Christmas Blizzard and White Throated Sparrow

It's Sunday morning after Christmas and we awoke to a beautiful scene of snow, snow everywhere.  The blizzard came through with a vengeance.  The wind is still howling and none of the neighbors have begun the daunting task of digging out.  This one's gonna take a while!

 

A White Throated Sparrow at our feeder, which we are very glad to have filled at the start of the storm.  We have many customers out there this morning!

(Click on images to enlarge, use back arrow to return). 

Click here for Proof Positive Photography website.

Americade Motorcycle Rally photo winner

Along with Christmas greetings from friends, the mailman brought another nice surprise this afternoon ... A handsome check for the publication of two of my photos from Americade, taken this summer.  They are published on page 42 of the Americade Times which is available online, and will be available in hard copy to the hundreds of participants at the June 7-11, 2011 Motorcycle Rally in Lake George, NY.  To see the 2011 Americade Times Magazine, click here.

My "balloon glow" photo is the only full-page photo in the 52-page magazine, with the exception of the cover page. It was taken with my Nikon D300s on a tripod at f/3.5 for 4 seconds at ISO 3200.

The motorcycle light parade judging photo, published at the lower left of the page, was also taken with my D300s on a tripod, but at f/5.0 for .8 secs at ISO 2500.

 

Here's Eric and "Big Bee", our Pearl Yellow Honda Goldwing Motortrike conversion, in good company in a field of bikes at Americade.  (She's under a fancy new rain cover which was much-needed for the 3 days we were up there .. Think sun for 2011!)

(Click on images to enlarge, use back arrow to return). 

Click here for Proof Positive Photography website.

Paul Teutul, Sr. & Orange County Choppers benefit with Bic

Paul Teutul, Sr. of OCC is shown here, giving a willing volunteer a haircut.  Bic donated $10,000 to the OCC Foundation, a charitable effort, and several brave men (and one woman) stepped up to have their heads, mustaches, beards (and armpits!) shaved.

(Click on image to enlarge, use back arrow to return). 

Click here for Proof Positive Photography website and more images of this event under the "Events" gallery tab.

Medieval Times Pageantry, Lyndhurst, NJ

Ah, we love this place! This was our third time here at the castle in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. Photos taken with my Nikon D300s and Nikkor 18-200 mm lens at ISO 3200.

(Click on image to enlarge, use back arrow to return). 

Click here for Proof Positive Photography website and more images of Medieval Times under the "Events" tab.

Comedian Jim Breuer at Mount Olive Performing Arts Center

A funny, funny man.  He had us in stitches .. See him if you can!

November Nuthatch

Of all the birds that come to our feeders, the Nuthatch is one of the toughest to catch on camera.  They are fast eaters ... Grab a quick sunflower seed, and off they go.  We first spotted this Nuthatch's mate during a blizzard in late February.  He/she has a gimpy left leg.  We didn't think it would make it through the night .. but it did .. and 9 months later, it still returns to our feeder.

(Click on image to enlarge, use back arrow to return). 

Click here for Proof Positive Photography website.

Veterans Day at Intrepid

The Intrepid has a long history of honoring the veterans who served aboard her during World War II and in Vietnam.  Many of them returned today for special events including the landing and take-off of a U.S. Air Force HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter and the raising of funds to support the Fisher Foundation Fallen Heroes Fund.

Intrepid Executive Director Susan Marenoff recognizing Intrepid Former Crew Members.

Dave Cummings, above, a huge fan of basketball, raised funds for the Fallen Heroes Fund in his quest to shoot one million foul shots.  With a basketball hoop on deck, he reached the half-way mark, 500,000 baskets, in front of an appreciative audience of veterans and their families.  To learn more or to make a contribution, click here for the Hoops for Heroes website.

 

(Click on image to enlarge, use back arrow to return). 

More photos and narrative about the day are on the Intrepid's website .. Click here.       

Click here for Proof Positive Photography website.

Happy ending .. Pigeon has a new home

Update:  It turns out that the white racing pigeon's band was purchased from PA and he is only a year old. Since we could now read the entire band, we traced him to his owner on the south shore of Long Island, NY.  He was happy to hear that his lost bird was found after his 50-mile flight to our yard 40 days ago ... but he was not interested in having him back.  (When a racing pigeon gets lost, they are of no value to the owner).

By way of the lost/found ad I placed on Craigslist several weeks ago, I met a woman in Middletown, NY who offered to take him in.  She has many other pigeons in her indoor-outdoor aviary as well as exotic smaller caged birds.

This morning, I drove the bird up to meet her in Central Valley, NY, about halfway from each of our homes. The pigeon's racing days are over, but Eric and I are resting easy, knowing that this beautiful, mellow bird has been welcomed into a new, safe home. Thank you, Sheree!

Click here for Proof Positive Photography website.

Wayward pigeon captured

(Update to October 8th blog entry)
Success!  They say a picture is worth a thousand words and so this one says a lot. This lovely racing pigeon has been at our bird feeder for the past 40 days and 40 nights (how biblical!).  To see him in this cage is a major relief because now that we've rescued him, we may be able to reunite him with his flock and his owner and keep him out of the inclement weather.

We had tried once before to capture him, but without success. The bird was watching us from our rooftop today as we put away our patio furniture for the season.  Eric set out my old Cockatiel cage, door open, long string attached, seed in the bottom .. and from the window, I saw the pigeon hop in, so I called Eric .. he pulled the string and got him!

We were finally able to read his leg band and found that he may be from Beaver Falls, PA, which is 410 miles away.  If that's the case, and the owner doesn't want him back, we have another pigeon fancier lined up to take him in. The temps may go down to 33 degrees tonight, but for now, he has a warm house in which to rest, as well as plenty of seed and water. We'll make a few phone calls tom'w and will post an update.

Click here for Proof Positive Photography website.

Hawk just passing through

We're not sure if this is a juvenile Cooper's Hawk or a Sharp Shinned, but he showed up in a tree beside our garage this afternoon.  Eric has a very good eye for sighting birds and he called to me to get my camera.  I had plenty of time.  This guy was a fearless predator and having two people watching him didn't faze him in the least.  (Click to enlarge photo, use back arrow to return). Shot with my Nikon D300S and my 70-200mm VRII zoom lens.

Click here for Proof Positive Photography website.

Happy Halloween~!

Ridgewood Fall Classic - Motorcycle Benefit Ride for Tomorrow's Children's Fund

For the second year, we hopped on our 2003 Goldwing Trike and rode the Ridgewood Fall Classic, a 40-mile police-escorted motorcycle ride through scenic northern Bergen County, NJ. This ride is a benefit for Tomorrow's Children's Fund against pediatric cancer, in honor of Shayne James, Jr., one of our neighborhood children.

Its quite an experience to be in the midst of hundreds of roaring motorcycles!

Me on Big Bee, by Eric!

Click here for our YouTube video of the start of the ride out of the Bergen County Harley Davidson parking lot in Rochelle Park.  (Hold your ears).

To see the fall foliage, click here for another YouTube video of today's adventure .. It was a bumpy road up that way, so it was a bit wobbly with the camera as well .. The colors were magnificent though!

Some of the many beautiful bikes outside The Office Restaurant in Ridgewood, at the after-party

Click here for Proof Positive Photography website.

Autumn has arrived

Ah, Autumn, our favorite season!  Just a few leaves down so far ... The maples here in northern New Jersey are just starting to pop.  Beautiful!

Lost pigeon in our yard

This isn't a remarkable photo, but this lovely bird has been our focus since last Wednesday when he appeared at our main bird feeder.  He's been coming back nearly every day, feeding for a few hours at a time.  He's a lost homing or racing pigeon, wearing a leg band with incomplete identification. We can only make out 3 numbers, "479".  We want to get him back to his rightful owner, safe and sound.

In order to do that, we've been advised by several racing pigeon people that we have to capture him to get his full i.d.  Evidently, *IF* we can do that, we can simply look him up online and get him back where he belongs.  I love a challenge. Tom'w, we'll start plotting how to make this happen .. We have some ideas and a large cage for him, in case we are successful.  Stay tuned.

UPDATE: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23

The pigeon is still with us!  We contacted all of the local racing pigeon associations, had another blog entry put up by a local bird sanctuary, and even put up an ad on Craigslist, but no luck.  Nobody has claimed him.  We learned that if this bird had been racing, he would have been wearing a second leg band.  Our considerable efforts to capture him have been unsuccessful.  We were told that these birds are smart .. and they are!

We tried the old "box, stick and string" trick but he wouldn't fall for it.  We even set up a blind with a blanket on the nearby fence, but to no avail.  Our squirrels, Sparrows and Mourning Doves waltzed under the box, not a care in the world, but not this pigeon.  He studiously avoided it.  After a few days, we took it away.

He just calmly watches us from his perch on a nearby tree and comes down to feed as he pleases.  We see him nearly every day.  His weight is good, his feathers look clean and he seems to be thriving.

We had our first frost warning last night .. We hope he makes it through the NJ winter.  We feed our wild birds all season long, even when it snows, so he will be well fed as long as he hangs around.

Click here for Proof Positive Photography website.

Cradle of Aviation Museum trip

My husband Eric, the Curator of Aviation and Aircraft Restoration for the Intrepid Museum, invited me along for the first Museum members field trip, an enjoyable excursion by bus to the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, Long Island, NY.  Above is the Lunar Module, my all-time-favorite outer space vehicle!

Not all museum curators of fond of mannequins, but I was fascinated by those at the Cradle.  They were all so life-like and well lighted!

Eric's middle name is Charles, after Charles Lindbergh.  Eric's late father, George Boehm, was a turret gunner on an Avenger at the age of 17.  Pictured here are some wonderful Lindbergh ephemera.  I have a small connection to him too, having attended Lindbergh School for kindergarten.

Eric did a wonderful job of entertaining and educating the members, regaling them with true stories of the aircraft on display which have connections to Intrepid's history.

(Click on any image to enlarge, use back arrow to return).  



Click here for Proof Positive Photography website.

Jersey Shore on a quiet Friday

The Jersey Shore was very quiet today, but relaxing. We didn't make it down at all this summer, so we decided to head down today and make sure the ocean is still there.  It was socked in by fog, but yep, its still there.

Jenkinson's Aquarium on the Point Pleasant Boardwalk.  Delightful!

Desolate Boardwalk scenes were just meant to be black and white.  You can almost hear Bruce singing in the background ... (Click on any image to enlarge, use back arrow to return).  

Click here for Proof Positive Photography website.

Mushrooms after the rain

Ordinarily, mushrooms wouldn't catch my eye, but these were so classic, the kind you'd find a fairy dancing around ... I couldn't resist.  Lighting was very low when I shot them on Thursday afternoon in our side yard garden. I used my 70-200 mm 2.8 VRII at f2.8 for 1/100s.  By this morning,they were gone!

Click here for Proof Positive Photography website.

U.S. Open - Kim Clijsters shines

As a tribute to those lost on 9/11/01, U.S. Marines stationed in Brooklyn unfurled the flag and everyone observed a moment of silence.  Chaka Khan sang America the Beautiful.

Kim and her daughter, Jada

Immediately after her win, Clijsters climbed over seats and up into the stands where she ran to the arms of her husband ... 

So romantic!!!

Tonight's US Open Tennis match at the Arthur Ashe Stadium was terrific.  With thanks for the tickets from friends Dina and Bob of the USTA, we enjoyed a wonderful match. Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert made a special appearance.  Eric spotted TV actor Denis Leary in the audience.  It took exactly one hour for 2nd seed Kim Clijsters to triumph over 7th seed Vera Zvonareva, 6-2, 6-1 in the Women's Final.

Kim is a resident of Wall Township, NJ, one-time home of the F9F Cougar aircraft which Eric and Dina are currently restoring aboard Intrepid.  Kim has won 21 consecutive matches at the U.S Open.  Tonight was her 3rd U.S. Open Championship which earned her a $2.2 million paycheck. (Click on any image to enlarge, use back arrow to return).

On the way home to New Jersey, the George Washington Bridge was lit up and we saw the twin spotlights lighting the skyline where the Towers once stood at Ground Zero.

Click here for Proof Positive Photography website.

The "Dark Ages" of Photography ... Back behind the camera again

I just couldn't put my camera down for very long.
A trip to Medieval Times over the Labor Day weekend called for my Nikon D300s and my 70-200mm lens.  The pageantry and horsemanship were impressive, as was the lighting. (Click on any image to enlarge, use back arrow to return).

I'm walking well now, even with the surgical boot which I will need to wear for another 2-3 weeks.  No driving yet, but hopefully soon. 

Click here for Proof Positive Photography website.