Return to Presque Isle

Last week, my husband was on vacation and we took the opportunity to go to Presque Isle. I had been there for a birding festival last May and loved it. At the beginning of the peninsula, I photographed a blue heron posing on a log. That was the only bird I photographed that day. Bird-wise, it was a quiet day. I wanted to show hubby the bald eagle nest I had seen in May (minus the absent eagles). Even though I had marked the location of the nest on my map, I could not find it anymore. The Long Pond Trail was a nice trail anyway. While I was shooting some landscapes, a canoe came around the corner and I fired away until it was out of sight. Much of photography is being at the right place at the right time. We drove around the tip of the peninsula and returned to walk the Graveyard Pond Trail. It was a disappointment. I had hoped to get views of the ponds, but the dense vegetation only allowed a tiny view in two places. That's where I photographed painted turtles sunning themselves on a log. When we finally reached an open area near the end of the trail, there was nothing to see. By then, I was getting sore arms from carrying around my tripod and camera. It was time to call it a day. I concluded that birding is much more exciting in the spring when there weren't just tons of warblers, but also robins, red-winged blackbirds, cedar waxwings and others. Weatherwise, we couldn't have picked a more perfect day. A blue sky and warm temperatures lured out many people to run, bike, or walk in thpark.
In our backyard, things are pretty quiet too. The hummingbirds are probably gone because we haven't seen one since Wednesday. The trees are beginning to change and drop their leaves and the wildflowers are going to seed. Fall is here!

Anniversary

Today is our anniversary, the 19th on the 19th. Has it really been that long? We'll celebrate with a nice dinner tonight. My husband is also beginning a week-long vacation, or as they say nowadays, a staycation. That doesn't mean that we won't go anywhere, it just means that we won't go away overnight.
On the home front, it is getting harder and harder to medicate our cat Roxy. She has our routine down to a pat and disappears under the couch the moment we appear. So we decided to give her her medicine at night for a while until she becomes less suspicious. I've even googled the problem, only to find my own blog--which was no help at all. Does it really take two people to give a five-pound cat medicine? I am tired of looking like the cops on "It's a wonderful life" as they grab thin air. She does have the advantage of being very slippery. She gave me two nice scratches on my shoulder the other day as she wriggled out of my embrace.
In other news, I am preparing for the fall show season. The first show is Art under Glass at Bedners Greenhouse in Cecil on October 4. The other show is the HolidayMart at Sweetwater Center for the Arts in Sewickley which will take place in late November. I have sold another article to Pennsylvania Magazine and will have features in the January and March issues 2009.

A Froggy Day

Last Sunday, we headed out to Beechwood for a little walk and a picnic. I took my camera along, which turned out to be a good thing. Every time I leave it at home, I regret it (like that time when a juvenile hawk landed in a tree in front of us and sat there for quite a while). I stepped to the endge of the pond and spotted a bullfrog close by. This time, it really filled the frame and I got some awesome photos. I didn't take any bird photos at all because birds were mostly absent. I also stalked a monarch feasting on a field thistle. The goldenrod is just beginning to bloom and it will probably be another week or so until the entire meadow is in bloom. It was a nice day, though, and we saw quite a few families out enjoying it.
In our backyard, the New England Aster is in full bloom and looks awesome. Its purple color it quite a sight when everything else has gone to seed. We now have achieved continuous color from spring - columbines - to fall. We still have at least two hummingbirds around and keep filling our feeder. It won't be long before migrants pass through our yard. I'll keep an eye out for them.

"Independence" Day

My knee felt pretty good yesterday and so we went out to explore Independence Marsh. I had read that egrets and herons and other shorebirds gather there and wanted to check it out. Of course, although we had been there once years ago, we didn't exactly know where it was. It was not marked on any map we own, either. So we drove around and around until we made a complete circle. In the end, we stumbled on it with sheer luck and because the name Cowpath Road sounded familiar somehow. I'm glad we found it.
Although the water level was low and therefore it was no use for me to set up my camera in the blind, there were killdeer everywhere. Later, I noticed egrets and herons on the other side of the pond. We also saw wildflowers we had never seen before and butterflies flitted about the place. There were even two honeybee hives and I made sure not to get too close to them. The carp carcasses floating in the water did not diminish my desire to return to the marsh at a better time of day in fall or spring.
In our backyard, there are good news and bad news. The bad news is that a groundhog has taken residence in the area and is not only munching our flowers, but he is also devouring my tomatoes. Tomatoes that I had been looking forward to munching myself. This is serious business! We bought a repellent (making these the most expensive tomatoes we ever planted) and I'll be anxious to see if it works.
The good news is that we discovered three Monarch larvae on our butterfly weed last week. Since we hardly saw any Monarchs this summer, we weren't sure if we would see any larvae this year. And the New England Aster I inherited from Old Economy Village is coming into bloom and looking beautiful.