The First

The first warbler of the year to show up in our garden, Pine Warbler.  Although northern NJ is in their breeding range, most of them seem to pass through heading further north to pine forests.  Because they overwinter in the southern US, they are often the first warbler we see each spring.  When I first spotted this one in the garden, I was quick to grab a camera and take a few shots through the window - just in case.  However, once I went out and sat for a while on the deck, it was coming and going frequently enough that I was able to get some good shots, including this one.  

I counted 24 species of bird in the garden in a 40 minute period today - a good count for this early in the year.  It was on the cool side, so not much bee activity in the cherry tress.   Have I mentioned how much I love spring??

I loaded Jax in the car and  picked up my friend Barb and took a nice walk in the park this afternoon - Jax was in a sniffing frenzy and the humans enjoyed chatting about this and that.  Jax is now passed out on the sofa where he'll hopefully stay until dinner, allowing me to get some things done.

Plain dark today.  

xo
Debbi