Her Majesty The Monarch or The Viceroy?

My right eye was twitching, and so it was definitely going to be my lucky day...okay, I tend not to believe in such superstitions but I was indeed lucky to behold the sight of such visitors in my garden.

The following pictures were taken through a window. Thus, please pardon all the blurriness. I didn't dare open the window in case it flies away. This is a praying mantis on my garden shade. Did you know that the green praying mantis that is so prevalent all across the USA is not a native insect. It was introduced to the USA in the late nineteenth century, and apparently was quite devastating for the native insect population. Though praying mantis is considered a beneficial insect in the garden but it can be also not quite that beneficial as it eats not only the bad insects but also the good ones.

While observing the mantis, I saw some red fluttering through the corner of my eyes. Is it a cardinal? No, it cannot be as it was a much graceful flight. As I rushed outside, I behold the sight.

Now, is it a Monarch or a Viceroy? Monarch and Viceroy looks exactly same to untrained eyes. I fervently hoped that it was a Monarch as I have so many milkweed in both my front and back yards, and started searching for an answer online. And my searches told that mine was a MONARCH (only if you could see me jumping up and down with joy with a big grin on my face). Apparently, Viceroy has a black horizontal line across its wings as shown in the pictures here and here.

YAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...after a much long wait, I finally see a Monarch in my garden :-D:-D:-D...this is indeed a very joyous day for me. Where did it come from? How did it find my garden? I live in a densely populated northern NJ, close to such metropolitan areas as Manhattan, Newark, Elizabeth, Jersey City, Hoboken, Bronx, Brooklyn. Yes, there are lots and lots of greeneries everywhere along with woods and forests but there are no milkweeds or butterfly-weeds anywhere as I visit all these places all the time. Garden centers, home-depot, lowes, walmarts -- no one even sells this plant as it is considered an obnoxious weed here. But, still this butterfly found my garden, and was fluttering from one flower to another, and drinking nectar. I hope it was able to nourish its body in its migration from north to south (it must be on its way to Mexico now?). So, I am on top of the moon now.

I am joing the Nature Note's Meme for Monday, October 5, 2015 with Rambling Woods

Who Is This?

Anybody has any idea? I know it is a woodpecker because it is trying to make holes in the tree in our backyard. It does not look like the red-bellied woodpecker as it has a black back; red-bellied's back is like black and white stripes. It also does not have any red belly. I have contacted the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I know woodpeckers are bad for trees but I simply don't have the heart to chase it away.

I also took a video but will post the link later on. It is a HD video and blogger is refusing to upload it..grrrr.....I think I have to compress it.

Okay, while I was writing this up, Cornell told me that it is a Pileated woodpecker. Here is more information about them (click on them or this link: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/pileated-woodpecker/).  It is also the largest woodpecker in the United States, except the possibly extinct Ivory-billed Woodpecker :-).

Boonton Tanks

I guess these are the water tanks of Boonton, not sure though what they are. This is one of the bigger shopping plaza in Boonton. The superstore Walmart, delicious IHOP, Quiznos Subs, Subway, a Pizza Kithchen and other smaller restaurants are located here along with Wine Store, Payless, Salon, etc, etc. The plaza is located on Wooton Street, a busy street in Boonton. Get out of the plaza, turn right, go down and Wooton Stret intersects the Myrtle Avenue, another busy road here. Turn right on Myrtle to go easily to either I-287 or Route 202, all extremely important thoroughfares of New Jersey.

For the Future Generations

She was waiting for us; or perhaps, we were waiting for her - the old colonial house of 1910 in Boonton, New Jersey?

We were looking into buying our first house in the late spring/early summer of 2009, and had been concentrating on areas that we knew or heard about - Morristown, Dover, Parsippany, Chatham, Madison and Denville. We were not even aware of a town named Boonton in New Jersey. We were almost on the verge of buying a house in Parsippany before it slipped through our fingers. Like the way a bridegroom is being taken, in older conservative cultures, from one house to the other to see, weigh in, admire or reject brides, our realtor was taking us from one house to another, some small, some too big, some with a swimming pool or very little land, and nothing was appealing to us.

Then, we came to see her and behold, it was love in first sight - the charming cosy house, neither too little nor too big with a big lawn at the back, a long driveway and a charming garden and lawn at the front.

Now, we are not only in love with our house, but also with this old and historical town Boonton. So, I am starting this blog with the hope of recording and documenting the present Boonton for future generations to come and learn about us.