Up, up and away!

Great hike on the Paulinskill Trail this morning! We counted 8 great blues, about 20 mute swans, lots of swallows, a green heron, a kingfisher, 2 bobolink (my first!), 3 ruby-throated hummers, and 3 Great Egrets. Now, for those of you who live in FL (I'm talkin' to you, Sefferdog!) seeing these big white beauties is boring, everyday fare. But for those of us in the hinterlands of northern NJ, we only see them in the summer and usually only from a VERY great distance. The fact that we were only about 100 yards from this guy is nothing short of amazing. Lenses were zooming, shutters were clicking and the Big White Guy calmly fished ... until he decided to take flight. More clicking and zooming and a lot of "OMG"s being muttered. Quite a nice way to wrap up a 4-hour walk!

Oh, and we saw loads of ladybugs, all of whom seemed to be busy procreating! Never have I seen so many busy little ladies.

My five favorite shots from today starting HERE on Flickr. Starting off with some happy ladybugs and wrapping up with a contemplative hummer.

Thanks for all the generous comments of my damsel-heart yesterday! I love finding things like that - they definitely qualify as some of Life's Little Moments. As did this Great Egret, mud dangling from his toes...look LARGE to see his muddy toes...

Happy Saturday, people.

xxoo
Debbi