Last Sunday: Belmar
Jun. 22nd, 2025 09:51 pmI had taken last Sunday off from work, originally thinking it might be a travel day. It was not, so before heading over to my mom's house, we decided to take a walk. Alex wasn't feeling well, but we hoped maybe being outside for a while would help. (Alas, it did not.)
We went to Belmar, hoping it would be a fairly easy walk... but it was so hot we had to turn around pretty quickly. Even the packed dirt pathways were hot enough to be uncomfortable for Bella, so instead of making our way around the whole lake, we stuck to the sidewalk up the east side to the boardwalk where the turtles usually hang out. Since Bella was so hot and Alex wasn't feeling well, it's probably good we did a shorter walk. It was still nice to get out for a little while.

Bumblebee!

Mushrooms!

Wish it had been just slightly more in focus, but a nice gold dragonfly! Not a super common color to see.

Honeybee on golden banner.

These turtles appeared to be fighting with each other. What do turtles have to fight about?

A very nice spider!

The cormorant rookery! The babies are all getting pretty big, and are plenty loud about begging for food, haha.

Milkweed with honeybee and bumblebee.

Such a tiny ladybug!

Another bumblebee.
This is the point where we had to turn around and head back the other way.

Flax! (With a wee little wasp of some kind.)

Two families of geese with awkward "teenage" goslings.
We sat for a while in the shaded boardwalk, just to take a break and rehydrate, ha.

It's Bella!

The swallows are nesting!

Taking off after feeding.

A different nest. Little baby birds are basically just mouths, haha.

Adult swallow judging us harshly.

A very brilliantly blue swallow perched under the stairs. And a bonus Bella.

There weren't as many turtles out as there sometimes are, but I was impressed with how high this one had climbed up.
Glad we had a chance to go out and do something before I was gone for a few days.
We went to Belmar, hoping it would be a fairly easy walk... but it was so hot we had to turn around pretty quickly. Even the packed dirt pathways were hot enough to be uncomfortable for Bella, so instead of making our way around the whole lake, we stuck to the sidewalk up the east side to the boardwalk where the turtles usually hang out. Since Bella was so hot and Alex wasn't feeling well, it's probably good we did a shorter walk. It was still nice to get out for a little while.
Bumblebee!
Mushrooms!
17 more pictures, including insects, one spider, and swallows:
Wish it had been just slightly more in focus, but a nice gold dragonfly! Not a super common color to see.
Honeybee on golden banner.
These turtles appeared to be fighting with each other. What do turtles have to fight about?
A very nice spider!
The cormorant rookery! The babies are all getting pretty big, and are plenty loud about begging for food, haha.
Milkweed with honeybee and bumblebee.
Such a tiny ladybug!
Another bumblebee.
This is the point where we had to turn around and head back the other way.
Flax! (With a wee little wasp of some kind.)
Two families of geese with awkward "teenage" goslings.
We sat for a while in the shaded boardwalk, just to take a break and rehydrate, ha.
It's Bella!
The swallows are nesting!
Taking off after feeding.
A different nest. Little baby birds are basically just mouths, haha.
Adult swallow judging us harshly.
A very brilliantly blue swallow perched under the stairs. And a bonus Bella.
There weren't as many turtles out as there sometimes are, but I was impressed with how high this one had climbed up.
Glad we had a chance to go out and do something before I was gone for a few days.