Friday, February 28, 2020
Long Tailed Duck
I went birding in South County today. Days off from work have become a rarity since it seems like everyone I work with wants a vacation. Oh well, more money for Florida in November I guess. When I get a day off they are more precious. So I was pretty disappointed that the wind was howling near the ocean today. It was so bad, I was home by 1 pm. I got one new bird for the day, a Killdeer. However, the highlight of the day was being close to this female Long Tailed Duck. LTDs aren't rare by any means, but it isn't too often they are right next to you at the edge of the Breachway.
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Friday, February 21, 2020
Winne the Pooh
I was on the phone with my son this morning whom is living in Cambodia. He had just come back from a weekend trip to Angkor Wat. This was a bucket list destination for him for a couple of years. He didn't get there on his around the world trip in 2019. Living in Cambodia for the last couple of months, I'm surprised it took this long.
We talked for fifteen minutes which was mostly him talking and me asking questions. After a telling me about his weekend he asked what I was up to. I told him not much because I am working a lot right now because my coworker is on vacation. I told him I might go birding in New Jersey in March. After that, I complained that I just found out have to work for the muffin guy n mid-April. So for five days in my favorite part of the year I will be getting out of work too late to fish or go birding. As I was telling him this he started giving me crap that I have my plans already planned out.
The truth is he is half right. I don't have every weekend planned out but there are some things I want to do that I have to go by the calendar. For instance, I want to go back to New Hampshire to see waterfalls gushing from snowmelt. I obviously can't do that in July. Nor can I look at autumn foliage in June. I have to take those trips n April and October respectively.
I do have a list of things I really want to do. Mostly, they are either getaways or boat trips (such as whale watches and pelagic birding). They are written down based in order of the first one I could do (seeing whales at Race Point) to the last one catch a kokanee salmon in late October. Again some are very time specific where as others like a whale watch I just hope to get to sometime during the summer.
You're probably asking yourself why and when I'm going to get to Winnie the Pooh. My son doesn't plan much of anything. He just goes with the flow. In fact, he tries to model his life like Winnie the Pooh. Yes, you read that correctly. Pooh Bear goes through life just happy as can be knowing that whatever happens things will work out in the end. That's pretty much how we goes about his business.
Even when we travel we are very different. For example, I want to do to specific destinations and see specific things. I hate wasting my money on things, I don't plan on doing. He would much prefer just to go anywhere and stay there as long as he can. He will choose the cheapest option if he can stay there the longest. Though Laurie and I cut corners where we could, Florida was not a cheap vacation for us, but it was a bucket list vacation where we did amazing things. DJ wouldn't go to Florida because for the same money I spent in 11 days, he could camp out west for a few weeks.
Despite my son travelling around the world and now living in Cambodia other than a couple places, I really don't ever plan on doing much international travel, even if I win Powerball. Two of the very few places at the top of my bucket list are Paris and an African Safari. My kid would never do either because of cost. My world travelling child avoids Europe like the plague (there is a pun there if you understand history) because of cost. He would much rather spend a month in southeast Asia. Basically, he would choose quantity where as I would choose quality.
In the end it doesn't matter. We just have differences of style. I want to see animals, birds, and wilderness. Those things make me happy. That is my idea of adventure. I know where I want to go and what I want t see. Pooh Bear (my kid) would rather see where the day or night takes him. Not having a plan is the adventure. Figuring out as he goes and making last minute decisions are his idea of fun. Deciding and making spontaneous decisions and plans is the rush he is looking for.
I couldn't do that. I don't plan every day of a vacation. There are too many variables, the most notorious is the weather of course. But somethings you need to know in advance like what day you're going to Disney or to make sure you get a site at Yellowstone you reserve it in advance. Though I don't plan every day out, I do try to research my destination knowing where I want to go and what I want to see. DJ researches very little. Can you imagine going to Florida and not knowing there is a place where you can swim with wild manatees and not knowing and just driving by? I can't. However, Pooh Bear would just be like "Oh well, Piglet, there will be something better and more fun up the road, you'll see". And in many cases, my son is right.
We talked for fifteen minutes which was mostly him talking and me asking questions. After a telling me about his weekend he asked what I was up to. I told him not much because I am working a lot right now because my coworker is on vacation. I told him I might go birding in New Jersey in March. After that, I complained that I just found out have to work for the muffin guy n mid-April. So for five days in my favorite part of the year I will be getting out of work too late to fish or go birding. As I was telling him this he started giving me crap that I have my plans already planned out.
The truth is he is half right. I don't have every weekend planned out but there are some things I want to do that I have to go by the calendar. For instance, I want to go back to New Hampshire to see waterfalls gushing from snowmelt. I obviously can't do that in July. Nor can I look at autumn foliage in June. I have to take those trips n April and October respectively.
I do have a list of things I really want to do. Mostly, they are either getaways or boat trips (such as whale watches and pelagic birding). They are written down based in order of the first one I could do (seeing whales at Race Point) to the last one catch a kokanee salmon in late October. Again some are very time specific where as others like a whale watch I just hope to get to sometime during the summer.
You're probably asking yourself why and when I'm going to get to Winnie the Pooh. My son doesn't plan much of anything. He just goes with the flow. In fact, he tries to model his life like Winnie the Pooh. Yes, you read that correctly. Pooh Bear goes through life just happy as can be knowing that whatever happens things will work out in the end. That's pretty much how we goes about his business.
Even when we travel we are very different. For example, I want to do to specific destinations and see specific things. I hate wasting my money on things, I don't plan on doing. He would much prefer just to go anywhere and stay there as long as he can. He will choose the cheapest option if he can stay there the longest. Though Laurie and I cut corners where we could, Florida was not a cheap vacation for us, but it was a bucket list vacation where we did amazing things. DJ wouldn't go to Florida because for the same money I spent in 11 days, he could camp out west for a few weeks.
Despite my son travelling around the world and now living in Cambodia other than a couple places, I really don't ever plan on doing much international travel, even if I win Powerball. Two of the very few places at the top of my bucket list are Paris and an African Safari. My kid would never do either because of cost. My world travelling child avoids Europe like the plague (there is a pun there if you understand history) because of cost. He would much rather spend a month in southeast Asia. Basically, he would choose quantity where as I would choose quality.
In the end it doesn't matter. We just have differences of style. I want to see animals, birds, and wilderness. Those things make me happy. That is my idea of adventure. I know where I want to go and what I want t see. Pooh Bear (my kid) would rather see where the day or night takes him. Not having a plan is the adventure. Figuring out as he goes and making last minute decisions are his idea of fun. Deciding and making spontaneous decisions and plans is the rush he is looking for.
I couldn't do that. I don't plan every day of a vacation. There are too many variables, the most notorious is the weather of course. But somethings you need to know in advance like what day you're going to Disney or to make sure you get a site at Yellowstone you reserve it in advance. Though I don't plan every day out, I do try to research my destination knowing where I want to go and what I want to see. DJ researches very little. Can you imagine going to Florida and not knowing there is a place where you can swim with wild manatees and not knowing and just driving by? I can't. However, Pooh Bear would just be like "Oh well, Piglet, there will be something better and more fun up the road, you'll see". And in many cases, my son is right.
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
An Odd Duck
It is odd to see a once domesticated Wood Duck. I have raised my own chickens, ducks, and turkeys for years. I have many hatchery catalogs. Never once have I seen Wood Ducks for sale. I assume some places must because of this one, but I have never heard of it.
None the less, he is living in the wild now. Every day he faces the same challenges of finding food and evading foxes and eagles as other ducks.
As if it weren't odd enough to have this once domesticated Wood Duck now living in the wild, it also has a girlfriend! You would think that his girlfriend were a female Wood Duck but it isn't. This handsome fellow is smitten with a female Mallard. I went back to get more photos of him yesterday afternoon and I was talking to a guy that has photographing it a lot. The Woody as been in love with the female Mallard for quite some time. Wherever she goes he is right along side of her. If she gets out of the water so does he, if she decided to go for a swim, he is right next to her. He will chase away Mallards that attempt to get close to her even though they are almost twice his size.
While I was there yesterday, he was "courting" the female with his song and whistles. Even to a human, it was clear she didn't understand the language and she was confused. However, from what I can gather, she seems to like his company. She seemed to more than tolerate his presence right by her side. He is a very interesting odd duck indeed.
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| They do make an attractive pair even if they are not meant to be. |
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