Creatures

Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)

Photograph taken on Sunday, June 07, 2026 by Henry
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)

Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)

After church today we blew off some things we felt we should do and instead went for a walk at the Agricultural History Farm Park. We started, as we usually do, at the shade and demonstration gardens. Then, instead of walking over towards the barn and house, we walked down to the small stream that runs into Rock Creek just below the bridge for the road into the park. There is a place where a trail fords that stream and leads to a trail around a large field and also connects to the Redlands Rock Creek Trail after crossing Muncaster Road. It was quite hot today and we tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. Around that area there was a fair amount of bird activity and it was fairly shady, so we loitered there for a while.

Cathy turned on the Merlin app, which at one point heard a cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum). Although I didn’t really expect to see one, it suddently flew across the trail and landed in the shade of a juniper. It’s quite back-lit, making this the best I could do, but it’s pretty clear what the bird is, anyway.

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White-breasted Nuthatches (Sitta carolinensis)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, June 02, 2026 by Henry
White-breasted Nuthatches (Sitta carolinensis)

White-breasted Nuthatches (Sitta carolinensis)

After visiting Cathy’s mom early this afternoon, we took a walk from Sandy Spring Friends Meeting down past the actual spring and then to where the trail to Woodlawn Manor crosses the creak at the bottom of the field. It was the heat of the day and fairly warm so we weren’t too surprised that we didn’t hear, much less see many birds. We heard a few down by the creek but we saw nothing. As we were heading back, however, we saw movement and stopped to watch a group of at least four (and maybe five or six) white-breasted nuthatches (Sitta carolinensis). They were on a tree at first and then two of them were on this wooden fence. The one on the left is the adult and it was bringing an insect to the juvenile on the right.

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Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

Photograph taken on Monday, June 01, 2026 by Henry
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

We returned from the wedding yesterday and early this morning Brian and I took Allie to BWI Airport for her flight back out west. Later in the day, Brian, Lisa, Cathy, and I went to Great Falls. We walked to the Olmsted Island overlook and saw two great blue herons (Ardea herodias) down below the falls. From there we walked to the area of the C&O Canal known as Wide Water. It was a lovely day, a bit warmer than the day of the wedding, but still not so hot that it was oppressive.

As is fairly common when the four of us are together, Cathy and Lisa walked ahead of Brian and me, partly because I stop occasionally to take pictures. Aside from the herons (and we saw a few more on the canal), we didn’t see many birds. Just as we were getting back to near Great Falls Tavern I got three shots of this eastern phoebe (Sayornis phoebe), which is fairly common but still nice to see. Phoebe’s have a special place in my heart, because there have been phoebes nesting on boards that my dad put up under the eaves of our cabin pretty much every year since it was built. I also have an ancestor who was named Phebe, although I know that it was spelled differently.

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Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum)

Photograph taken on Thursday, May 21, 2026 by Henry
Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum)

Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum)

I found this tick on my and decided to take a few pictures. I started by putting it under the microscope, but the lowest power of that wouldn’t let me get the entire tick in the frame, so they are less helpful in trying to identify it. The depth of field was also quite low through the microscope (which is to be expected). So, I switched to a 24mm lens attached to a bellows on my camera. The bellows was for my old, non-autofocus Canon cameras (F-1 and A-1). With a lens mount converter, I’m able to mount it on my autofocus EOS 90D. The body on the EOS is thicker than the F-1, meaning that any old lens I attach won’t be able to focus to infinity, but since this is a macro shot, that doesn’t matter. It was identified as a nymph of the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum)

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Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, May 19, 2026 by Henry
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)

We don’t actively follow the birding web sites but Cathy happened to be looking at one yesterday and it mentioned that there were some swans on the pond near the Blue Mash Trail. We figured our chances of them being there today were low, but not zero, and we decided we’d go there, anyway. As expected, there was nothing on the pond. We did see orioles, however, and quite a few tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor), mostly around the bluebird boxes, most of which seem to have been taken by the swallows. This one let me get quite close and this is a full frame photo.

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Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)

Photograph taken on Sunday, May 17, 2026 by Henry
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)

Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)

We walked on Seneca Bluffs Trail today, parking in the area on Montevideo Road between River Road and Rocklands Farm Winery. We walked downstream, although for most of that part of the trail Seneca Creek isn’t very visible. This section of the trail is on the top of the bluffs in fairly deep woods. We heard quite a few different birds, including several vireos. One bird that we didn’t hear but then suddenly saw, was this yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus). It flew across the trail ahead of us and landed behind some branches. I got a few pretty poor photos of it there before it flew to this more exposed location. The strong back-lighting takes away considerably from the photo, but I was still excited to get what I got. These are not the easiest birds to spot in the woods.

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Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)

Photograph taken on Sunday, May 10, 2026 by Henry
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)

Today’s walk was along the C&O Canal from Violet’s Lock, upstream from Great Falls. It was raining as we drove there but stopped before we got to the parking area. As we started walking, however, the rain picked up again and we returned to the car to get an umbrella. We were glad we did, because it rained quite hard for a while. I don’t mind getting wet so much but I worried about my camera and long lens. After the rain stopped, the birds started singing and we heard quite a few. We saw a Baltimore oriole (Icterus galbula) and I got some photos of that, but it was a long ways away so they aren’t that great. This one, of the blue-gray gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea), though, I think is nice.

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Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, May 05, 2026 by Henry
Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)

Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)

Today we walked through Flower Valley Park and then along Rock Creek to Lake Frank. On the Rock Creek trail we heard and then saw this eastern towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus). We hear them quite often but don’t usually get to see them, much less when they are so openly visible and close. When we got to Lake Frank we saw a family of wood ducks (Aix sponsa) with quite a few ducklings, an osprey (Pandion haliaetus), and the quite a few solitary sandpipers (Tringa solitaria). It was very humid and warm, but as usual, we were glad to get out into the woods.

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Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

Photograph taken on Friday, May 01, 2026 by Henry
Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

Cathy and I happened to be driving to Hyattsville today to drop off a package for a friend and decided to go to Greenbelt Park and then Lake Artemesia. Greenbelt Park is nice, but a fair drive from home, so not somewhere we are likely to go unless we’re already in the area. Lake Artemesia is also nice, although with the train tracks running beside it, it wasn’t as quietly peaceful as it might have been. Still, for a suburban park, it was nice and there were a lot of folks enjoying it. We saw a few birds including an oriole (but I didn’t get any photos of that). This eastern bluebird Sialia sialis posed nicely for me on a post as we were returning to our car.

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Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, April 28, 2026 by Henry
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)

Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)

Today we drove to the Locust Grove Nature Center on Democracy Boulevard and walked down to Cabin John Creek, which we then followed north as far as where the creek crosses the power line cut south of Tuckerman Lane. We considered ourselves fortunate to see this belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) perched over the stream. I was able to get two acceptable photos before it flew off not to be seen again by us. It was pretty far away and this is cropped from the full size image, which is the main reason it’s not as sharp as I’d like. Still, it was a nice walk.

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Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Photograph taken on Wednesday, April 22, 2026 by Henry
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Cathy volunteers with the county park’s archaeology group one day a week and after she did that today, she took a walk in the woods nearby. When she came home she suggested I go with my camera. I heard three birds that I’d love to photograph but never caught even a glimpse of them. Those were the yellow-throated warblers (Setophaga dominica), pine warblers (Setophaga pinus), and northern parulas (Setophaga americana). I did see a few norther cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), which are among our most common and most easily seen birds. I also saw and photographed a few blue-gray gnatcatchers (Polioptila caerulea), which are easy to hear and often hard to find.

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Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, April 21, 2026 by Henry
Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea)

Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea)

One of the best things about being retired is that we can go places during the day that we used to only visit on weekends. That’s what we did today, heading out to McKee-Beshers in Poolesville and parking at the furthest parking area on Hunting Quarter Road, near the dog training pond. There were a few others out with long lenses, as apparently a few notable birds had been spotted there recently. We aren’t monitoring those lists regularly so for us, it was just good luck that we happened to see this prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea). We also saw (and I photographed) a greater yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca), an American coot (Fulica americana), and a solitary sandpiper (Tringa solitaria), birds we don’t generally see this far inland. The coot was sitting on a nest.

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Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)

Photograph taken on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 by Henry
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)

Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)

Just as I did yesterday, I sat outside to eat my breakfast this morning. I enjoyed the birds singing all around. There was a tiny blue-gray gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) that landed pretty close to me but at that point I didn’t have my camera with me. Later, when I did this tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) moved around in the trees just into the woods. This isn’t as sharp as I’d like, but it’s certainly good enough to identify the bird, which is sort of the lowest level of bird photography. I have to admit that I have a lot more at this level than I do at what I might describe as the pretty good level and even fewer of the field-guide level photos.

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Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, April 14, 2026 by Henry
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

After having breakfast this morning, I was sitting outside, enjoying the morning bird songs. Glancing down across the pond I saw this osprey in a tree. I had my camera and took it down to the near side of the pond and got a few pictures. While I was there it flew, tried to catch a fish (but didn’t seem to get one), and returned to its perch. I walked around onto the dam and although this was taken through the branches of a nearer tree, I think it’s the best of my pictures before it flew off. I also heard quite a few turkeys in the woods this morning.

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Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)

Photograph taken on Sunday, March 29, 2026 by Henry
Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)

Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)

We went to the Agricultural History Farm Park today. As usual we started in the woodland shade garden and then moved into the Master Gardeners’ demonstration garden. There wasn’t a lot in the way of plant life yet there, but things are starting to show signs of spring. There was, however, this mourning cloak butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa), which is not one I’ve seen very often. It’s a pretty thing, I think. Very different to the swallowtails and quite distinctive (meaning no disrespect to the swallowtails, they’re nice, too, but we see them everywhere).

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Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)

Photograph taken on Saturday, March 21, 2026 by Henry
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)

Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)

We took a walk from Sandy Spring Friends Meeting to Sandy Spring and then down to the creek today. We didn’t see a lot of birds at first. When we were at the very bottom of the field we saw three red-shouldered hawks (Buteo lineatus) and I was able to get this photo of one of them, which turned out pretty well. We also saw an eastern phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) catching insects around the creek, which was nice. A little later there were three red-bellied woodpeckers (Melanerpes carolinus) making quite a racket in the trees and we got a pretty good look at them. Back into the field and we didn’t see much else, but we felt like we got our money’s worth, anyway.

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Birds on Seneca Greenway Trail

Photograph taken on Friday, March 13, 2026 by Henry
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)

White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia siali)

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia siali)

 

We were in the northern part of Gaithersburg this afternoon and after the errands we had, we decided to walk a little way on the Seneca Creek Greenway Trail, walking north (upstream) from MD 355 (Frederick Road). We saw quite a few eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) and I got what I consider a pretty nice photo of a white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis). We walked a little over 2 miles up the trail, stopping about a half mile short of where the trail meets Watkins Mill Road. As we were coming back I got a few photos of an eastern phoebe (Sayornis phoebe), including this one of it taking off, which I really like.

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Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)

Photograph taken on Wednesday, March 11, 2026 by Henry
Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)

Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)

Cathy has started working with the county parks archaeology group this spring and they meet at the Needwood Mansion on Wednesdays. Today I met her there after they were done and we took a walk on the western side of Lake Needwood. We saw this pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) briefly and I was able to get one shot before it flew away. Later we saw quite a few double-crested cormorants (Nannopterum auritum) diving and catching fish, but the photos I took of them didn’t really turn out well. It’s tricky because when the go under, there’s really no telling where they will come up. If I’m looking through the long lens, I’m liable to miss them but if I’m not, it takes me a little while to find them and focus and by that time, they’ve generally swallowed the fish. Disclaimer: This image was a little blurry but I had Google Gemini sharpen it up for me.

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Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)

Photograph taken on Monday, March 09, 2026 by Henry
Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)

Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)

We went to Redgate Park, formerly Redgate Golf Course, this afternoon. We took Margo with us, which made taking pictures a little harder. Also, I had my camera set to manual exposure control and the setting were all wrong, so this photo was almost ruinously washed out. Because I shoot in RAW format, I was able to salvage it, though, so at least it’s an easily identifiable bird. This is an eastern towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus), which is fairly common here, but not easily seen, as they tend to be somewhat secretive. This one was on the ground under some pine trees and stayed there long enough for me to get ten shots, but unfortunately it wasn’t until just after the last of them that I noticed my settings were wrong.

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Eagle on Frozen Lake Needwood

Photograph taken on Wednesday, March 04, 2026 by Henry
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

In my last post I mentioned that we saw a bald eagle on a small island next to Roosevelt Island but I didn’t get any photos of it. Today we took a short walk on the trail on the west side of Lake Needwood, which has still got ice on about half of it. Cathy spotted this eagle standing on the ice and I was able to get a reasonably good shot of it before it flew up into the trees at the far southern end of the lake. A little later it flew past us again, heading north and out of sight. There was no chance of getting a photo of it flying, though, because there were trees between us and it.

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Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)

Photograph taken on Saturday, February 21, 2026 by Henry
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)

Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)

We went to Great Falls today. The ice and snow is finally gone and although there were some wet spots on the towpath, it wasn’t particularly muddy. After walking out to Olmsted Island and back, we saw this red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) eating something that we couldn’t quite see. It’s fairly well camouflaged against the background, so a lot of folks had been walking by without stopping. My telephoto lens told them that there was something to see and then a lot of folks stopped to watch. These are beautiful birds, quite graceful in flight. They are, however, much easier to photograph well when they aren’t flying. These are a little smaller than their cousins, the somewhat more common (here, anyway) red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis).

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Witch Hazel (Hamamelis)

Photograph taken on Thursday, February 19, 2026 by Henry
Witch Hazel (Hamamelis)

Witch Hazel (Hamamelis)

If you’re looking for blooms in February in our area, the witch hazels (Hamamelis species and hybrids) are one of the best shrubs to find. Their flowers come in yellow, orange, and red. Planted in a sunny spot, they really can light up a winter landscape. This one, in the demonstration garden at the Agricultural History Farm Park holds its leaves all winter, although that’s not something I’ve seen on most others. There are quite a few at Brookside Gardens and along the road into the Meadowside Nature Center park. All are great treats this time of year.

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Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)

Photograph taken on Sunday, January 25, 2026 by Henry
Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)

Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)

After our walk, I set up my tripod and camera on the back porch. Most of the patio and outdoor area is exposed but there is a small area that’s covered and I sat there to watch for birds on the birdbaths, which have heaters in them to keep them from freezing. I got photos of a dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis), a blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata), a few European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) but my favorite photo is this one of a hermit thrush (Catharus guttatus). We don’t see them very often, although Merlin hears them from time to time, especially when we walk around Lake Frank.

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Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

Photograph taken on Saturday, December 20, 2025 by Henry
Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

We walked a little in the Agricultural History Farm Park today. There were birds around the demonstration garden, and I got a few pictures of eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) and dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis). This is a bluebird, of course, which I really like. We see both of these birds in our yard, as well. The juncos are here in the winter, traveling farther north for breeding, but the bluebirds are here year round, which is a treat.

Once we wandered from the garden, we didn’t see many birds, but it was still a nice day to be out, with billowy clouds and cool breezes.

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Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

Photograph taken on Saturday, November 29, 2025 by Henry
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

We went out to McKee-Beshers today, hoping to see a few birds. I saw and got a handful of photos of this red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) flying overhead but that’s pretty much all we saw. We heard a few birds but either didn’t see them or they were too far away to get a good look at, even through my long lens.

We did walk around and out towards the beaver lodge. It’s not clear if it’s actively in use, although there did seem to be some sign of recent activity. It was a beautiful day, in any case, and it’s great to be outdoors on days like that, especially when it’s cold and we tend to stay in doors. Being out in the sun is good medicine. Seeing hawks soaring is also pretty nice. We’ll be back here, probably a few more times, before spring but then especially once the spring season brings so many more birds back (see Sunday, May 18, 2025 for my best birding day at McKee-Beshers).

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Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)

Photograph taken on Sunday, November 23, 2025 by Henry
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)

We walked to Sandy Spring today after visiting Cathy’s mom. We didn’t see much to speak of but I did get this slightly soft photo of a yellow-rumped warbler (Setophaga coronata) as we were heading back out. This is our most common winter warbler. We’re on the northern end of it’s winter range and the southern end (or just south of) it’s breeding range. It’s easily identified by it’s yellow rump, seen here, although it’s often hidden when perching.

We also saw them in Oregon last year, and I got a few nice photos of those, which can be seen on my posts for Wednesday, September 18 and Thursday, September 19, 2024.

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Retirement Pig

Photograph taken on Saturday, September 27, 2025 by Henry
Retirement Pig

Retirement Pig

Dorothy and her friends (but mostly Dorothy) planned a harvest festival at the land in Pennsylvania. Once I had announced my retirement at the end of September, she made it a combination harvest feast and retirement pig roast. She had met someone who enjoyed cooking and roasting in particular, and he agreed to cook a whole pig in an pit. They dug the pit, lined it with stones, and built a large fire over it. When the fire had died down, they lowered the pig, wrapped in banana leaves and burlap and tied up with fence wire, into the hole, covering it with dirt.

It had two temperature probes in it, so they could monitor the process. It was in the ground for a long time (I don’t actually know how long, but I think it was more than 12 hours). Anyway, when it had reached the desired temperature, it was dug up, unwrapped, and cut into pieces.

I was given the first piece to taste. It was very, very juicy and flavorful. Of course, I love pork of any kind, so I’m pretty easy to please. Anyway, it was very good.

Dorothy had contacted quite a few of my friends and I had quite a few there to celebrate with me. I was only sorry that I wasn’t able to spend more time with each of them. I felt stretched quite think. But it was a very nice day and a good way to celebrate retirement. A huge thank you to Dorothy and to all who came.

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Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus)

Photograph taken on Friday, September 26, 2025 by Henry
Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus)

Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus)

We have eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) living in both the front and back yards. At least, we’ve seen them in both front and back. It’s possible they just cover more ground than I suspect. Anyway, we see them on our back patio, like this one coming to the bird bath for a drink, as well as on the driveway, among all Cathy’s containers plants. They don’t do a significant amount of damage to our plants, although I suspect I should dislike having them more than I do.

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Monarch (Danaus plexippus)

Photograph taken on Monday, September 22, 2025 by Henry
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)

This monarch (Danaus plexippus) was in our front yard this afternoon, although I had a hard time getting a good photo of it. When it was in the sun, where it would have looked better, it only landed for a moment and even in the shade, as shown here on some blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum) in only landed briefly. I was able to squeeze out two or three shots and this is the best of them.

Cathy’s brothers both left today, after visiting for their mom’s birthday. We had a nice visit with them and they all enjoyed talking about old times.

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Black and Yellow Argiope (Argiope aurantia)

Photograph taken on Sunday, September 21, 2025 by Henry
Black and Yellow Argiope (Argiope aurantia)

Black and Yellow Argiope (Argiope aurantia)

I have a container on our back patio with a couple dahlias in it. They were given to me by a neighbor who grows them because I gave him some that came from our friend Anna a couple years ago, shortly after they moved in. Anyway, from that container to the one next to it there is a large spider web, built by this black and yellow argiope (Argiope aurantia), also known as the yellow garden spider.

If it looks huge to you, well, it’s pretty big. There are bigger spiders as you head south and it’s nothing compared to some tropical spiders, but fo9r our area, it’s pretty large. The females (like this one) can measure up to 25mm in length (not counting the legs), while males are only 5 or 6mm in length.

They make a very distinctive zigzag pattern called a stabilimentum (reinforced area) in the center of their web.

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