Herons at the Neighborhood Pond

Our neighborhood pond is still an eyesore – cleaned out with a bulldozer in late spring, most of the vegetation gone, and covered with algae. But it is full of frogs which can sometimes be spotted if you hear plops as they move through the shallows. It’s made the pond a good place for a green heron which I have seen so frequently that it must be a near permanent resident. I always enjoy photographing green herons because they have so many ‘looks.’ Sometimes they look chunky and not much like a heron. Other times the feathers on top of their head stand almost straight up…a bird with a mohawk! Other times their neck elongates but looks very thick and strange for a heron. But sometimes they hold themselves in a pose that looks like most of the other herons (the very last image in the slide show below.

I spotted a Great Blue Heron in the pond last week. It doesn’t have adult plumage and the bill is two-toned so it probably is one that hatched this spring. It has a white spot under its eye which I noticed in several images; maybe that makes it unique. It found a meal near the pond drain but swallowed it before I could see what it was – maybe a frog…or a small fish.

Even though the pond has no visual appeal on its own, I like the birds that are there!

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 1, 2017

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Carbon in Atmosphere is Rising, Even as Emissions Stabilize – Are the carbon sinks less able to function as CO2 levels have risen? Still TBD. There is still a lot to understand about our planet and the impact of higher and higher greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Cats Domesticated Themselves, Ancient DNA Shows – Cat came into settlements on their own…enjoying the bounty of rodents human settlements contained. They didn’t give up their wild natures to the extent that dogs and other domesticated animals did. There is genetic evidence that they’ve remained largely unchanged for 1000s of years.

Not so pearly whites – Evidence of a filled dental cavity in a 13,000 year old hunter-gather tooth!

43 Incredible Photos of US UNESCO Sites: Present and Proposed – I was surprised that I had visited so many of these places (the ones in the continental US).

Plastic Pollutants Pervade Water and Land  and Microplastics sloughed from synthetic fabrics in the washing machine - Plastics are everywhere in our environment and their  negative impact is probably greater than we realize…but it is surprising how much we don’t know.

In the AI Age, being ‘Smart’ Will Mean Something Completely Different – The author proposes that the new definition of ‘smart’ will be about the quality of thinking, listening, relating, collaboration, and learning…not about the quantity of factoids we remember. It won’t be easy to be the new kind of smart and I often wonder if the way we use current technology has moved us in the opposite direction.

American Icon in the Alaskan Horizon – Birds at the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve in Alaska…in snow and ice.

11 Very Different Types of Photography that Each Illuminate Our World – A little eye candy for the week…and a survey of types of photography.

Mars rover Opportunity on walkabout near rim – One of my daughter’s first jobs as an undergraduate student was calibrating images coming from Opportunity…so I always take note when articles come out of it.

Mapping the potential climate effects of climate change – I look at these types of articles and try to understand the assumptions that are being made. It always seems that there are still a lot of unknowns….and it could be different and worse than they projections. Basically north and west seem to fare better than the south where it is already hot and often dry.

Zooming – June 2017

I use the zoom on my camera for multiple reasons and I was thinking about that when I selected the pictures from this month’s accumulation. I use the zoom to photography birds and animals that would fly or run away if I got closer. Squirrels fit into that category. This one was exploring the area under the pines in our back yard; I was in my office on the second floor of the house.

The optical zoom on my camera has improved with each new camera over the past few years until now I notice things in the images that are too small to notice with my eyes. Note the hole in the beak of the catbird. It’s a nare (nostril) which leads to nasal cavities in the birds skull.

I also see the changes as birds react to their environment. Take a look at two ‘looks’ of the green heron that is frequenting the pond in our neighborhood.

Sometimes I use the camera almost like binoculars. These structures were in the distance from where I was hiking.

Other times I use the optical zoom to achieve macro-like images….and avoid creating a shadow on my subject (by getting close to it). This day lily petal is a good example.

Other times I can’t get close because the subject is too high or there is a physical barrier. This maple is surrounded by a flower and ground cover bed….and I didn’t want to step on any carefully maintained vegetation.

I tend to use the zoom (both optical than continuing into the digital) frequently and its one of the reasons I use my camera rather than cell phone when I want better images.

Ten Little Celebrations – June 2017

As I look back over the month, I realize that there was a lot to celebrate.

Home. At the beginning of the month I had just returned home from helping my daughter move from Arizona to Pennsylvania. As usual – returning home was celebrated. I like to travel but coming home again always feels wonderful.

3 box turtles. I didn’t do a lot of hiking in June but was thrilled that it seemed like there were a lot of box turtles around…and I celebrated seeing so many. There were two along the path between Mt. Pleasant and the Patapsco River and the third was in the cemetery at Belmont.

Receiving the Carol Filipczak Award from Howard County Conservancy. Celebrating recognition for volunteering that is love.

Daughter on the east coast. Having my daughter living in the same time zone (rather than in Arizona) is something I am celebrating this month.

Kenilworth Gardens. Lotus, waterlilies, dragonflies, turtles, birds, magnolias…so much to celebrate.

Milkweed flowers. I had so many milkweeds come up in my front flowerbed that I had to cut some of them down….but I cut the globes of flowers first and enjoyed them in a stir fry (after boiling them twice to remove the toxins). Celebrating the taste of wild food!

Peach preserves. Not sure why – but I couldn’t resist it in the grocery store and I am celebrating the decision. I’ve spread it on toast and whisked it into a homemade salad dressing. Yum!

Volunteering at Wings of Fancy. Having butterflies flying around while I’m volunteering at Brookside Gardens…a constant celebration. So beautiful.

CSA. I’m celebrating the fresh veggies from the Gorman Farm Community Supported Agriculture. It’s easy to eat enough veggies when they taste so good!

Photography with summer campers. I am already celebrating the photography with summer campers that I’m doing for the 3^rd time this summer. I’m in the prep stages but am anticipating the flurry of having 15 or so campers (at one time…a total of 5 groups eventually) all enthusiastic about photographing the natural world around them is going to be one of the highlights of the summer.

Birding through a window – June 2017

My favorite birding-through-a-window episode was a gray catbird at the bird bath just outside our front door. It happened in mid-afternoon on the first of the month. At first, I thought the bird had come for a drink…but it jumped in a used the bath! It seems like I am seeing catbirds more frequently this year – or maybe I am just more aware of their sounds and am looking for them when I hear them.

There are the usual birds around our house as well: the grackle,

The robin,

The dove (precariously perched on our anemometer),

Finches (gold finches and house finches both),

And blue jays.

Volunteering at Wings of Fancy at Brookside Gardens II-IV

I now have a total of 4 shifts volunteering at Brookside Gardens’ Wings of Fancy. I allow about 30 minutes before my 4 hour shift begins to walk around the gardens using my phone to take pictures. (I’m too busy during the shift itself to take any pictures at all.) I’ve never visited Brookside as frequently….and there is still something new to notice each time I am there. Before my second shift, I photographed the conservatory (note the door for staff and volunteers in front of the red car…almost surrounded by foliage),

A view through the tall deer fence into the Brookside Nature Center area,

A cat bird that was close enough to photograph with the phone, and

A cluster for flowers (yellow and pink surrounded by green).

The highpoints of the day included a group of 66 pre-schoolers at the butterfly exhibit. I was at the caterpillar station (which is before the entrance to the conservatory where the butterflies are flying about) when they came through with their chaperones (2 children per chaperone). I showed them the cecropia moth caterpillars (very large), told them to look at the butterflies with their eyes – not to touch, and sent them on to see the butterflies inside the conservatory. Later when I was at the exit station, a very confused butterfly was laying eggs on one of the metal stanchions that designates where to line up for the exit; there were quite a few elementary aged children (and some grandparents) that were there to see the drama too.

Before my third sift, it was sprinkling, but I walked a short distance out the pedestrian gate to take a picture of the plantings and sign at the gate of the gardens.

Then I walked down the gravel path of the anniversary grove (just inside the gate) and found some odd white blobs on a bald cypress. When I got home I did some research and discovered they are made by the Cypress Twig Gall Midge. It will kill the twig but the tree survives.

The highpoints of the day included: a wandering cecropia moth that was determined to leave the branch of black cherry leaves to make a cocoon (the caterpillar was put into a case with a branch where it made its cocoon) and seeing some tiny parasitoid wasps that had emerged from a chrysalis (rather than a butterfly). The containment precautions that are taken with the exhibit are not just for butterflies! Exotic parasitoids could be bad for our local environment too.

Before my fourth shift, I found some developing cones on a bald cypress (to compare with the Cypress Twig Gall that I saw the previous shift (and decided to check the galls each time I go to Brookside…see how they develop), and

Took several zoomed pictures of flowers that look ‘painterly.’

The highlights of the day included a group of Garden Bloggers and a fellow volunteer with Howard Country Conservancy visiting the exhibit with her family.

I’ve grouped the best of the rest of my pictures into themes: benches (aligned with a hedge, covered with lichen and crowded by flowers, and a butterfly bench in the shade.

Of course, there were flowers (and the seed pod of the Jack-in-the-Pulpit hiding under its leaves).

Insects (a bee in a hollyhock, a tiger swallowtail on a cone flower, a dragon fly on a bench, and a gold striped dragonfly…I wished from my better camera for that last one).

Pathways (to the azaleas, new boards in the walk between the Conservatory and the Nature Center, and gravel to the anniversary grove).

On the rainy morning, I got a picture of the metal butterflies without the blinding glare of the sun and savored the water collecting on leaves.

Previous post about Wing of Fancy Volunteering is here.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in June 2017 – Magnolias

My last blog post about our visit to Kenilworth Gardens last week is about magnolia flowers – specifically flowers from the Southern Magnolia growing near the path back to the parking lot from the demonstration gardens. I enjoy photographing this tree because it has so many flowers that are easily viewed from ground level. I like to photograph flowers in various stages of development.

Sometimes even when the flower is brown – the curves are dramatic. This one is almost symmetrical and is probably my favorite of this grouping.

 Sometimes the center is just peeking through the white petals. Sometimes the spent parts of the flower accumulate in the curved petals. It’s surprising how read the base of ovary looks in the flowers.

The seed pod that is forming can do the same thing although the petals are mostly gone (the hood is a petal) and the leaves are the veil for the pod.

Previous posts about this visit: insects, water lilies, birds, lotus and turtles.

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 24, 2017

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #92  and #93 – These come out every week! I can never resist looking through the photographs and picking a favorite. #92 includes a lot of birds I’ve enjoyed photographing myself…but my favorite is a close-up of a flamingo. In the second one – my favorite is Forster Tern mates.

Frank Lloyd Wright Exhibition at MoMA Celebrates the Architect’s 150^th Birthday – A little bit of architectural history

Architecture 101: 10 Architectural Styles that Define Western Society – More architectural history…a broader view. Be sure to look at all 5 pages (at the bottom there is a bar that links to the next page).

A Vessel of Life in the Philippine Seas  and Under the Mangrove Sea – Two 1Fram4Nature pieces…great images and some ideas on what you can do.

Why it’s time to stop punishing our soils with fertilizers – The more we learn about soils, the more it is obvious that applying more and more chemicals (pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, fertilizers) is killing the soil…and making it very difficult to keep it productive over the long term.

Op-Ed – Is it time for a radio astronomy national historic park? – A suggestion for a historic park similar in concept to the Manhattan Project National Historic Park where several sites across the country are part of the park. For radio astronomy, the sites might include Arecibo (Puerto Rico), Green Bank (West Virginia), and The Very Large Area (New Mexico).

2017 Kids Count Data Book – A recently released study of state trends in child well-being. The statistic that surprised me the most was that as of 2015, 65% of 4^th graders in the US were not proficient in reading. That is a lot higher than anyone would want it to be.

Infographic: Plastic Pollution – It’s not just bottles and packaging…it’s also synthetic fibers that are shed when we launder our clothes.

Father’s Day Photo Gallery – A week late…but this was a great photographic series from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology

MAVEN’s top 10 discoveries at Mars – We went to the launch back in November 2013 (my blog post here) so I notice articles like this…nice that is has been successful.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in June 2017 – Turtles

We saw two turtles on our visit to Kenilworth Gardens last week. They were sunning themselves on the same log sticking up from the muck of one of the water lily ponds. At first, I thought they were the same kind of turtle.

But then I took a closer look by increasing the zoom of my camera. The markings on their heads were not the same.

The larger one had a lot of red along the side but the shell was covered with gunk from the water. It probably was a Northern Red-bellied cooter.

The smaller turtle had a dark shell – even on the sides. There was a little red on the neck. Not sure what kind of turtle it was....maybe a juvenile so didn't have all the adult markings yet.

They both seemed to be enjoying the sunshine and I was far enough away to not startle them…no plops back into the water while we photographed them.

Previous posts about this visit: insects, water lilies, birds, lotus.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in June 2017 – Lotus

Our visit to Kenilworth Gardens last week was a little early for lotus flowers – which are the big summer show at Kenilworth. There were lots of big leaves and buds…a few more weeks and the flowers will be numerous.

I was surprised that there were quite a few seed ponds from last season visible in the ponds.

I took a series of bud pictures – surprised that none of the dragonflies were using them as perches as we’ve observed in previous visits (usually in July).

The leaves unfurl like a scroll rather than from the center like some water lily pads. They stand well above the water level as well.

Behind the visitor center and plant houses there was a demonstration pond that was full of blooms. Maybe they were started inside or the demonstration pond is somehow different than the main ponds. Enjoy the slide show from that small pond that is a few weeks ahead of the main ponds.

Previous posts about this visit: insects, water lilies, birds.

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.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in June 2017 – Water Lilies

The waterlilies at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens were the best I’ve ever seen them when we visited the gardens last week. Usually we go for the lotus flowers; the water lilies are already declining their peak blooming by that time. I didn’t take any landscape shots (I realized when I reviewed my ‘take’ when I got home)…focusing instead on the veins in lily pads and the flowers.

The lily pads have a lot of red in them on the underside as they are unfurling. The jumble of plants in the pond often lifts them out of the water at least temporarily. The pads are rarely pristine. I’m not sure what nibbles on them but it is obvious that they are food plants for some (insects, turtles, geese?).

The flowers are always spectacular. I took several images zoomed past the optical range (i.e. into the realm of digital zoom) and that makes them look painterly.

Belmont – June 2017

I was asked to lead a hike yesterday at Belmont Manor and History Park – part of the ‘third Saturday’ program for June. There was a component for pre-schoolers that was done in the Nature Center. The day before the event, I decided to take the trail I’d planned for the hike (make sure things were as I expected). Unfortunately – a path that is usually mowed through one of the fields was not so I had to change my plans for hiking to the stand of Bigleaf Magnolias. I took a close-up picture of a mullein in bloom before walking back to the Carriage House to decide on a new plan.

I walked down the path and into the woods like we do for pre-schoolers. There were some interesting insects

But most of the plants along the way are invasives: multi-flora rose (below), autumn olive, and wine berries.

I decided to play it by ear and let the group that showed up to hike make some choices about what they wanted to do. The staff filled the bird feeders near the nature center so there were plenty of house finches around to observe…and mockingbirds and starlings and red winged blackbirds.

It turned out the group on Saturday included younger children and a couple were wearing flip flops. We decided on an easy hike down to the pond and saw bluebirds and trees swallows on the nest boxes. The bluebird babies were visible through the opening in the box! We also saw dragonflies and red winged blackbirds. The children found several black and white feathers during our hike as well. The younger children and parents went back to the nature center after the hike to the pond and the hike continued up to the Belmont Cemetery. We walked around talking about the research that has been done and spotted a box turtle! It was probably the high point of the hike (other than the birds).

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in June 2017 – Insects

We made our first visit of the year to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens yesterday. There are so many things I noticed in the gardens that I am doing multiple posts: insects, birds, waterlilies, magnolias, lotus, and turtles. There are three types of insects I’ll highlight: bees, butterflies, and dragonflies. The bumblebee I photographed was on a buttonbush. Most of the plants are not in bloom yet so the few lowers were very popular. I noticed that there was only one bee per flower! The pickerel weeds were in full bloom and they were attracting bees as well.

I photographed a tiger swallowtail on the pickerel weed. There were not very many butterflies around the garden yet. Perhaps there will be more as the summer progresses.

The main insect my husband and it try to photograph at the gardens is dragonflies. They seemed to be a lot of them flying around but not as many were sitting long enough to photography. I managed to get at 6 different kinds: greenish area around wing attachment with brownish ‘dash’ near tip of otherwise clear wings,

Could be a different perspective on the same kind…or not (the wing attachment area does not look green and the clear part of the wings has an amber tinge),

Brownish red coloring and smaller than the previous dragonflies,

Fuzzy at wing attachment and black markings across the wings (clear tips of wing) – maybe Common Whitetail male,

Brown body and black markings across the wings (dark tips of wings) – maybe a Common Whitetail female, and

Clear wings outlined in black around the tip.

I’m sure we’ll go to the gardens again this summer. I wonder if I’ll see the same or different dragonflies.

Volunteering at Wings of Fancy at Brookside Gardens I

My first experience volunteering at Brookside Gardens’ Wings of Fancy was earlier this week. It was a ‘trial by heat’ since it was a shift on a hot afternoon for 3+ hours. Before I left home, I collected things to take that would help be stay cool in the conservatory: water bottles with ice in the bottom, a mister, a hat, and a handkerchief. I took some peanuts for a snack. Everything went in a small bag with a penguin (a little psychology…thinking cool).

When I got there, I found a shady place to park (although it would not be shady there by the end of the shift) and took a short walk through the formal gardens. It was noticeably cooler in the shade…very hot in the sun and I was glad I had put sunscreen on before I left the car. I took some pictures quickly as I walked: a magnolia flower,

A pattern made of detritus on a pool of water,

The purple poppies past blooming,

An onion tangle,

A bit of blue in lots of green (and a shady place to stand),

And climbing roses.

Then the water came on. It brightened the colors of the rocks

And the plants in the rain garden area near the conservatory.

The butterfly sculptures marked the entrance to the exhibit.

I went in the staff/volunteer door, got my purple apron and other gear, and put my stuff in a locker. The shift started with a walk through of the stations and unique aspects of the day: slow because of the heat, a group had been due earlier but not arrived, etc. I started at the exit station and migrated to the discovery and caterpillar station (cecropia moth and Julia longwing). It was a slow afternoon with only about 15 people coming through the exhibit over 3 hours. There were times that there were no people at all in the exhibit….those times I wished we didn’t have a rule again cell phones and cameras while volunteering!

It was a good first experience although the next shifts I’ve signed up for are all in the morning. I now know that the two bottles with water frozen in the bottom (and can handlers to help them stay cool) which I fill at the water fountain just before going into the exhibit, will provide cool water for the entire shift and that the mister helps me handle the heat (misting around my neck and arms helps a lot). I also wet the handkerchief to cool ‘hot spots’ that I didn’t want to spray (like my face).

Prep for New Volunteer Gig – Wings of Fancy at Brookside Gardens

I’ve been preparing for a new volunteering experience for the past few weeks – to be a flight attendant or ticket taker for the Wings of Fancy (Butterfly exhibit) at Brookside Gardens. I’d noticed the call for volunteers as the first item on the Brookside web page back in May when I signed up for a photographers session in the exhibit; I talked to one of the volunteers during the session and decided that I would enjoy doing it too.

The process was not hard but more involved that I initially anticipated. The first part was online: signing up for training in the exhibit, filling out information to allow a background check (done now for volunteer jobs that interact with the public), and several e-learning modules about Brookside Gardens in general and then about the butterflies specifically. Last Thursday, I went to the training from 6:30-8:30 PM. It was an unusual time for me to be in the gardens and I got their early enough to take some pictures of the area near the conservatory (hence the pictures for this post). I'll probably take a few pictures before or after each shift - so will see a lot more of Brookside Gardens this summer.Horsetails

The two hours of onsite training were informative. Afterwards I felt like I do after most trainings before volunteering: knowing enough to be dangerous but not nearly as much as I will after I do it a few times. The gardens request 10 shifts (of 4 hours each) over the course of the season and told us that it may take as many as 8 shifts before volunteers truly feel ‘experienced’ in the role.

Stay tuned as I begin my journey as a Wings of Fancy Flight Attendant!

Hike from Mt. Pleasant to the Patapsco River – Part 2

Continuing from yesterday’s post….into the forest we go! The first stretch was down a tree covered slope with lots of leaf litter to a paved road that had a few houses at its end. We were just crossing the road. I paused long enough to take an upward picture of the canopy. We continued downhill to join a trail in Patapsco Valley State Park.

We saw two box turtles along the hike. The first one was in better shape than the second (note the elongated holes in the top of it). The growth rings on the scutes provide an estimate of the age of turtle; the first one is probably younger than the second one.

There were a lot of invasives carpeting the floor of the forest: wavy leaf basket grass with its crimped leaves and Japanese stiltgrass being the most numerous.

I celebrated when I saw native plants like jack-in-the-pulpits, mayapples or skunk cabbage…but there weren’t many of them. They are easily crowded out by the invasives.

We followed a stream down to the culvert under the railroad tracks that brings it to the Patapsco River.

Inside a small hollow log, a fishing spider waited patiently for its lunch.

There are many large sycamores. I took pictures of a leaf newly fallen into the stream and a new leaf on a low branch near the river. The trees are too large to try to photograph in their entirety!

We clamored up the railroad embankment and stood on two tracks to see the river below. There were horsetails (vascular plants that reproduce by spores) growing on the bank by the river.

We didn’t stay long at the river; the bank was too steep to climb down and no one wanted to stand on the active rail road track for long. We headed back uphill to Mt. Pleasant. The line of 30 people elongated as we all set our own pace – going silent in the steeper sections. The day had warmed. By the time I got up the hills, I’d finished the water I carried and headed into the nature center to get more!

Hiking from Mt. Pleasant to the Patapsco River – Part 1

Last weekend – before the higher temperatures came to our area – I joined a hike from Howard County Conservancy’s Mt. Pleasant Farm to the Patapsco River. I arrived early enough to take some pictures with my new camera…make sure the connection between the camera and phone was adding geotags. It worked! After the hike, I used Photoshop Elements to display my pictures on a map and thus the path of our hike (click on picture for larger image).

I took pictures of two places at Mt Pleasant prior to beginning the hike: the plants blooming in the garden near the blacksmith’s shop

And some bluet damselflies at the pool in the Honors Garden…and bright flowers nearby.

The first part of the hike was along a mowed path that eventually went through hay fields with high grasses on both sizes. I’d worn long pants tucked into my socks to avoid ticks but being on mowed paths is still a good idea.

There were signs of civilization in the distance – but it was surprising how quickly signs of civilization are blocked by other vegetation.

My favorite picture for the first half of the hike was this wild chive among the grasses.

There was a butterfly holding onto a swaying stalk – I only got the one angle so am not sure whether it is a spicebush butterfly or a black swallowtail. I like the way the light comes through the wing.

Just before we entered the forest – I turned back for a picture of the mowed grass trail we had just come down. The second half of the hike to the river would be through the forest…and shady. That will be the topic of tomorrow’s post.

New Camera at the Pond

I got a new camera last October before the Festival of the Cranes; Canon came out with a new version already and my husband ordered it immediately – and Cannon Powershot SX730 HS. It has all the features of my previous ones (the 40x optical zoom, for example) plus a screen that is hinged so that it can be angled out from the camera. It will make it easier to take pictures with the camera held lower which is often a better angle for composition. It makes it easier to look through the bottom of my glasses and actually see the screen rather than pushing the glasses down my nose and not used them at all for the screen!

The other new feature that the camera has is Bluetooth pairing with my smart phone to get geo-tagging data (from the phone) in real time to add to the images. I’m still experimenting with it but I think it’s going to work well. I had an older camera that had GPS in the camera itself; since I turn my camera off and on a lot, the time it took the GPS to geo-locate made it almost useless. My phone is on all the time so the location information from it – transmitted via a Bluetooth pairing to the camera – should work better.

My first foray outdoors with the new camera was a short walk down to the neighborhood pond. It is still an eyesore covered with green algae and some trash visible around the margins. As we walked toward it, a red-winged blackbird was making a ruckus perched on a stick in the middle of the pond…then a bigger bird took its place.

Zooming in…I discovered it was a green heron!

It perused the pond then took a hunting stance.

And caught a frog!

A few seconds after gobbling down that meal, it swooped down low over the water and caught something…flew to far bank.

Another frog! The pond may have a huge crop of frogs this year because it has few fish and turtles (to eat the tadpoles)….the heron feasted.

Our Yard – June 2017

There were a lot of rainy days in May and June – so far – has been relatively cool here in Maryland. The plants seem to be thrilled. I’ve already trimmed the bush beside our garage and it already needs to be trimmed again. My husband parks his car on that side of the garage and is keen for me to do the job ASAP.

The milkweed in the front flowerbed looks great – and there don’t appear to be any more caterpillars on it. Pooh!

I might cut down the plants toward the front of the bed so that the ‘predator’ lights will be more visible to the deer. So far the gizmo has kept them from eating the day lily buds.

The trees are still getting a lot of new leaves. The new maple leaves start out tinged with red.

The tulip poplar leaves are miniature (somewhat streamlined) versions of the larger leaves. Most of the flowers are fading now and the seed mods are forming.

Our oak tree is trimmed up so high (it’s close to the street and the country trimmed it high enough that fire trucks would not be damaged if they needed to come down our street) that I decided to take a picture of a leave that had fallen. The tree has grown a lot since we moved into our house 20 years ago and I like the shade it provides to the front of the house on summer mornings.