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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The Wedding!

Photograph taken on Saturday, May 30, 2026 by Henry
The Wedding!

The Wedding!

When they first announced their engagement and picked a date for their wedding, it seemed like it was a long way off. Lately, however, it seemed like there wasn’t going to be enough time to get everything ready in time. With a lot of help—and I cannot thank cousin Mickey enough—we got to the day and everything went wonderfully. A few weeks ago there were highs above 90°F. Up through Wednesday it was raining, sometimes quite hard. But today we got up to clear, blue skies and a high of 68°F, fairly warm in the sun but blissfully cool in the shade. The wedding was outdoors and there were a lot of moving parts, but pretty much everything went according to plan. I lost count of the folks who told me that this was the best or one of the best weddings they have ever been to. I know that some people will say that no matter what, and of course I’m highly biased, but I have to say, it was pretty grand.

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Apple Country, Pennsylvania

Photograph taken on Friday, May 29, 2026 by Henry
Apple Country, Pennsylvania

Apple Country, Pennsylvania

Dorothy came to our airbnb this morning and we drove into Biglerville, parking at the National Apple Museum. We walked from there along University Drive, past the Penn State Fruit Research and Extension Center. This is apple country and the home of Musselman’s (now a part of Knouse Foods). They specialize in apple butter, apple sauce, and apple juice. We’ve been coming to this area for over 60 years, mostly to the property my parents bought. I know that Wenatchee, Washington takes the title of the apple capital of the country, we do have the National Apple Museum, which is something. Anyway, it was a beautiful day and a relaxing walk before a busy day preparing for tomorrow’s wedding.

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Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum)

Photograph taken on Thursday, May 21, 2026 by Henry
Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum)

Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum)

I found this tick on my and decided to take a few pictures. I started by putting it under the microscope, but the lowest power of that wouldn’t let me get the entire tick in the frame, so they are less helpful in trying to identify it. The depth of field was also quite low through the microscope (which is to be expected). So, I switched to a 24mm lens attached to a bellows on my camera. The bellows was for my old, non-autofocus Canon cameras (F-1 and A-1). With a lens mount converter, I’m able to mount it on my autofocus EOS 90D. The body on the EOS is thicker than the F-1, meaning that any old lens I attach won’t be able to focus to infinity, but since this is a macro shot, that doesn’t matter. It was identified as a nymph of the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum)

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Bgraamiens Succulent Puzzle

Photograph taken on Wednesday, May 20, 2026 by Henry
Bgraamiens Succulent Puzzle

Bgraamiens Succulent Puzzle

We finished this puzzle last night. Early on there were some fairly easy parts but it got harder as we got more done, because it was hard to see where things went. We even had a few large sections done that seemed like they could only go in two or three places and it still took us a while to get them situated.

As I suspect you can tell, we like puzzles and we generally have one being worked on at any given time. When we get near the end of our puzzle hoard, I’ll buy a few more so I’m ready when we finish the last one. I think I’ve also mentioned that we do puzzles without reference to the photo on the box. We sometimes look at it briefly when we open a new puzzle, but then it gets put away. Yes, it makes the puzzle harder. But it also means we get greater satisfaction when we finish.

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Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, May 19, 2026 by Henry
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)

We don’t actively follow the birding web sites but Cathy happened to be looking at one yesterday and it mentioned that there were some swans on the pond near the Blue Mash Trail. We figured our chances of them being there today were low, but not zero, and we decided we’d go there, anyway. As expected, there was nothing on the pond. We did see orioles, however, and quite a few tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor), mostly around the bluebird boxes, most of which seem to have been taken by the swallows. This one let me get quite close and this is a full frame photo.

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Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)

Photograph taken on Sunday, May 17, 2026 by Henry
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)

Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)

We walked on Seneca Bluffs Trail today, parking in the area on Montevideo Road between River Road and Rocklands Farm Winery. We walked downstream, although for most of that part of the trail Seneca Creek isn’t very visible. This section of the trail is on the top of the bluffs in fairly deep woods. We heard quite a few different birds, including several vireos. One bird that we didn’t hear but then suddenly saw, was this yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus). It flew across the trail ahead of us and landed behind some branches. I got a few pretty poor photos of it there before it flew to this more exposed location. The strong back-lighting takes away considerably from the photo, but I was still excited to get what I got. These are not the easiest birds to spot in the woods.

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Emberglow

Photograph taken on Friday, May 15, 2026 by Henry
Emberglow

Emberglow (Mo, Julia, Jeff, and Keisha)

Cathy and I drove up to Pennsylvania today to do a bit more work on the property, getting ready for the wedding in about two weeks. We brought more things with us and while Cathy weeded the garden, I cut brush around some trees to make it a bit less wild. It’s been a lot of work and there’s a lot more to be done around the trees that Dad planted in what he called his arboretum, but I’m enjoying seeing these trees that are all considerably younger than me but that are now quite substantial. Anyway, Cathy and I went into Gettysburg after our day of work and enjoyed music by one of our favorite bands. They were playing on the square, outside Ploughman’s Taproom.

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Rosa davurica (Amur Rose)

Photograph taken on Monday, May 11, 2026 by Henry
Rosa davurica (Amur Rose)

Rosa davurica (Amur Rose)

In 2021 I posted a photo of this same rose, which I believe to be Rosa davurica (the Amur Rose). It’s one of 29 roses I planted in 2005 in an area of what we call the ‘picnic field’ and my dad came to call his ‘arboretum’. Most of them had died by 2021 but there were two that were doing quite well. Since then, the area became a dumping ground for tree trunks and other brush that was being cleared from another part of the property. We are trying to clear up that part of the field and have moved most of the brush pile and I hope to dig up a few of these to transplant to a more suitable area before we turn this part of the field into a parking area for Dorothy and Jeff’s wedding.

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Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)

Photograph taken on Sunday, May 10, 2026 by Henry
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)

Today’s walk was along the C&O Canal from Violet’s Lock, upstream from Great Falls. It was raining as we drove there but stopped before we got to the parking area. As we started walking, however, the rain picked up again and we returned to the car to get an umbrella. We were glad we did, because it rained quite hard for a while. I don’t mind getting wet so much but I worried about my camera and long lens. After the rain stopped, the birds started singing and we heard quite a few. We saw a Baltimore oriole (Icterus galbula) and I got some photos of that, but it was a long ways away so they aren’t that great. This one, of the blue-gray gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea), though, I think is nice.

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National Bonsai and Penjing Museum

Photograph taken on Thursday, May 07, 2026 by Henry
National Bonsai and Penjing Museum

National Bonsai and Penjing Museum

We’ve gone to the National Arboretum each May since 2022 and three of those times were on May 7, which is when we went this year. The roses were a bit later this year, so we got to see a few that are generally done when we’ve been in prior years. After the National Herb Garden, which includes the roses, we walked through the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. This was first opened in 1976 when 53 bonsai trees were given to the United States by Japan to commemorate our bicentennial. It has grown over the years and has some really lovely miniature trees. The oldest, I believe, is the Yamaki Pine, which has been in training since 1625. In 1945, this tree, 320 years in training at the time, was about two miles from the epicenter of the Hiroshima blast. The tree pictured here is unlabeled, so I cannot tell you anything about it, but I think it’s lovely, as well.

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Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, May 05, 2026 by Henry
Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)

Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)

Today we walked through Flower Valley Park and then along Rock Creek to Lake Frank. On the Rock Creek trail we heard and then saw this eastern towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus). We hear them quite often but don’t usually get to see them, much less when they are so openly visible and close. When we got to Lake Frank we saw a family of wood ducks (Aix sponsa) with quite a few ducklings, an osprey (Pandion haliaetus), and the quite a few solitary sandpipers (Tringa solitaria). It was very humid and warm, but as usual, we were glad to get out into the woods.

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Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

Photograph taken on Friday, May 01, 2026 by Henry
Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

Cathy and I happened to be driving to Hyattsville today to drop off a package for a friend and decided to go to Greenbelt Park and then Lake Artemesia. Greenbelt Park is nice, but a fair drive from home, so not somewhere we are likely to go unless we’re already in the area. Lake Artemesia is also nice, although with the train tracks running beside it, it wasn’t as quietly peaceful as it might have been. Still, for a suburban park, it was nice and there were a lot of folks enjoying it. We saw a few birds including an oriole (but I didn’t get any photos of that). This eastern bluebird Sialia sialis posed nicely for me on a post as we were returning to our car.

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Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, April 28, 2026 by Henry
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)

Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)

Today we drove to the Locust Grove Nature Center on Democracy Boulevard and walked down to Cabin John Creek, which we then followed north as far as where the creek crosses the power line cut south of Tuckerman Lane. We considered ourselves fortunate to see this belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) perched over the stream. I was able to get two acceptable photos before it flew off not to be seen again by us. It was pretty far away and this is cropped from the full size image, which is the main reason it’s not as sharp as I’d like. Still, it was a nice walk.

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Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Photograph taken on Wednesday, April 22, 2026 by Henry
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Cathy volunteers with the county park’s archaeology group one day a week and after she did that today, she took a walk in the woods nearby. When she came home she suggested I go with my camera. I heard three birds that I’d love to photograph but never caught even a glimpse of them. Those were the yellow-throated warblers (Setophaga dominica), pine warblers (Setophaga pinus), and northern parulas (Setophaga americana). I did see a few norther cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), which are among our most common and most easily seen birds. I also saw and photographed a few blue-gray gnatcatchers (Polioptila caerulea), which are easy to hear and often hard to find.

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Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, April 21, 2026 by Henry
Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea)

Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea)

One of the best things about being retired is that we can go places during the day that we used to only visit on weekends. That’s what we did today, heading out to McKee-Beshers in Poolesville and parking at the furthest parking area on Hunting Quarter Road, near the dog training pond. There were a few others out with long lenses, as apparently a few notable birds had been spotted there recently. We aren’t monitoring those lists regularly so for us, it was just good luck that we happened to see this prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea). We also saw (and I photographed) a greater yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca), an American coot (Fulica americana), and a solitary sandpiper (Tringa solitaria), birds we don’t generally see this far inland. The coot was sitting on a nest.

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American Cancer-Root (Conopholis americana)

Photograph taken on Sunday, April 19, 2026 by Henry
American Cancer-Root (Conopholis americana)

American Cancer-Root (Conopholis americana)

We took a walk at Meadowside this afternoon, starting at the nature center and walking down to and along the creek, going as far upstream as where it goes under Muncaster Mill Road. We heard (and Cathy glimpsed) a belted kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon but mostly we were looking at plants. There’s was a fair amount in bloom. The bloodroot are all finished but there were a few wild azaleas, which are always a treat. In the woods heading down to the creek a bunch of under-story plants had been labeled with signs but we saw these, which had not. American cancer-root (Conopholis americana) is a non-photosynthesizing, parasitic plant, feeding on the roots of oak and beech trees.

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George Washington Puzzle

Photograph taken on Saturday, April 18, 2026 by Henry
George Washington Puzzle

George Washington Puzzle

We finished this puzzle today. It’s the familiar painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware River, which happened during the American Revolutionary War on the night of December 25–26, 1776. The 1851 painting was done by German-born, American painter, Emanuel Leutze (May 24, 1816 – July 18, 1868). It was a fairly challenging painting, particularly the sky but also some of the areas of water.

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Mickey’s Front End Loader

Photograph taken on Friday, April 17, 2026 by Henry
Mickey's Front End Loader

Mickey’s Front End Loader

Jeff’s cousin Mickey arrived late Wednesday evening and I met him Thursday morning. We spent the day working, mostly with him doing the heavy lifting using his front end loader. The first task, since he had the augur attached, was to dig a hole for the new mailbox post, which I cemented in. Then he cleared a bit of the orchard and cleared a lot of what we call the picnic field. There was a good size pile of tree and shrub debris in the middle of that field and he cleared it all away. Meanwhile I worked on removing the wire that dad had put around a few trees he planted. There are more that need to be done, but I made good progress.

In this photo, Mickey is moving some large logs that we never could have moved by hand.

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Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)

Photograph taken on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 by Henry
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)

Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)

Just as I did yesterday, I sat outside to eat my breakfast this morning. I enjoyed the birds singing all around. There was a tiny blue-gray gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) that landed pretty close to me but at that point I didn’t have my camera with me. Later, when I did this tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) moved around in the trees just into the woods. This isn’t as sharp as I’d like, but it’s certainly good enough to identify the bird, which is sort of the lowest level of bird photography. I have to admit that I have a lot more at this level than I do at what I might describe as the pretty good level and even fewer of the field-guide level photos.

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Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, April 14, 2026 by Henry
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

After having breakfast this morning, I was sitting outside, enjoying the morning bird songs. Glancing down across the pond I saw this osprey in a tree. I had my camera and took it down to the near side of the pond and got a few pictures. While I was there it flew, tried to catch a fish (but didn’t seem to get one), and returned to its perch. I walked around onto the dam and although this was taken through the branches of a nearer tree, I think it’s the best of my pictures before it flew off. I also heard quite a few turkeys in the woods this morning.

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Reflections

Photograph taken on Monday, April 13, 2026 by Henry
Reflections

Reflections

Cathy and I went to the property in Pennsylvania today but drove up separately. I went by way of Rural King in Hanover, to pick up a 50 pound bag of red clover seed. We’re trying to get something growing quickly and it germinates faster than grass (which we’ll also plant). We had planned for Jeff’s cousin to be there today with some machinery but he was delayed so I worked with clippers and the chainsaw, clearing some underbrush in one of the fields. These are things that have grown up since dad died. Some were catalpa seedlings of a tree he planted, but they were all much too close together, so I left the large, central tree. Others were sweetgum trees and he may have planted all of them but I took out the two smallest to allow the mower to get in between them all. It was a hot and tiring day and after everyone else had left—Cathy had to drive home to take care of the dog—I took a few photos of reflections on the pond. I spent the night and enjoyed the frogs and even heard a great horned owl (Bubo virginianus).

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White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, April 07, 2026 by Henry
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)

White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)

Cathy and I took a walk on Cabin John Creek, walking upstream from where the creek is crossed by Bradley Blvd. We went as far as where the creek meets Seven Locks Road, near the Seven Locks Swimming Pool. We heard a few birds but didn’t see too many. I did get a few photos of this white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) that turned out well enough. I’d prefer to get it from the side, but you often see them from this angle, anyway. I got some pretty poor photos of a little brown bird that was working its way up a tree. They were not good enough to share but they were, thankfully, good enough to identify the bird as a brown creeper (Certhia americana), so that was fun.

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Easter Portrait

Photograph taken on Sunday, April 05, 2026 by Henry
Henry, Cathy, Dorothy, and Jeff

Henry, Cathy, Dorothy, and Jeff

We went to the 6:00 AM sunrise service at Fourth Presbyterian this morning. The forecast was for rain but we were fortunate that the rain didn’t come until the afternoon. Instead we had a very pretty sunrise, along with a lovely service. As usual, we stayed for breakfast and then the 8:00 service in the sanctuary, where the music, as well as the message, was wonderful. We came home and then went to visit Cathy’s mom and though I took pictures there, the picture I’m sharing with you is of the four of us, back at home before we changed out of our Easter best and had our Easter feast.

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Erythronium americanum (Trout Lily)

Photograph taken on Saturday, April 04, 2026 by Henry
Erythronium americanum (Trout Lily)

Erythronium americanum (Trout Lily)

As we like to do this time of year—and specifically on Easter weekend—we took a walk on Seneca Creek from where it meets Berryville Road. We call this the Bluebell Island Walk, although from this side, we aren’t actually on what we call Bluebell Island most of the time. We walk upstream on the east/north bank of Seneca Creek. One year we walked on the Seneca Bluffs Trail on the other bank, which is also a nice walk but there are more bluebells on this side. In addition to the Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica), there are trout lilies (Erythronium americanum), yellow violets (Viola hastata, more properly the halberd-leaf yellow violet), and, more and more, incised fumewort (Corydalis incisa), a non-native, invasive perennial.

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Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)

Photograph taken on Sunday, March 29, 2026 by Henry
Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)

Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)

We went to the Agricultural History Farm Park today. As usual we started in the woodland shade garden and then moved into the Master Gardeners’ demonstration garden. There wasn’t a lot in the way of plant life yet there, but things are starting to show signs of spring. There was, however, this mourning cloak butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa), which is not one I’ve seen very often. It’s a pretty thing, I think. Very different to the swallowtails and quite distinctive (meaning no disrespect to the swallowtails, they’re nice, too, but we see them everywhere).

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Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)

Photograph taken on Saturday, March 21, 2026 by Henry
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)

Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)

We took a walk from Sandy Spring Friends Meeting to Sandy Spring and then down to the creek today. We didn’t see a lot of birds at first. When we were at the very bottom of the field we saw three red-shouldered hawks (Buteo lineatus) and I was able to get this photo of one of them, which turned out pretty well. We also saw an eastern phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) catching insects around the creek, which was nice. A little later there were three red-bellied woodpeckers (Melanerpes carolinus) making quite a racket in the trees and we got a pretty good look at them. Back into the field and we didn’t see much else, but we felt like we got our money’s worth, anyway.

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The Cabin

Photograph taken on Friday, March 20, 2026 by Henry
The Cabin

The Cabin

Cathy, our friend Yvette, and I drove up to Pennsylvania today. We visited the land (commonly called “the farm” by our family, but not really a farm in any meaningful sense). We built the cabin in the mid 1970s and it’s been without any utilities until recently. The plumbing went in and there is now a septic system. Putting in everything related to that required a fair amount of digging so the ground was pretty chewed up. Dorothy and Jeff have spread straw on the bare dirt (a.k.a. mud) so it’s not as bad as it could be. Dorothy also has a few large bags of grass seed that will go down shortly. In this photo you can see the three concrete caps for the septic tank and associated parts. We’ll plant a garden around them and put large planters on top of them so they won’t be quite so obvious, eventually.

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Birds on Seneca Greenway Trail

Photograph taken on Friday, March 13, 2026 by Henry
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)

White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia siali)

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia siali)

 

We were in the northern part of Gaithersburg this afternoon and after the errands we had, we decided to walk a little way on the Seneca Creek Greenway Trail, walking north (upstream) from MD 355 (Frederick Road). We saw quite a few eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) and I got what I consider a pretty nice photo of a white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis). We walked a little over 2 miles up the trail, stopping about a half mile short of where the trail meets Watkins Mill Road. As we were coming back I got a few photos of an eastern phoebe (Sayornis phoebe), including this one of it taking off, which I really like.

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Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)

Photograph taken on Wednesday, March 11, 2026 by Henry
Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)

Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)

Cathy has started working with the county parks archaeology group this spring and they meet at the Needwood Mansion on Wednesdays. Today I met her there after they were done and we took a walk on the western side of Lake Needwood. We saw this pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) briefly and I was able to get one shot before it flew away. Later we saw quite a few double-crested cormorants (Nannopterum auritum) diving and catching fish, but the photos I took of them didn’t really turn out well. It’s tricky because when the go under, there’s really no telling where they will come up. If I’m looking through the long lens, I’m liable to miss them but if I’m not, it takes me a little while to find them and focus and by that time, they’ve generally swallowed the fish. Disclaimer: This image was a little blurry but I had Google Gemini sharpen it up for me.

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