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November 2021

The Wild Turduckens of High Mountain

Turducken
Just in time for Thanksgiving,  a story By Jim Wright, complete with recipe (illustration by Miwa Couweleers) .

This story originally appeared in Autumn Years magazine.

The Wild Turduckens of High Mountain, New Jersey

     Forget the Jersey Devil. Ignore the Phantoms of the Ramapos. Pay no never mind to the mythic sea serpent of Lake Hopatcong.

   I’m here to tell you about the cleverest creatures ever to roam the Garden State: the legendary Wild Turduckens of High Mountain.

    Sure, you may have heard of the traditional Thanksgiving Turducken, a culinary concoction consisting of a deboned chicken stuffed inside a deboned duck, which is stuffed inside a deboned turkey, all of which is stuffed with stuffing. Think of edible Russian nesting dolls covered in gravy. 

   The Wild Turducken is a bird of a far different feather, originating many years ago in Passaic County.  One night at dusk during the Great Depression, on High Mountain’s summit, game wardens got a fleeting glimpse of these large game birds for the very first time.

  Until this discovery, the top of the 885-foot-tall High Mountain was famous mostly for its hiking trails as well as its breath-taking views of the nearby landscape and -- in the distance --  Manhattan, New York Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean beyond.

Continue reading "The Wild Turduckens of High Mountain" »


A Great Hike to the Clove & Beyond

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Took a walk to the Clove yesterday afternoon -- a perfect day for a trek in High Mountain Park Preserve.

The Clove was as awesome as ever.

Came upon an old abandoned car, part of a deer skull, and jackass tracks, amongst other sights. 

The preserve is owned by The Nature Conservancy in New Jersey, Wayne Township and the state of New Jersey.

 

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On Monday I wrote:

I bet you can't identify these three birds I photographed in Reykjavik last week.

I guess I bet wring. Diane Louie answered correctly:

Whooper Swan, Greylag Goose, and Redwing.  (There was no trick!)

As we all know, the Whooper Swan is the national bird of Finland and is featured on that nation's 1 Euro coin.

 

 


Last Night's Moonscape: 4:30 a.m.

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Not exactly the best photo, but I tried. This, according to Newsweek, is "a partial lunar eclipse, with November's Beaver full moon taking on a reddish hue."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this could only be seen by the Celery Farm in  Allendale.

Well, okay, maybe other places as well.

Would be happy to post a better pic.