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Really should get out more when the lighting is better, but taking a walk in the rain along the Potomac River produced two different eagles.  Bald eagle watching the world go by  This eagle flew by, almost right over the one sitting in the tree. And even the birds that like the water weren't too excited about the rain...  Canada geese and a few mallard ducks on the Potomac River
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Huintley Meadows Park is always a fine place to spend a day, but early Spring is quite interesting as the wildlife starts to wake up or migrate through. It is also known as a place to somewhat consistently see a red-headed woodpecker, which we did see while we were there.  Red-winged blackbird announcing that Spring has sprung at Huntley Meadows Park, VA  Canada geese were here and there  A spotted turtle (Clemmys gluttata) climbing out of a still pond created the illusion of a two-headed turtle Wildlife was not active today. Got the shot of the owl at Riverbend, but hard to get much more even after hitting Lake Fairfax. A couple pics from the day out. 
A flyover of Canada geese
A Canada goose on the ice at Lake Fairfax
Gray squirrel in "hiding" mode, but I saw him
An area with a lot of row houses. Nice places, and there is this pond in the middle of it all. In general a pretty good place to live. I walked around the pond there and took a few pics. Nothing amazing.  A mourning dove  Yellow-bellied sapsucker  A male cardinal In general, this area is good for birding, but today just so-so for pics.
So, some photos.  Hermit thrush in the brush  Canada geese on the move  Lots of Canada geese at Lake Fairfax  Canada geese heading out  And the bird of much searching, a bar-headed goose in a flock of Canada geese. Okay, so we froze our eyebrows off for that bit of birding. But we also hit Riverbend Park to see about the birds on the Potomac River. Still cold as an iceberg in Alaska, but we refused to let the cold stop us.  The Potomac River, with ice floating down and a bit of rock out in the middle.  Tufted titmouse from Riverbend Park Today there was a fairly big snow storm. At least for this area. We got three inches of snow. Not amazing for places north, but for here, it was interesting. I didn't give this much thought, as I have much experience driving in snow, and headed out to Lake Fairfax to see about taking some photos in the snow. Upon arrival I saw a fox in a field with a bunch of geese. The fox ran off before I could get a picture, but I did get some pictures of the geese. And, among the Canada geese was a... 
Bar-headed goose at Lake Fairfax
Wait...what? The bar-headed goose is native to east Asia and not Virginia. So, what is up with this? Seems likely that this goose escaped from captivity, possibly from the nearby Reston zoo. No solution yet on why I found this bird at Lake Fairfax, but seems like it will be figured out soon. 
Lots of snow on the trees
And a bit of a geometric. This is part of a skate park, with snow and all that.
My last post ended with a fish crow, and I will start this post with a fish crow. Here is a...  Male fish crow calling. It's all fluffed up trying to woo the women (doesn't seem to be working) But let's put up a couple bits where they go...  Canada geese on water  Canada geese in the air  Amtrak on the rails  And a robin in the grass  Tracks but no train This pic was taken from a walking bridge over the tracks.  Locks of love, folks put a lock on a bridge.  Quite the pedestrian bridge  Peace out! Kite stuck on top of a pole. Huntley Meadows is the largest park in Fairfax County, Virginia. But has fewer trails than some. Granted, much of their trail is boardwalk over a swamp, so that's pretty cool and a way to get into a giant swamp without getting one's boots dirty. But being stuck on the boardwalk limits the photos. Check it out at: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/huntley-meadows-park/ And a now some photos from my 1.5 hour trip there today. 
Canada Goose looking good
One of my bird profile pics, this one a Canada Goose
A song sparrow
Three mourning doves fluffed up for the cold wind that was blowing today
Female red-winged blackbird on a cat tail
The swamp at Huntley's Meadow in late fall
The bluebird was trying to eat the mantid, but the mantid put up a fight and...
The bluebird gave up after the mantid reared up and displayed it's wings. This is a very aggressive display, and I wish I captured it better.
The mantid eyeing me up after the ordeal. Seems to be a Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis)
The boardwalk at Huntley Meadows. Part of the reason I wasn't able to get closer to some things for photos, but all the reason I was able to walk around the swamp at all.
White-thoated sparrow.
Not my best painted turtle shot, but these will be gone into hibernation soon enough so putting this one up
And an immature Great Blue Heron to end today's blog post. Or...
A second shot of the Great Blue Heron (immature) with a bit more scenery around it.
 Walking around the lake, we saw quite a few bird species, and generally had a great time.  Barnacle goose grazing  Mute swam adult  Mute swam juvenile  Great crested grebe adult and juvenile  a coot  Goldeneye  A moorhen that was quite shy, but came out of the brush for a short bit  Tufted ducks were scattered about the lake  A wigeon in fall coloration  The hooded crow attacked the sparrow hawk, then the hawk attacked the crow, back and forth for five minutes |
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September 2021
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