Patuxent Research Refuge – Part 1
/Our second field trip during the pandemic was to Patuxent Research Refuge last weekend. It is about 30 minutes from where we live. The forecast had changed to mostly cloudy, but it seemed more like mostly sunny when we were making the decision to go or wait for another day. We headed out. The nav system in my husband’s car listed both parts of the refuge – we chose the South Tract…Scarlet Tanager Loop.
The loop is one way, one lane with the parking lot/visitor center at the point furthest into the refuge. There was one couple that has chosen to use the loop as a hiking trail and it is scenic enough for that (the non-paved trails were probably muddy because of the rains from Hurricane Zeta). I took pictures of the road as my husband drove into the refuge (slideshow below). The trees had dropped a lot of their leaves but there was still some color and there were leaves on the road in some places. There where ‘turtle crossing’ signs periodically. The turtles are active in the spring…we drove slowly…noticing squirrels periodically.
There were more people that we expected – but it wasn’t crowded. Everyone was wearing masks and groups were distancing from each other:
A meditation group had walked around and was finding a dry place for their mats to begin their session
A couple with their young daughter stomping around in her boots…accepting a warm cap for her head
A man doing short drone flights
A few couples with leashed dogs
A family with older children crossing the pontoon bridge
More tomorrow about what we saw walking around Patuxent Research Refuge.
Unique Activities for Yesterday:
Moon in the morning. When I walked into my office just after 6, the moon was casting shadows. I photographed it through the window. Outside the temperature was in the 30s…our coldest day yet of the fall.
