Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in June 2017 – Birds

The dominate bird sighting on our visit to Kenilworth Gardens last week were Canadian geese. They were hard to ignore because of their size and the aggressiveness of the adults in protecting their goslings. They hiss if you are too close – and attack if you continue closer….so we gave them wide birth. We re-routed to other paths through the gardens several times!

When I saw a group on one of the ponds I thought I could get closer and they would just mill around in the water…but then I noticed that another pair with goslings were nearby. I used the zoom on my camera again.

I was disappointed that we didn’t see any herons on this visit. Previously I had photographed both Green and Great Blue Herons in the gardens. I did see a red wings black bird. It was so far away that I only was able to identify it via the zoom on my camera.

And there were cardinals that flitted about in the trees along the boardwalk toward the Anacostia River.

Previous posts about this visit: insects, water lilies.

Zooming – April 2017

What a difference between March and April! The collection of zoomed images this month is dominated by flowers: Tulips with sunshine through their petals and patterned centers,

Wild flowers on the forest floor,

And trees with flowers like Dogwoods,

Tulip poplars, and

Carnation tree (a type of cherry) petals carpeting the sidewalk after a rain (when it dried out, a little boy on a walk with his mom had great fun scooping up the petals and throwing them in the air like confetti!).

Of course, there were a few other scenes where the zoom on my camera was appreciated: Canadian geese on an island in Centennial Lake (Do you see the one asleep on the nest keeping the eggs warm?),

The occasional early insect,

And the quivering of the water in the overflowing bird bath during a light rain (taken from my open front door so that I wasn’t out in the rain).

Brookside Gardens Landscapes

Bursting buds on the ginkgo and bright colors of tulip bed are not the only things to notice at Brookside Gardens this time of year. There are many different areas…and landscapes to enjoy in the large. I like the view of the Japanese Tea House from across the lawn. The varied foliage of evergreens, new spring leaves, and Japanese maples are always beautiful. The plantings have gotten big enough to almost hide the Tea House from this vantage point.

The area a little further along – back toward the conservatories – was renovated in the past few years so some of the plantings are smaller --- but there is always the back drop of the large trees of the Brookside Nature Center (on the other side of the fence) as a backdrop. Do you see the two Canandian Geese in the water?

There are little landscapes too. I liked the different sized and kinds of rocks with the yellow green coming up to fill in the spaces between. This is an area that is constantly changed for displays so the small pants and rocks may be the only constants!

Centennial Park on a Cold March Day

The day looked warm enough to take a walk at Centennial Park but the sunshine was not very warming. I opted to cut the walk short after I got a few pictures. I always like the rock jetty near the boat ramp

And the red bridge at the other end of the lake. Those landmark pictures were the beginning and end of my short walk.

I noticed a glove that someone had lost on the path

And the geese feeding on the shore (there were none on the lake itself).

I attempted to get pictures of the Buffleheads feeding on the lake – but they must have been finding a lot to eat…so my first attempts resulted in ripples after they dove under water. Once I managed to anticipate where they would surface, I got some pictures…but they are almost at the limit of my zoom.

My favorite pictures of the short walk were of a wasp nest high in a maple tree that has been battered all winter so that the interior structure was exposed.

With the wasp nest images captured - I decided to make a hasty retreat to the warmth of my car...and then home.

Disappointment at Conowingo

The weather was a little warmer than usual when we made our trek to Conowingo last week. The weather turned out to be the best part. The eagles must have finished their breakfast by the time we got there and were not very active; this was the best picture I got – from all the way across the river. You can tell that those rocks are favorite perches (all the ‘white’).

The black vultures were not very photogenic either. The big grouping that usually eyeballs cars going over the dam from a fence only numbered three birds. The others must have been out and about – maybe at some substantial carrion site.

At first I thought the cormorants would redeem the trip. There were at least two of them and they were within photographic range. But then I realized that the reason they were staying in one location was a tangled (and trashed) fishing lure rather than a fish (you can see it (light green) and the line that evidently snagged it to the rocky bottom in the middle picture below).

There were a few gulls about. I tried taking pictures of them as they landed or flew up from the water. The one with the orange spot on the bill is a Herring Gull. The other one could be a Ring-billed Gull since the beak looks like it has black instead of orange toward the end.

There were two Canadian Geese in the shallows on the other side of the dam abutment – almost out of camera range.

The same was true for a flock of pigeons. They usual are on the dam structure but they must have been startled by something because a large number left the dam at the same time and moved to the rocks.

On a botanical note – the Princess tree buds still look the same as they did last time we were at Conowingo. The buds on the tulip poplars (at the end of the twigs) seem to be getting larger.

On the way home, I took a picture of the mounds of salt along I-95 near the tunnel (through a dirty window). Generally the salt piles are significantly reduced by this time of year….but not this season. I wonder what will happen to it since the salt storage buildings are probably already full.

Centennial Park – January 2017

Late last week there was a sunny day…and I accompanied my husband to Centennial Park. He walked all the way around…I was busy taking pictures! The first subject was a red tailed hawk high in a tulip poplar tree. The angle wasn’t great – but the reddish tail feathers were a little visible in one of the pictures and the fluffing of the breast feathers was a good clue to how cold the day was.

There were Canadian Geese of course. They are always at Centennial. I experimented with different angles…reflections, near silhouettes, the awkwardness of the bird on land.

There were two types of diving ducks. Both are winter birds in Maryland. They are a challenge to photograph because the go completely under the water then pop back to the top for few seconds. The Buffleheads were on the other side of the lake from where I was…but the white on their heads make them easy to identify even in a blurred picture. The one on the left is a male; the right is a female….not enough of a side view to tell the one in the middle.

The other diving ducks on the lake were female ruddy ducks. Their tails are a stiff fan. I didn’t see any flipped upward but these ducks were actively feeding…only staying on top of the water for short periods of time.

I decided it was a little chilly to stay out longer so headed back to the car. Along the way, I tried a ‘looking up’ shot of small cones. I like the sharpness of the lines within the cones – light and shadow.

There is always something to photograph at Centennial Park!