I got the horse right here...

Yeah! I placed a bet on a horse and he won! Yeah!!!!!

Six of One...

Quick!!!

What does the number six bring to mind?

It's a half dozen. If you are looking at yogurt containers, 6 oz is the new 8. If we are of the same cohort group, then six might mean Public School graduation. Or it could be the number of cup cakes that come in a package. Add ten and it's your Sweet Sixteen. In Spiritual matters the number six deals with enlightenment; specifically "lighting" our path in areas we require spiritual and mental balance." according to What's You Sign.com

Today the number six took on new meaning for me. It now represents the number of inches of the bolt removed FROM MY BRAND NEW REAR TIRE this morning. The tire technician was so impressed he brought in the tire with the bolt still stuck in it, put it on the counter and said, "you didn't feel this?" We asked if we could keep the bolt as a souvenir. He gave us our bolt after it made the rounds in the tire department. What a way to start the day!

Now I want to design a piece of jewelry around the bolt. Any suggestions?

I've been to Brig NWR

The car says it all...

I've been to Brig NWR...

And all I got was a dirty car!

The bird of the day was a

Willet.

Birding Forsythe NWR, Brigatine Division (http://www.fws.gov/northeast/forsythe/). It's one of the best places around to bird. We bought our first spotting scope, just in order to go birding there. Now we know every bend in the road. The small black flies are out in force. They are annoying because they bite. But they are tame compared to green headed flies that are out in August. The green head not only bite, but can bite through your clothing. They are flies with fangs.

Although we didn't see a huge variety of birds, there were lots of Black Skimmers, a Hudsonian Godwit and many, many Willets.

A quick run down to Cedar Run Dock Road, wasn't "productive". But the lack of birds, was made up by watching 2 men trying to launch their boat. If you read about a car backing up into the water from a boat launch, it was those two. Imagine Abbott and Costello combining their Who's on First and Niagara Falls. Slowly turn left, no go right, my right, your left. AND THEN...

MY photo of a Red Knot!

Larry found 5 Red Knots today and I was very grateful to the retired Grandma, who called her husband over when I was scoping Roseate Spoonbills at Ding Darling NWR and insisted that he teach me to digiscope. ("Now Ed you must teach this young lady, how to digiscope!") Because he did, I was able to get this photo today of a banded Red Knot. Very Cool!

This picture was taken with a Cannon Power Shot A480 at 3.3x zoom looking into a Swarovski, 80mm Spotting Scope at about 20x magnification. Pretty neat...huh?

Rites of Passage

The installation of one's air conditioner is the rite of passage signalling the onset of summer. I cleaned the filter, I installed the exhaust pipe in the window and plugged the spaces with squishy foam. After a few hours of running quite well, the room was a tolerable 78 degrees but the floor was flooded with water. I thought, maybe the unit isn't balanced correctly, so it's not draining right. I emptied the water and turned on the unit once more. A couple of hours later, the floor was flooded again. Houston, we have a problem.

Good bye old A/C...you have served me well, cooling me off during all those hazy, hot and humid NYC summers for the past 5 years.

Costco has a new sale on it's books tonight.

I bought a new air conditioner.

It will be on a nice brown UPS truck next week, on it's way to my bedroom.

It is coming from California, it will take approximately 5 days to get here.

It will see more of the United States than I have.

I wish that they had a little map of the country so I could follow it's journey, through the desert, over the Rockies, past the waving wheat, over the Blue Ridge Mountains to my door.

After that long trip, I hope I can lug it up the two flights of stairs to it's final destination.

The Road Well Traveled

We don't exactly travel light!

We have a computer, a scope, an electric percolator, diet soda and snacks.

We are ready to roll!

Here I am, after 30 miles of walking in three and a half days, doing the tourist thing in the Nation's Capital and then off to do some serious birding at Bombay Hook, NWR in Dover, DE.
I am ready for the mosquitoes, the ticks and the no-see-ums.

I get the point...

Larry at the Washington Monument.

Larry under the Chinese Gate in Washington.

Larry by the Capitol Building
They didn't let us get close enough to take a picture in front of the White House, so no Larry.


They call it a Reflecting Pool...

We took a road trip to Washington DC. I haven't been there in 32 years. One thing really stands out in our nation's capital. There are no supermarkets. I don't know where the residents get their groceries. The 5 days I was there, I didn't even see a truck delivering food. No wonder why everyone was so thin, they don't have any food. There was a Starbucks on every corner. Everywhere I went I saw people drinking coffee. They say caffeine is an appetite suppressant.

The streets were very clean. The metro system boasted that they didn't have any rats, unlike another system, they refused to mention. They said it was because there was no eating or drinking allowed in the system. Even if you wanted to eat something, there was no where to buy any food.

No food, no litter, no rats...Problem solved.

May 8th-jamaica bay

It turned out to be a beautiful day. The morning weather reports threatened rain, and indeed, there were a few light showers, but nothing like they predicted ocurred at Jamaica Bay. Seeing my favorite bird, the American Oyster Catcher, made it a complete birdwatching day for me.

We saw cygnets, goslings and owlets today. Last night I had a dream that Larry and I had to cross a bridge and there were Canada Geese on eggs and with goslings sitting in the middle of the road blocking our way. I must be psychic, because that is exactly what happened today!

These adorable, little yellow and black goslings were being guarded by their parents in the middle of the path. They were so cute!

Looking for Larry (Notice the evil eye!!!)

Get away from Larry!