I was getting ready to go to the home of friends for dinner and happened to glance out the window. It has been a cold, grey, rainy day and the light was atrocious, but one little bird hopping around beneath the feeders caught my eye and I grabbed the camera and threw the better beamer on the flash. And yep, there it was… the first-of-season white-throated sparrow.
2009 first-of-season white-throated sparrow
What other picture of the day could there possibly be on a baseball night in October?
One game down...
Seeing a scene like this on the side of the road on a chilly rainy day is NEVER a good sign…
Never a good sign...
If there is anything in the world that I hate, it’s grading papers…
Grading papers
I really hate this time of year. The days are growing steadily shorter — I never get out of the office before it’s full dark any more, and it’s only going to get worse, not better. And the temps are dropping steadily — no more 70 degree days, I’m afraid, and nights are falling into the 30s and 40s. Sigh… I know winter is the price we pay for lovely springs and falls, but I’d sure prefer to have only THREE seasons a year and not four.
At least there’s a decent night light when I leave the building…
Night light
It’s a real pain when you have a day off from work… but not from class. And students are just so unreasonable to think that just because they have to be there, prepared, and ready to go, the professor should be there too!
Rutgers Law
I decided to go someplace new today to get out of the house and play with the new camera. So I headed off for the Plainsboro Preserve in southern Middlesex County. I still have a lot to learn about all the controls on the camera, and dropping the tripod ballhead on the trail didn’t help. But there was still a lot to do and see.
There were yellow-rumped warblers by the dozens all over the preserve.
Yellow rumped warbler
This bird is nicknamed the “butter butt” for a reason…
Butter butt
There was also a young and very sweet white-tailed doe.
White-tailed doe
There were deep green groves of trees…
xxx
TALL trees…
Reaching for the light
There was a lake…
The lake
The lake
And meadows…
Meadows
And at times the paths seemed to go on forever.
The path
Got out to play with the new toy this afternoon, and was surprised to see this sun dog …
Sun dog
You have to wonder just what exactly caused this crack in the gate at the office building…
The gate
I’m never entirely sure how it happens when I manage to snag one of the cats in a quiet moment. Ciara in particular is almost always in motion, so catching her relaxing is a treat. And she is such a beautiful cat…
Ciara, October 2009
… at least when she’s not demonstrating how very funny she can look with her great big belly and her little short legs…
Ciara's favorite position