkham, and Mrs. Rasmussen, Barnabas, and Skiff.

Not to mention many others I can't bring to mind right now.

How about you? Any characters you wish were real? People you admire and love if only in your mind. I actually identify with Mrs. Feely, right down to the bare feet and blue jeans. Share in the comments if you will...

And how about some that you are glad exist only between the pages and in the minds of their diabolical creators? I would love to know.

How do you spell Obsession

Your 2025, Recounted

Your Year

2153 Complete Checklists

2535 Checklists

232 Species

11 Life Birds

168872 Birds Counted

Your Time

365 days with Checklists

733.8 Hours Spent eBirding

Your Longest Streak:

365 days (January 01, 2025 to December 31, 2025)

Your Biggest day by Checklists: May 17, 2025 Your Biggest day by Species: May 17, 2025

Top Counted Species:

Canada Goose

You counted 60759 individuals across all Checklists

Most Frequent Species:

You observed American Goldfinch on 1004 Checklists

Your Media

1450 Photographs of 173 Species, 337 Sound Recordings of 113 Species

Your Places

Northview Farm was your most eBirded location with 681 Checklists

964.5 km (or 598 mi)Traveled eBirding, You birded in 857 locations total

Your Birding Bestie was Kristin Harshman

Events participated in: Great Backyard Bird Count, Global Big Day, October Big Day

You are in the top 0.044 percent of checklist contributors

You are in the top 0.484 percent of media contributors

You are in the top 9.374 percent of species observers

You are in the top 0.665  percent of eBirders based on time spent eBirding

This Will Probably Never Happen Again, so....

 

French Interference

I love to listen to audio books while walking 10000 steps a day...thank you Becky for Audible.

My favorites are W.E.B Griffin books, partly because they are super engaging and partly because they are long. It takes a long time to walk that far and short books just don't hold up. Recently I have been making my way through the clandestine operations series. A great deal of German is spoken therein and I have become fascinated by the words and names. I found myself wanting to learn some German.

No reason. Just because.

Enter Duolingo.

Also enter French interference.

I studied five years of the French language in high school and college, the first two under a tiny Moroccan martinet who did not take no for an answer. Her red hair matched her temper. I don't remember a lot of French by I can still recite the dialogs she drilled into our brains. Dis donc, ou est la biblioteque? C'est tout droit, tu y vas tout de suite?

Anyhow, I am forever typing est when it should be ist, thus losing all my hearts and having to end the lessons.

Who would have thought? Not me apparently.

6

Seen in downtown Cobleskill during that count

Six Christmas Bird Counts this season and what a nice set of adventures they were. 

First was the count at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. I wrote about that one here. I am really honored to participate in such an illustrious event, even if my personal failings slow me down a bit.

Red-breasted Nuthatch, Oneida County

Next was Schenectady County, much easier physically, as it is mostly done from the car. There are some incredibly beautiful places on that count, as well as a plethora of semi-urban birds, such as Northern Mockingbirds, which never fail to delight me, even when we are down south where they are everywhere.

Red-tailed Hawk, Montgomery County

Fulton County, up until this year my very favorite. Mom and Dad did this one almost from the start, and it is the county where I was born and raised. All sorts of northern birds are possible and this year we were rewarded with an Evening Grosbeak, a Northern Shrike and a Merlin.

Montezuma NWR

Montgomery County...home, although the territory covered by my BBB (best birding buddy,) Kris Harshman, and I is not part of our usual haunts, being farther west than our daily chases. It was a great count for raptors, including a Rough Legged Hawk, Kestrel, and Great Horned Owl. The weather that day was some of the best we have had in this challenging, cold, snowy season and much appreciated.

Trumpeter Swans, Montezuma

Then came Oneida County. This one is always interesting, as it is not an area Ralph and I have ever birded, so it is all new and different scenery and habitat. It is a good thing George can navigate so well.... The weather was harsh and windy (go figure...that has been the case almost every day since the second week in November) and it was work to find small birds, but fun, as always.

Northern Mockingbird, Schenectady CBC

Next was my new favorite, the brand new Cobleskill (Schoharie County) CBC. The boss and I bird extensively in three adjacent counties, Montgomery where we live, Fulton where I was born and raised, and Schoharie, conveniently located just to the south of us. To get to do CBCs in all three was the best treat of the winter so far. We had a long day with a mix of a few minutes of warm, sweet, elusive sunshine, bracketed by endless rounds of lake effect (my new cuss words for this winter) snow squalls and mini-white outs. 

Cobleskill

Oh, but the territory, the habitat, the miles upon miles of winding roads through a mix of grasslands, wetlands, farmland, woodland, scrub brush areas, and urban neighborhoods. We found 32 species finishing the day with a Great Horned Owl George called up on a woodland road south of Cobleskill. I really hope the Good Lord lets me do this one again next year.

Anyhow, thanks to George Steele for leading all but Montgomery County, and to my BBB, Kris Harshman for that one. There is a good chance I am the world's worst navigator, having the potential to get lost in my own closet. My two good friends cover that nicely, as well as being able to actually see the birds...

Over the course of the season, I got to meet and bird with three new people, all of whom I liked a lot, and every single one of whom has sharper eyes than I do. (I am forever grateful to be able to hear reasonably well.)

Winter is a heckin' lot shorter when the foul weather and dark days are punctuated by the challenges and fun of all these Christmas Bird Counts.

10 out of 10 (if all 10 are lunatic birders, such as myself) would recommend.

Cobleskill

The Forest or the Trees

 I often hear Pileated Woodpeckers Heckle and Jekylling in this woods and sometimes see them as well. This tree was ripped up like this over the course of less than a week. I know because I have been watching the hole high up in it for owl action...none yet. Quite a feat for a simple bird. 

Good Dog

A couple of days ago I was walking past the front hall bookcase when something caught my eye. It was an old spiral bound notebook I once used as a journal. I kept such a thing for quite a few years, but most of them are long lost.

However, there is this one still hanging around and just for the heck of it I took it out to see what I was doing in December of 1994.

Surprise, surprise, the kids were all down with the flu. When we lived in town they are always sick. Dozens of diesels idling all night half a block away will do that if you are asthmatic. 

One of my best cows, Frieland TE Emmy, was really sick and ended up being sold.

And on the 18th I brought home a puppy.

Mike

A good dog. It got me remembering the time he ran the heifers over me and and we had a Come To Jesus moment. He was a little better after that but I had a lot to learn.

The time he ran a cow over me, and came to lie tenderly beside me as I lay there in the snow gently describing his ancestry in highly uncomplimentary terms.

The day (after some training for both of us, mostly me) that we were loading a killer-mean Jersey bull and had to get him to help. He ran around in front of that miserable so-and-so, and swung right off his nose, then raced around behind him threatening mayhem.

The devil creature had just finished demolishing an old wooden cattle trailer right down the axels. It took Mike less than two minutes and one well-placed nose swing to put him in the sawdust shed over on the other farm, from whence we loaded him on the trailer for a trip to the auction.

And there was that one time when he and his half sister, Gael, both retired from stock work and just keeping me company while I puttered in the yard, put the heifers back in the fence all by themselves. I just stood and watched the old dogs working together so nicely.

There were other adventures too numerous to recount, but he was one of the two best dogs I ever owned, Brandy being the other one. It is kind of weird not to have a Border Collie, but Mack is a pretty good guy.

The story about the cop and the cliff

Another tale of the tailed ones

And another

If you are interested in still more, just type "Mike" in the search box above. He made a great difference in my life.