Monthly Archives: February 2026

Canada Geese In Flight

Photograph taken on Wednesday, February 25, 2026 by Henry
Canada Geese (Branta canadensis)

Canada Geese (Branta canadensis)

Cathy and I took Dorothy and Jeff to Reagan National Airport this afternoon to fly to Florida for a friend’s wedding. On the way back, we thought we might skip Roosevelt Island but then Cathy saw a bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) on a tree at the southern end of the island. We parked and walked around the island but the eagle was gone by the time we got down to that end. It had actually been in a tree on another small island (labeled on at least one map as Little Island) so we couldn’t have gotten very close to it, anyway.

We saw a few birds, including mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), northern flicker (Colaptes auratus), a great blue heron (Ardea herodias), and some Canada geese (Branta canadensis). This shot of two geese in flight could be better, but with my long lens, I’m still trying to master getting birds in flight.

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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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Dahlia Puzzle

Photograph taken on Wednesday, February 18, 2026 by Henry
Dahlia Puzzle

Dahlia Puzzle

We finished this dahlia puzzle yesterday. It was a relatively easy puzzle, as these things go, but enjoyable. Puzzles with large areas that are predominately a single color such as sky tend to be difficult. This one if full of patterns and it’s easier to find pieces that go with any particular flower. The difficulty is when you have a bunch of flowers started but don’t really know where they go in the puzzle. For those not up on our traditions, we don’t look at the box cover when working on puzzles. Yes, that makes it harder. But on the other hand, it’s more satisfying when you finish the puzzle.

The snow that we got back on January 24 and 25 is finally gone except for a few large piles that are going to be with us another week or more, depending on how warm it gets. The ground it pretty wet still, but at least we can walk places other than on roadways. So, more outdoor photos to come.

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Just The Two of Us

Photograph taken on Sunday, February 08, 2026 by Henry
Henry and Cathy

Henry and Cathy

We’ve been taking photos for an update to the church directory and although we haven’t changed all that much in two years, I had a very long beard in the last photo and it’s fairly short now, so we decided we’d go ahead and have ours taken anyway. And since I’m the photographer, it wasn’t really any trouble. I keep thinking about cutting my hair but then keep putting it off. My guess is by the time we’re doing another update to the directory, that will have happened and we’ll take another one of us, but for now, this is what I look like. Cathy changes less from year to year, but that’s how it goes.

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Dost Mahommed Puzzle

Photograph taken on Monday, February 02, 2026 by Henry
Dost Mahommed Puzzle

Dost Mahommed Puzzle

We finished this puzzle yesterday. It was relatively easy, with the hardest parts being the white edges on the right and left and the sky, but we enjoyed it, anyway. Cathy’s father had a copy of this print framed and hanging in their living room at one point, so it’s a familiar image. We thought we had lost a piece but then Cathy found it on the floor. Even with the border on the table, pieces somethings get knocked off and somehow they are hard to find on the carpet. Thankfully we found it, though.

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