What people don't know about NJ is that it is one of the most beautiful states in the country. A short 30-minute drive from Manhatten and you are in the rolling hills of bucolic farmsteads, country meadows and ancient wetlands that house the headwaters of mighty rivers. It is truly a place of beauty if you take the time to turn off a main thoroughfare and explore.

I happened to be at Hackelbarney state park the past couple of days, seeking some especially rare spring migrants. Spring is a special time for birders in this state. As the world flowers and grows around us, migrant birds make their way north from their winters respites in South America. This is a time when, adorned in their finest coats, they suit a mate and settle into raising their young. Never are birds more colorful than in the spring, and never are birders more rabid to search the woods and field to see them.

On the way out I passed this farm and was taken by the lines made by the horse enclosures. Green fields trapped in white cages, dotted by yellow flowers made an especially beautiful scene. So I stopped and captured it that I might enjoy the view again on some dreary winter day.

I hope you enjoy it as well.