White Ibis

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Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, white ibis

The Ocean City Welcome Center rookery has many White Ibises this year. They make perfect subjects for birds in flight photography.

Diving White Ibis.

Diving White Ibis.

Three White Ibises.

White Ibis.

White Ibis.

Rookery at Ocean City Welcome Center Part 4

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Black-crowned Night Heron, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, yellow-crowned night heron

Night heron babies are not among the cutest by any stretch! They do grow up to be very handsome adults, and require a lot of feeding for that. That’s why their parents come back every year to the rookery which is surrounded in all directions by an ocean brimming with crustaceans and fish.

Yellow-crowned Night Herons: mother preening and two always hungry juveniles.

Two juveniles Yellow-crowned Night Herons standing next to their mother: “What is she doing?! She ought to be out looking for food for us!”

In a nearby nest, a Black-crowned Night Heron juvenile was going through the same hunger pains.

Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron to mother: “Food, I want food! You did not give me enough!”

“You fed me but that was half an hour ago, and I am already starving!”

She suddenly lunged to put some food down his throat. Apologies for blurry photo, things happened fast all of a sudden.

“That’s not enough! I am still hungry!”

The mother flew away on a fishing expedition. Juvenile: “Make sure you bring back more than last time! I am STARVING!”

Rookery at Ocean City Welcome Center Part 3

Tags

Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, route 52 bridge, yellow-crowned night heron

The Ocean City Welcome Center was built as part of the Route 52 bridge that connects Ocean City, NJ to Somers Point, NJ. The 2.74 mi (4.41 km) bridge was built between 2006 and 2012, at a cost of $400 million.

Ocean City Welcome Center.

A few days ago, I walked down to the bottom of the bridge. From the Welcome Center sidewalk, one would look down on the rookery with many trees where the herons, egrets, ibises and other birds nested. Few birds, if any, were nesting at the bottom. Most photographers stay on the pedestrian walk above the rookery.

Underside of Route 52 bridge leading into Ocean City, NJ.

There were ducks and night herons swimming and drinking from small depressions where rain water had accumulated.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron drinking at bottom of bridge, with mallards in the foreground.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron finishing drink.

Route 52 bridge ending in Ocean City, NJ.

View from Welcome Center looking toward Somers Point, NJ. Rookery is on the left of the picture.

When the weather is nice, the bridge is a very active place. Thousands of cars cross it every day, as do pedestrians (walkers and joggers) and cyclists. There is also an area in the middle of the above photo which is reserved for people who want to fish from the ocean.

Rookery at Ocean City Welcome Center Part 2

Tags

glossy ibis, great egret, little blue heron, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, rookery, white ibis

With bright sunshine, white clouds on blue sky, bearable temperatures, and a cool breeze from time to time, it was a perfect day for photography. There were already about a dozen photographers with their massive long lenses pointed at various points of the rookery.

Except for the sleepy night herons, the birds were very active, flying in and out of the trees every minute or so. I ended up taking many more pictures of birds in flight than I had planned.

Great Egret.

Great Egret.

Little Blue Heron, the first time I have seen one. In the background is the smokestack of a now-decommissioned power plant, the B.L. England Generating Station, also called Beesley’s Point Generating Station.

Glossy Ibis.

White Ibis.

White Ibis.

Juvenile Little Blue Heron.

White Ibis.

Rookery at Ocean City Welcome Center Part 1

Tags

Black-crowned Night Heron, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday, yellow-crowned night heron

Last year I missed going to the rookery right next to the Ocean City Welcome Center in Cape May County at the southern end of New Jersey. Three days ago, I went there in mid season. The rookery was filled with many birds, some I had never seen before.

The night herons have built nests, incubated their eggs and some were busy raising the young ones. There were probably some nests well hidden behind tree branches and leaves, with eggs that had not hatched yet.

Black-crowned Night heron with two chicks. The chicks have yellow eyes while the adult has red eyes.

The night herons, as their names imply, are most active after dusk when their eyes serve them well. During the day they appear somnolent, almost lethargic, which of course is good for photography as they can hold their poses for a long time.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron with its own tanning salon.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron with twig to be used for nest improvement.

These herons migrate long distances to their nesting grounds in New Jersey, and they do look impressive in flight.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron in flight.

Black-crowned Night Heron.

Double Knock Out

Tags

double knockout, photography, postaday, rose

The Knock Out rose was introduced in 1989 by William Radler. It rapidly became a favorite rose for many as it proved to be sturdy, disease resistant, and also beautiful. In 2004, Double Knockout came out and we have been growing it for the past decade. All our other roses died for one reason or another, but we have two bushes of Double Knockout which are thriving. Japanese Beetles love them as food , but one or two traps seem to take care of that every year. So, here is my entry to Cee’s CFCC: Flowers:

https://ceenphotography.com/2021/06/01/cffc-flowers/

Double Knock Out rose.

Sunny Saturday

Tags

bleeding hearts alba, east point lighthouse, photography, postaday, tomato flower

This spring has been marked by rain and cool temperatures, and has thus prolonged the Brood X cicada season. They will live on a few weeks longer so that they can finish their mating activities and make sure, before they die, to give the world another generation in 17 years. I started seeing them in mid May, and as of now they are still singing incessantly during the day, the noise managing to penetrate closed windows and doors. Hopefully, that will end in another two weeks or so.

Our streets are littered with cicada shells and messy carcasses after they’ve been run over by cars. Our walls are sometimes covered with long rows of full-fledged cicadas. Fortunately, they don’t seem to eat any plant as they only spend their time and energy mating. Here are two pictures of them taken yesterday.

Brood X Cicada.

Brood X Cicada with a slightly damaged wing.

Some flowers have thrived, such as the white Bleeding Hearts pictured below.

Bleeding Hearts.

Bleeding Hearts.

In our vegetable garden most seeds have taken longer to sprout, but the tomato plants, bought from a big box store, are flowering and doing well.

Tomato flower.

Finally, a picture of East Point Lighthouse taken from a different perspective. This is how most people will see it as they arrive on site.