New Jersey News

I went to visit my friends in New Jersey on Friday and came back today.  Saturday we went to the Skylands Biological Gardens.  Of course at this time of year there were very few flowers, but our purpose in going was to take a long walk around "the loop", enjoy some nice scenery along the way and spend some time outside on a beautiful day.  Here are a few pictures.  We started down this lovely oak-lined road.

We came across one large pond.

This maze of tree roots along the bank caught my eye.

Most of the leaves were already down on the majority of trees, which really made you notice the shapes and intricacies of the branches.

This tree had a hole right through the trunk, or else two branches had grown together.

Without the leaves, the bark of the trees was highlighted as well, like the mottled look of this sycamore tree.

A few old buildings were also along the route.

On the way back to the parking lot, we were greeted by two eagles guarding the entrance already decorated in their Christmas bows.

On Sunday, Lynne let me borrow her telephoto lens to try to get photos of some of the birds coming to her bird feeder.  While I was getting settled for the photo attempt, Lynne's dog Bella came out and 'assisted'.  She was so funny.  She insisted on standing right in the way and every time I would tell her to 'sit', she would sit ON me instead of next to me.  And then I really couldn't see anything because she's a big Bernese Mountain dog!

I managed to get a couple of the white-breasted nuthatch and a chickadee, although they are not totally in focus.

But what I was really trying to capture was the little red-breasted nuthatch.  I only managed to get one not so great photo before my battery went dead!  Even though you can't see its whole face, you still notice the distinctive eye stripes.

It was so cute!  I stood up to go inside after my battery disaster and there it came!  I was so close and immediately froze in place.  It sat right on the hook that the feeder was hanging from and stayed there for the longest time looking right at me.  Had I had a working battery, I might have been able to take a great photo WITHOUT the telephoto lens.

Anyway, I'm now back home and a good time was had by all.  Thanks again for your always wonderful hospitality, Lynne and Rick!