Creatures

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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Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, September 16, 2025 by Henry
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)

There are hundreds of species of hummingbirds that nest in the American tropics, and more than a dozen in the western U.S., but east of the Great Plains there is only the Ruby-throat (Archilochus colubris). Cathy has been putting up feeders for them and each year it seems she gets more and more of them. They are particularly numerous during the fall migration when we see them most days, although probably not the same one from day to day. This was one of the last that we saw this year. They seemed to particularly like the jewel weed or touch-me-not flowers (Impatiens capensis). Not a great photo but still, fun.

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Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

Photograph taken on Sunday, September 14, 2025 by Henry
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

We took a walk at Sandy Spring today, starting from the Friends Meeting House and walking to the spring and into the field and woods beyond. Sometimes we see a lot of birds here and other times, none at all. Today we got one nice view of this eastern phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) and that’s about it. It’s a pleasant walk, in any case, and we often go there after visiting Cathy’s mom, because it’s near by. The phoebe is a migrant but we are at the southern edge of their summer range and not far north of their winter range, so they are fairly common most of the year.

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Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

Photograph taken on Thursday, September 11, 2025 by Henry
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

We walked at Redgate Park this afternoon. This used to be the municipal Redgate Golf Course and the paths are the cart paths from that. There are some nice ponds, and that’s where we saw this kildeer (Charadrius vociferus). Other than that, we didn’t see too much, but it’s a nice place with a few nice specimen trees. The fairways are mostly overgrown with thistle and other weeds, but that’s a good habitat for birds. We heard a lot more than we saw and those we saw were mostly just shapes flitting around in the brush and not easily identified. But this fellow (or lady, I have no idea) was out in the open and let us get close enough for a good view.

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Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Photograph taken on Saturday, August 30, 2025 by Henry
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

We went to the C&O Canal today, parking at Violet’s Lock, and walked down stream past Blockhouse Point. We saw this great blue heron (Ardea herodias) on our way down and again on our way back. We sat on the wall next to the towpath near Blockhouse Point and chatted with a man cycling from Maryland back to his home in Ohio. His plans were to stop for a few days for a jazz festival in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He shared some pawpaws that he had collected. We had looked for them but hadn’t found any that were not still on the tree and not yet ripe. He also asked us if we’d ever tasted tamarind. I had but let him give us a few pods, which we broke open and ate. A bit further on I also got a few photos of a pair of black vultures (Coragyps atratus).

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McKee-Beshers Birds

Photograph taken on Saturday, August 09, 2025 by Henry
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens)

Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens)

Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

We had a nice walk at McKee-Beshers today. We first walked to fields 3 and 4, which were planted with sunflowers this year. It’s a bit of a walk, almost 7⁄8 of a mile, getting nearly to the river. The two big sunflower fields were well past peak bloom. The sunflower heads were there but almost all turned downwards. We heard quite a few birds but didn’t see all that many. We heard a lot of goldfinches and indigo buntings, as well as cardinals, but we also heard a yellow-billed cuckoo, which was a treat. I’d have been surprised if we had actually seen that. I got this photo of a red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) circling overhead and a few nice photos of this eastern wood-pewee (Contopus virens). We returned to the car and then want to the shallow ponds at the western end of Hunting Quarter Road where we saw this green heron (Butorides virescens).

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Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis

Photograph taken on Friday, August 01, 2025 by Henry
Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)

Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)

Cathy and I drove to the eastern end of Ocean Isle this afternoon. First we went to the pier at Ferry Landing Park. This area was closed for renovations after Hurricane Isaias damaged the pier in 2020 and didn’t open again until the very end of 2024. After a short visit there, we parked and walked on the beach. Between November 2021 and April 2022, a groin was constructed perpendicular to the beach at the eastern end of the island. This has dramatically improved the beach stability. We looked for (and found) some pieces of coral as we walked. I carried my long lens and took a few pictures, including some of a double-crested cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) at the end of the groin and a few of this flying brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis).

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Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, July 29, 2025 by Henry
Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris)

Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris)

After going to Alligator Pond (see previous post), we continued just into South Carolina to Vereen Memorial Park. This is a relaxing little park with trails through the woods and boardwalks through the marsh to two islands. I got some nice photos of a great egret (Ardea alba). Then, as we were out on the first of the two islands I hear a painted bunting (Passerina ciris) and found it in the top of a small tree. It’s tricky to get a good photo of a bird against the bright sky, but this one turned out reasonably well.

We also saw (and I photographed) eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis), a downy woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens), a Carolina wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus), and heard but did not see a brown-headed nuthatch (Sitta pusilla).

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Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, July 29, 2025 by Henry
Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)

Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)

We went to Alligator Pond (a.k.a. the Carl Bazemore Bird Walk) again today. We saw the anhinga again but not close. We did, however, see an alligator as well as an adult and juvenile common gallinule (Gallinula galeata). They were moving around quite a bit but I was able to get close enough to get a pretty good photo of each of them. This is the adult bird. Of the two alligators we saw, one of them was quite close, lying on the surface in a clump of weeds and very well camouflaged. But it was close enough we weren’t going to miss it. I got some photos of that, as well.

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Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)

Photograph taken on Sunday, July 27, 2025 by Henry
Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)

Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)

Cathy and I went to the Carl Bazemore Bird Walk on what we call Alligator Pond on Shoreline Drive, west of the bridge to Sunset Beach. We saw a few alligators in the distance as well as a few birds. The most interesting thing was this anhinga (Anhinga anhinga), catching fish quite close to us. The first fish we saw it catch was small. Then, however, it landed a pretty good size fish (it looks like a bluegill). I got a few shots of it swallowing the fish, so I can confirm that it was an entirely successful catch.

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Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)

Photograph taken on Saturday, July 05, 2025 by Henry
Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)

Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)

Cathy and I took a walk from the Sandy Spring Friends Meeting to Sandy Spring this afternoon. We saw and heard quite a few birds today, which we don’t always do on this particular walk. In particular, we heard and then saw a Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) but my camera refused to focus on it so sadly I was unable to get a photograph. I did get this photo of an eastern kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus), however, and I think it’s a pretty good one. I also got half-decent photos of an indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea), a few red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus), and a few pretty blurry photos of a nuthatch (not even good enough to know if it was red- or white-breasted).

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Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)

Photograph taken on Sunday, June 15, 2025 by Henry
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)

Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)

We went to Pennyfield Lock on the C&O Canal today, walking upstream just a little less than 2 miles. We took it fairly slowly and stopped to listen for—and even occasionally photograph—birds. The Merlin app identified four vireos (red-eyed, white-eyed, warbling, and yellow-throated), as well as indigo buntings, orchard oriole, and a few different fly- and gnat-catchers. I got a few nice photos of a great egret (Ardea alba), a couple great blue herons (Ardea herodias) and this turkey vulture (Cathartes aura). I also got photos that aren’t all that good but at least allowed me to identify a ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris), an immature male orchard oriole (Icterus spurius), an indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea), and some black vultures (Coragyps atratus). The three smaller birds were way up in tree tops so the photos were not very good at all. Google lens tried to convince me that the orchard oriole was an Asian golden weaver (Ploceus hypoxanthus). Even when I included ‘Maryland’ in my description, it insisted that the picture was not from Maryland because that bird doesn’t exist here. The Merlin app did a better job with it.

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Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

Photograph taken on Sunday, June 01, 2025 by Henry
Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

We went to the Agricultural History Farm Park today and, among other things, we saw a lot of eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis). We also saw a couple song sparrows (Melospiza melodia), European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), a mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos), and an eastern kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus). Not bad for a short visit. The photos of the bluebirds turned out quite well, I think showing off their colors really nicely. This is probably out best place to go to see those, although we’ve seen them even in our neighborhood.

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Birds at McKee-Beshers

Photograph taken on Sunday, May 18, 2025 by Henry
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)

Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)

Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius)

Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius)

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)

Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)

Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)

Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)

Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea)

Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea)

Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

After the last two weeks, Cathy and I really needed a break. The trip to the National Arboretum was wonderful but even that was a place with lots of people. Today we went to McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area, out River Road.

We didn’t really know what to expect but it turned out to be one of our most fruitful bird outings ever, with thses nine birds photographed and a half dozen more seen and heard. We are big fans of the Merlin app by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Having that listen for and identify birds by their song helped us find birds we might not have otherwise seen. I recognized the oreole songs and of course the red-winged blackbird, but I never would have found the red-headed woodpecker or the prothonotary warbler. The night heron was actually at the C&O Canal near Riley’s Lock.

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