F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 160.
Black-capped Chickadee
What did the tree say to spring?
What a re-leaf.
Interesting Fact: Chickadee calls are complex and language-like, communicating information on identity and recognition of other flocks as well as predator alarms and contact calls. The more dee notes in a chickadee-dee-dee call, the higher the threat level. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-capped_Chickadee/lifehistory )
F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 320.
Northern Shoveler ( Female )
How do you know if there’s a snowman in your bed?
You wake up wet!
Interesting Fact: Northern shovelers feed by dabbling for plant food, often by swinging its bill from side to side and using the bill to strain food from the water. They use their highly specialized bill (from which their name is derived) to forage for aquatic invertebrates – a carnivorous diet. Their wide-flat bill is equipped with well-developed lamellae – small, comb-like structures on the edge of the bill that act like sieves, allowing the birds to skim crustaceans and plankton from the water’s surface. This adaptation, more specialized in shovelers, gives them an advantage over other puddle ducks, with which they do not have to compete for food resources during most of the year. Thus, mud-bottomed marshes rich in invertebrate life are their habitat of choices. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_shoveler#Behavior )
F/18.0, 24.0, ISO 80.
Newport Green Park Downtown Jersey City
A man asked his wife what she’d like for her birthday. “I’d love to be six again,” she replied.
On the morning of her birthday, he got her up bright and early and off they went to a local theme park.
What a day! He put her on every ride in the park: the Death Slide, the Screaming Loop, the Wall of Fear, everything there was!
Wow! Five hours later she staggered out of
the theme park, her head reeling and her stomach upside down.
Right to a McDonald’s they went, where her husband ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a refreshing chocolate shake.
Then it was off to a movie, the latest Star Wars epic, a hot dog, popcorn, Pepsi, and M&Ms.
What a fabulous adventure! Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed.
He leaned over and lovingly, asked, “Well, dear, what was it like being six again?”
One eye opened. “You idiot, I meant my dress size.”
The moral of this story: Even when the man is listening, he’s still gonna get it wrong.
Interesting Fact: Newport is a 600-acre (2.4 km2) master-planned, mixed-use community in Downtown Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, consisting of retail, residential, office, and entertainment facilities. The neighborhood is situated on the Hudson Waterfront opposite the Tribeca area of Lower Manhattan in New York City, on what had been the yards of Erie Railroad‘s Pavonia Terminal. Redevelopment of the neighborhood began in 1986 as a $10 billion project led by real-estate tycoon Samuel J. LeFrak and his firm The LeFrak Organization. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport,_Jersey_City )
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 400.
Dark-eyed Junco
Why did the golfer wear two pairs of pants?
In case he got a hole in one.
Interesting Fact: The female chooses the nest site, typically in a depression or niche on sloping ground, rock face, or amid the tangled roots of an upturned tree. Around people, juncos may nest in or underneath buildings. Occasionally, juncos nest above the ground on horizontal branches (rarely as high as 45 feet), window ledges, and in hanging flower pots or light fixtures. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Dark-eyed_Junco/lifehistory )
F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 340.
Common Loon ( Nonbreeding adult )
Have you read the book about anti-gravity?
It’s impossible to put down!
Interesting Fact: The Common Loon is flightless for a few weeks after molting all of its wing feathers at the same time in midwinter. ( Common Loon Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology )
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 320.
Castello di Amorosa, Calistoga, CA
Where does spaghetti go to dance?
The Meatball.
Interesting Fact: Castello di Amorosa is a castle and a winery located near Calistoga, California. First opening its doors to the public in April 2007, the castle is the project of 4th generation vintner, Dario Sattui, who also owns and operates the V. Sattui Winery named after his great-grandfather, Vittorio Sattui, who originally established a winery in San Francisco in 1885 after emigrating from Italy to California. ( Castello di Amorosa – Wikipedia )
F/9.0, 1/125, ISO 320.
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Guest at a restaurant: “I refuse to eat this roast beef. Please call the manager! “
Waiter: “That’s no use. He won’t eat it either.”
Interesting Fact: Black-crowned Night Heron nest in groups that often include other species, including herons, egrets, and ibises. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-crowned_Night-Heron )
F/6.3, 1/500, ISO 200.
Red-breasted Merganser
Why do bananas use sunscreen?
Because they peel.
Interesting Fact: The red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator) is a diving duck, one of the sawbills. The genus name is a Latin word used by Pliny and other Roman authors to refer to an unspecified waterbird, and serrator is a sawyer from Latin serra, “saw”. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-breasted_merganser#Behaviour )
F/8.0, 1/500, ISO 100.
Atlantic Ghost Crab (Sand Crab)
Did you hear about the crab that went to the seafood disco?
He pulled a muscle
Interesting Fact: The strong hairy legs of this animal make it run very fast and achieve speeds of about 10 miles per hour. This makes this crab the fastest among all crustaceans. ( http://www.animalspot.net/ghost-crab-sand-crab.html )
F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 320.
Carolina Wren
Three guys are stranded in a desert. They stubble upon a magic genie lamp.
The genie grants each of them one wish.
The first guy wishes to be back home. Wish granted.
The second guy wishes the same. Wish granted.
The third guy says, “It feels very lonely here now, I wish my friends were with me…” Wish granted.
Interesting Fact:Carolina Wrens usually go about their business alone or in pairs; after nestlings have fledged, you may see family groups feeding together. Feeding on or near the ground, the wrens run, hop, and flit around leaf litter and tangled vegetation; they dodge in and out of dark spaces created by downed trees, decaying logs, old stumps, and upturned roots. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Carolina_Wren/lifehistory )
Through Open Lens 