Tagged With: Croyden Creek

Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)

Photograph taken on Saturday, January 07, 2023 by Henry
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)

Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)

Cathy and I went to Croyden Creek Nature Center for a while today. I sat on a bench and took some photos of birds at the feeders, getting pretty shots of male and female northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), a white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis), a downy woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens), a not quite as good shot of a black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus), a slightly blurred shot of a white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis). This show, of a red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) was taken from near the same place but the bird is not, as you can see, on the feeders. We walked down the remains of Avery Road and did the loop up Croyden Creek. Then we walked around in Rockville Cemetery before returning home.

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Croyden Creek Walk

Photograph taken on Sunday, November 12, 2023 by Henry
Croyden Creek Walk

Croyden Creek Walk

After church and a visit with Margaret, we took a walk from the Croyden Creek Nature Center. We headed down to the creak and went downstream towards where Croyden Creek joins Rock Creek, just above where Baltimore Avenue crosses Rock Creek. Then we turned uphill to the north and followed a trail that loops around close to Norbeck Road and came back to the old cut for Avery Road, when is used to go through this way. We continued upstream from there past a small pond and returned by way of the civic center fields. It was a very pleasant walk. Most of the leaves were down, especially on the tulip poplars, which are the dominant tree in these woods. But there was enough color that it was still quite pretty.

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Croyden Creek

Photograph taken on Saturday, October 12, 2024 by Henry
Croyden Creek

Croyden Creek

We went for a walk on Croyden Creek today. It isn’t necessarily the prettiest time of the year, but it’s great to be outdoors. We’ve had a dry summer and had a particularly dry September, when we normally get a good bit of rain, so the creek is quite low and there’s a fair amount of brown everywhere. Of course by the second week of October, things are starting to turn brown most years, but this year more than usual, I think. Still, there’s a fair amount of green on the trees. We didn’t see any birds or other wildlife, but mostly it’s about being in the woods.

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Croyden Creek Woods

Photograph taken on Saturday, August 23, 2025 by Henry
Croyden Creek Woods

Croyden Creek Woods

Cathy and I went to Croyden Creek and walked the large loop today. This starts at the Nature Center and then goes on a trail into the woods to the right (east) of Avery Road down to the top of some rocks overlooking Croyden Creek. We crossed the creek and walked the trail down towards Rock Creek. Before it reaches Rock Creek, though, it climbs up the ridge and circles back towards Norbeck Road. Eventually it meets the sunken roadbed of the former Avery Road. Just across from there are the foundations of an old house. We continued on the trail past that, which leads down towards the creek and crosses it, coming out onto the lawn at the northwest corner of the Glenview Mansion property. Then back along that and into the woods again and up to the nature center. It’s a nice walk and we like it well enough (except we did see a copperhead snake there last year, so Cathy is always on the lookout).

Sometimes we see quite a few birds but this time not many at all. I took a handful of photos and in particular like this one of the bright August sun on the greens and browns of the woods with the intense blue sky showing through.

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