Sunday, June 14, 2009

A horse is a horse, of course, of course, unless it’s a horseshoe crab!

-1 I apologize for not posting these past few weeks.  My family and I have been under the weather for a portion of that time.  I refused to go to the doctor after a 4 day fight with a flu bug.  I know that was me being a bird brain.  But I did it out of fear of being accused of fraternizing with pigs and birds of notorious nature.  In addition to all of those accuses for not posting I also was away on business for a week in Lancaster.

After being kept inside for so long my wife insisted that we get outside.  She really wanted to see the horseshoe crab and Red Knot phenomenon on the shores of New Jersey.  So we took a weekend and headed down to Heislerville in southeastern Cumberland County.

Shorebirds galore It was a beautiful day and we scored tons of shorebirds. 

horeshoe crabs waiting for high tide At East Point the horseshoe crab mania was a delight for the wife and kids.

Wife & kids with crabs in background Kids will gravitate towards nature if you give them an opportunity to experience it.

Man's innate sense to help We did our part and turned over the many stranded head over heals crabs on the shore.

Diamond terrapin turtle This little guy was a surprise delight.

I picked up a really great and inspirational book on Saturday.  The title of the book is Discovery by John K. Terres.  I’m not sure if it is even in print anymore.  I picked it up at a one of my favorite book stores, the Book Garden in Cream Ridge, N.J. I want to share a quote from one of the many great Naturalist stories contained in the book.  Dr. Clarence Cottam said, “Nature is, itself, a great story book, continuously open for all to read and learn from, to discover and enjoy.”  That my friends is the inspirational quote for the week.  Remember to allow the time for your children to check out the the book of Nature, which inspires curiosity and healthy respect for the world.