I heard the meadow lark this morning in the meadow.  I played his song on my phone.  And what should happen???  He flew up and landed on a dried stalk close to me and let me take a thousand photographs.  Here are three:

The Wood Frog is Back!!

 It was a really warm day today - maybe 70 degrees.  I knew there might be a chance that the wood frogs would be singing in the woods off of Ship Road.  But we haven't had much rain, so there may be no vernal pools.  I got to almost the end of the path through the woods when I heard the familiar clap sound of the wood frogs.  Not loud, but definitely they were there.  I crossed through the woods and quickly found a little pool with lots of little wood frogs.  They immediately disappeared.   And stayed silent.  Really silent.  I decided to wait them out.  I sat down at the edge of the pool.  Read the New York Times on line.  Checked my e-mail and texts and then looked up and there was a wood frog peeking through the water.  Just his eyes.  It took a good hour but finally I could get a few to pose.  I decided to leave after about an hour and just walked back to the path.  By the time I had gotten back to the path, the wood frogs started singing their songs loud and clear.  I couldn't resist.  I circled back, but this time I put the sun to my back and was able to take a good picture from a good vantage point.  Here he is:

The Wood Frog - Ship Road

We are on Safari!!!

Tom and I are here in Tanzania and Kenya for a two week safari.  The weather has been terrific.  The photo opportunities are everywhere and we truly are having the time of our lives.  Here are a few of our first images.

Mom Giving Shade to the Kids 

"Bam"

Topi Mirror

Baby Elephant with Cattle Egret

Three Kittens on a Rock

Three Backsides in the Serengeti

Little Silver Backed Jackal

Serval Hunting

Elephants Play Fighting

Rock Hyrax

Handsome Baboon

Green Heron in the Morning

Why did the Elephants Cross the Road?

The Gerenuk

Wrinkle Nose

Grey Headed Kingfisher

The Beautiful (according to his mother) Face of the Marabou Stork 

Cheetah Watching a Dozen Thompson Gazelle

A Dozen Gazelle Watching the Cheetah

Tree with Tail

 

Eye Contact with Mrs. Harrier

At dawn this morning in Valley Forge.  Love when this happens!!!

 

A Morning in Valley Forge

 Got up early and out to Valley Forge and met my friend Alison and we found a bunch of good stuff.  Here you go:

Cooper's hawk

American Tree Sparrow

Next Year's Christmas Card

Valley Forge in the Snow

Flicker Coming Our Way

 One of the highlights of our time at cold, cold Mercer Meadows this week was a Northern Flicker.  He was sitting on a branch deep in the forest.  I told my friend Alison to focus on the flicker while I played a little flicker sound on my iPhone.  And look what happened:

Mercer Meadows in the Snow

I spent a wonderful evening and morning trying my best to photograph the short eared owls at Mercer Meadows in New Jersey.  It was colder than cold.  I went with my friend Alison and we both were layered from head to toe but still frozen after five hours in the cold.  We saw two short eared owls about a mile away, but lots of other critters posed for our cameras.  Here's a sampling:

Short Eared Owl from a Mile Away

The Gray Ghost (Male Harrier Hawk)

Bluebird in the Morning

Downey Woodpecker in the Morning

Male Harrier in the Morning

Hermit Thrush on Sumac

Flicker flying this way

Young Red Tail Flying That Way

Harrier checking out the Bird Box

Harrier Flying Low

Little Deer at Dusk

Alison with two other photographers

The Dancing Milkweed Borer wins First Place!!

    If you look closely and use your imagination, you can see a dancing Milkweed Borer with a tuxedo on.  He's got his arms outstreatched and his legs are dancing.  Valley Forge. Click on him for a better, closer view.