Susan and I babysat Alex and Carter while Scott and Cheryl went up to New Hampshire for a comic convention.  I took Alex to Ames Lowell State park for a hike on Friday, and then on Saturday we went for a ride on the commuter rail to Boston.  Talk about an excited kid!  We had lunch at South Station..  On Sunday, Louis Steward came for a visit. A few photos from the weekend.

Alex at Ames Lowell State Park

The BIIIIG Rock!
 

:It's coming! It's coming! (Pant, pant)

A kindly lady took our picture at South Station

One of Scott's creations, a poster for the convention.
Absolutley wonderful

Of course I had to throw a few birds in.  On Sunday, Louis Stewart came down
and spent Suuday afternoon.  We went to Duxbury Beach, then to Daniel Webster Farm.
This Phoebe was from the blind.

Daniel Webster's home, Marshfield

There is a term for this move in ballet (Jete, maybe?)
He must have watched " Black Swan"

Louis Stewart at Daniel Webster's grave, Marshfield
Louis and I go back 50 years, as roomates at New England Conservatory

He is composer, pianist,and full -time faculty member at Berklee College
We have done at least 8 recitals together and I premiered his Concerto for Piano and Winds
with the  Hingham High School Band
and his "Folk Music" for solo trumpet and winds, with
Richard Given and the Boston Federation of Musicians Virtuoso Band
He has just completed a CD of his own compositions, recording in Los Angeles
with some of the best studio musicians in the world



Some birding mornings simply don't pan out. and today was one of them.  I drove the length of Duxbury beach, with not much reward, and walked at Daniel Webster Farm.  but not much new. 
Here are the results.

Did you know their eyes were green?

I counted eight Great White in a flock together on Duxbury Beach

A young, and fearless, Mockingbird

This may be the same Horned Lark from last week!



David Ludlow of South Shore Audubon kindly identified this bird as a
Palm Warbler, (Western).  Thank you, David

I was about 6 feet away, he was perched on a fence post.

Pretty bedraggled Mourning Dove (Molting?)

Either a Pearl Crescent or a Northern Crescent

Phoebe

This Turkey Vulture came soaring into the fields at Daniel Webster Farm, and finally landed,
probably finding a meal

It is amazing how the light changes on the wings with different angled of flight.

Monday AM, Alex and Grandpa

Monday mornings, Susan and I take care of Alex and Carter, and I usually take Alex out to a playground, or in case or rain, like today, to a library that had a kids room (Abington today), and sometimes we go to the New England Wildlife Center, a rehab and vet clinic for injured wild animals.
Here is our morning.

At the New England Wildlife Center.  This is "Falco", a resident Red-tailed Hawk, unable to return to the wild. 
 

And here is the large turtle tank, always full of a wide variety of turtles, including a young snapper.

And, there are a couple of tarantulas!

this is a huge turtle (3 feet long) African Horned Turtle
Alex loves touching that shell!

Some construction going on, a huge auger

At the Abington Town Library, magnificent building

and making new friends (and learning to share)
Afterwords, we went to "99" and had lunch.
He is always the center of attention among the crowd.
His lunch was free since the Red Sox swept the Yankees.

September 12 saw the 7th annual Oak Point Charity Golf Tournement, and because of my hip "revision" I had withdrawn, not knowing what shape I would be in, so the tournement asked me to do photography for the day. Here are a small percentage of photos taken.