My patch:Where Pete goes to bird when time is short

摘要

It's 2 p.m. on a weekday in spring. Too late to start a big writing project, toe early for a brew."Hey Pete," I think, "How about a little birding jaunt to pass the time? Why not? Rain seems about over and you'll be home in plenty of time to feed the dogs."Liza, the lop-tongued one, is pretty casual about meal time, but McKenzie, a.k.a., the "Big Mack," shows an elevated genius when it comes to her food bowl OK, then. A quick run down to Strawberry to see what the tide brought in.I've had many local patches over the course of my birding years, including the woods behind my parents' house in Whippany, New Jersey, the 160 acres of woodlands that surrounded New Jersey Audubon's Deer Path Farm, Turkey Point, near Dividing Creek, andmy new favorite spot, the Commercial Township Wetlands Restoration Site (a.k.a. Strawberry Avenue) just west of Port Norris. it consists of several thousand acres of tidal marsh and mudflats bracketed by upland edge. The site isabout a 13-minute drive from my door. And that's taking the long route — the birdy route.