Good morning! It's Sunday morning. You know what that means. It's time for my weekly off television topic reflection on the past week in both words and photographs I took along the way. I've been on a staycation (budget not allowing any extended trips, but I needed to take the time off) this week. I was thinking of going into the city to capture
Manhattanhenge but it was too muggy, I was too lazy and now it's such a crowded event that it's almost annoying.
I did make a trip into neighboring Westfield and spent a part of one day at Mindowaskin Park. Most of this week's photos are from my park visit. For the first time since I started visiting the park several years back, I saw three bullfrogs. I didn't get any photos of them as I startled each one of them and they leaped into the water. Hey, they startled me, too!
A chipmunk also scared me at the park. There I was, innocently sitting on a bench, looking through photos I had taken. Next to the bench, set in the grass, was an old sewer grate. I just caught movement from the side and my thought was RAT or PENNYWISE THE DANCING CLOWN! Er, no. It was a chipmunk. I did get a few shots of it, but they didn't turn out all that well as he ran so darn fast.
The biggest news of the week is that my horrible, noisy, thumping so my floorboards move, child screaming at all hours neighbors moved out! I hadn't voiced any more complaints to the landlord about them since the first time. I figured whoever moved in under them would take care of that. And, so it did. Apparently the landlord lost a second tenant who moved under them.
Alas, they only moved downstairs to the first floor -- the very same apartment that two different families moved out of because of them. I would guess the were given the ultimatum to move to the first floor or out of the building. It's been blissfully quiet here since they went away. Yay!
If you missed it, I wrote a post with some
Big Brother news in it the other day. As more information comes around, I'll be posting. You can always find my BB posts
by using this tag.
Onto the photos from the week! I might share some more of the gosling shots next week as they were so cute. I didn't make a slideshow as some people were having trouble loading it. If you click on an image, you'll get a larger view in a gallery.
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| Wood (or Carolina) Duck |
This is the second time in several years that I've photographed a male Wood Duck at Mindowaskin Park. I have yet to see a female there. This male, like the last one I saw, stayed alone, refusing to mingle with the mallards or (heaven forbid) the Canada geese.
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| The mallard has his own beauty |
The males are the ones with the white bodies and iridescent heads. Both male and female sport a swatch of blue or purple speculum feathers on their wings.
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| Mallard's colors close-up |
I love the color of the blue on this mallard!
**CLICK THE 'READ MORE' LINK TO SEE THE REST OF THE PHOTOS**
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| The Wood Duck |
He might be looking for love in all the wrong places.
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| A dove |
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| Birds of a feather? |
This duck and goose hung out together almost the entire time I was at the park.
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| Fluffy! |
I saw two different goose families with their goslings. I'm thinking the goslings were born a week or two apart. This is one from the younger family.
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| SQUEAK! |
The one above is one from the older crew. By the way, he's yawning, not roaring.
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| Mindowaskin Park |
Small kids and dogs with their people. Water fowl all about. I passed one woman on the paved path who pulled her Rottweiler close to her. When I glanced up, she told me the dog wouldn't attack me, but she noticed geese and goslings ahead and the dog would definitely chase them. I'll have to go earlier in the morning to miss the influx of privileged toddlers. The dogs I don't mind.
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| Just ducky |
Female mallard duck.
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| All tuckered out |
A pile of goslings, most with their little webbed feet extended, rest.
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| Mother Goose and Gosling |
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| Spreading his wings |
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| I'll call him Woody |
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| Rusty Blackbird |
At least I think that's what it is. It's certainly not a starling, nor a crow. It wasn't glossy enough to be a grackle. The habitat is right. If it is indeed a rusty blackbird, they're in decline.
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| Simply stunning colors |
Those red eyes are mesmerizing.
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| I'm SWIMMING! |
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| Ball o' fuzz |
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| Uh-oh. He sees me. |
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| Nightshade |
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| Pansies in a pot |
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| Everything's coming up roses |
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| Eek! A little red bug! |
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| Rosie! |
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| Teensy beauty |
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| Grandparents day out |
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| I'm a real book fan! |
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| The models are attracted |
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| Common Whitetail Dragonfly |
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| Catnip addict heaven |
Vincent has enjoyed my week spent mostly at home. It's nice to know that I'm appreciated and he certainly lets me know that day in and day out.
3 comments:
Fabulous photos this week, Jackie! How do you pronounce Mindowaskin? Mindo-waskin or Mindow-askin? Just curious.
It's Min-DOW-ah-skin. The park and the surrounding Westfield area were featured as the town of "Stuckeyville" in the TV series 'Ed' some years back. That series can be found on YouTube. The Westfield area is upscale with many folks escaping to there from NYC, yet still commuting into the city. The park was fashioned after Central Park in NYC. Thank you for the kind words on the photos, Pat!
Thanks for the pronunciation explanation, Jackie. I remember the TV series "Ed" and enjoyed it.
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