Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country …

I could not believe how big the River crayfish were at McKee Falls. I had decided to go to the bank of the Falls and explore. I saw what I thought could have been killdeer in the distance. Suddenly I looked down at my feet and I noticed at least three gigantic crayfish scurrying on the rocks back into the River. They all were at least four inches from head to tail. It was only minutes from dawn and they are nocturnal creatures. To me, it was a big discovery. I was not even thinking about them. I never did make a positive identification of the birds that were hugging the shore in the distance.

Tags: birds, fish, Killdeer hugging the shore, McKee Falls, minutes from dawn, nocturnal creatures, the gigantic crayfish, The River, the river crayfish
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The Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans was fascinating but sad at the same time.  The different display of fish and other life was fascinating.  As far as I could tell there were fish who lived in the ocean and also in the Gulf.  There were an amazing variety of life in these aquariums. But in one display there was, at least, one seal and I felt bad for the seal.  It was enclosed and could not roam as a wild seal.  It did not seem very happy and all kinds of people were gawking at it.  There might have been a second seal in that cage but I no longer remember if there was.  The aquarium was not that big for it.  The seal ought to be free and wild.  It just made me sad.

Tags: aquarium, Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans, fish, Gulf, New Orleans, ocean, such a variety of fish, the enclosed seal, the seal ought to be free and wild, The wild life in the aquarium was fascinating
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The “kiddies” were all taking pictures of the different fish in the aquarium with their I Phones and I Pads.  Everyone had them.  I read, presently, more photos are being taken with those devices than regular cameras.  These kids grew up with that technology so it really should not be that surprising to see that.  I am a dinosaur:  I am still using a film camera.  I am about to buy my first digital camera.  Prices have come down considerably.  I am slow to take up new technology except it is not new anymore.  I am just old.

Tags: aquarium, cameras, cell phones and cameras, digital camera, film camera, fish, I am a dinosaur, I Pads, I Phones, kids, photos, technology, the young have embraced easier the new technology
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Every time I pass that marsh on my right from my car I peer down the two different bodies of water.  Sometimes I see nothing.  Other times I have seen great egrets and snowy egrets at its borders.  This time I saw three deer lined up in a row all the way back at the edge of the water.  I had never seen deer there before.  I always wondered about the owner of that piece of property.  He has bird boxes in strategic spots there.  I am sure he loves the property and its inhabitants.  I am only briefly visiting it.  I wonder if there is any fish in it.  It is not mine but I love passing and looking at it.  I always wonder about it.

Tags: bird boxes, bird-watching, birds, deer, edge of the water, fish, great egrets, marsh, nature, snowy egrets, three deer, wildlife
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Every time I pass a stream or a river I gaze downstream (or upstream).  To me the body of water represents mystery.  If I am on foot I want to see if I spot any fish or other creature in the water.  By car, I am on the outlook for any kind of duck or egret or other bird.  I am always curious what I will see.  There is a marsh nearby and I am always looking for a snowy egret or the much larger great egret there.  I could not believe it when I flushed a blue heron who was drinking the water of the small creek less than an hundred yards from my house.  I face nature with a sense of wonder.  There is always the sense of mystery.  I know the Almighty has instilled that in me and every child has it and far too many lose it.  To view this universe without a sense of awe is a great loss.  With it, you will discover wonders and beauty all around you.  All you have to do is open your eyes with a sense of expectation.

Tags: bird-watching, birds, blue heron, body of water, discover wonders and beauty around you, duck, egret, fish, God, great egret, marsh, mystery, nature, open your eyes, river, sense of awe, sense of expectation, sense of wonder, small creek, snowy egret, stream, The Almighty, this universe, water birds, wildlife
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We flushed a blue heron in an unlikely spot–just down the block at my neighbor’s far corner of his property, where there was a little creek.  It must have been drinking its water.  It just surprised me.  I never would have expected to see one there.

I mentioned it to someone I “bumped” into at the local supermarket and he declared they are everywhere and eat the bass in the river and also trout in other streams.  He complained the state will fine you $200 if you kill one.  And said they are so numerous they do not need the state’s protection.  I just shrugged my shoulder and continued walking down the aisle.

Tags: bass fish, birds, blue heron, creek, fish, river, streams, supermarket, trout, water
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Every time I look up at that mountain facing my town I expect to see a bald eagle.  Last summer someone told me that two eagles were nesting there and he had a telescope trained on its nest.

The nameless mountain is across the mile wide River.  Every time I look at the sky and wonder whether I will see at least one and best of all two.  I know they probably fly up and down the River seeking fish for their prey.  I wonder about their young and when they leave the nest.

I keep peering at the sky and wonder how long will it be before I spot one.  Before I moved to this state I had never seen a bald eagle.  Of course, I did not live near mountains and this magnificent River.  I will catch a glimpse of this bird when I least expect it.  I continue to look up the sky and mountains and River.

Tags: bald eagle, birds, eagle nest, eagles, fish, mountain, river, sky, telescope
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She came out of nowhere.  I asked my young nurse (during my brief hospital stay) where she was from:  she said, “Bricktown, New Jersey.”  I immediately asked her if that was near Lakewood.  And then asked her a flurry of questions.

She knew about Winwood Beach.  It was a vacation spot on the Manasquan River we often rented a bungalow for the weekend.  It could have been forty years the last time I was there.  I assumed the owner sold it a long time ago and the land was built on.  I was thrilled to find out it now was a park.

I used to love getting up in the morning to flush the cottontails.  There were the barn swallows who inhabited a garage there who would dive bomb every time I would go there near there.  I also picked wild blue berries in South Jersey every year.

Winwood Beach was the place where I used to throw rocks at the blackbirds perched at the barbed wire and once I hit one breaking his wing.  That was the last time I ever threw a rock at a bird.  The Beach was also not too far from The Atlantic Ocean.

She was familiar with Ocean County Park.  My Dad loved that park.  We lived two hours away but we often went there for the day.  My father upon entering that park would make sure the car windows were down so the smell of the virgin pines tree needles could drift in.

I also asked her about the park on the lake on route nine in Lakewood where we often went.  One memory I had of that place was my sister on a bamboo pole catching the largest yellow perch I had ever seen at the mouth of a stream there.

More of my childhood memories buried came back when I talked to this young nurse.  The conversation, unfortunately, was too brief.  I wanted to continue it but I did not have another opportunity. I owed my father a big debt for introducing me to nature by all our trips to South Jersey.

Tags: Atlantic ocean, barn swallows, birds, blackbirds, Bricktown NJ, cottontails, fish, fishing, Lakewood, Manasquan River, memories, my Dad, nature, nurse, Ocean County Park, South Jersey, vacation spot, virgin pine tree needles, wild blue berries, Winwood Beach, yellow perch
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I am no longer going to entertain the idea of frying up any trout I catch on my camp/fishing trip in May. I remember last year keeping a little bigger sized rainbow trout than normal to eat it for dinner later.

I had placed it on a stringer in the water. It started bleeding from the gills. I could not bear the thought of it dying that way. I released it and permitted it to swim away. This year I will let all the trout I catch back in the water immediately. My days of killing fish are now gone.

Tags: camp trip, fish, fishing, fishing trip, rainbow trout, released the trout, trout
Posted in death, knowledge&learning, life, nature, time | 2 Comments »

I made two discoveries at the shore of the Susquehanna River.  It was a mere four blocks away and I loved wandering to its shore never knowing exactly what I would see next.  I always wondered why I hardly saw any crayfish in the river.  Then one night I walked there with my flashlight and shone its light on the water.  The crayfish were everywhere.  Then I realized crayfish must be nocturnal creatures.  That is why I did not see them too often during the day.

Another time, also from my small town, I wanted to see the stars better.  There were just too many lights in town.  I even went up to the hill by the cemetery and looked into the valley and at the sky–still the same story.  There were too many lights to see the stars clearly.

Then one night I went to the River and there they were–the stars were in full display.

So many things are in plain sight but you have to change your routine slightly, walk, maybe, to a different spot, go at a different time and discover beauty was there all along.  We are such creatures of habit and those habits sometimes imprison us and somehow you need to modify them to open up a different world that was at your feet all along.  (to be continued)

Tags: beauty, change your routine, crayfish, creatures of habit, discoveries, fish, God, knowledge, learning, nature, nocturnal creatures, right at your feet, right in front of your eyes, see the stars, Susquehanna River, time
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