The Equinox Approaches.

9-20-21 SHORT HILLS: Nights are a bit cooler, but the house plants outside are still enjoying their vacation. We are having some inside painting done and will leave the plants until it’s finished. We are also going to have those basement windows removed, and the foundation closed up to eliminate any more flooding from that source. 

We did a walk at Loantaka Park recently and saw a blue heron and great egret in the pond. I only had the iPhone so the pix are poor. The bird situation here is distressing. There was an epidemic of some sort in the Mid-Atlantic states involving eye disease in song birds. It is apparently over, but our bird population is severely reduced. I don’t see but a few and don’t hear but an occasional peep, and the feeders have attracted almost no one.  

The Autumnal Equinox happens on the afternoon of the 22nd. There is a full moon to mark the occasion. In a few weeks the days will be noticeably shorter.

The covid vaccination center is open again, and I was there as a volunteer this morning. It was not very busy, maybe 75 people in 4 hours, a small fraction of the potential capacity of the unit.

Nice rose, the bush is recovering from the summer heat and deer browsing.

Blue Jay scolding me for being near his/her tree.

The house plants, on the left are the basil and rosemary from Vermont.

The pond at Loantaka Brook Park. The Blue Heron is on the left and the Great Egret on the right.

Great Egret.

Blue Heron. These last two pix could have been better with a real camera.