Lake Accotink Park, Virginia

I had a couple hours free, and needed to get out and get some exercise.  Lake Accotink Park is not very far away, and provides a four-mile long hike around it.  I usually find something interesting there, so headed out.

First thing, was a big gathering of crows.  Did you know that a bunch of crows is called a murder of crows?  Yes, a flock of sheep, a pride of lions, and a murder of crows.

A murder of crows at Lake Accotink

And as I started my walk, I noticed all the canoes, locked up for winter.

Rental canoes at Lake Accotink Park

So I started my walk, not knowing what I would see but knowing I would get some much needed exercise.  And then this bit of graffiti caught my attention.  On a bridge over a stream there was this hand print.  Size was small, so a kid or a small lady, but I find it unique among the graffiti I generally see. 

A small painted hand print on a bridge rail.

Okay, so let's get to some wildlife.  I heard a red-shouldered hawk call from pretty close by.  Took me a minute to find the bird, but I did find it, sitting low in the trees.  And it wasn't alone.  A gray squirrel was on a tree beside it and they seemed to be having a look at each other.

Gray squirrel and red-shouldered hawk checking each other out

And while the squirrel is hawk food, it seemed to have a strong interest in staying near the hawk.  They were about one meter away from each other.

The hawk seems to just keep an eye on the squirrel, but makes no move. I watched them for 10 minutes.

So I moved around to get a better picture of the hawk.

The hawk tolerated me and the squirrel. Not eating the squirrel and letting me get quite close.

That was fun and I like hawks.  But shortly after I came upon something I wasn't expecting...  a turtle basking.  It is mid-December, Christmas is just a week away, and here was a turtle.  I thought they had long gone into the mud for the winter.

A turtle basking on the end of a log. This looks like a yellow-bellied slider (Trachemys scripta) but I won't swear by that ID.

And finally, I think this is what folks are talking about when they say they need to get their duck in a line.

Mallard ducks on a log