Col. Paul Peck and Ruth Owens

Photograph taken on Saturday, March 09, 2024 by Henry
Paul and Ruth Owens Grave Marker

Paul and Ruth Owens Grave Marker

We went for a walk in the rain near the Croyden Creek Nature Center today. In spite of the fact that we got pretty much soaked, we really enjoyed being outside. I carried my camera under my jacket and got a few pictures. After we got back to the car, we stopped at Rockville Cemetery, just to walk around (again, in the rain). We chatted for a while with the President of the Board of Directors of the Rockville Cemetery Association. She pointed out her family graves and also this marker for the graves of Col. Paul Peck (August 10, 1889 – September 11, 1912) and his wife, Ruth Owens (January 7, 1893 – April 5, 1912). He was an early pilot and set a speed record, flying 24 miles in 25 minutes (57.6 MPH). He died in a plane crash in Chicago, Illinois.

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American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)

Photograph taken on Sunday, March 03, 2024 by Henry
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)

American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)

We went to the C&O Canal today, walking from the Cabin John Aqueduct Bridge on MacArthur Boulevard down to the canal and then upstream to a point about half way between locks 8 and 9. We enjoyed being out but this is never going to be among our favorite walks, due to the traffic noise. Still, it’s good to be out. We saw a few American black ducks (Anas rubripes) on the canal, along with mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) and a few turtles, but not much else. There were bluebells coming up, which is always a treat.

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Dog Puzzle

Photograph taken on Wednesday, February 28, 2024 by Henry
Dog Puzzle

Dog Puzzle

Some puzzles are harder than others and all else being equal, the more pieces the harder a puzzle is. Most of the puzzles we’ve done lately have been 1,000 piece. So, this 500-piece puzzle was fairly simple. That doesn’t mean we didn’t enjoy it. It was give to us by a friend and was in a plastic bag. So, while we never look at the picture on the box while doing a puzzle, we at least have some idea what the picture is of. In this case we had no idea whatsoever. Maureen said she thought there was a dog in it, but that’s all we had to go on.

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The Pond

Photograph taken on Sunday, February 25, 2024 by Henry
The Pond

The Pond

Cathy and I went up to Pennsylvania for the day. We had a short visit with Dorothy but then she had to go to work. While she worked, we stopped at Ronn Palm’s Museum of Civil War Images (https://www.ronnpalmmuseum.com/) at 229 Baltimore Street in Gettysburg. Cathy asked specifically about the units her great, great grandfather and his eldest son were in during the U.S. Civil War but of course we all talked about more than that. We drove to Devil’s Den and a few other spots on the battlefield. When Dorothy was done working we picked her up and went to the farm. The pond is filling back up after being partially drained for repairs and has reached the lowest rung on the ladder on the side of the new dock.

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Dot’s 93rd Birthday

Photograph taken on Saturday, February 24, 2024 by Henry
Dot's 93rd Birthday

Dot’s 93rd Birthday

Tsai-Hong has originally planned to have us all over on Chinese (a.k.a. Lunar) New year on February 10. For a number of reasons, it got pushed back first to the 17th and then to the 24th. We did get together and celebrated mom’s 93rd birthday, as well. We don’t ever really need much of an excuse to get together and we should do it more often but of course everyone is busy and it’s hard to find a good date for everyone. As usual, mom made her own cake, her favorite angel food cake, which turned out marvelously. Tsai-Hong bought carry-out from Far East Restaurant and is was terrific.

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State Birds and Flowers

Photograph taken on Thursday, February 22, 2024 by Henry
State Birds and Flowers Puzzle

State Birds and Flowers Puzzle

We finished another puzzle. This one was a gift from our dear friends Brian and Lisa and it proved to be more challenging than expected. The fact that there was text on many of the pieces helped a bit, since that aided in piece orientation. Some of that text helped us know where in the country the piece went, as well, although it was a while before we had enough pieces in place that we could reliably situate many other pieces. The list of birds differs from what we believe are the proper birds. For example, I think seven states have the northern cardinal as their bird, but it only appears three times in the puzzle. But from the standpoint of the puzzle, that hardly matters. Also, at least one of the illustrations don’t seem right to me, but again, it’s a pretty puzzle and we enjoyed it quite a bit.

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Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)

Photograph taken on Saturday, February 17, 2024 by Henry
Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)

Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)

We went for a walk part of the way around Lake Needwood today. It was fairly cool out but a pretty day otherwise. There were assorted ducks out on the lake but mostly they were pretty far away. This hawk, however, was in a tree below the path so with the aid of the hill, I was just about on a level with him. I think it’s probably a Cooper’s hawk (Accipiter cooperii) but it’s really hard to say for sure. Distinguishing between Cooper’s and sharp-shinned hawks (Accipiter striatus) is very difficult and I tend to favor sharpies in identifications because I think they’re a bit more common. But that may be a self-fulfilling prophecy. In any case, it’s one of those two and it’s a lovely bird.

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Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus)

Photograph taken on Sunday, February 11, 2024 by Henry
Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus)

Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus)

We took a walk to Sandy Spring today after visiting Cathy’s mom. There wasn’t a lot to photograph but we did see this pair of hooded mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus) on a pond near Sandy Spring Friends School on a path off from the main trail. They’re pretty birds and fairly easily recognized. We’ve seen quite a few of them this winter, possible more than in past years, but that may be because we’re paying more attention, especially now that I have my long telephoto lens and can get much better photos of them.

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Jed’s First Birthday

Photograph taken on Saturday, February 10, 2024 by Henry
Aria, Evan, Jed, and Maria

Aria, Evan, Jed, and Maria

We attended the birthday party for little Jed’s first birthday today and had a very nice time visiting with his parents and extended family. We’ve known Maria since she was a little older than Aria is now and have been blessed to watch her grow into the beautiful young woman she is. He wedding to Evan in 2019 was a lot of fun. Sadly they live too far away for us to see her very often, but we are happy for opportunities like this to get together.

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Mendenhall Puzzle

Photograph taken on Tuesday, February 06, 2024 by Henry
Mendenhall Puzzle

Mendenhall Puzzle

On June 6, 2023, I posted a photo of a common merganser (Mergus merganser) with ducklings on her back. They were swimming on Mendenhall Lake and it was taken at from the glacier overlook. Cathy and I really enjoyed that visit and in addition to the mergansers we saw arctic terns (Sterna paradisaea). Later that same day we returned to the Glacier with our friends Brian and Lisa. The overcast sky had partially cleared and there was a beautiful mix of blue and white, both overhead and in the reflections on the water.

I had this 1000-piece puzzle made from a photograph I took that evening and I’m really pleased with how it turned out. The sky was the hardest part although the water in the foreground was only marginally easier. With our love of puzzles, I think I might make more. But we have a few more waiting to be done, including one Brian and Lisa sent us recently with state flowers and birds.

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Hawk and Vulture

Photograph taken on Sunday, February 04, 2024 by Henry
Juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus)

Juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus)

Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus)

Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus)

As mentioned in the previous post, also from today, we stopped at the Izaak Walton League’s Lake Halcyon where I photographed three different duck species. From there we continued to the C&O Canal, parking at Violet’s Lock and walking down river past Blockhouse Point. We were treated right away to the first bird shown here, a juvenile sharp-shinned hawk (Accipiter striatus). He was fairly easy to spot because there were folks with binoculars looking up into the tree where he was perched.

It was a lovely day to be out, very bright and comfortably cool. Around Blockhouse Point we saw a pair of black vulturex (Coragyps atratus) enjoying the warmth from the sun. They were across the canal from us and seemed to be unconcerned with our presence. This photograph, in particular, I like. As we were walking back towards Violet’s lock, a couple with binoculars pointed out a bald eagle on a tree on an island in the river. It was pretty far away, but easily identifiable. We saw quite a few smaller birds, as well, but I didn’t get any photos of them. We saw a few turtles, too. When we got back to the parking area, what we assume was the same sharpie was in a different tree but in the same area.

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Margansers and Scaup

Photograph taken on Sunday, February 04, 2024 by Henry
Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus)

Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus)

Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)

Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)

We decided to go to the canal today but on the way we were passing the national headquarters of the Izaak Walton League on Muddy Branch Road and decided to stop and walk around Lake Halcyon on that property. It’s a nice little pond with woods on three sides and it’s not uncommon to see ducks there. We were blessed with three duck species. First we saw a pair of hooded mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus), which are fish-eating ducks. They were out in the middle of the pond but with my long lens I was able to get a decent shot of them. Then we saw a pair of lesser scaup (Aythya affinis), a type of diving duck. We also saw two pairs of mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). There were eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) in the trees around the pond, as well.

We see mergansers reasonably often but this is the first time I’ve seen scaup, so I considered that to be a real treat.

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Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

Photograph taken on Saturday, February 03, 2024 by Henry
Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

As the weather was so fine, we went for another walk today, this time at the Montgomery County Agricultural History Farm Park. The winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) was blooming in the shade garden and we walked through the Master Gardener’s demonstration garden, though there isn’t so much to see this time of year. There is one witchhazel that was blooming and oddly had all it’s dried leaves from last year still on it.

Then we walked around a large field and saw quite a few birds. We rarely go there without seeing at least a few eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) like the one shown here. We also saw what we think was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Corthylio calendula) although the photographs are inconclusive. We saw a few woodpeckers and a hawk fly by.

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Pavonia multiflora (Brazilian Candle Plant)

Photograph taken on Saturday, January 27, 2024 by Henry
Pavonia multiflora (Brazilian Candle Plant)

Pavonia multiflora (Brazilian Candle Plant)

We really needed to get out today. In the winter it’s not quite as easy to find growing things, but we are fortunate to live in an area where there are places to go on days like this. Brookside Gardens, described on the Montgomery Parks Web site as an “award-winning 50-acre public display garden within Wheaton Regional Park. Included in the gardens are several distinct areas: Aquatic Garden, Azalea Garden, Butterfly Garden, Children’s Garden, Rose Garden, Japanese Style Garden, Trial Garden, Rain Garden, and the Woodland Walk. The Formal Gardens areas include a Perennial Garden, Yew Garden, the Maple Terrace, and Fragrance Garden. Brookside Gardens also features two conservatories for year-round enjoyment. Admission to the gardens is free.” We spent time both in the conservatories and walking through the grounds. This Brazilian candle plant (Pavonia multiflora) in the first conservatory has very interesting flowers.

In the outdoor gardens, most things are still dormant but we were happy to see different varieties of Chinese witchhazel (Hamamelis mollis) in bloom. The snow drops (Galanthus nivalis) were also in bloom. We went there specifically hoping to see both of those.

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Snow

Photograph taken on Saturday, January 20, 2024 by Henry
Snow

Snow

We’ve had two moderate snow storms in the last week or so. Last weekend we got about five inches of snow. Then starting early Friday we got another four of five inches. When we got up Friday there was a little over an inch of new snow. We had to go about 2 miles for an appointment and at 7:15 the roads were a bit of a mess but we got there without much trouble. The roads were a bit better by the time we came home. The snow continued falling for most of the rest of the day. This photo was taken from out kitchen door the next morning and there was a little blue showing in the sky by then.

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Wildflower Puzzle

Photograph taken on Tuesday, January 16, 2024 by Henry
Wildflower Puzzle

Wildflower Puzzle

Shortly after Christmas we started a new puzzle (see Wednesday, December 27, 2023). We finished it last night. This was a fairly challenging puzzle due to a combination of reason. First, many of the pieces had nothing on them. Although the background color varied slightly over the width of the puzzle, it didn’t vary much. Furthermore, the pieces were almost all of roughly the same shape. Once we got all the pieces that had any color on them in place, there were about 50 pieces that were pure white. We did eventually get them all together, though. As you can see, there is one piece missing at the top of the white clover. I’m pretty sure we didn’t lose it, but these things happen.

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Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)

Photograph taken on Monday, January 15, 2024 by Henry
Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)

Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)

Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)

Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)

As mentioned in the previous post, we had a nice snowfall today, last most of the day and slowly accumulating to about four inches. We walked around part of Lake Frank early this afternoon, heading down Trailways from the neighborhood. We saw the downy woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) in the previous post in the woods at the bottom of Trailways.

From there we walked towards the dam, stopping to take a few pictures on the way. There were lots of sparrows and we saw dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis), white-breasted nuthatches (Sitta carolinensis), American robins (Turdus migratorius), northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) and a few eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis).

I was really pleased to see and photograph two hermit thrushes (Catharus guttatus). This is the second of those and it posed really nicely for me. It was eating the red berries in the second photo but unfortunately I wasn’t able to catch that properly. Still, I think these are pretty nice pictures and I’m happy with them.

By the time we got home my hat had a good layer of snow on the brim and my beard had some ice in it. Still, I was glad to get out and enjoy the birds.

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Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)

Photograph taken on Monday, January 15, 2024 by Henry
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)

Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)

Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)

Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)

We woke up to about three-quarters of an inch of snow this morning and it kept coming down lightly all day. It never really snowed very hard and there was very little wind, so it was actually quite pretty and nice to be out in it. In the early afternoon we went for a walk, heading down from the neighborhood to Lake Frank. We saw (and I photographed) a pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) on the way there and once in the park saw quite a few other small birds, including quite a few downy woodpeckers (Dryobates pubescens). This one moved from a tree to a grape vine and then let me get fairly close. I’m pretty pleased with these two photos, almost certainly the best I’ve taken of this bird species.

I could get pictures of these and many other birds in our yard fairly easily. Downy woodpeckers will almost certainly come if I were to put out suet for them. Nevertheless, there’s something special about getting them totally in the wild. It’s especially nice to get them on a snowy day, which allows a much lighter background than would otherwise be the case in the woods most of the time. The downy woodpecker and its second-cousin the hairy woodpecker (Leuconotopicus villosus) look much alike and at a glance it’s not always easy to tell them apart. The hairy is about 50% larger than the downy, which is especially useful if you see both of them at once. The other noticeable difference is the length of their bill. On the downy is is very short and stubby while on the hairy it is much longer relative to the size of the head.

Both are present but my experience is that the downy is considerably more common, at least in our area. They both can often be heard—drumming on a tree—long before they are seen.

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Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Photograph taken on Sunday, January 14, 2024 by Henry
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

We went to the C&O Canal today at Great Falls. It was in the mid-30s but we dressed appropriately and had a really nice walk. The river was relatively high and I got some nice pictures of the raging torrent. We didn’t see many small birds but saw three great blue herons (Ardea herodias), lots of mallards (Ardea herodias), and one sharp-shinned hawk (Accipiter striatus). Between the wind and the noise of the water we couldn’t really hear birds, even if they were there. Two of the herons we saw (which may have been the same bird two hours apart) were on the side of the river. This one, however, was in the canal, behind some cattails.

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New Year’s Day

Photograph taken on Monday, January 01, 2024 by Henry
New Year's Day Gathering Participants

New Year’s Day Gathering Participants

Many January firsts since 2004 we have gotten together with Amy and her family. Other guests have varied over the years and we’ve missed a few years (like last year, when Cathy got Covid at the end of December). A few things have been very consistent, including having fondue for the meal. Today’s meal included both cheese fondue and chocolate fondue for dessert. We decided to forego the meat fondue because Jon smoked a large piece of beef instead. Choosing between smoked meat and meat fondue is something of a toss up, but we made a good choice. We also had two new attendees this year. Carly, Jon’s wife of about a year and a half and their little one graced us with their presence. It’s great to start a year off with a relaxing time catching up with friends, even if much of the conversation these days seems to be centered around caring for parents or personal medical issues. Regardless, here’s wishing you a very happy new year.

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