Enough already!

Third straight day I've posted a goldfinch - it's probably time to call a temporary moratorium on any further posts of this nature.  Unfortunately, at the moment, these are the most prolific birds in the yard with over a dozen most of the time.  While all the other birds are busy getting ready for the nesting season, the Goldfinches are taking it easy, loading up on food and just generally looking great.  They are the latest nesting songbird in N. America, coinciding their breeding season with the availability of thistle seeds (the wild kind, not the kind from the store).  They are also one of the only songbirds on this continent that feeds their nestlings a strictly vegetarian diet of seeds.  You won't see them bringing a tasty caterpillar or spider or other arthropod to their babies, just seeds.  And that concludes today's lesson on American Goldfinches (whew).

Today's image is a female being photobombed by a partially molted male.

Hubs and I went to one of the Wildlife Management Areas for a nice 2 mile walk this morning.  While parks and state forests are all closed, the WMAs remain open.  During our walk we only encountered 4 other people, only one of whom wasn't wearing a mask (but he kept a very respectful distance).  It was nice to be out, stretching out legs, chatting about this and that.

Back at home, I did a little hide time, a little pottering around the garden, a bit of this and that.  Also trying to reload Topaz Sharpen AI as it wasn't working.  And it is still not working so I'll try a reboot.  I have a soft shot of a goldfinch in flight that I wanted to post today but want to be able to crisp it up a bit.  

I made the mistake of tuning in for the President's daily briefing yesterday which was a hot mess of raging against enemies, real and imagined; campaigning; and massive pats on his own back.  It finally had to be turned off.  Today, I tuned in to Cuomo's address which always leaves me feeling calmer.  While it is somewhat stressful to be in the "hot spot" of Covid 19 in the US, I am grateful to be in a group of states with very proactive and practical governors who I trust to see us through this.  We will reopen, when the time is right.

Forecast calls for temps in the 40's and low 50's the next few days with several frost warnings.  Longing for warmer weather...

xo
Debbi

Covid19 stats
Positive cases in NJ as of 1 PM today - 68,824
Deaths in NJ -  2,805
Positive cases in Sussex County - 535- 39 deaths