Monthly Archives: February 2024

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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