Tagged With: Water Birds

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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American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)

Photograph taken on Sunday, March 03, 2024 by Henry
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)

American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)

We went to the C&O Canal today, walking from the Cabin John Aqueduct Bridge on MacArthur Boulevard down to the canal and then upstream to a point about half way between locks 8 and 9. We enjoyed being out but this is never going to be among our favorite walks, due to the traffic noise. Still, it’s good to be out. We saw a few American black ducks (Anas rubripes) on the canal, along with mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) and a few turtles, but not much else. There were bluebells coming up, which is always a treat.

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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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