Birthday Wishes do Come True

View large for large eyed red tailed hawk

Today is my birthday and I left the house this morning headed for the Skylands region of NJ, my favorite place, with hopes of being able to capture at least one bird. I also thought it would be cool to try and shoot a black bear although I knew the chances were pretty slim that I'd even see one.

It was a beautiful day, and I took the wrong exit when I tried to find a camera store but it's all meant to be, because Route 181 south led me to this wee fellow. He was perched on the wire, eyeballing for his morning breakfast. He let me take his picture until he spotted something delectable and off he flew... byebye!

For a Saturday, the region was empty of people and traffic and I was able to pull off the road and aim the camera at whatever I pleased. As I was passing a private drive on the Delaware River loop of Old Mine Road, I happened to see what at first glance looked to be a man standing in the center of a pathway. He appeared to be wearing a rather large wooly coat, it was rather intriguing, so I backed the car up, pulled into the drive and upon viewing through the telephoto, saw that it was a large black bear! I was ridiculously excited to say the least! Shaking as a matter of fact.

I immediately calculated the odds of how fast the bear could run to me compared to how fast I could get to my car and I took the odds. I walked down the path a few paces but he was reticent enough, and turned to lope across the golden field, casting glances at me once or twice. I loved every minute of our encounter.

The universe truly blessed me today and I am a very happy woman.