Yesterday when I stepped outside to walk to the mailbox, I heard a funny noise—a bird noise but different. Looking around to locate the source I saw a baby robin sitting on the driveway. Oh, no was my first thought. First of all the sun was blazing hot and so was the pavement it was sitting on. I was afraid he was going to cook himself sitting there, so I gently made him hop to the cooler grass.

He obviously didn’t have enough of his feathers in to fly. His wings were too short and he had no tail to speak of.  The parents were flying from tree to tree and hopping around on the ground anxiously waiting for me to leave so they could care for their baby. This parent has a green worm in its mouth, can you see it?

At this point there wasn’t really anything I could do except leave the baby resting in the grass and let the parents do what they could. I’ve tried to raise baby birds before and it never worked. I can only hope for a happy ending for this little guy. I just love the tufts of feathers above his eyes. He’s so sweet!

This is not a joke, nor is it some story that I made up! This story has been on-going in our little local newspaper. I thought my readers would enjoy it. Here is last week’s installment, typed word for word from the article in the West Milford Messenger.

WEST MILFORD-The cow that won’t go home is still on the run in the woods of West Milford. As of 10:00 a.m. Thursday, the escaped bovine is still free and roaming the dense forested areas evading the best attempts to locate and apprehend her.

Bodacious Bovine, as she is now called, is starting to make quite a name for herself as growing numbers of searches are made to recapture her.

On May 6 two dozen cows were brought down from Monticello, N.Y., to West Milford Equestrian Center to participate in a roping event. Twenty-three of those animals went back home happy, but one must have liked the look of the town because she leapt a fence. Ella Mae Battipaglia, co-owner of the equestrian center said. “We just can’t catch her.”

There have been numerous sightings of the cow near Union Valley, Gould, and Echo Lake Roads with suggestions that the animal is gaining weight in its free and meandering walk in the woods. It also appears to be adopting nocturnal instincts. “She’s only coming out at night,” said Battipaglia, “Even though we’ve had many sightings of the cow, she is too deep into the forest for us to get to her.”

She is blackish-brown with a large number zero around her neck.

With no apparent wish to be reunited with its owner on the cow’s part, a team of riders and cattle dogs were called in on Tuesday. Jay Rubin, of the Monticello farm the cow formerly called home, organized the search party but so far they have been unable to pin her down.

A new approach might be in the works. “We might have to set up more of a capture plan,” said Battipaglia, “Maybe using containment rather than actually catching her.”

Further rescue attempts were planned for Thursday afternoon and Battipaglia said, “She is starting to appear closer to the equestrian center so that is a good sign.” Moosic to the ears of those pursuing her.

And, in yesterday’s paper the headline reads:

ELUSIVE COW EVADES CAPTURE: Hot on the Trail
Sightings of the elusive cow roaming around West Milford roll in like reports of Bigfoot, but so far she remains on the loose.

The black cow that escaped from a pen during a May 6 event at the West Milford Equestrian Center has drawn the attention of media outlets and county authorities.

The heifer, which the Equestrian Center rented from a New York livestock supplier, was to be used in an equestrian penning competition. Not wanting to be told where to go, she escaped into spring air and has been roaming free and feasting on greenery for over a month.

Mounted on horses, employees of Echo Lake Stables led by a mounted deputy from the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department led a search on the afternoon of Thursday, May 31, until daylight gave the cow ample cover and the search was called off. The cow was not spotted.

“Just after we loaded the last horse in, she popped out,” Echo Lake Stables co-owner Kathy Leaver said. “And we covered quite a bit of territory (on May 31).”

Stable employees and volunteers who board their horses at the facility have been joining in the search two or three times a week, Leaver said, whenever police alert John Macellaro, the mounted deputy and stable’s other owner, to a sighting.

The cow was seen on Friday morning, drawing workers at the Equestrian Center out on foot armed with a tranquilizer gun that would make her drowsy enough to get her tied up.

NBC’s New York affiliate Channel 4 was also interested and joined the searchers last week.

“She’s tough,” Frank Battipaglia, owner of the equestrian center said last week. “But we’re trying to catch her.” Battipaglia said the bovine was also spotted on Union Valley Road on Memorial Day and then the next day, but no one was able to get close enough to restrain it.

Despite rumors circulating around the township that the cow’s journey had come to a tragic ending, as of Monday, June 11, the cow was still alive and had not been caught, as far as police and staff at the equestrian center knew.

As a matter of fact, she might have made a friend, Ella Mae Battipaglia, owner, said. Police called the equestrian center on Friday, June 8 to let staffers know that there had been another spotting. When Frank Battipaglia, owner, saw the cow, he spotted it running with a bear, Ella Mae said, and neither was chasing the other. When the two were aware that they had been spotted, they diverted and disappeared, she said. “It’s weird.”

Anyone who spots the black cow is asked to contact the West Milford Equestrian Center.

—End of newspaper article.—

Oh dear. Can cows mate with bears? Bruno, you bad boy! Are you leading this poor cow astray??

I know, I don’t particularly like caterpillars either, but this brightly attired one was on the bird bath when I went to change the water out. The different colored spots, blue and red on its back and yellow on the side were fascinating to me. Is it going to be a butterfly or a moth? Will it have the same color of spots on its wings?

Yesterday after the rain stopped, I took a walk around my yard with the baby camera. You never know what you might find. Come; join me ....

At first I thought these might be fireflies, but my hopes were dashed when I discovered they were not. I love how their wings are so transparent and diaphanous that the color of the flower comes through them, infusing them with yellow.

The flowers that are now blooming in the perennial beds were more than grateful for the moisture. They seem to be drinking it in through their petals. It’s always a surprise to me to watch the different plants bloom since it’s only the second year I’ve seen their cycles. They never disappoint.

Other creatures were out as well, doing their garden clean-up jobs.

[I don’t care for caterpillars and wormy things any more than you do, fellow reader, but they demanded to be included.]

I love how colors become more saturated and drenched after a nice rain.

Hmm ... which way do you think is North by looking at this tree?

And that, fellow reader, concludes our little garden walk. See you next time!<

I love fireflies. They don’t exist in Colorado, nor do they exist past a line somewhere mid-Kansas. No one seems to know why. I love having them around. Last year the first firefly we sighted was mid-June. The night before last I was letting a dog out and I swore I saw a firefly. By the time I called Rick to come and see, it was gone. Hallucination? Last night I was determined to sit outside to see for myself. Turns out, I was right! Please help me document the first firefly sighting of the season. Let firefly season begin!

Okay, they’re hard to see once the photo gets sized for the web, but trust me; they are there!

Do you know how hard it is to track a firefly in the dark? Trust, me; it’s not easy as the following video will prove. Watch for the tiny flashing light. My camera continues to amaze me!