2022 – The (early) Birds and the Bees, etc.

 ……………………………………………(ignore April 30, 2017 publish date – this was published on August 5, 2022)

 

(NOTE: When you see the word PANO, click that image once or twice to fully enlarge it. Click on Return to get back to where you were.)

 

I woke up ridiculously early (4:50am, I think) one morning last week and could NOT get back to sleep. The sun began to rise and that didn’t help, so I decided to get up and shoot what I don’t normally see, lighting-wise.

For example, I don’t normally see NYC buildings just south of Central Park lit like this:

 

But what really caught my eye had nothing to do with the sun. It was the unusual electrical lighting atop new construction right here in Hackensack. It looked like giant fireflies randomly flittering about.

I decided to look closer. That didn’t really tell me anything, but zooming in had the effect of scrunching Manhattan’s buildings so that they looked like they were only a few blocks away:

 

Those pix were taken a little after 5:30am. The prize of the early AM was this shot of the World Trade Center. I had never seen just that one side illuminated AND reflecting the sun. That was taken at 5:59am:

 

I wondered how things were looking in the other direction. Here are some Hackensack high-rises at 6:06am:

 

I’m NEVER out that early, but it was a nice, cool morning (for a change), so out I went.

Two blocks away, I saw some neighbors looking out their windows. Some looked pretty gorgeous for this 6:15am PANO:

Oh, wait – that’s the Parisian Beauty Academy, where they always look good.

 

Something else I’ve never seen before………..empty Main St and the early morning light on the buildings and the never-ending redevelopment construction (PANO):

 

I walked a block down Main and took the side street to get a closer look at that construction project (PANO):

 

I really should have come back in the afternoon when this very colorful side was sunlit, so I semi-saturated the colors instead:

 

Heading back down the side street, I noticed this fish crow with food in his feet that he quickly transferred to his bill:

He fumbled the transfer and promptly dropped it at 648am. Fortunately, I was quicker than he was and it was quite tasty (hey – I hadn’t had breakfast yet).

 

Speaking of fish crows, I have these two loose pix that I took on a different day and am not gonna make a separate post about, so I’ll slip them in here.

This one appears to be looking for me:

Maybe he’s the one whose food I stole.

 

In this poor quality image, it appears he found me:

He looks a bit PO’d.

 

Back to our show…………

 

It’s now 703am. I’m walking through the field at Foschini Park toward the Hackensack River and encounter a gaggle of geese at breakfast time:

One hangs in the back to keep an eye on intruders with cameras.

 

I reach the Midtown Bridge over the river at 718am and see something I’ve never seen before…………a truck on the railroad tracks that cross the river:

You can also see the Bergen County Courthouse and the steeple of the historic First Reformed Church, known locally as the Church on the Green.

 

While you were looking at that last pic, did you also happen to notice a WORLD WAR II SUBMARINE?

It’s the USS Ling.

 

It’s now around 730am and I’m walking northward near the river. On the other side is the town of Bogota (PANO):

 

A couple of minutes later, I encounter a groundhog/woodchuck (groundchuck?) who’s heading toward the river:

 

At the northern end of the park, the northbound river makes a sudden left westward at a section known as Kipp’s Bend. The shrubbery is fairly dense all along the river, but one spot opens up where you can’t go any further north.

I walk in the semi-muddiness to the water and look to my left………..Hello! Two ducks are sitting on a big rock that’s surrounded by water:

 

I’m on their sun side, so I verticalize my camera so I can get them, the rock and their reflections in the river:

 

An even cooler shot presented itself when one of them was either sharing a drink or making out with his reflection:

 

As the park’s path continued on westward, I saw some flowers and a lot of bees, who – thankfully – showed no interest in me or the camera that I was trying to maneuver toward them.

I caught this one in mid-air, but I wanted something closer:

 

This is the best I could do:

Fuzzy little guy, ain’t he?

 

By now, it was just after 8am – time to head home for breakeast that was a bit more substantial than fish crow fumblings.

I didn’t sleep or nap at all the rest of the day – I was too busy editing nearly 3 hours of early morning photography (and yawning non-stop).

 

Slept like a baby that night, however.

 

 

4 Comments

  1. Mulligan John August 5, 2022

    maac@maui.net

    Aloha Cuz,
    The NYC skyline from eastbound route 208 as you first see it when you crest the hill in the Oakland vicinity is one of those images just tattooed on you from the early days. Interesting angles.
    Truly like the mirrored ducks as well.
    Thanks again for paying attention.

  2. E August 6, 2022

    Great shots Bob, as usual.

  3. Paul Kibbe August 6, 2022

    Cool what you can see at a different hour.
    In addition to the skyline reflections, I really liked the mirror image of the duck taking a sip.
    Keep up the good work and thank you for sharing.

  4. Annemarie August 8, 2022

    Early walks are the best! Really great photos!

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