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Accotink Park, Fairfax County, Virginia

3/21/2014

Without being able to get out for a while, I had to decide where to get out to today as I had about four hours of free time. I chose to do the trail around Lake Accotink, knowing that it is about 4 miles long and thus quite reasonable given my time frame.

The park's website is: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/lake-accotink/

But from a photo standpoint, I started with this pic..

Great blue heron relaxing

Yes, I vowed to not post more pics of great blue herons back in the Fall, but I lied. Maybe I just said I would post fewer of them. Either way, here is a GBH.

hooded merganser at the lake

Fish crow at Accotink Lake.

And a lot more to continue this tomorrow.

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First day of Spring

3/20/2014

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First of all, that title is accurate and misleading. It is the first day of Spring, but my post isn't full of robins and daffodils. More of a photo tip for publishing or sending around pics

What I do want to demonstrate, is the idea of photos competing against themselves. Lots of folks post multiple pics of roughly the same thing on websites, Flickr, whatever. But by posting multiple shots you degrade the whole bunch of them, as they compete against each other.

My example is kinda artsy, but I like patterns and took a series today. Planned to post one. But figured to use the series to show that is is always best to post your favorite and not the whole set.

So, here is a pattern shot I took and I like.

geometry of a fence

So, that is a likable image. It's not something to go on your living room wall, but has some power and interest.

I should leave it at that, but to continue...

more geometry of a fence

Another pic of the fence, a bit wider.

I really like this pic. The pattern and color is just right.

So go back and think about what you thought of the first photo, and now look at the three photos. If I just posted the first one, most folks would find it nice. Now with competing photos, none look all that amazing. They compete against each other instead of against other photographs.

Now let's add an element...

geometry of a fence with the sun

Again, different but the same. This pic solo would get much more reaction than here in a series. Something to think about when putting up photos.

As a final bit, I have a very short video of the sunset on the first day of Spring. It was finally close to normal high temps, around 55 degrees out, with sunshine today. People were out and about, and was at a park at sunset.

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Dendrobates auratus the green and black poison dart frog.

3/20/2014

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Green and black poison dart frog from the Firestone Center for Restoration Ecology.

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ID update

3/18/2014

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On 3-11 I posted a photo of a Harvestman (daddy long legs) in Grand Caverns, Va.
Bill Shear was kind enough to send along a proper ID after project coordinator Carol Tiderman sent my pic to the specialists. I thank Bill and Carol for helping me out with the species ID.

Identifying photos is worthy science

A second look at Erebomaster weyerensis.

This is a Harvestman (Erebomaster weyerensis), photographed in it's type locality (that means the original site from which it was found). Grand Caverns used to be called Weyers Cave before it was commercialized and hence the name.

Pretty cool find and hope you enjoyed the background info.

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Northern cat-eyed snake (Leptodeira septentrionalis) from the Firestone Center for Restoration Ecology in Costa Rica

3/18/2014

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Northern cat-eyed snake (Leptodeira septentrionalis) at the FCRE.

This is generally a ground snake, but it gets into the low vegetation at times. And while it is venomous, it is a rear-fanged snake and not a danger to humans. Plus they are quite docile and don't tend to bite anyway. It's a beautiful snake to have around.

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The toad Bufo haematiticus from the Firestone Center for Restoration Ecology in Costa Rica

3/17/2014

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Bufo haematiticus, a toad, photographed at the Firestone Center for Restoration Ecology.

There must be a common name for this toad, but I can't find one, so just sticking to the Latin name. Which, like so many things changes over time. The toad's name is either Rhaebo haematiticus or Bufo haematiticus (unless there is an even newer name than I know of). The thing is what it is, but what it is called depends on which whatnot you read.

Biology is FUN! Getting out and seeing this stuff and working with it and all can't be beat. But keeping up with taxonomy can be work, and I have enough trouble keeping up with the bats, so will wait for the frog folks to correct me if I'm wrong here.

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Xochicalco Mexico part II

3/16/2014

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Xochicalco is a ruin located about 40 km southeast of Cuernavaca, Mexico. Occupied for a long time (maybe back to 200 BC), this bit is generally considered from AD 700 to 900.

Doesn't look like much from the visitor's center

The lower ball court areas

Let's play spot the lizard

Trench into the underground bits, which were gated off.

And gated caves.

Matt Lachiet walking across a lower ball court

An iguana

And some bats! They are in the family Emballonuridae (the sac winged bats) but I don't have a species for these.

And finally, some temple blockwork. There are lots of ornate carvings.

More carvings in the block work.

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Xochicalco, Mexico

3/15/2014

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This is an awesome site in Mexico. There are several websites on this, but I will provide this one: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/939

And, for now, just a couple pics.

Laura Rosales on the top

A tourist with a pink umbrella checking out the site.

A cicada on the site

The site from the front

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Temperature dive

3/14/2014

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Yesterday I posted pics of frogs. But likely they will have to retreat a bit given the temps.
Of note, these posts are one-day-late so think yesterday when looking at the visuals.

We had a massive cold front come through, and for the third time this winter had a temperature drop of at least 40 degrees.

And here it is:

Sorry about the jump at the end, but didn't realize having my camera on for so many hours would kill the battery. Changed batteries at 7am to get the final low temps.

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Potomac Overlook Regional Park

3/13/2014

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With Spring really trying to break Old Man Winter's grip, it is time to get back to my park series. I still did some of this in the winter, but Northern Virginia parks really start to get more interesting come spring. Sure, some of the animals are harder to see with the leaves out, but then all the birds are singing and colors come out and it just more photographic fun.

So yesterday we finally had a warm day and I headed over to Potomac Overlook Regional Park. website: http://www.nvrpa.org/park/potomac_overlook/

This is a spiffy little park on a rise above the Potomac River (duh) with a lot going on. The nature center should not be missed, unless of course you do NOT wish to see the nice variety of live snakes and turtles within. Very nicely done, and for those cavers who read this, it actually has a "Kids Cave" downstairs with cave photos and information about bats and caves. Total surprise.

But just outside, I could hear what I have been waiting to hear, a group of...

Wood frogs! There were a couple small ponds with these guys calling away. Cold-tolerant critters and usually the first frog out.

Click on the video for a short bit to see and hear the frogs

And that wasn't the only sign of Spring. There were...

Crocuses! Actual flowers and color. This made me very happy indeed.

And I had been told that their was an aviary, and sure enough, there it was. These three beautiful animals were chilling out on the warm day.

Great horned owl

Barred owl

Red-tailed hawk

They also have a butterfly garden and other things that aren't really useful yet. But after exploring around most of the park, I decided to walk down Donaldson Run (located just off the property) to the Potomac River. This trail crosses back and forth over the stream a couple of times, so plan on rock-hopping!

The lower reaches of Donaldson RUn

And before coming to the river, there is a spot that looks like a steep little trail going up. Well, the "overlook" had to be up, right? Wrong, I ended up on a deer trail and had to backtrack. And it was while on this trail that I saw my oddity of the day. Several trees were painted with designed and a couple even had sayings painted on. Weird. But I was out of time for more, so headed out.