Daily Archives: November 17, 2024

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

As mentioned in the previous post, we walked upstream along the Potomac River from Great Falls today. After about a mile on a trail down by the river, we returned to the towpath because a stream blocked our way. We could have returned to the river’s edge above the stream but we were ready to head back, anyway. A short way back towards Great Falls we saw this great blue heron (Ardea herodias) on the canal, posing very nicely for us. I like him (or her, I have no idea which) against the green of the duckweed on the surface of the canal.

Overall, I’m quite pleased with the 150-600mm Sigma lens I got a couple years ago. It’s a lot to carry but it certainly allows me to get pictures that I wouldn’t get otherwise. This one was taken zoomed all the way out to 600mm, which when you multiply it by 1.6, gives an effective focal length of 960mm compared to a full-frame 35mm camera. This one was taken with the lens on a monopod, which is how I generally carry it. The exposure was 1⁄100 second at f/6.3.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

C&O Canal

C&O Canal, North of Great Falls

C&O Canal, North of Great Falls

We went to Great Falls today. We started by going out to the Olmsted Island overlook, as we usually do. The water was quite low. Nevertheless, I took quite a few pictures. When we returned to the towpath, we walked upstream to just above the aqueduct intake and then onto a trail down near the river. We walked that for about a mile before returning to the towpath where a large stream crossed out path. This shot is from around where we left the towpath. Down by the river I took a few pictures of geese but not a lot else.

Categories: Miscellaneous | Tags: , , | Comments Off on C&O Canal

Operation Christmas Child

Cathy with Operation Christmas Child Boxes

Cathy with Operation Christmas Child Boxes

When Dorothy was little, Cathy would help her and Amy, who lived next door, put together boxes for Operation Christmas Child every year. They would fill them for girls the same age as Dorothy and Amy. Dorothy and Amy are grown and Amy doesn’t live next door any more (we both moved in different directions) but Cathy still puts together some number of boxes. She’s done as few as two and as many as 12. She generally plans to fill six. As you can see here, her six turned into eight, which is not at all unusual. She had bought one extra box, knowing she often goes over, but then took an empty box from church because she had enough things for one more.

Clearly, Cathy is a big fan of Operation Christmas Child, which is a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse, an organization founded in 1970 by Robert Pierce (who also one of the founders of World Vision International) and with Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham as president.

Categories: People | Tags: , , | Comments Off on Operation Christmas Child