The Sad Loss of Hennie Roe

Sadly...

Hennie Roe meet the Great Red-tailed Hawk predator. We were prepared with netting covering the night barnyard for owl attacks but never imagined a daytime threat of a hawk. Loud squawking was heard and when Mike went to investigate, the hawk spread its wings and looked at him--clearly this was his meal! Hennie Roe is missed, especially by her sister, Hennie Pennie.

No matter where you prepare your last bed,
No matter where the sword of death falls,
The terrifying messengers of death descend,
Horrid and giant; and glare with thirsty eyes.

Friends and family, weeping, surround you.
Eyeing your wealth and possessions,
They offer prayers and enshroud you.
Unprepared, you pass away;
Helpless and alone.

Poem from From 'Songs of spiritual change' by His Holiness the 7th Dalai Lama (transl. Glenn Mullin)

peanuts anyone?

Blue Jay

Cyanocitta sristata

Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Corvidae
Genus: Cyanocitta

Characteristics
The blue jay is between 9 and 12 inches long. It is bright blue on top and white to gray on its throat, chest and belly. It has a gray-blue crest on its head and black and white bars on its wings and tail. Its bill, legs and feet are black. It also has a black "necklace" on its lower throat.

Range
The blue jay can be found in southern Canada and in the United States, east of the Rock Mountains. The blue jay is migratory and northern populations will move south in the winter.

Habitat

The blue jay is common in deciduous forests. It is also found in residential areas.

Diet
The blue jay is omnivorous. It eats fruits, acorns, seeds, nuts, insects, mice and frogs. Sometimes a blue jay will raid a nest for eggs and young birds. When a blue jay eats nuts, it holds the nut with its feet and cracks it open with its bill. The blue jays is a seed spreader. It often buries food to eat later. Some seeds and nuts are never recovered and grow into trees and other plants!

Life Cycle
The female blue jay lays four to six eggs in a nest made of sticks and twigs and lined with grass. Nests are made in trees and shrubs. The female incubates the eggs, although sometimes the male will help. The eggs incubate for about 17 days. Both parents bring the chicks food.

Behavior
The blue jay is very aggressive and territorial. Groups of blue jays often attack intruders and predators. They often drive other birds away from bird feeders. The blue jay is also very vocal. It makes a number of different calls including its distinctive "jay- jay." It also growls, whistles and chatters.

Other sites and sounds of interest:
International Migratory Bird Day
Free clipart for students & teachers (very nice line drawings, including a birds & botany catagory)
Official State Birds
International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC)
Nominate an Important Birding Area in New Jersey
All About Birds

Text from: NatureWorks
Map: ©2003 Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Photo: ©2006 Sheila M. Parks

cold

2 frosty ducks on the farm























where is the head; where is the tail?






















morning coffee

Frost

A cold December day in South Jersey!

Willow Grove Lake Nature Conservancy Preserve

Weather and Fishing Forecast for Willow Grove Lake

Willow Grove Lake is located along Willow Grove Road at the border of Pittsgrove Township and Vineland City in Southern New Jersey, Salem County.

In 1994, DuPont donated the 1,000-acre Willow Grove Lake property to The Nature Conservancy of New Jersey.

Here are some pictures from a walk that Mike and I took.

Nature in New Jersey

Mike and I journey through the rural lands of Southern New Jersey!!!

Winslow Wildlife Management Area

Mike and I ventured to Winslow WMA on this beautiful fall day. Only spotted two birds but saw many fabulous forest views.

From Winslow WMA

View MAP

Rainy Day Birds

A rainy day in New Jersey. This fall baby is trying to keep dry in the window feeder!

Inspirations

Tina Modotti 1896-1942

Links:

• Patriagrande
• Tina Modotti-Wikipedia
  
• George Eastman House Still Photograph Archive
  
• The Tina Modotti Documentary Film Project
• Tina Modotti Virtual Gallery
  

Books:

• Tina Modotti: Radical Photographer by Margaret Hooks
• Tina Modotti: Aperture Masters of Photography Series by Margaret Hooks and Tina Modotti
  
• Shadows, Fire, Snow: The Life of Tina Modotti by Patricia Albers
  
• Tina Modotti & Edward Weston: The Mexico Years by Sarah Lowe
  
• Tina Modotti by Margaret Hooks
  
• Tina Modotti Photographs by Sarah Lowe
  
• Tina Modotti: Between Art and Revolution by Letizia Argenteri
  
• Tina Modotti: A Life by Pino Cacucci and Patricia J. Duncan
  
• Tina Modotti's Mexico: A Tale Of Love & Revolution by Bonnie Hayman and Andrea Alessandra Cabello
  
• Tina Modotti: A Fragile Life by Mildred Constantine
  
• Tina Modotti: Image, Texture, Photography by Andrea Noble
  
• The Letters from Tina Modotti to Edward Weston (Center for Creative Photography, No 22)
  

Frida Kahlo

The Two Fridas

The Two Fridas, Frida Kahlo, 1939

I

I am daily born and like manna
from the sky, rain down from a thundercloud;
I am dulcet blood of the virgin, the accidental spill;
the heart in the throat, the heart out of its cavity;
the chest a mocking hole, the dress mocking birth.
I snip my vein to hold my own;
I spill my blood; I bare the pain.
Jagged and messy behind the white bloom
that surrounds me, the frill that encloses.
Brilliant silence, brown to the bone.

II

Give me clay and I'll chew it.
Give me the serpent and I'll subdue it.
My heart is whole, watch it blossom.
No chest contains it, red breath pure.
These hands, watch how steady,
nothing will deter them.
Wild pelvic upturned, ground heels down flat.
Take leche at my breast, forget your deaths.
By eyebrow might, by embalm,
by coptic jar, I will keep you still.

--Ann White

Links:

• The Frida Kahlo Museum
  
• Modern Tate Exhibit 2005
  
• Frida Kahlo-Wikipedia
  
• The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo--PBS

Books:

• Frida Kahlo: The Camera Seduced by Elena Poniatowska & Carla Stellweg
• Frida's Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo by Guadalupe Rivera and Marie-Pierre Colle
  
• The Diary of Frida Kahlo : An Intimate Self-Portrait by Carlos Fuentes & Sarah M. Lowe
  
• Frida Kahlo by Robyn Montana Turner
  
• Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera
  
• Frida Kahlo: The Paintings by Hayden Herrera

Beaver Swamp WMA

Cape May County, New Jersey
Beaver Swamp Wildlife Management Area
View MAP

Beavers once populated the freshwater pond that is the central feature at Beaver Swamp Wildlife Management Area. Clint Mill Pond, encompassing some 50 to 75 acres, was at one time the sight of Clint Ludlam’s saw mill where lumber for housing and shipbuilding was manufactured. The beavers and other wildlife began to leave when the dam, which was originally constructed of wood, began to erode. In 1992 restoration of the present dam was completed. Even though the beavers have not returned, the area provides ample opportunity to see hawks, eagles, wading birds, terns, and songbirds. Frogs and dragonflies are often easy to see perched on the lily pads and along the pond’s edge in spring and summer.

THROUGH THE SEASONS:

Winter: Red-tailed Hawk, Bald Eagle, and vultures can be seen soaring over the pond and adjacent marshes. The best view of Beaver Swamp’s 300-acre expanse is from the middle of the dam, although it can be cold and windy. Wintering waterfowl, including Hooded Merganser, Wood Duck, and Blue-winged Teal are attracted to the freshwater pond.
Spring: Encountering a flock of warblers at either end of the dam can be very rewarding during migration. Glossy Ibis, Great and Snowy Egrets, Great Blue Heron, and Forster’s Tern are regular visitors to the pond and surrounding tidal marshes. Gull-billed Tern, who have a specialized diet of frogs, search the pond’s profusion of lily pads for their prey. Look for painted and red-bellied turtles basking on partially submerged logs.
Summer: Butterflies make use of the nectar provided by the abundant pickerelweed growing in the pond while dragonflies perch nearby. Prothonotary Warbler, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Wood Duck, and Tree Swallow are just a few of the species that nest here. Red-winged Blackbirds take up residence in the marshes and their distinctive “konka-ree” calls are heard throughout the summer.
Fall: Red-tailed Hawk, Bald Eagle, Turkey and Black Vultures can be seen along with other raptors soaring over the dam. Waterfowl begin to find their winter residences in the early fall.

Address: Courthouse-Dennisville Road & Gravel Hole Rd
Route 657
South Dennis, NJ
Phone: (609) 628-2436

OWNER: NJ Department of Environmental Protection

DIRECTIONS: Turn Left out of the East Creek Trail parking area onto Route 347 South. Continue straight to Route 47. After 6.2 miles, turn Left at the light for CR 657/Dennisville Road. After just 0.10 miles, turn Left onto Gravel Hole Road, and then immediately turn Right onto Beaver Dam Road. Continue down Beaver Dam Road until it ends at Sluice Creek.

Information about Beaver Swamp WMA from the NJ Birding & Wildlife Trails Book

Photographs © 2006 ~maeflowerbee

Maya

Mice Before Milk

Lat take a cat and fostre hym wel with milk
And tendre flessch and make his couche of silk,
And lat hym seen a mouse go by the wal,
Anon he weyvith milk and flessch and al,
And every deyntee that is in that hous,
Suich appetit he hath to ete a mous.

Excerpt from The Manciple's Tale
Geoffrey Chaucer

Coming AT YOU!!!

Dhamma the Duck Teaches the Buddha

Do not follow low practices.
Do not live carelessly.
Do not hold wrong views.
Do not prolong the suffering of the world.

In other words:
DO NOT BE A BIRDBRAIN!!!

Excerpt from: The Dhammapada
Translation by Ananda Maitreya

Mike and the Indian Runners

Eating, that is all they do--including Mike!

Bachelor Button

Finally bloomed! After many massive attacks from the rabbits!!!

Bachelor Button
Centaurea cyanus

Sowing Bachelor Button Seeds

Bachelor buttons are easy to grow from seeds outdoors. Sow in spring, 1 to 2 weeks before the last expected frost, for early summer blooms. They can also be sown in fall in mild climates for early spring blooms.

Sow seeds 1/4 inch deep and 1 inch apart. The seeds need complete darkness to germinate, so make sure they are well covered. When seedlings are 1 to 2 inches tall, thin them to 6 to 8 inches apart. The first blooms appear 10 to 12 weeks after planting, and last for about a month. Successive plantings can extend the bloom period.

Wharton State Forest

August 13th. The Jeep was packed for an excursion through Wharton State Forest. The destination was Apple Pie Hill, elevation 191 feet, a mountain in the flat coastal plains of Southern New Jersey, otherwise known as the Pine Barrens. Armed with the New Jersey Atlas & Gazetteer, plenty of snacks, 2 cameras, 2 binoculars,

and a shoddy compass, we set off. Apple Pie Hill was never found, but we did find a thriving colony of Southern Leopard Frogs living in a vernal pool. No rattlesnakes were seen or heard. We passed cranberry bogs and lots and lots of pine trees!!! We entered the forest near Batso Village and after many hours finally found a paved road that took us to Chatsworth and the way home.

Click here for more info on the Southern Leopard Frog
Click here for more info on Wharton State Forest

The Garden

The beans are running up the poles! Picked today: pickle cucumbers, tomatoes, apple sweet peppers, long hot peppers, gold runner beans, tomatoes, and tarragon. The birdbath has frequent visitors in the 90-degree weather.

Woman

Art & Nature

Collage 33

My first mosaic. 3 watercolor and ink paintings that I scanned into the computer then collaged, copied and rotated. Fabric or photo?

Gwen and...