Summer in February

While Diane and Barbara are sunning and funning in Puerto Rico to escape the cold weather . . . we were  also sunning and funning back home today with a high temperature of 70 degrees. Time to get out and bird! Peanut and I picked Marty up at 6:15 AM and headed to the bayshore to meet Harvey and Steve to look for some winter birds.

We didn't manage to find many birds despite being out all day. But being out all day was terrific. I only photographed a few birds including this Fox Sparrow - one of many that we saw.

Marty wanted to see the Pink-footed Goose that has been hanging around Cape May near the zoo. After a few circles around the pond, we spotted it hanging around with a bunch of Canada Geese. This is a bird of the far north. Only a few come as far south as New Jersey and even then, not every year.

Here it is swimming with his Canadian friend. Notice the size difference.

My friend Steve posted on his blog that they had a Woodcock calling in their front yard this week. Woodcocks are very early breeders and start their mating rituals in early March. I guess they can't wait to get a jump on it this year. Reading that, I decided to go to the dog park tonight to see if any Woodcocks were there. After about 40 minutes of waiting at dusk, I found one bird in the road that flew off and gave the classic "peent" call. Yay! Check out Steve's post to read about their bird and see photos. https://recycledphotons.blogspot.com/2017/02/yard-birds.html