Don't Judge A Pond By Its Stench!

                                                 There is a pond that runs right through the middle of town called Pameecha Pond. It was originally a stream and the word Pameecha came from the Wangunk Tribe that once lived in the area. It is roughly translated to mean "water between two stones". These days I might refer to it as mud between two tires.Although it may not be the most scenic pond, it does attract wildlife. We often see Great blue Herons and great Egrets there. The mud can get a little stinky so maybe this heron was trying to catch a breath of fresh air? I also spotted some shorebirds that a fellow birder had told me about but they blended in with the mud background so much that I thought I would try to get a closer look.                                                                              

That resulted in me sinking up to my knees in quicksand, or quickmud in this case.

It's always a nice to find shorebirds right in your local urban pond rather than having to drive down to the shore to find them. The little one is a Least Sandpiper and the other two are Semipalmated Plovers. You don't see those all that often inland.

Birds don't choose habitat by how nice it smells or looks. Humans tend to be the ones that do that. Birds just want to find food to survive. In this case these mudflats fit the bill.  

Goldfinch Flower And Hummingbird Fence

I don't always pay close attention to goldfinches because there are so many of them around but when they land on top of a flower I take notice. This one landed on a Zinnia, but...

It seemed more interested in spending time in the sunflower plants.This hummingbird landed on a fence for a split second but seemed to have evil intent in its eye as it was off fighting another hummingbird a moment later!

During the hot weather sometimes it's better to sit still and just watch the action unfold.