Monthly Archives: June 2022

Our AirBnB Outside Lititz

Photograph taken on Friday, June 03, 2022 by Henry
Our AirBnB Outside Lititz

Our AirBnB Outside Lititz

After work yesterday Cathy and I drove up to the AirBnB that Susie had found for us outside Lititz, Pennsylvania. We were all coming for Jon and Carly’s wedding this afternoon and (not terribly surprisingly) many hotels were mostly books up this time of year. This place was a real treat, though. It’s a short drive from downtown Lititz, very quiet and comfortable. We got in at about 8:00 PM last night and this is the view from the porch this morning. What a lovely place for a long weekend. Of course having such good friends for housemates made it all the better.

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Carly and Jon

Photograph taken on Friday, June 03, 2022 by Henry
Carly and Jon

Carly and Jon

As mentioned in my previous post, we drove up to Lititz, Pennsylvania after work yesterday. This morning Rob, Cathy, and I went into Lititz proper and walked around a bit. Rob and Cathy bought a few things, including some Wilbur chocolate. My tastes are a little different and I bought some unusual meats from The Savory Gourmet. I got a pound each of camel and kangaroo. We’ll see. Not cheap, but also not something you see every day so worth a splurge.

The main event was at 3:00 and the wedding itself was lovely. The reception was at the Brick Gables, which appears to be a restored barn. We had hors d’oeuvre outside and then moved in for the actual reception. This photo, as you have probably guessed, is of Carly and Jon at the head table. After a few speeches and a little talking, we had a nice dinner. The bulk the reception was taken up with dancing, which was loud, as you might expect. I took quite a few photos and we had a nice time. By the time we got back to our BnB we were nicely tired and ready to sleep.

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Veterans Memorial Bridge, Columbia, Pennsylvania

Photograph taken on Saturday, June 04, 2022 by Henry
Veterans Memorial Bridge, Columbia, Pennsylvania

Veterans Memorial Bridge, Columbia, Pennsylvania

I’ve posted a photo of this bridge before, when we stopped for breakfast at Coffee and Cream on the way home from Lancaster in January (see: Monday, January 3, 2022). We liked this little place so decided to have breakfast here again on our way home from Lititz. I actually fixed myself breakfast before we left the AirBnB and we both had coffee there, so it was as much about stopping at a familiar place as anything else. Being here in June is a little different from January. There were more people about and some small boats out on the river, as well as the greenery on both banks.

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Rose ‘Dr. W. VanFleet‘

Photograph taken on Sunday, June 05, 2022 by Henry
Rose ‘Dr. W. VanFleet‘

Rose ‘Dr. W. VanFleet‘

A few years ago my cousin Lyn rooted a rose that’s been growing in his yard for many, many years. It grows and blooms prolifically and it’s become established on our back fence. We had a few flowers on it last year and more this year. Although it looks like ‘New Dawn‘ it only blooms once, so I’m guessing that it is ‘Dr. W. VanFleet‘, of which ‘New Dawn‘ is a repeat flowering sport. ‘New Dawn‘ has the distinction of having plant patent number 1 (October, 1931) and it shares with ‘Dr. W. VanFleet‘ very shiny, disease resistant foliage and lovely, pale pink flowers.

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House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)

Photograph taken on Sunday, June 12, 2022 by Henry
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)

House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)

After church Cathy and I went to the Agricultural History Farm Park and walked around a bit. We expected the shade garden to be past it’s prime and although it’s not at its peak, it was still quite nice. We were sitting on a bench and this little fellow (or lass) came and went a few times, bring things to his (or her) young in the nesting box. The Master Gardeners’ exhibition garden was also quite nice, coming into its own as the summer heats up. The dahlias are coming up, as well, and promise a wonderful display a bit later on.

We have wrens in our yard and generally have a pair raising two or more broods each spring in a ceramic nesting ‘box’ (it’s ceramic and spherical, so I hesitate to call it a box, but whatever). Some people get tired of these noisy little birds but we love them. We also have bluebirds in the neighborhood, although we see them in other people’s yards more than in our own.

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Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

Photograph taken on Sunday, June 12, 2022 by Henry
Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

As mentioned in the previous post, we see eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) in our neighborhood. When I was writing up that post I had forgotten that I had a bluebird photo taken a little later the same day, also at the Agricultural History Farm Park. This isn’t full frame, because all I had was a 100mm lens, but it’s one of the better bluebird photos I’ve taken. They are often back lit, which makes exposure tricky, but this one was let more easily.

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Fourth Pres. Sanctuary Renovation

Photograph taken on Sunday, June 12, 2022 by Henry
Fourth Pres. Sanctuary Renovation

Fourth Pres. Sanctuary Renovation

When I started posting a photo a day, back in 2011, I only posted one photo a day to my regular blog (and that’s all I’ve moved here from that first year). I had a second collection called Project 365 Extra that occasionally had additional photos. Since then I’ve been less strict about it and would post multiple photos for any given day, sometimes as a single post with multiple photos and sometimes as separate posts. This is my third and final post for today. We went to the Fourth Presbyterian Church evening service for a hymn sing. Getting there a little early, I got permission to take a few photos of the sanctuary renovation in progress.

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Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)

Photograph taken on Saturday, June 18, 2022 by Henry
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)

Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)

A month or two ago I happened to pull out a small Tupperware type container that had cash in it from when I was selling cards and matted photographs. It’s been quite a few years since I did that and at this point, I’m not going to do it any more. There was quite a bit there and I decided I’d use it to buy a telephoto lens, which is something I’ve wanted for quite some time now. I bought a Sigma 150-600mm zoom lens and today was my first outing with it. It’s quite heavy and I had it mounted on a monopod. That isn’t quite as good as a tripod but without that it would have been very difficult to get anything worthwhile. We walked to Blockhouse Point and then drove around to Pennyfield Lock on the C&O Canal. As we were walking back from a nice walk along the canal, I got four photos of this indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea). While it may not an award winning shot, it’s certainly better than anything I’ve been able to get with my other lenses. In the past I’d have to crop quite aggressively to get anything close to this and then it wouldn’t be nearly so sharp. This picture is the full frame. Hopefully there will be more and better bird pictures coming soon.

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Cloud Shadow

Photograph taken on Saturday, June 25, 2022 by Henry
Cloud Shadow

Cloud Shadow

Cathy, Dorothy, and I all rode out to the Poolesville area late this afternoon. Dorothy needed to help Mary get some things ready for an event she was hosting tomorrow. Cathy and I chatted with Mary and Ted for a while but mostly we walked around enjoying being out in the country. The sun was going down and the clouds were quite dramatic. I particularly like this one, casting a shadow upwards. It was quite warm and the sun going down did help alleviate that somewhat.

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Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Photograph taken on Sunday, June 26, 2022 by Henry
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

We took another trip to the C&O Canal today after stopping at Mary’s indigo dyeing event today. We parked at the end of Tschiffley Mill Road, on the west bank of Seneca Creek where it empties into the Potomac River. From there we walked a little ways behind the turning basin but decided we’d do better on the tow path. We saw three different types of heron. We saw both immature and adult black-crowned night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax), at least two green herons (Butorides virescens), and at least two great blue herons (Ardea herodias), including this one on a log along with a painted turtle (Chrysemys picta). Once again, this was taken with my new telephoto lens, zoomed out to 600mm (which with an APS-C sensor, makes this the equivalent of a 960mm lens with 35mm film).

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Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

Photograph taken on Sunday, June 26, 2022 by Henry
Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

As mentioned in my previous post, we saw three types of heron on our walk on the C&O Canal. We were along the turning basin just northwest of the Seneca Creek aqueduct. We saw both immature and adult black-crowned night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax), at least two great blue herons (Ardea herodias), and at least two green herons (Butorides virescens), including this one. This is the first time we’ve seen green herons here, so that was quite exciting and I was particularly glad to have my new telephoto. As you can imagine, I’m going to be enjoying this on bird hikes, although it really is quite heavy. I’m also not sure I’m going to be able to get anything worthwhile with it of birds actually flying. It’s simply too much lens for that, at least until I’ve had a lot of practice.

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