Monthly Archives: June 2026

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Photograph taken on Sunday, June 28, 2026 by Henry
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

We were pit and about this afternoon and it was raining, which we didn’t mine because we needed the rain. As we were coming home the rain had stopped so we pulled in to the Lake Needwood park and parked near the beaver dam on the east side of the lake. We walked north from there to Needwood Road. On the way we saw at least three great blue herons (Ardea herodias), including this one. While they are fairly common and relatively easy to photograph because they are so large, they are also beautiful birds and I don’t really get tired of seeing them.

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Emberglow at Thirsty Farmer

Photograph taken on Saturday, June 27, 2026 by Henry
Emberglow

Emberglow

We came up to Pennsylvania today mostly to hear Emberglow play at Thirsty Farmer Brew Works on Cashtown Road (across from the round barn). It had been threatening rain all day so they set up under cover, but it was on a porch on the back of the building, so was still outdoors. It had been hot but it cooled down a bit in the evening and there was something of a breeze, which made it nice. Our friend Lydia also joined us, which was nice. She had been in the area visiting friends, so came to hear Jeff and the band, as well.

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Dog on Gettysburg Monument

Photograph taken on Saturday, June 27, 2026 by Henry
Dog on Gettysburg Monument

Dog on Gettysburg Monument

On Oak Ridge on the northern part of the Gettysburg Battlefield, there is a monument to the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment. On the monument there is a soldier facing west, away from the road. On the west side, lower down, there is a dog. The dog is Sallie Ann Jarrett, the regiment’s mascot, who apparently traveled with the regiment throughout much of the Civil War. She was killed on February 1865 at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.

North of this monument is the Eternal Light Peace Memorial, built in 1938 and dedicated on the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Near the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteer monument is a viewing tower, that offers a nice view of the northern portion of the battlefield. This area is not as crowded as the Little Round Top or other parts of the park.

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Isle of Skye Puzzle

Photograph taken on Thursday, June 25, 2026 by Henry
Isle of Skye Puzzle

Isle of Skye Puzzle

We finished this puzzle recently. It’s a picture of the Old Man of Storr on the Isle of Skye, the largest island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The Old Man of Storr is a basalt pinnacle standing about 180 feet tall. It’s easily the busiest attraction on the island. The puzzle was fairly difficult and, as you can see, there was a piece missing. Most likely it went missing while we were putting the puzzle together. Oddly, we also had one piece left over, possibly one that turned up from a previously completed puzzle.

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Horse Rock

Photograph taken on Saturday, June 20, 2026 by Henry
Iris, Eloise, Kai, Silas, and Zazu

Iris, Eloise, Kai, Silas, and Zazu

The family all met at the property in Pennsylvania for a weekend campout today. At one point, a bunch of us walked to the big oak tree (The Omar Bradley Oak). After we were there a little while, Iris asked if I knew the way to the big rocks that she remembered from her childhood. I said that I did and we headed that way.

Dorothy has begun making a few trails, including one to those rocks, although there are some trees down partially blocking the trails. So, there is always work to be done. We got to the rocks, however, and took some photos before heading back to the cabin.

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Pawpaw Tunnel

Photograph taken on Tuesday, June 16, 2026 by Henry
Pawpaw Tunnel

Pawpaw Tunnel

We’ve been meaning to go to the Pawpaw tunnel for a while now, but it’s a bit of a drive so have put it off until today. The tunnel is about six-tenths of a mile long (3,118 feet) and it located between miles 155 and 156 on the canal. I put “Pawpaw Tunnel” in my GPS and didn’t really look to see where, specifically, it was taking us. We ended up on a gravel road called Tunnel Hill Road, which sounded right, but which ended in a parking area well above the canal. This turns out to be the Paw Paw Tunnel Hill Trail, rather than the towpath. We walked south on the trail, which is upstream at this point. It went down quite steeply, eventually coming down onto the towpath at the south entrance to the tunnel.

We walked through the tunnel, which is longer than it looks and while it seems from the outside like you’ll be able to see the whole way through, it’s a good idea to bring flashlights. This photo is the south (upstream) entrance to the tunnel. We continued on the towpath as far as lock 66. Then we turned back and took the fork off of the towpath onto the northern section of the Tunnel Hill Trail, returning to our car. That part of the trail is a little less steep, although obviously it climbs about the same distance we had come down.

All in all, it was a good walk. More strenuous than we expected, but in the end, we were glad we did it. It would, of course, be a lot easier to park at the parking area just off Oldtown Road SE (MD 51) and I’d recommend that for anyone who isn’t ready for a real hike. Of course, it would mean going through the tunnel twice to return to your car, but that’s not a huge problem.

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Cathy at Brookside Gardens

Photograph taken on Sunday, June 14, 2026 by Henry
Cathy at Brookside Gardens

Cathy at Brookside Gardens

After meeting our friend Jean at Ize’s in Bethesda this afternoon, we decided to go to Brookside Gardens. It was a warm day but the gardens are nice almost any time of year. After spending some time in the greenhouse, we headed up along the northernmost trail, just inside the fence from Glenallan Avenue. This bench is in a small grove that we hadn’t seen before and which I think it relatively new.

We continued along the two ponds and were sitting on a bench when we heard my name being called. It was Alex, a former coworker who comes to Brookside fairly often with his wife and son. We talked a good while with them, me getting updates on changes at Westat, including the fact that Nitin and Jim, two folks in the Systems Group, had left for greener pastures. For Westat’s sake, I was sorry to hear that, but since it seems they have both found other jobs, I was glad for them.

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Cunningham Falls

Photograph taken on Friday, June 12, 2026 by Henry
Cunningham Falls

Cunningham Falls

We drove up to Cunningham Falls in the Catoctin Mountains this morning. It was fairly hot today but it was good to be in the woods. Because it’s a weekday, the park wasn’t as crowded as it would be on the weekend. We need to get Golden Age Passes for Maryland parks, so that we can avoid the day-use fee, although it’s fairly modest, so wasn’t a problem for today’s visit. We parked at the parking lot where the Lower Trail heads to the falls and took that trail.

It’s a fairly easy half mile walk to the falls. When you get to the falls, there is a boardwalk and viewing platform with signs telling you not to go off the boardwalk. As you’d expect, pretty much everyone ignores those signs and there are people all over the rocks. I suppose if someone falls, the park officials can say, “we told you not to do that and you did it anyway.” I saw a snake in the rocks where I crossed the creek and a little later Cathy saw a different snake.

We returned by way of the Cliff Trail, which is about 0.8 miles and is a bit more strenuous than the Lower Trail. It climbs a fairly steep hill and then becomes easier after that. We heard quite a few birds but didn’t see many.

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Haircut

Photograph taken on Thursday, June 11, 2026 by Henry
Haircut, Before

Haircut, Before

Haircut, After

Haircut, After

Sometime around Thanksgiving of 2022 I cut my hair. shortly after that I decided I’d let it grown and see what it was like long. I’ve had longish hair in the past but never as long as this. After three and a half years, it was pretty long but I’m not sure it was ever going to get appreciably longer. My hair is thinning, as is common as we age, and had sort of reached equilibrium in terms of growing longer and coming out. I’m been contemplating cutting it for a while. I’m sort of used to is, but at the same time, it’s a pain to deal with.

In any case, I decided I’d keep it long for Dorothy and Jeff’s wedding. Now that the wedding is done, I’m ready to have it off. I figured I should take before and after photos so I set up the backdrop in the living room and took the first set. I did this without Cathy here to help, but they turned out find. Then I cut my hair and beard—which was not nearly as long as it’s been at times in the last three and a half years—but didn’t cut it as short as I might have done, figuring this would be noticeable enough.

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Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, June 09, 2026 by Henry
Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele)

Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele)

We took a walk on the west side of Lake Needwood today. After the heat of yesterday, it was much nicer today, with overcast skies meaning we didn’t have to stick to tree shadows as much as possible. Of course, much of where we were was in the shade anyway. We saw—and I photographed—a pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus), a black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), an osprey (Pandion haliaetus), and a chipping sparrow (Spizella passerina). The highlight, though was seeing a bunch of great spangled fritillaries (Speyeria cybele) on milkweed flowers. At one point there were four butterflies on one plant. We see these from time to time, although I wouldn’t list them in the butterflies we see often. So, it was a treat.

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Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)

Photograph taken on Sunday, June 07, 2026 by Henry
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)

Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)

After church today we blew off some things we felt we should do and instead went for a walk at the Agricultural History Farm Park. We started, as we usually do, at the shade and demonstration gardens. Then, instead of walking over towards the barn and house, we walked down to the small stream that runs into Rock Creek just below the bridge for the road into the park. There is a place where a trail fords that stream and leads to a trail around a large field and also connects to the Redlands Rock Creek Trail after crossing Muncaster Road. It was quite hot today and we tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. Around that area there was a fair amount of bird activity and it was fairly shady, so we loitered there for a while.

Cathy turned on the Merlin app, which at one point heard a cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum). Although I didn’t really expect to see one, it suddently flew across the trail and landed in the shade of a juniper. It’s quite back-lit, making this the best I could do, but it’s pretty clear what the bird is, anyway.

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Wild Petunia (Ruellia strepens)

Photograph taken on Thursday, June 04, 2026 by Henry
Wild Petunia (Ruellia strepens)

Wild Petunia (Ruellia strepens)

We went to return a bunch of buckets and vases, etc., to the florist for Dorothy’s wedding. If you are in Montgomery County, Maryland or anywhere nearby and are looking for flowers, I can recommend Sungold Flower Company. She’s a friend of the family and especially of Dorothy, so she was willing to drive to southern Pennsylvania for us, but I cannot speak for how far she’d generally go. But give them a call.

Anyway, after dropping those off, we walked along Dry Seneca Creek from near where Montevideo Road crosses it, downstream towards Seneca Creek. I only took a few photos. Although we heard a few birds, we never saw more than a glimpse of anything. I did take this photo so I could try to identify the flower. I believe it is a wild petuna (Ruellia strepens), although I’m not entirely certain of that (and I’d be happy to be corrected).

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The Omar Bradley Oak

Photograph taken on Wednesday, June 03, 2026 by Henry
The Omar Bradley Oak

The Omar Bradley Oak

It’s traditional to name oak trees after generals and this one in Adams County, Pennsylvania was named by our neighbors the Omar Bradley Oak. Omar Bradley (February 12, 1893 – April 8, 1981) was nicknamed ‘The G.I’s General’ and was the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. We have accepted that name, although it is not in any way official, of course. I doubt anyone but us knows anything about the tree, much less that it bears that name.

It’s an old tree, probably at least 250 years old, but possibly older. The tree has a circumference of 13 feet 4 inches, or 160 inches (measured two years ago in 2024). That makes the diameter 50.93 inches. Multiplying that by a growth factor of 5, the age comes out to 255 years, meaning that the tree started growing around 1769, just before the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

We’ve talked about building a stone bench near the tree and creating a little grove. I’ve recently planted some (native) ferns in the area, as well.

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White-breasted Nuthatches (Sitta carolinensis)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, June 02, 2026 by Henry
White-breasted Nuthatches (Sitta carolinensis)

White-breasted Nuthatches (Sitta carolinensis)

After visiting Cathy’s mom early this afternoon, we took a walk from Sandy Spring Friends Meeting down past the actual spring and then to where the trail to Woodlawn Manor crosses the creak at the bottom of the field. It was the heat of the day and fairly warm so we weren’t too surprised that we didn’t hear, much less see many birds. We heard a few down by the creek but we saw nothing. As we were heading back, however, we saw movement and stopped to watch a group of at least four (and maybe five or six) white-breasted nuthatches (Sitta carolinensis). They were on a tree at first and then two of them were on this wooden fence. The one on the left is the adult and it was bringing an insect to the juvenile on the right.

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Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

Photograph taken on Monday, June 01, 2026 by Henry
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

We returned from the wedding yesterday and early this morning Brian and I took Allie to BWI Airport for her flight back out west. Later in the day, Brian, Lisa, Cathy, and I went to Great Falls. We walked to the Olmsted Island overlook and saw two great blue herons (Ardea herodias) down below the falls. From there we walked to the area of the C&O Canal known as Wide Water. It was a lovely day, a bit warmer than the day of the wedding, but still not so hot that it was oppressive.

As is fairly common when the four of us are together, Cathy and Lisa walked ahead of Brian and me, partly because I stop occasionally to take pictures. Aside from the herons (and we saw a few more on the canal), we didn’t see many birds. Just as we were getting back to near Great Falls Tavern I got three shots of this eastern phoebe (Sayornis phoebe), which is fairly common but still nice to see. Phoebe’s have a special place in my heart, because there have been phoebes nesting on boards that my dad put up under the eaves of our cabin pretty much every year since it was built. I also have an ancestor who was named Phebe, although I know that it was spelled differently.

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