Fairweather Zealot

Part 2 of the birding vacation has come and gone. Instead of Cape May, we went to Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge (Forsythe NWR) in Brigantine, NJ. It was closer and we could see a lot of migrating waterfowl.

Well, the initial view was less than encouraging. Walking paths are limited – most of the park is along an 8-mile road that you either have to drive or bike through (although I guess you could walk, if you chose. It made it a LOT harder to really get a good view of things since you had to stop, get out, find it again IF it didn’t get scared off and then check it out. Not my idea of fun.

But my biggest frustration was my horrendous photography throughout BOTH days of the trip. I don’t know if I was in a mental fog or if I was just being a bad photographer, but despite me using Kodak UC-100 Professional film, my pictures came out looking like crap. Either they were too bright or my DOF was off. And the photo processing was horrid as well, which didn’t help much. If you want to see the pictures, check out my Flickr site. I’m too embarrassed to show them here.

The good side of the two day trip was that I added 7 new species to my life list:

• Gadwall
• Short-eared Owl
• Hooded Merganser
• American Oystercatcher
• Glaucous Gull
• Fish Crow
• Eastern Meadowlark

The Gadwall was pretty cool, as was the American Oystercatcher. But I think that the Short-eared Owl was probably the coolest thing we saw.

On a non-geek note, we took the dogs with us and while they thought we were nuts for wasting perfectly good daylight and muddy water looking at stupid birds, they seemed to enjoy the day. Well, at least Oakley did – Miles definitely looked more on the “Can I go home now” side of things. All in all, other than my crappy photos, it was a fun 2 days.

Other musings »

• PVP Online – My thoughts exactly

Whomever thought it was a good idea to get a second puppy to help occupy the first puppy should be punished severely (and you know who you are). The two dogs are a terror to be around – and I only deal with them part-time. They constantly wrestle inside and outside, they are great at finding trouble and now they have decided that there is something deep under the ground that they really want to show the light of day.

It might be that we are just tired, but I’m wondering if we might have to kill one of them to get a good day of work in/night of relaxation. Of course, I’m sure that the wife would laugh at MY complaints – she deals with them day in/day out.

I had a good weekend of photography. New snowfall and a lot of birds coming very close to the house gave me some great opportunities. Here are some of the best:

I also got some good shots of our two puppies (yes, we’re just a little off).

My wife just posted these pictures of Oakely and the dog we rescued, Miles.

Twas an interesting weekend – two pets provided for a host of laughs. First, the dog, who discovered that bringing us things makes us happy – so we spent most of Sunday getting slippers, clothes, remotes and anything else that wasn’t tied down brought to us by a very happy puppy. He also discovered the joys of doing tricks outside. We want to eventually enter him into rallies (dog competitions which highlight skills and agility rather than plain looks), so we started giving him some easy tasks. The guy loves running through the ladder, crawling through the tube and jumping over the poles we set out. I can’t wait until he’s really ready to compete – or at least run through a true AKC course.Friday night, the cat provided the entertainment.

Miko, our tabby, is known for zany stunts: she’ll chase you for Whiskas treats, and has gotten her head stuck in a glass while trying to get to the beer. But Friday night was her coup de grace. When I’m washing up for bed, she’s been known to jump up to the sin to watch, usually via the toilet. This time, when she leapt up, she discovered that someone (namely, me) had accidentally left the seat up. With a startled look, she jumped up as normal, and into the bowl she went.

***SPLASH***

In an instant, she leapt straight up, a la Luke Skywalker jumping out of the carbon freezing chamber, shrieking in horror at this change in plans. As my wife looked on, she tore out of the bathroom, horrified by her little swim. Watching a small cat fall into the toilet was something that you never think you’ll see, but my wife and I were literally staggering with laughter (don’t worry, it was clean). The cat was not amused. Despite her “I’ll kill you while you sleep” look, we had to laugh. In retaliation, she did leave toilet water paw prints all over the comforter cover.

**Other Fun Stuff**
While out on the town in Philly the other night, we made a stop at New Delhi for some dinner (umm, Tikka Masala), then went out to The Artful Dodger for some drinks. We haven’t been there in quite a while, so it was fun to go back to an old haunt. While there, I discovered a wonderful invention.

Now, what I want to know is … where can I get one of these for the remote control?

Man, this week is flying by. With the papers signed for the home equity (only small issues there), a load is off. Not that this was that big a deal in theory, but the execution was simply ridiculous. But it’s done. And we were able to have a relaxing weekend – including watching the Lions win against that football juggernaut, University of Central Florida.

The performance:
Passing: Zack Mills still struggled with his accuracy – C
Rushing: A good performance overall, but I’m not seeing the ability to make their own holes. Did well fighting against tackles – B+
Receiving: Too many dropped passes. Someone needs to start throwing them babies to teach them the value of actually catching what gets thrown to you – C
Kicking: For the most part good, although the horrid 1st punt was embarrassing – B-
Special Teams: Played well - B
Defense: Looked good again, and Dan Connor and Paul Posluszny looked like they could become the next big thing at Linebacker U. – A-

Finally got to go hiking and birding again this weekend – and took the rascal with us. He did well at Tinicum, walking a whole 2+ miles himself. He seemed to like the birds, but not the stopping part. As for the park itself, the summer floods did quite a job on the path, ripping out entire portions of it. Hopefully they can get the funding to fix it all this winter. As for the birds, got to see a Greater Yellowlegs, an osprey, a Caspian tern and a multitude of cormorants, blue herons and gulls. But it was nice to get out again.

Latest Pictures

Links for the day:

• And you think YOU had a hard day at work?
• The more I read of Dooced, the more I laugh.
• Is Google angling for its own browser? And what is THIS for?
• The truth about the Red Baron’s Death

Oakley
Man, this puppy is getting kind of hard to handle. He’s a whopping 3 months old yesterday, and he’s a rambunctious cuss. He alternates between sleeping and frantic episodes of intense play that seem to necessarily involve lots of biting and “no biting” commands. It’s a good thing he’s cute, otherwise I might have to hurt him. My hands are showing more and more scars from playing with him.

Daily Links »

• Escape: Route – Amazing photo album – not just the concept but the pictures as well.
• Take me out to the ball game, take me out to the crowd, hit me in the head with a chair, then I’ll sue you’re ass…
• Hurricane Ivan continues to grow in the Atlantic – New Orleans had better get ready (requires Java)