Talkative Twenty One

My 21st yardbird to be blipped this year, and a personal favorite - the Gray Catbird.  The first one showed up late last week and there are now four setting up territory on our property.  There is already some puffing and smack-talk occurring, which is about as dire as things get with these lovely members of the mimic-thrush (Mimidae) family.  They have extensive vocabularies consisting of musical notes, beeps, and odd mechanical noises, in addition to their namesake catlike "mew".  They will raise on average 3 broods in our area.  In the evenings, and even after sunset sometimes, you can hear the males chatting up their mates.  It's really quite lovely to stand outside at sunset in the summer and listen to them all saying goodnight.

If you look closely, you can see his beak open just slightly - he was making a whole long string of odd sounding beeps and squeaky noises.

The day started out sunny and warm and evolved into cold and very windy.  I had planned to go back to the trail I was on yesterday, but bagged that idea as the winds picked up.  

This morning we chatted for a couple of hours with my parents.  My parents are usually extremely active and spend much of their days outdoors.  Covid 19 has changed all of that since they must be careful to not expose themselves to this virus.  So, it has been hard for them.  We talked a lot about the virus and what it all means.  One of the things it means is that we can't see each other for a while, unfortunately.  It feels too risky to get on a plane right now, and driving across country would not be any better. So we will wait.

I had hoped to finish my water feature today, but decided that trying to do it in this wind would just not be fun at all, so I may tackle it tomorrow.  We are in for chillier temps the rest of this week.

Things in NY and NJ are continuing to trend in a positive direction with Covid 19, although moving slowly.  NY had their lowest death toll in over a month, while NJ recorded only 45 deaths (although the Governor said this number is undoubtedly wrong as the hospital reporting systems were down for some hours - expect a correction tomorrow).  The opening of NJ's parks went well over the weekend so, for now, all parks will remain open.  That feels like such a huge step in the right direction.

Be safe out there, people.  Remember to social distance, wear a mask when you can, and be kind to each other.

xo
Debbi

Covid Stats
Total positives as of today in NJ- 128,269
Total deaths in NJ - 7,910
Total cases in Sussex County - 979 deaths - 116