Monarch Butterfly on Pink Butterfly Bush Flower

A monarch butterfly feeding on a pink buddleia flower.

Sandpiper Congestion

A small number of the many hundreds of Least Sandpipers that converged on a park area of the NJ Meadowlands, crowding onto branches, roots and tree stumps to rest and preen. Assuming they in migration process.

Full House at the Sandpiper Inn

How many sandpipers can you count? This is just one of the many logs and stumps that a very large flock of the birds landed on to preen and rest at Mill Creek Marsh in the NJ Meadowlands.

Sandpiper Fly-in NJ Meadowlands

Just a few of several hundred Least Sandpipers that fluttered and swirled into the Mill Creek Marsh section of the NJ Meadowlands just as I was leaving after a short walk there. My walk did not reveal any birds, other than mallard ducks and Canada geese so I decided to close down the camera and walk back to my car. All of a sudden, the birds flew in and scattered to land on various tree stumps and logs in the marsh water. My reactions were not fast enough to turn on the camera, zoom the lens out and change to appropriate settings for birds in flight but wanted to try to capture the essence of the arrival of the huge fling of sandpipers.

Hydrangea Blossom Pink and Greenk

A newly opened hydrangea bloom in soft yellow-green and ivory colors with touches of pink.

Black Swallowtail Butterfly and Bee Balm Blossoms

A close up view of a Black Swallowtail Butterfly feeding on a lavender hued monarda blossom in the New Jersey Meadowlands.

Pink Marsh Hibiscus

A close up view of pink marsh hibiscus flowers. These flowers in pink and white varieties are blooming in great profusion in areas of the New Jersey Meadowlands parks.

Silver-spotted Skipper Butterfly

A Silver-spotted Skipper butterfly enjoying the nectar from a monarda blossom. . The yellow background colors are from a cluster of bright yellow false sunflower plants . The monarda flowers seemed to be the big draw for the few butterflies that I have seen in the past two days.

Red Admiral Butterfly on Purple Monarda

A beautiful, Red Admiral butterfly enjoying the nectar from a purple monarda blossom.

NYC Sundown Smog

Sundown over the New York Skyline and Hudson River last evening. This scene and most of the metropolitan area was blanketed in the smog from the smoke that has blown in from the wildfires in the Western part of the country. In the upper right quadrant, you can see the tiny waxing moon as it rises above the smog.

New York Skyline Summer Afternoon Clouds

Beautiful, gently colored and shaped clouds blanket the New York Skyline and reflect on the Hudson Yards complex with the Hudson River in the foreground in late afternoon just before the start of the golden hour. Within a half hour, the fast moving clouds had blown on past to leave a hazy grey-blue cloudless scene.

NY Skyline-Sienna Hued Sundown

After days and days of clouds, rainy weather and misty gray blue skies, it was a surprise to see this display of sienna colors kiss the skyline buildings as a storm cleared at sundown. You can see the heavy moisture just hanging in the air. It was a startling, stunning short glimpse of color.

Red Daylily Portrait

A close up vertical view of the center and inside petals of a bright red daylily with yellow center against the green leaves of the plant.

Open Winged Monarch on Purple Coneflower

A beautiful male monarch butterfly with wide open wings feeding from the nectar of a purple coneflower with a green grass background.

White Lacecap Hydrangea

A close up view of a white Lacecap Hydrangea blossom with green leaves background.

Monarch Butterfly on Green Leaves

A male monarch butterfly about to take off after having a rest in this shaded cluster of green leaves. He was one of two that I saw, both very frenetically flying around and zipping from flower to flower.

Treetop Great Egret

One more image from my rookery visit - just realized that I had not posted it. The king of the rookery, or so it seemed, as this Great Egret overlooked the bird kingdom from above. The egret was perched on top of one of the tallest trees in the rookery, located in southern New Jersey, framed against a cloud-streaked blue sky.

Purple Coneflower on Green

A close up view of a Purple Coneflower framed against green grass. The Echinacea plants are blooming in great profusion here. This one caught my eye because of the huge, bright green center. The plants, native to North America, are long-flowering perennials popular for use in many types of borders and gardens and are particularly great for wildflower or butterfly gardens. They are a magnet for butterflies and other pollinators when blooming and the seeds of the dried flowers attract birds.

Three Daylilies Out of the Shadows

A trio of orange and gold daylilies that were reaching out to catch the sunlight from under the deep shadows from trees above and behind.

Monarch Butterfly on Pink Buddleia

My first butterfly sighting for this year - a beautiful fresh monarch flitting from flower to flower on a buddleia bush.

Splish-Splash I'm Loving My Bath -

Enjoyed watching this little robin frolicking in a park bird bath on a very hot day during the past week.

Great Egret in Flight

The last of my images to post from my visit to the heron rookery A view of a Great Egret as it takes off from its perch heading back to its nest at a rookery in Southern New Jersey..

Black-crowned Night Heron Preening

Another image from my rookery visit - a close up view of a Black-crowned Night Heron preening his breeding feathers at a rookery in southern New Jersey.

USA Flag Flying High from GW Bridge

A diagonal, view of the American Flag that is suspended from the top of the New Jersey tower of the George Washington Bridge. The flag is promoted the largest free-flying flag in the world at 60 x 90 feet. The first tower flag was flown in 1947 on Veterans Day to celebrate the victory in World War II, and a flag has been displayed on the tower on national holidays ever since then. The flag is in its full glorious color while the bridge structure and sky black, gray and white monochrome on a cloudy morning.