Cold Morning at Conowingo

The sun was just coming up when we were driving to the Conowingo Dam on the Susquehanna River…hoping to see bald eagles.

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It was very cold, and we had winter gear to put on to put over our regular clothes when we got there: winter boots, snow pants, coats with hoods, scarves, gloves, handwarmers, footwarmers. It didn’t seem like there was much action when we got there but there were enough photographers that we thought there would likely be something to see. We bundled up. I put on my KF94 mask to keep my nose and lower part of my face warm. The temperature was in the mid-20s.

And then all we saw were gulls feeding in the churning water coming from the dam…too far away for good pictures. The black vultures were absent….first time we’ve been to Conowingo and not seen them. I put my camera on maximum zoom to scan the rocks and towers across the river; my husband was doing the same thing. No eagles.

I was just about to give up in frustration when I turned around and saw an eagle high in a tree on the hill behind me! There were branches in the way, but I managed to focus on the bird. The top of the head had a little brown. Maybe an early adult?

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Then we spotted an eagle soaring and circling around us. Unfortunately, there was a vehicle leaving the secured parking lot and we couldn’t stand where we needed to photograph it in the air. But it was awesome to watch…and we saw where it landed in a tulip poplar tree with lots of seed pods.

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While we were positioned to photograph the bird that had been soaring…we heard eagles nearby….realized the sound was not from the one we were photographing. We walked back so we could see the location where the first eagle had been perched. It was still there…and there was another eagle that was perched nearby! The sounds we heard must have been from from their interaction when the second eagle arrived!

The eagle on the right below is the one we saw first….the one on the left is the new arrival.

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Overall – seeing 3 eagles – even if they were only in the trees – was awesome compared to the frustration of the first 15 minutes we were at Conowingo! Patience and looking around made the morning!

Zooming – October 2020

Another month…a selection of zoomed pictures. The only picture of the group taken a little further afield than we’ve been since the beginning of the pandemic is the rather stern looking Great Blue Heron which was from our field trip to Conowingo Dam. There will be a few more such field trips in November as we build up our confidence to make the treks safely. Enjoy the show!

Ten Little Celebrations – October 2020

When I wrote the blog post about October 1990, I realized what a happy month it had been and now looking back at October 2020 and the things I recorded as little celebrations…the same is true. Maybe October is always my favorite month of the fall….lots of things that make me happy in this transition time of the year.

The celebrations that are could happen in any October:

The grand finale of the CSA season. The abundance of the last weeks of veggies from the farm….I have a freezer full to enjoy well into November…plenty of winter squash puree to make Thanksgiving dessert and breads and soups (maybe not all for the same meal). It happens every year….the celebration of the bounty.

Conwingo outing. We didn’t know about the bald eagles congregating at Conowingo dam 30 years ago, but now that we do…there is almost always a trek to the place every October. Even if it isn’t a great day for lots of eagles (which it wasn’t this year)…we celebrate the field trip. This year it was appreciated even more because field trips have been such a rarity for us this year.



Fall leaves. Yes – cleaning up the leaves and acorns is a fall chore…but it also is a joy: the colors, the textures, the breeze made visible by leaves wafting from the treetops. The trees in our yard and in the forest behind our house fill our views; I’m realizing that I am celebrating the extra time I’ve had this year to observe them. Home has become more special during this pandemic year.

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Wild turkey in our back yard. I missed it – but my husband saw it. He said there may have been more than one, but he only saw one clearly. We’d heard that there were wild turkeys in the forest but had never seen any until a few day ago. I am celebrating that they really exist…and hoping they return so I can see them too.

Flowers still available in the cutting garden. I thought the cutting garden might fade before the CSA ended…but it didn’t. I love having cut flowers in my office and on the island in the kitchen. Seeing them is an automatic mood brightener. Now I am beginning to realize that the strawflowers will last long into the winter – dried and arranged on a blue glass plate they remind me of water lily flowers.

Letting go of more stuff. Cleaning out stuff that has collected in over 25 years we’ve lived in our house is tough. But I managed a big pile that I donated (picked up from our front porch) and am working on another. It feels good to clean out the house…particularly if it is something others could use.

And then there are the celebrations that are unique to 2020:

Cape May Fall Festival (virtual). I celebrated the whole festival of videos but particularly the roving reporters at the morning flight of songbirds. It would be wonderful be there some future year to see it in the field.

Hawai’i Festival of Birds (virtual). When I first discovered that the festival was going virtual, I thought it was a great opportunity because I probably would not make the trek to the Big Island again….but now I’m wavering…leaning toward making the trek for the festival and to see how things have changed since we were there in 2015. Maybe next year…or the year after. It’s an opportunity to celebrate an environment very different than the one where we live.

Telephone conversations with family. I normally take telephone conversations for granted…they happen often enough. During this pandemic year when I am not traveling to visit with my family, phone conversations have increased in importance….worthy of celebration.

Voting. In years past, we voted but it wasn’t something that made it to my little celebrations list and we usually did it on election day. This year we requested a mail-in ballot and returned it to a drop box….and checked the online site to track that it was received and accepted/counted. Voting is a celebration this year because of the challenges the country is facing on many levels….and a heightened awareness on our part of how much it matters.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Old monitor heading off to a new home. I’ve had my old monitor mostly idle for the past year – since I got a new one – and finally found a way to give it a new home. There was an article in the Baltimore Sun about a teacher in our area trying to find monitors for teachers that need a second monitor as they forge ahead teaching virtually. I sent an email letting them know I had one to donate and someone came to pick it up! I’m thrilled to let it go!

Conowingo on a Fall Morning – Part 1

My husband and I took a ‘field trip’ to Conowingo dam this week – the first such trip since last February; we did it in a low risk way and will probably enjoy the fall a bit over the next few weeks with similar outings. We were gone for a little over 3 hours…with 2 of the hours on the road. At Conowingo we made a short stop at the Visitor Center for a ‘rest stop’ with masks…hand washing…and then hand sanitizer once we were back in the car. I took some pictures of the Bald Eagle carving and some of the plantings in front of the visitor center.

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When we got to the fishing/bird viewing area – we noticed the low water right away. The dam was not generating so the fish were not being churned up. Note how calm the water is toward the dam. Do you see the Great Blue Heron in the lower left? Part 2 of this post will be about that bird.

There was an adult Bald Eagle on the ’50 yds’ abutment that stayed for the entire time we were there. I took digiscope pictures (i.e. phone attached to spotting scope on a tripod) first. The bird is looking around and the breeze is ruffling feathers on the head.

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Then I took some pictures with by Canon Powershot SX 60 HS (bridge camera) on a monopod….which is my usual birding camera. The bird was moving its head more….it seemed intent on not moving any other part of its body though! I’m still more comfortable using the camera rather than the digiscope.

The birds on the water today were Double Crested Cormorants. They were sometimes in groups….usually on their own diving quickly to go after fish.

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I saw one come up with a fish and then noticed a Great Blue Heron (not the heron in the earlier picture) flying toward it. By the time I started taking pictures the heron had plopped down right next to the cormorant….but the cormorant made a quick get away with his prize leaving a surprised heron behind. Use the arrows to move through the 5 images.

I always try to look at the Paulownia (princess tree) growing on the cliff next to the parking area. The seed pods are maturing. It’s an invasive tree but one that it tolerated – sometimes – because it is pretty.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Notification that ballot was received. I got an email from my state acknowledging that the ballot I put in the drop box has been received! I great to get that confirmation. The email included a link to the Maryland site where I can find out when it is accepted/counted too. There was a local news story saying that my county would start counting on the 12th so I’ll start checking every day after that.

Last CSA flowers? The cutting garden at the CSA is winding down. The zinnias are about done for the year. I got one sunflower and then some smaller purple ones (don’t know what they are) to make a small bouquet to sit in the kitchen window along with the green tomatoes I hope will turn red. I’ve already enjoyed 2 that turned red recently.

Zooming – January 2020

The beginning of the new year….sunrises, birds, snow. It was a busier-than-usual January – but not for photography. I still had plenty of zoomed pictures to choose from. Most of them were taken at home but there are a few from Conowingo (the eagles and crane) and one from Belmont (the sparrow). It was a good start to the year.

Enjoy the slide show for January 2020!

Ten Little Celebrations – January 2020

2020 has started out with more activity than I anticipated….more volunteering, more classes, more events…and some travel at the end of the month.

Bluebird passing through: We don’t see bluebirds around that much….so it’s a special day when we do see one.

47th wedding anniversary: It doesn’t seem like such a long time…compared to my parents celebrating 67 years. I’m going to think of something special for our 50th coming up in 3 years!

Children enjoying the Touch Tank: There are moments in every hour that I spend volunteering at Robinson Nature Center’s saltwater touch tank that are little celebrations for me and for the children. Whether it is awe from something an animal does…or how they feel…or just understanding something new.

Conowingo Eagles: Even on a morning I don’t get any particularly good pictures – I enjoy every trip we make to the Conowingo…and that the eagle population is back from the brink!

Hot tea with cream: Or maybe with just milk. It’s my favorite winter beverage.

Middle Patuxent Water Monitoring: I always enjoy getting in the river and then doing the gleaning of the macroinvertebrates to identify. Since it was winter, I was braced to get very cold…but we had a wonderful sunny (not too cold) day!

Honing skills for volunteer gig: None of the classes were very long but were informative and applicable to me becoming a better volunteer. The topics ranged from autism, Howard Country Green Infrastructure Network, sensitivity training (impact of microaggression), outdoor wear fashion and function, and the spotted lantern fly. Wow – quiet a range of topics and all the presentations were excellent.

Snow in the afternoon: So beautiful. I celebrate every snow these days because I don’t have to drive in it!

Zentangle® with Howard County Conservancy volunteers: I love guiding group Zentangle sessions. This particular group seemed to enjoy the session…and had some ideas about ‘next steps’ in a practice. And like the campers last summer…got a little Zen as well.

Cooper’s Hawk on a Snowy morning: Often a ‘little celebration’ is a surprise that just happens. Seeing the Cooper’s Hawk fly into our sycamore was that kind of celebration – although I am glad the hawk is not around my backyard more frequently (since I enjoy the other birds).

First Day of 2020

I got up early enough yesterday to see the sunrise. The clouds were too low and thick for it to be a great one…but it was the first of 2020. I did the same thing last year….with clouds making the color smudgy.

We decided that the clouds were going to clear off enough to make a trek to Conowingo Dam to see the bald eagles worthwhile. It was a cold morning, so we wore snow pants and took hand warmers. As we drove in, I noticed the seagulls first; we hadn’t seen any gulls last time we went to Conowingo (in late October). As I got out of the car, I heard some eagles and saw one flying with a stick. It circled around and went up to the platform near the top of an electrical tower. I later zoomed in for a picture of the sticks accumulating for the nest. There was a nest there in previous years so the pair may just be adding new sticks…making sure the sides are high enough to contain the chicks until they are ready to fledge.

The water was high from recent rains and the dam was generating power. Both gulls and eagles were benefiting from the fish available – stopped by the dam. We didn’t see any cormorants or great blue herons this time.

The eagles were active but very far away on the rocks and abutment…swooping above and into the water for fish. It is very close to out of range for my camera so most of my pictures are a little blurry.

There was an interaction between two birds on the abutment. They both looked rounded with their feathers fluffed and I wondered if it was from their ‘argument’ or just being cold.

Another interaction – two juveniles. One was on the rock but flew off just as the other came in for a landing.

Another juvenile was fishing…but didn’t manage to land a fish in this foray.

My husband’s camera did a bit better. He managed to photograph an adult catch a fish, jostle it into position, be chased by a juvenile…and then take the fish up to the nest. Was there a mate at the nest? We couldn’t see.

He also got some good pictures of juveniles; we are both beginning to appreciate the wing patterns of the juveniles – lots of variety in their look before they get their adult plumage.

I took a picture of one of the two cranes that are on the top of the dam facing the lake. I assume they are used to get large debris that washes down the Susquehanna from points north out of the water.

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 7, 2019

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.

Red Tides Under the Microscope | The Scientist Magazine® - It’s surprising what we don’t yet know about the organism responsible for red tides – Karenia Brevis. Spanish explorers of Florida in the 15th and 16th centuries described fish kills in Gulf waters. The first official documentation was in 1882 – published in the Proceedings of the US National Museum. This article is about what we know….and where more research is needed.

The woman who reshaped maths - BBC Future – Hilda Geiringer…a refugee from the Nazis. A BBC Future column celebrating a ‘missed genius’ whose contributions are still notable in the world today.

NOAA weather balloons find no zero-ozone regions above South Pole during 2019 ozone hole season | NOAA Climate.gov – A little science…a little history…a projection. The positive message – if the trend continues, it’s estimated that the ozone layer will recover around 2070.

Abrupt shifts in Arctic climate projected: Likelihood of an abrupt increase in wildfires also noted -- ScienceDaily – With specific modeling of permafrost as it continues to degrade….it appears that the changes won’t be as gradual as  previously assumed.

Lake On Bottom Of Halema‘uma‘u Crater At Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park Now Bigger Than Football Field – The lake was noticed back in July….and is being studied with instruments on drones. More information is at the National Park Service site for the park.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: Wild Birds – National Geographic Society Newsroom – I always enjoy the bird photography compiled by National Geographic every week.

Offshore Wind Has the Potential to Fulfill Global Electricity Demand 18 Times Over - Yale E360 – Hurray for this potential….the transition is the challenge.

AP: At least 1,680 dams across the US pose potential risk – There is a link to an interactive map that shows where the 1,680 dams are located. The last paragraphs of the article are the most troubling. There are a lot of dams with unknown status. Roughly 45% of Texas dams are exempt from regulation…in Missouri safety inspections are only done on 650 of its more than 5,000 dams. And states that know about problematic private dams often can’t identify the owners to address the dam’s issues.

Aging in good health: The inequalities are widening -- ScienceDaily – A study with over 11 million people tracked for 25 years!

Susquehanna Sediment in the Chesapeake Bay – Imagery of big rivers and the Chesapeake Bay after a storm at the end of October…. close to where I live. On a positive note - the sediment (even after the record rains earlier this year) has not damaged the underwater grasses on the Susquehanna Flats as much as was initially feared.

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 30, 2019

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.

US-born residents more than 5 times likely to use prescription opioids than new immigrants -- ScienceDaily – Evidently new immigrants are often healthier than non-immigrants despite their poorer background….which is a clue that there is something about American culture that influences opioid use.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: Spectacular – National Geographic Society Newsroom – Enjoy the birds! We are enjoying the birds coming to our feeder and (heated) bird bath…in the trees around our house. They are easier to see now that the leaves have fallen from the tees.

50 Fish, 50 States: Small Stream Wonders – Cool Green Science – Lots of small fish! When we are in the streams with high school students, we often find small fish but since they aren’t what we are looking for – we simply put them back without identification. Maybe I should look for a simple small fish ID to take a long and start to photograph them too.

A Giant Treehouse 'Like A Castle' Is Destroyed By Fire In Tennessee: NPR – My sister and I visited this giant treehouse in 2012 when we were in that area of Tennessee. Sad that it’s gone.

Hurricanes have become bigger and more destructive for USA -- ScienceDaily – An expensive trend.

When Turkeys Attack – I’m glad the wild turkey population is recovering….hope we can develop strategies to co-exist!

Scientists study impact of sediments and nutrients from Conowingo Dam on Chesapeake Bay -- ScienceDaily – Close to home. The base of Conowingo Dam is where we go to view Bald Eagles. There is a lot of concern now about the sediment build up in the reservoir --- state governments and the utility are working to determine best options for prolonging the energy generation capacity of the dam and improving water quality into the bay.

Big Box Stores Leading the Shift to Renewable Energy - News | Planetizen – Wal-Mart and Target are all in….what about other big box stores? What about owners of shopping centers? Lots of stores are in leased spaces.

Five Architectural Firms Retained to Redesign National Mall Tidal Basin – Another ‘close to home’ in this set of gleanings. This one is in the District of Columbia. Think of the Jefferson Memorial and the cherry blossoms. Flooding has increased over the time we have living in this area (now over 35 years). Hope they can develop a good design and get the funding to implement it.

Manta Ray Populations Have Complex Social Structures | The Scientist Magazine® - A study of the reef mantas as they aggregate around the reefs of the eastern Indonesian archipelago Raja Ampat. The study showed two distinct groupings: one dominated by older females and the other a mix of sexes and ages.

Conowingo in October – part 2

Continuing the post about our trek to Conowingo Dam….

There were quite a few birds on the rocks just past the abutment. The camera zoom is put to good use to identify what’s there. I posted about the Bald Eagle and Black Vultures yesterday. The other two types of birds (other than gulls) were Double-crested Cormorants and a Great Blue Heron.

At first, I noticed cormorants that were in the water – and yes, those are rafts of bubbles (soap?) in the water.

Then I noticed one that had caught a fish. It maneuvered it toward the rocks on the side of the river near us and the fisherman. The bird struggled to control the fish and orient it so it could be swallowed. I never saw the swallow….and it looked like it would be a tight fit. The fish was probably a channel catfish…and it was bleeding from its fight with the cormorant.

I saw another cormorant with a fish. This time the bird had pierced the fish.

Back to the rocks on the far side of river, the cormorants open their wings in the sunshine like the black vultures. Sometimes there seems to be an interaction between birds with their wings open.

There was a heron that I first noticed near a rock at the end of the abutment.

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It then flew to the rocky spit of the central island. That place has always been a favorite for herons, but it was altered by the floods. The rocks that extended further toward the dam must have been rolled away by the floods last year.

We’ll be visiting the dam again before the end of the year….hoping to see even more eagles (and maybe a bigger variety of gulls too).

Conowingo in October – part 1

A couple of weeks ago we headed up to Conowingo Dam. This time of year the local Bald Eagle population is supplemented by birds coming from further north to enjoy the bounty of fish at the base of the dam through the winter. It was a clear and cool morning with the moon still visible near the treetops.

The water was much lower than earlier this year when the water was very high and fishermen/birds were elsewhere.

Fall was in full swing. The drought had reduced the color but there were still burst of color and seeds to notice while we were looking for eagles.

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My best eagle pictures of the day were of one that flew into a tree on the slope above us (i.e. we were between the bird and the river. I zoomed in for a picture of the head and the talons. The bird flew back toward the river a few second after the talon shot.

There are always a lot of Black Vultures at Conowingo and this time was no exception. They like the vantage point of some of the high structures on the dam and the abutment down closer to the water. Vultures are the bird version of a ‘cleanup crew.’ Based on the number of black vultures always around Conowingo, there must be a lot of carcasses (fish?) around there. This time we didn’t see any congregate near the parking lot gate….they were all out on structures or rocks…in the morning sun.

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Now for some challenge pictures. How many eagles do you see in the pictures below? Remember that juvenile eagles do not have white heads or tails. They are clearly different than the black vultures in the pictures.

There are 3 juvenile and 1 mature Bald Eagles. What about the next picture?

In this one there is only one juvenile Bald Eagle, but I took the picture to show how distinctive the wing tips of the Black Vulture are. They often spread their wings like this --- very dramatic black and white bird. In flight the white tips are also visible and make them easy to identify when they soar overhead.

Tomorrow I’ll post about the other birds we saw at Conowingo.

Ten Little Celebrations – October 2019

October is a transition month – warm to cool (sometimes cold at night), leaves turning colors and falling. There is a lot to celebrate. Below are my top ten little celebrations in October:

The river at Middle Patuxent Environmental Area - It is a little hike through the woods to get to the Middle Patuxent River and then a scramble over rocks to set up our field tables and gear on gravel bars near the water. It’s a serene place before the students arrive…and then full of activity. Every field trip is a celebration of the natural world and the sparks of awareness/realization that happens for most of the students.

Arby’s chicken salad – I always celebrate when my husband’s choice of fast food place has their signature chicken salad…wish they had it all the time.

Heron standing on a turtle – Seeing something unexpected often sparks a little celebration that I was in the right place at the right time. A heron stepping on a turtle (and then being surprised when it moved) was one of those times.

Conowingo cormorants – We go to Conowingo Dam to see Bald Eagles, but sometimes other birds are more active. On an October morning it was the cormorants….successfully fishing. Often the fish looked too big for them to eat!

CSA popcorn – This was the first year that we got ears of popcorn from the CSA….the last two weeks of the season.  The kernels came off the cob with relative ease and I popped them in my usual microwave popcorn bowl (not all at once…a little popcorn goes a long way). The pop…the curling up with a good book while eating popcorn…a celebration on a rainy fall day.

CSA fennel – The CSA is my source for fennel…I like the bulb and the feathery top. It’s a different flavor from other veggies and one I celebrate as a rare veggie since I know it never looks as fresh in my grocery store and I haven’t found it in the organic section at all.

Mowing the whole yard – Usually my husband handles the mowing, but this fall I’ve done more since I decided to mulch leaves in place rather than rake. I started out doing half the yard…but I celebrated a day when I did the whole thing and the yard looked great….until the next round of leaf drop. There will still be at least one more mowing since there are still leaves on our maple.

Pelicans in the Chesapeake Bay – I celebrated to see so many pelicans in the Chesapeake Bay when we went to Smith Island. The birds nest and raise young in the area! Based on the number of juveniles we saw – 2019 was a good year for pelicans.

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts – What a great place in Richmond. I celebrated that we chose to make the stop in Richmond for a couple of hours….and was pleasantly surprised that my husband enjoyed it too.

A rainy day – finally – We had no rain for about 6 weeks in last summer and early fall…so when it rained, it was cause for celebration.

Conowingo – March 2019

My husband and I made the trek up to Conowingo Dam last weekend. The water was high and laden with silt (although not quite as high as the last time we were there).

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The trip was a success as soon as we got there: a bald eagle was preening in a tree next to the parking lot. I took some traditional portraits.

Then I zoomed in on the talons.

At one point the eagle did a little dance on the branch (watch the feet)!

One of the other photographers told me about the nest up in the right tower across the river from the wharf where we were. It is on the narrow platform below the top of the tower. I zoomed in and saw sticks that are probably one side of the nest but no birds coming or going.

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There were cormorants fishing in the rapidly moving water although I didn’t see any successful catches.

I did manage a sequence of a cormorant flying low over the water.

Overall it was a good spring outing – warm enough that we didn’t need out coats!

Zooming – January 2019

I have a bigger than usual group of images for the zooming post this month – primarily from a trip from Florida last week. They’ll be more details in posts coming out over the next few weeks. So sit back and enjoy the slide show. It only includes one snow picture!

Conowingo Dam

Back in December we made a trek to Conowingo Dam. The dam was generating electricity and the spillways were open. The water was high and moving fast. A rainbow formed where the mist kicked up from the spillway flow. Almost all the rocks where the eagles and herons normally perch were under water!

The bridge abutment where bald eagles perched during previous visits only has a few gulls and gulls were the only birds we saw in the river too. The river was so strong that the fish were probably not making it close to the dam (when they do – when the water is not as swift – they attract all the fish-eating birds like eagles and herons and cormorants).

There was debris on the few rocks that were not covered by water and on the spit of the island containing the big electrical towers.

The lower part of the fishing park was closed because of high water.

I satisfied my self with some pictures of sycamores – seeds just above where we were standing and the white bark tracery on the other side of the river.

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2018 was a record year for rain where we live and that is evidently true for much of the Susquehanna watershed as well. We’ll have to wait to go again when it hasn’t rained for a few weeks and the fishing will be good for the eagles at the dam.

Cormorant at Conowingo

We didn’t see as many cormorants as eagles last weekend at Conowingo – but we saw one just as it caught a fish and then focus on swallowing it over the next 3-4 minutes. The fish was probably the maximize size the bird could swallow! But it finally did…letting the river move it downstream as it got the meal down. The last picture shows it moving upstream. Surely it wasn’t ready for another fish!

We didn’t see any Great Blue Herons last weekend. They are probably around but very focused on keeping their eggs warm. This is the time of year that both herons and eagles would be laying eggs and incubating them. I saw an article about one of the eaglets in a nest near Washington DC had already hatched.

I almost always take a picture of the Paulownia tree near the parking lot. The velvety buds have not opened yet. I noticed a larger tree near the water than I had not noticed before. It’s harder to photograph but I might try next time.

Bald Eagles at Conowingo Dam

Last weekend we got up early and headed to Conowingo Dam to photograph Bald Eagles. We go there about 30 minutes after sunrise and saw eagles in the trees next to the parking lot at the Conowingo Fisherman’s Park. There were two eagles in the trees near where we parked…along with a black vulture.

Both types of birds were enjoying the bright sunlight on the cold morning.

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There were other birds on the opposite side of the river….too far way for good pictures.

It seemed at first that there wasn’t going to be much action. Then one of the eagles took off.

It flew out over the river swooped down and came up with a fish!

It flew back to almost where it had been before…and started to enjoy the meal.

Then a second eagle appeared and wanted a share of the fish. My husband tried to take pictures of the tussle that ensued. The eagle with the fish is above the challenger in this picture. I just stood and watched.

Tomorrow’s post will feature a Cormorant at Conowingo.

Ten Little Celebrations – January 2018

This month was mostly cold…mostly spent at home…but I easily found lot of little celebrations!

I celebrated the model trains at Brookside…on the very last day of the exhibit – January 1. I enjoyed volunteering to help the exhibit run smoothly…and experiencing the trains through the eyes of the children.

I made a lot of progress on the collection of botanical prints eBooks area of my website. I am adding to the list of links as I work back through the annual lists of books I read/browsed…picking out the ones that contained botanical prints. So far, the books I found from 2013-2017 are listed – each with a link to the free eBook and a sample image. I celebrated the beauty of the botanical prints the whole time I worked on the collection…and may have the ones from 2012 ready later today.

We had some very cold days early in January and I celebrated my well-stocked pantry, freezer and refrigerator – as I stayed warm at home!

The were three Winter Wellness sessions this January hosted by Howard County Conservancy for their volunteers. Each included a lecture and hike…worth celebrating.

Conowingo was not as scenic for birds as it has been at times in the past…but the ice on the rocks and railings was worth seeing. I enjoyed being out and about….maybe that was more what I was celebrating.

I had a cold earlier in the month – so of course I celebrated as soon as a started feeling better.

In November I got my box of Foldscopes and was so busy I didn’t put one together until recently. I was pleased to finally do it…celebrated my origami-type success with the pieces and my initial results.

My area of Maryland has been very dry. We’ve only had dustings of snow…but we had a day recently that is rained gently for most of the day. We needed the moisture….and I celebrated that it came in an easy-to-handle form.

I had a dental appointment as was pleased that I had no cavities! It’s been a long time since I’ve had a new one and I celebrate after each appointment.

I started out on my weekly grocery shopping drive and notice the sunrise over our CSA buildings. I pulled off the road to take a picture. It was a good way to celebrate the day’s beginning.

Conowingo in January – part 2

The day we went to Conowingo was part of a warming trend – but it was still cold enough that ice coated any wet surfaces. The fishing pier was gated off and there were signs saying there would be no fishing because of a toxic spill…so the ice forming from the spray on the railings was undisturbed.

Further out in the water – any rocks or small trees near or in the water because a framework for ice formation.

The rocks along the back were coated. Very little of the ice was totally smooth. It hung in icicles and knotted into pebbly textures that looked a little like bubble wrap!

I was glad that the day was sunny and relatively calm; my winter gear did a good job of keeping me comfortably warm. We stopped for lunch on the way home. Next time we’ll go earlier to (hopefully) see more of the eagles while they are still hungry for breakfast! I wondered where the Great Blue Herons were since we usually see a few of them. Both the herons and eagles will start their nesting cycle soon.

Conowingo in January – part 1

My husband and I chose and sunny day …. Headed north to Conowingo Dam one morning last week. We hoped the day would be good for seeing the bald eagles. It was a bit of a disappointment: the birds all stayed on the far side of the river – seemingly even further away than usual, there were not very many of them, and the sky was hazy rather than blue. The gulls and cormorants (and maybe some ducks) were too far away as well.

I turned my camera to other things. The Princess Tree had velvety buds.

There was a small stand of trees near the edge of water that had quite a load of ice; I wondered if it would survive.

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An old stump was deteriorating near the fishing pier. I thought part of it looked like a one-eyed owl looking out of the decaying wood.

There was an oak leaf covered with salt that had been liberally scattered on the sidewalk.

There were not many sycamore balls…last spring was not conducive to seed production in our area. This one does not look like it has been discovered by seed loving birds either.

Tomorrow – I’ll write about the ice at Conowingo.