Bridging Phillipsburg ...

“Praise the bridge that carried you over.”

         ~ George Colman

          ~ English dramatist

            ~ 1762 ~ 1836

The historic town of Phillipsburg, New Jersey can be seen behind the historic Northampton Street Bridge, commonly called the Free Bridge, which spans the Delaware River as sunset looms on a beautiful mid-May evening.

I presented the image in sepia to enhance the nostalgic effect.

The Free Bridge that spans the two states was completed in 1896 and survived massive flooding from Hurricane Diane in 1955. It underwent a thorough restoration in 1990 and is one of my very favorite places to photograph.

Phillipsburg, a Delaware River Town, was established March 8, 1861 and named for William Phillips, an early settler of the area.

The Free Bridge can also be seen from across the river at Delaware Canal State Park, Easton, Pennsylvania near the Forks of the Delaware Trailhead of the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail).

 Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.

 

The Sandpiper ...

“The fleeing sandpipers turn about suddenly and chase back the sea!”

   ~ J.W. Hackett

   ~ 1929 ~ 2015

 ~ James William Hackett was an American poet who is most notable for his work with haiku in English.

I spotted this Solitary Sandpiper, the first I’ve ever seen in Pennsylvania, peering into the Jordan Creek on a mid-May afternoon at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville in this sepia image. 

The Solitary Sandpiper is a shorebird with a prominent eye ring. Small white spots mark the back of this breeding adult.

The Solitary Sandpiper, a wading bird, foliages along the edges of shallow wetlands, muddy fields and small ponds.

  

It is solitary not just because the sandpiper is alone, but because it’s part of its name. The solitary sandpiper (Tringa solitaria) is a small shorebird. The genus name Tringa is the New Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek trungas, a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific solitaria is Latin for “solitary” from solus, “alone.”

 

Solitary Sandpiper has two subspecies, solitaria, which breeds and migrates east of the Rocky Mountains, and cinnamomea, which breeds and migrates west of the Rockies. The two subspecies winter in different parts of Central and South America.

 

The Sandpiper is also the name of the 1965 American drama film starring the wonderful Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor and directed by Vincente Minnelli.