What a Catch!

On a sunny day in mid-summer at Lake Lily, while admiring a Great Blue Heron, I looked up and noticed a osprey circling over head.

At closer glance, one could spot a fish in its talons.

As seen here, it is typical for the Osprey to catch and then carry fish head first, which allows for less wind resistance. Osprey are the only hawks that eat almost exclusively live fish. 

For most recent Osprey conservation efforts in NJ, visit the blog listed on my side bar: NJ Osprey Project and this site: http://www.njospreyproject.blogspot.com/

Winter Storm Draco Impacts the Point

After the storm, there was a lot of debris on the beach,

including the remnants of the Beach Christmas Tree.

The newly planted grass from October was almost completely covered by sand

and there was evidence of high water reaching up into the dune at the end of Ocean Avenue.

Winter Storms have been named for years in Europe. It is interesting to see the US follow along, apparently to help with preparations and raise awareness. 

See the article: 

http://www.weather.com/news/why-we-name-winter-storms-20121001

Christmas Lights on the Point!

Enjoy some Christmas Lights Cheer from the Point. 

Here are some beautiful ones on the circle:

And more from around the neighborhood . . .

Merry Christmas!

Still Standing?

After the fog lifted and blue skies were revealed
with a light breeze and temperatures in the high 50's,
I hurried down to the beach to see if the
Beach Christmas Tree was still standing.
It had been a couple of weeks since I had last seen it.

And it was surprisingly still there:

It had changed. Not only was it adorned with items from nature, but now with all sorts of goodies, probably washed up from the sea, such as a child's teacup, a fisherman's ball, a shovel . . .

I just had to add something. Can you guess what I added?

It wasn't this!

Or this!

But this! I liked the hole and ridges.

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Beach Tree

The sun was fading fast and we raced to the shore to see the sunset, 

but only to find a wisp of color, 

almost a comet in appearance.

Off to the left stood oddly a tree on the beach, in need of investigation . .

It was a Beach Christmas Tree, 

adorned with shells, conchs, sea egg casings, and other treasures from the sea.

And all along, the sunset was expanding and unfolding into this masterpiece!