Tagged With: Birds

Sandpipers

Photograph taken on Thursday, October 07, 2021 by Henry
Actitis hypoleucos (Common Sandpiper)

Actitis hypoleucos (Common Sandpiper)

For our first day of bumming around, we headed east to Newburyport, Massachusetts, just across the border from New Hampshire on the south bank of the Merrimack River. We bought lunch at Joppa Fine Foods, where Dorothy worked for the first six months of Covid but sadly didn’t get to meet her boss, who wasn’t there today. Then we drove out onto Plum Island. At our first stop on the island we saw quite a few common sandpipers (Actitis hypoleucos) in the shallows on the inland side of the island. There were also swans, but quite a bit further away. The last time we were on Plum Island it was in the upper 90s and really humid. Today was warm for the first week of October but still considerably nicer than the previous time.

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Bald Eagle

Photograph taken on Sunday, February 27, 2022 by Henry
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

Cathy and I took a walk to Lake Frank this afternoon. We walked along the shore of the lake towards the northeast end. We saw a belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon), which was nice. Then we rounded the point and had a good look at the bald eagle’s nest, which you can see in the trees here. As we were looking, one of the adult bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) flew off the nest and I was able to get a reasonable photo. We see these birds reasonably often and it’s good to be reminded of how big, majestic, and beautiful they are. We’re really privileged to have this pair nesting here year after year.

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Red Tailed Hawk

Photograph taken on Thursday, March 03, 2022 by Henry
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

I went into the office today. We had planned to start coming back to the office originally last fall and then at the new year, but each time it got pushed back. Starting March 1, however, it actually happened. I came in on March 1 and again today. In the early afternoon I went outside for a short break, walking through the empty lot next to my office. I saw this red-tailed hawk (em>Buteo jamaicensis) and was quick enough to get a pretty nice photograph. I’ve been thinking for some time about getting a longer lens for this sort of thing, but so far, the longest I have is 100mm.

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Coragyps atratus (Black Vulture)

Photograph taken on Friday, April 29, 2022 by Henry
Coragyps atratus (Black Vulture)

Coragyps atratus (Black Vulture)

I had a dentist appointment this morning, finally getting around to that after a long hiatus kicked off by all the changes made by the Wuhan Virus Crisis. After the appointment I went to the Lancaster County Dutch Market to buy some meat. I really like the selection they have and their prices are reasonable. In particular, they have very good bacon, both plain and with black pepper. They also have cured pork chops that are terrific. I happened to drive around the back of the shopping center and there were some black vultures (Coragyps atratus) in the parking lot. This one let me get quite close without flying away. They are not the prettiest birds you’ll see, but hey, they are what they are. And they help deal with dead animals. That’s not actually a bad thing.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

Photograph taken on Sunday, January 08, 2023 by Henry
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

We walked in the park around Lake Frank today, hoping to get a glimpse of one of our resident bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). There wasn’t anything visible in the nest but as we continued we met a man walking the other way who said that if we continued along to a particular spot and turned to face away from the lake we might see one near the top of the tallest tree in the area. Sure enough, when we got there, the bird was perched where the man had said. Being very high in the tree I could only get a view looking sharply upwards. It was also difficult to find a view that wasn’t obscured by branches. Still, I think this one does the eagle justice.

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