Baby, it's cold outside.

Downy Woodpecker


Mute Swan

Spring Lake Swan

We spent a relaxing weekend in Spring Lake.  A nice time on the beach, some good food and too many desserts: scones at Scone Pony, cranberry caramel sea turtles,  raspberry chocolate chip ice cream, canollis, a cinnamon donut,and every mini-cupcake.

Oh, we also saw some mute swans.




Spring Lake is a bit too structured for us. We enjoyed 20 years in Irvine but had to go to Newport Beach, Laguana Beach and Huntington Beach for fun and Costa Mesa and Santa Ana for some good ethnic food. Not sure we'll frequent Spring Lake but it's less crowded than most of the Jersey Shore.

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?

  

Mute Swan On Lake Nelson

 

 

 

Mike usually spots the early morning visitors, but this time Chris let out the "swan alert." While taking the last photos, Mike noticed that there were also common mergansers.

Mute swans are very rare visitors to Lake Nelson. It's been two years since we last saw one, but that one stayed for two weeks. This one just flew off as we were blogging. It is stunning in flight.

Brigantine: Waterfowl

 

 

 

Brant

Mike and Chris have a disagreement about Brants. Mike thinks they are worth stopping for. Chris doesn't.

Birding at Liberty State Park

Eastern Towhee

Green-winged Teal

Mute Swan 

Gadwalls 

We went birding at Liberty State Park this AM. It was a bit overcast, but we saw a few migratory ducks. We left, went to city for gluten-free pizza at Pala Pizza, and then stopped at Dekorte Park in the Meadowlands when it was sunnier.

Meadowlands birds

Egret

Downy Woodpecker

Juvenile Mute Swan

Ruddy Duck Family

We went to the NJMC Environmental Center in Lyndhurst, NJ on Sunday AM. We are a little early for many of the migrating birds, but we did take a few photos. The highlight was the baby ruddy ducks. It's not a great photo, but they are very small and stayed by the small island away from people. They were so cute diving underwater.

The juvenile mute swan is showing off its foot. We have a bit of a debate whether this is a deformity because the foot seems too high on the back and it didn't ever seem to put it in the water.

Incredibly Cute Baby Swans

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some photos of mute swan families from Cape May. Some are from Cape May Point State Park and others Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge.

Did you know that baby swans are called "cygnets." Mike did. Did you know they are really cute? Chris did.

Mute Swan at the Meadowlands

 

Sleeping Swan

The swan seems to spend a lot of the day sleeping. He drifts from one end of the lake to the other. Can you imagine sleeping with your neck like that?

Mute Swan

Rainy days always seem to bring surprises to Lake Nelson. Today, we glanced out the window and saw a large swan that we later identified as a mute swan. He has been swimming by for a few hours now and got close enough for us to get some photos. He makes the geese look tiny.