Creatures

Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, December 27, 2022 by Henry
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)

Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)

I went out to visit Dorothy today and help her a little with some brush clearing that she’s doing. I cut some small trees and helped her pull out some greenbrier (Smilax species). My back was bothering me a bit so I took a few breaks and on one of those I took three photos of this northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos). They are quite gregarious birds and not nearly as shy as many other birds, which makes them a little easier to photograph. Nevertheless, I think I could do better than this with a little more patience and possibly a more comfortable position for my camera.

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Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Photograph taken on Saturday, December 17, 2022 by Henry
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

We went to Great Falls today and walked downstream on the towpath. We went out to the overlook and enjoyed the roaring water, which was considerably higher than the last time we were at the river. I got a few photos of two immature bald eagles flying overhead. Then further along the towpath we got a really nice view of this great blue heron (Ardea herodias) in the canal. There was, apparently, another down at wide-water, but we decided we had walked far enough and headed back. This one was catching what appear to be crayfish or some other sort of fresh water crustacean. He (or she) didn’t seem to mind the attention from the shore and let a lot of folks get photos.

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Wild Turkeys in Rockville

Photograph taken on Monday, December 12, 2022 by Henry
Wild Turkeys

Wild Turkeys

I went to the office a little early this morning. When I got there, there was a car partially pulled into a parking space, which I thought was a little odd. I parked and then went to get my camera bag from my trunk. The car pulled out and was about to leave when the driver stopped and told me there were a pair of wild turkeys just into the woods. I got my long lens and, as quietly as I could, headed into the woods. They were a little shy of my presence and I wasn’t able to get close to them, but I got two photos that at least show that they are, indeed, turkeys. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen wild turkeys in Montgomery County. I don’t know that I’ve ever actually seen them in Rockville. This isn’t really a good photo, but it’s all I was able to get through the underbrush. I circled around to get them from the other side, but they were gone before I could get there.

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Spider, Flower, and Bird

Photograph taken on Sunday, November 06, 2022 by Henry
Araneus marmoreus (Marbled Orbweaver)

Araneus marmoreus (Marbled Orbweaver)

Tricyrtis (Toad Lily)

Tricyrtis (Toad Lily)

Sialia sialis (Eastern Bluebird)

Sialia sialis (Eastern Bluebird)

After church today we went to the Agricultural History Farm Park for a little while. It was a beautiful fall day and a great day to be outdoors. We didn’t really feel like taking a long walk, though. We started, as we so often do, by walking around the shade garden next to (and part of) the fenced Master Gardeners demonstration garden. This spider, a marbled orbweaver (Araneus marmoreus) was there, sitting in the middle of her web (I don’t actually know this is a female). I know not everyone is enamoured of spiders but you have to admit, this little creature is quite beautiful in its own way.

For those of you who prefer flowers or birds to spiders, I’m posting two more photos. In the shade garden not far from the spider was the toad lily (Tricyrtis) seen in the second photograph. I’m a big fan of anything blooming in November, but I’ve never had much success getting this to grow in our garden. Seeing it here made me want to try once more, because it’s really very lovely.

We walked around the demonstration garden and I took a few more photographs there. Then Cathy walked over towards the barn and house and I moved the car there. I sat under a tree and took a few photos of birds and the third photo here—an eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis)—is the best (I think) of those. Even with my long lens zoomed all the way out I had to crop this photo a bit. I’m hoping to do better but thought I’d share this one now, anyway.

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Pseudemys rubriventris​ (Northern Red-bellied Cooter)

Photograph taken on Saturday, October 15, 2022 by Henry
Pseudemys rubriventris​ (Northern Red-bellied Cooter)

Pseudemys rubriventris​ (Northern Red-bellied Cooter)

Cathy and I walked on the canal today, heading northwest (upstream) from Pennyfield Lock, getting near Blockhouse Point. We saw a Great Blue Heron and I got a few photos of that but thought this photo of a northern red-bellied cooter (Pseudemys rubriventris​) deserved to be seen. These are large basking turtles and are fairly common along the canal, along with the smaller eastern painted turtle (Chrysemys picta picta). Often, and especially from a distance, the color pattern on these turtles isn’t easily seen. This one, however, was particularly vivid and with the help of my long lens (zoomed to 531mm, according to the exif data), I was able to get quite close.

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Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens)

Photograph taken on Sunday, August 28, 2022 by Henry
Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens)

Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens)

It was a busy day today, starting with a church picnic and service at Bohrer Park in Gaithersburg. We had to leave that early, though, to get to Poolesville for the memorial service for a long-time, family friend. It was a really nice service, in spite of the heat in the tiny church. We went to the family home and visited with folks for a while. When we left there, we stopped at McKee Beshers Wildlife Management Area and walked a little while. I only took a few photos but I think this one of an eastern wood-pewee (Contopus virens), a small flycatcher, is pretty nice.

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Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme)

Photograph taken on Saturday, August 20, 2022 by Henry
Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme)

Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme)

We were back at the Ag. History Farm Park today. I mostly took photos of butterflies and managed to get a pretty good shot of this sulphur. They tend not to stay in one place very long but this one gave me a pretty good opportunity. I’m not sure which species of sulphur this is and there are quite a few that are fairly similar. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s a species of Colias, but I’m really not sure. In any case, it was a beautiful day, not as hot as it’s been, and we were very happy to be outdoors.

Update: it’s been identified as an orange sulphur (Colias eurytheme).

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Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)

Photograph taken on Saturday, August 13, 2022 by Henry
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)

Cathy and I went to the Montgomery County Agricultural History Farm Park this afternoon and enjoyed the butterflies on the flowers. After being really overgrown during ‘the summer of covid’ it’s back in good shape this year and really lovely now. There were lots of skippers and I saw what I suspect was a fritillary but I really didn’t get a good enough look at it. It was the right color and size, though. There were both ‘standard’ and the dark-morph females. There was also a monarch flitting around but never let me get very close. The sulphurs and whites were likewise fairly skittish. So, I was pleased to get this one.

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Sphinx Moth (Hemaris sp.)

Photograph taken on Friday, August 12, 2022 by Henry
Sphinx Moth (Hemaris sp.)

Sphinx Moth (Hemaris sp.)

We happened to see this sphinx moth (Hemaris sp.) in our front garden this evening. The light was low so I wasn’t able to get as much depth of field as I’d have liked. I prefer not to use the built-in flash on my camera but sometimes it’s the only way to get a decent photo and I think this one turned out well enough. They are especially hard to photograph while flying and in low light but it was nice enough to land for me. These are fairly common visitors to our garden. Not like swallowtails and skippers, but something we see often enough. They are most commonly drawn to the buddleia bushes. This one, however, had been on the Verbena bonariensis.

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Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

Photograph taken on Friday, August 05, 2022 by Henry
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

There’s a golf course a little way towards South Carolina from where we stay at the beach that has a pond we call Alligator Pond. There is a pull-off and a boardwalk that overlooks the pond, although there’s so much growing up between the boardwalk and the pond it’s mostly a lost cause. But there is a small opening in the bushes and we often see alligators there. As we pulled in I looked up and saw a bald eagle flying away from the pond. It was gone long before I could get to my camera. There were, however, two ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) that circled for quite a while and I was able to get one pretty decent photo. We also did see an alligator and around the pond were both egrets and wood storks.

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Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)

Photograph taken on Thursday, August 04, 2022 by Henry
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)

Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)

Since the last time we were at the beach, the town of Shallotte has created a small park called Shallotte Riverwalk. Cathy and I decided to check it out in the hopes of seeing some water birds. I think going at low tide would be better but it was still worth a visit. We saw an egret and a great blue heron but both a fair way off, so no pictures of those. The only bird I was able to get a good photo of was this tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) in a tree.

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Atlantic Ghost Crab (Ocypode quadrata)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, August 02, 2022 by Henry
Atlantic Ghost Crab (Ocypode quadrata)

Atlantic Ghost Crab (Ocypode quadrata)

Cathy and I walked west on the beach this morning and I stopped to take a few pictures, including pictures of two different crabs. This one is an Atlantic ghost crab (Ocypode quadrata), which is generally nocturnal. They burrow down as much as four feet into the sand to stay out of the hot sun, but occasionally they come out and can be seen. The other crab we saw was some species of spider crab. I also got pictures of a jellyfish on the sand, a grackle with a piece of crab in it’s beak, and some brown pelicans flying overhead.

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Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)

Photograph taken on Monday, August 01, 2022 by Henry
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)

Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)

We did a few different things today. Late in the morning, Cathy, Dot, Tsai-Hong, and I took Silas and Eloise to the new playground near the island’s town center. They enjoyed climbing, sliding, and the playing in the fountain. A little later, Cathy and I went to the old ferry landing near the eastern end of the island and I photographed some wading birds. The tide was all the way in and most of them were far enough away that I wasn’t able to get many great photos, but we did see a bunch of different herons and egrets as well as a pair of wood storks. This shot of a snowy egret (Egretta thula) is really the only close-up shot I got, except one of a laughing gull on a post.

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Black Vulture

Photograph taken on Thursday, July 28, 2022 by Henry
Black Vulture

Black Vulture

I’m not sure a medical rehab facility is a place you want to see vultures but that’s where this one is. They are, apparently, drawn to the fresh water and we’ve seen there here a few times. It’s both disconcerting and humorous at the same time. Of course, there’s no real connection between the vultures and the patients, which allows it to be funny. And we like birds, so we actually enjoyed seeing them. The first time we saw them there were five or more. This time, when I happened to have my camera, there was only the one, unfortunately. And I didn’t have a long enough lens to really get a good photo of the bird.

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Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Photograph taken on Sunday, July 03, 2022 by Henry
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Cathy and I walked at Meadowside Nature Center this afternoon, down to Lake Frank and then up Rock Creek a ways before returning to the nature center. I took my new, long lens but only took a handful of shots with it. I got a nice closeup view of the eagles’ nest but we didn’t see any of the eagles. We did hear one call a few times from a distance, somewhere other than in the nest. I got this photo of a northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), and that’s basically the best I could do. It flew away right after I got this one, so that’s all folks.

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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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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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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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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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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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