No, really. We're serious this time. We're going to just throw a bunch of photos at you and get caught up. That's the plan anyway. We'll see how that goes.
We saw this adorable turtle at a museum in Maryland. He managed to stay at the bottom of the tank and still extend his neck all the way to the surface to take a breath.
Also saw this beautiful Black Swallowtail Butterfly while walking in the woods in Pocomoke City, Maryland.
Moving on to Delaware, Annie had a first time experience here.
It was sort of a funny story. Sort of.
As we were driving along the Delaware beaches road Nicole heard a light pop. Then a repetitive and much louder popping. We pulled over in a parking lot to check out all of the front suspension. Nicole concluded that it was the right front bearing but was in no position to complete the task given no parts store nearby and essentially non-existent parking resources.
So, we picked the nearest repair shop we could located and limped there. We pulled into the place (which was closed since it was Sunday) and figured we'd set up for the evening and greet them when they got in on Monday. Just so happened the owner stopped by and we talked with him quickly. He said it our description didn't sound like a bearing but he would try to look at it in the a.m.
We debated for a bit and then decided that since we'd driven before on some questionable suspension and he seemed pretty sure it wasn't a bearing that we could try to make it to a larger town 12 miles away. Two miles down the road, that dream died and we prepared our girl for the only other option.
Annie's first tow!
Back at our original repair shop stop and all patched up the next day we headed off and squeezed in a trip to the Prime Hook NWR. While we didn't see any new birds we did meet a really great couple and had a lot of fun talking with them for a good while.
We then moved on to explore the Dupont Nature Center where we saw more familiar birds like
Cormorants
and Willets.
We also saw our first Dunlin though so that was pretty cool.
The next day we headed off to explore the 12 mile long wildlife drive at the Bombay Hook NWR.
We were greeted by the largest number of American Goldfinches we've ever seen.
Yet another beautiful Black Swallowtail Butterfly this one showing off its underside.
This Wood Thrush was a tough one to spot as it rooted around in the underbrush.
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher amongst the blooming of spring
Darlene worked her macro skills on these pretty little Autumn Olive flowers.
Nicole found an Eastern Painted Turtle.
They are quite pretty on the underside.
We saw several Immature Bald Eagles
and a few beautiful mature ones.
Jack In The Pulpit
Jack a little more exposed
Grape Hyacinth was in bloom
We saw our first Black Bellied Plovers.
So, we're doing pretty good with seeing new birds.
Only a few miles after we entered New Jersey we stopped off at Riverview Beach Park in Pennsville.
It was a pretty day and things were a-bloom.
We walked around for a bit.
The babies were out and about.
This one found laying down a less tedious way of eating.
Darlene found a Frisbee Golf Disc and we both tried our hand at a short throw.
The trajectory looks a lot better than it really is. Just ask the tree!
Speaking of trees....
Man Made
Nature Made
This one found laying down a good use of the day.
We found walking around this lovely park a good use of the day.
And, that was our attempt at catching up. Darn it if we aren't already behind again!
Ah, well. We'll get there next time. Maybe.
See You Then.