More Rain.

5-29-25 SHORT HILLS: Our trip south was uneventful. The bright sunshine when we left Vermont gradually gave way to clouds, and by evening there was drizzle. The next day it rained steadily, dumping 0.55 inches on top of the 1.2 inches that we got last week. Everything is soggy, and more rain is predicted.

We are both running errands and having medical visits. The sprinkler system is now repaired. We’ll need it when dry July and August come around.

New blooms: peony, tree peony, holly, red spirea. 

Peony. I like the single flower better than the usual many petalled.

Here's the whole plant, doing well in the shade.

Holly tree, female. The green things in the center of each of the small flowers will become a red berry in the fall if they get fertilized by pollen from a male tree. Hence the need for pollinators.

Holly tree, male. The center of the four petaled flower is just a yellow dot, the four stamens have the pollen available for collection by bees or other bugs.

Red spirea looking wet and soggy.

The Rain Finally Stopped.

5-26-25 VERMONT: Alison left Sunday morning, and Danna and Lily left this morning. We took care of chores, Judy converted the beds from winter to summer format, and I planted the flowers from Brown’s. They were: penstemon, P. barbatus, ‘Pink Pearl’, iris, I. Germanica, ‘Wintry Sky’, and poppy, Papaver orientalis, ‘Beauty of Livermore’. They all went on the pond bank beds. 

Today was beautiful, sunny with a little breeze that sometimes kept the black flies in check. I saw three turtles out in the afternoon sun today. Judy and I had dinner at Murphy’s and head back to NJ tomorrow.

 

The white flower is bane berry and the blue stuff is forget-me-not.

This three incher is bunchberry. Look at the flower. It should remind you of its relative the dogwood tree.

Typical Memorial Day in Vermont.

5-25-25 VERMONT: We came up on Wednesday for the first big weekend of the summer. Thursday, Friday and Saturday we had rain and cold. Today, Sunday, it stopped raining, but is still in the fifties. Nevertheless trees are leafing out, and the gardens are in bloom. The upper pond dam has been repaired, and the waterfall is flowing. 

The robin family is in residence on top of the lantern between the two houses. It’s a good location under the eaves, out of the rain and most of the wind, and they aren’t to upset about us in the house. We saw a female merganser on the pond Thursday, and Lily says she saw ducks and a heron on the pond today.

Danna and Lily came up on Thursday night and Alison came up Friday morning. Friday night we went to Casa Brava Tapas and Saturday night we went to Cloudland Farm, which was packed but we had a table by the fireplace. Tonight we’re going to the Baited Hook on Lake Mascoma. Danna’s birthday was a few days ago so the girls baked a chocolate cake, and this morning we celebrated with sparklers and candles on top.

Saturday morning we all went to Brown’s Nursery where Alison bought a couple tons of perennials for Sea Cliff, while I bought three plants. Judy saw peach trees there and now wants to plant them here—I’m not sure where they could go but am working on it. We went to the Norwich Farmers Market before Brown’s. 

New blooms: lilac, Mohican viburnum, forget-me-not, violet, geranium, alkanet, epimedium, azalea, Japanese primrose, bane berry, bleeding heart, Virginia bluebell, trillium, ajuga, lamium, honey suckle, burning bush, Lily-of-the-valley, apple, tiarella, creeping Veronica, strawberry, saucer magnolia, dandelion, pulmonaria, spurge, sweet woodruff, Jack-in-the-pulpit, ginger, white star, water avens, bunchberry, marsh marigold.  

Lady merganser testing the waters--too many dogs.

Robin with take-out for the kids. [Danna's pic]

Hungry beaks to feed.

Chipping sparrow with apple blossoms.

There's at least one turtle in the pond.

At the Farmers Market, sweepers.

Farmers Market.

Happy BD to Danna!

Apple tree.

Bleeding Hearts under the apple tree.

Mid-May.

5-20-25 SHORT HILLS: We’ve been here for a few days, so it’s time to move on—to Vermont tomorrow. It’s been on the cool side here, sixties and windy. There was a lot of rain, 2.6 inches, and more tomorrow. We are both caught up on PT visits and doctor visits for the moment.

The grackles finally seem to have moved on. The feeders stay full for more than a day.

Of the three ash trees we are watching, one looks great, one pretty good and one not good. We’ll see at the end of the summer.

New blooms: leucothoe, Japanese snowball, tulip tree, wild strawberry.

Leucothoe flowers with little white bells, not unlike blueberry, andromeda, Lily-of-the-valley.

Leucothoe bush is a sprawling structure with thousands of flowers.

Kousa dogwood is just starting.

Japanese snowball is a tree with lots of hanging flowers.

A closer look at the Japanese snowball.

Wild Strawberries, three yellow flowers and one red fruit.

Tulip tree with vaguely tulip-like flowers.

More Birds at Cape May.

5-17-25 SHORT HILLS: It’s been a few days, but I will finish Cape May, days two and three. The first thing on Wednesday was the morning cruise on The Osprey, a pontoon boat that can get very close to the mud flats in the wetlands. Some shore birds and coastal birds live and nest in the wetlands, while others are resting on their way to Arctic nesting areas. The crew are very up on the birds, and very good at spotting them.

We saw—sandpipers, oystercatchers, dowitchers, plovers, brants, rails, skimmers, scoters, terns, dunlins, gulls, turnstones, red knots, loons, egrets, ibises, herons and more. I have lots of pix.

After lunch, the weather cleared up and we went to see the beach. Happily there was an ice cream stand nearby. There was moderate surf, a sea breeze, and a couple of guys trying to surf, but the waves were breaking on the shore. Then it was naps or walks until dinner at the Washington Inn.

It's important to note that Cape May was originally a black settlement, Harriet Tubman lived there, and it was a stop on the underground railroad.

The next morning after another elaborate breakfast at the Mason Cottage, we took a bus tour of the town, emphasising history and architecture—be warned—more pix. Then lunch and the GSP home. 

Male Surf Scoter, one of a group of three frequently diving.

The Osprey before our three hour cruise.

One of several Osprey nests, all with chicks. We also saw an eagle nest with two eaglets.

One of many Terns we saw, this one has a small fish in its beak, many perched like this one around marinas.

Loon looking for lunch.

Cormorant drying off, notice how foggy it was.

A sandy beach in the fog with sandpipers.

Judy's favorite, a Tern coming in for a landing.

Brants, a kind of goose, on the water and lots of Laughing Gulls nesting on the land, the one in front is carrying nesting material.

Plovers, Dowitchers, Red Knots, Dunlins in the marsh.

Clapper Rail.

American Oystercatcher.

An island with trees and Egrets and Ibises nesting, there was also a Black-Crowned Night Heron nest and an RWB.

Black Skimmer cruising the beach.

Dunlin, Semipalmated Plovers.

More Surf Scoters.

Black Scoter.

On to the town, atypical B + B.

An early Hotel with lots of gingerbread.

The Harriet Tubman Museum.

Birds at Cape May.

5-13-25 CAPE MAY, NJ: Lynn drove south this morning from Short Hills to Cape May, Exit 0, of the Garden State Parkway. The four of us are here for the bird migrations. We got here in time for lunch in downtown Cape May. Its all quaint seaside resorty with lots of Victorian houses. 

After lunch we hit Sunset Boulevard and stopped to see birds on the waterways in the wetlands—including swans, egrets, geese, yellowlegs, ducks, and smaller waders—at Higbee beach and the lighthouse. From the  grape vine we heard that Cook’s beach was loaded with birds.

It seems that the horseshoe crabs come up on the beach after the first full moon in May to lay eggs. The birds arrive to eat the eggs, including 10,000 red knots, gulls, cormorants, ruddy turnstones and more. Parts of the beach were covered with birds as well as the sandbars. It was raining pretty hard with a steady wind from the east.

We got back to Cape May and our B & B, Mason Cottage, in time to check in and for a nap before dinner at the Lobster House.

Tomorrow a harbor cruise on the Osprey.   

Egret at the first stop.

Rainy day in the wetlands.

Yellowlegs.

Geese, Swans, Ducks.

Osprey, the bird, not the boat.

Mixed palette of birds at Cook's beach for the crab eggs.

Birds crowding the little bars at Cook's.

At Cook's, the reddish ones are Red Knots and the darker ones are Ruddy Turnstones.

Horseshoe crabs in the sand. Not sure if they're dead of alive.