The Lazy Birder

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Filed in: Art

Road Trip to Grounds For Sculpture

June 27, Hamilton NJ
Grounds For Sculpture is an Art Park in Hamilton NJ created by Seward Johnson. It's a great day trip with both realistic and large fantastical sculptures. Every trip has something new, and every season brings a new perspective.
image
Rat's Restaurant at Grounds For Sculpture.
photo of Foci, 2010. Rubber, tires, stainless steel. Artist Chakaia Bookere.
Foci, 2010. Rubber, tires, stainless steel. Artist Chakaia Booker.
image First Love, 2006. Cast bronze.
First Love, 2006. Cast bronze. Artist Itzik Benshalom.
image of Ruins of Empire II or The Earth swallows The Masters House, 2024.
Ruins of Empire II or The Earth swallows The Masters House, 2024. Earth, steel, binder, aluminum panels. Artist Kiyan Williams.
image Shaping Up, 1987. Cast bronze. Seward Johnson.
Shaping Up, 1987. Cast bronze. Seward Johnson. With Ruins Of Empire II in the background.
image Giant George, 2019. Cast bronze. Artist Gordon Gund.
Giant George, 2019. Cast bronze. Artist Gordon Gund.
image Current exhibit in the domestic arts building.
Current exhibit in the domestic arts building.
image Current exhibit in the domestic arts building.
Current exhibit in the domestic arts building.
image Ex-halations, 2005. Steel, cast aluminum. Artist Linda Fleming.
Ex-halations, 2005. Steel, cast aluminum. Artist Linda Fleming.
Photo of Blue Heron with Art in background
A blue Heron intruding, or participating, or just dining, while Art is on display ….

Links

Tags: Grounds For Sculpture,Seward Johnson

Looking Back; Oct 28, 2023

A past event. From 2023.

While doing some light cleanup (weeding) in the garden, I felt a light tap on my back and wondered if it was starting to rain. It turned out to be a tiny Ruby-crowned Kinglet flying around between the garden milkweed and the lilac bush that had brushed my shoulder or briefly alighted. On further study there were several flying around! Had to get the camera out…. The little birds were difficult to photograph as they never really stopped flying around rarely stopping.
Also, surprised to see a Monarch butterfly on the lilac bush.
Filed in: Butterfly |Native Plants |Book

Northern Cardinal behavior

July 29, 2026
While sitting and reading a book (The Radicalism Of The American Revolution by Gordon S. Wood) on the porch, two Northern Cardinals were spotted in our dogwood tree, they appeared to be "kissing". So I got the camera.
Then a Monarch butterfly was spotted at the Mountain Mint. Two weeks ago I was concerned I had seen very few signs of Monarchs but now I see them more often daily.
image of Northern Cardinal
I was too late to photograph the pair, so just a photo of what struck me as a young cardinal.
image2 of Northern Cardinal
My initial thought was it was a parent feeding their child but then read that male cardinals often bring "gifts" of food to females during courtship and feed them beak to beak, so I suppose I found the most likely answer to the behavior?
image of a monarch butterfly
Just a Monarch butterfly on the Mountain Mint.
image of a monarch butterfly on Short-toothed Mountain Mint
The plant in the photo is Short-toothed Mountain Mint from what I learned through Google Image Search. There are many different mint types and they have a reputation for unchecked growth but I've found these do not present a problem in their present location, and have divided and placed some in different locations on the property.
image of a monarch butterfly
image1 of Henry Eilers Rudbeckia
Henry Eiler Rudbeckia in the garden. I first saw them at the New Jersey Botanical Gardens and liked them so much I added them to our garden.
image2 of Henry Eilers Rudbeckia
image1 of a Spring Azure butterfly
A Spring Azure butterfly spotted in the garden.
image2 of a Spring Azure butterfly
The Spring Azure butterfly.

Links

  1. Short-toothed Mountain Mint at Master Gardeners Of Northern Virginia.
  2. Spring Azure butterfly at the New Jersey Butterfly Club
  3. Henry Eilers Rudbeckia at Rutgers Landscape & Nursery
  4. The Radicalism Of The American Revolution By Gordon S. Wood at GoodReads.

Tags: Spring Azure butterfly,Henry Eilers Rudbeckia,Monarch butterfly

Road Trip; The Great Falls in Paterson, NJ

July 31, 2026
Recent heavy rain and some local flooding made for less interest in being outdoors but also thought the heavy rains might make a trip to the Great Falls National Park in Paterson NJ more interesting.
While there we visited the adjacent Muth Museum and restored Hincheliffe Stadium.
The Great Falls National Park is the only park that also contains a baseball stadium!
image of the great falls

The Great Falls.

image of paterson great falls daily events listing
image of great falls painters
image of painter painting the great falls

A favorite spot for artists.

image of great falls descriptive sign
image wide view of great falls
image of power plant and great falls park

The historic power plant on the left.

image of great falls power plant sign
image of alexander hamilton statue
image of alexander hamilton statue
image of alexander hamilton statue

Alexander Hamilton.

image of historic power plant at paterson great falls
View of the power plant, the Great Falls, and Alexander Hamilton with the old factory park further ahead …
image of upper great falls

A path around the top of the Falls gives different perspectives.
The large building in the distance is the Muth Museum with the Hinchliffe Stadium attached, so easy to visit while at the Paterson Great Falls.

image of sign describing historic factories
image of factory foundations park

There is a nice sitting area along the river with some old factory remains incorporated as a backdrop.

image of park with old factory backdrop
image of park with old factory backdrop
image of historic power plant at paterson great falls
Looking back up the river with the old power plant in view.
imageof historic sign
image of hinchliffe stadium sign
The Hinchliffe Stadium was restored and now hosts events.
image of muth museum

The Charles J. Muth Museum of Hinchliffe Stadium. It contains memorabilia about the stadiums past including the Negro baseball league and even midget car racing that was held there post WWII. At the time of my visit there was a soccer exhibit while the FIFA World Soccer Championship was scheduled to be played at another NJ stadium, MetLife Stadium.

image of muth museum hincliffe stadium sign
image of muth museum and sign
image of historic negro baseball team logos
image of midget car racing memorabelia
image of midget car racing memorabelia
image of hinchliffe stadium sign

Links

  1. Link to Great Falls Earthcam live feed.
  2. The Charles J. Muth Museum of Hinchliffe Stadium home page.
  3. Hinchliffe Stadium site.
Filed in: Camera |Camera Lens |Plants

August: Random photos

A few recent photos from the garden and nearby as seen from the front porch. Taken with the Canon EOS-M6 camera and EOS-M 55mm-200mm IS STM lens.
image of a red-tailed hawk
This very noisy Red-tailed hawk has recently been in the neighborhood for a few days, obvious because it has been so noisy.
Not to mention the little birds objection to it's presence.
image of a red-tailed hawk
Uncropped photo with the EOS-M 55mm-200mm IS STM lens.
image of a Monarch butterfly on purple hyssop
Always enjoy when the Monarch butterflies visit the backyard native garden.
image of a Monarch butterfly on purple hyssop
Butterfly on the Purple Hyssop which is also a favorite of the Goldfinches.

Links

  1. Purple Hyssop at Jersey Friendly Yards
  2. Canon EOS-M6 camera review at Ken Rockwell
  3. Canon 55mm-200mm Is STM Lens review at Ken Rockwell.

Tags: Red-tailed Hawk,Canon EF-M 55-200mm Is STM Lens,Canon EOS-M6 Camera

Garden State Gardens Brochure

A downloadable brochure with some day trip ideas.
Or visit the site here.
There is much more useful information including special event dates.
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