I like to get out to Theodore Roosevelt Island every once in a while. Most people are familiar with the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial, but the Theodore Roosevelt Island? Yes, he gets a whole island as a memorial (and those are the four faces on Mt. Rushmore if you recall).
http://www.nps.gov/this/index.htm
As a fairly large island (88 acres), in the Potomac River, it is a fitting site for a conservationist president. In 1931 the island was bought for the memorial project, and the following year Congress approved it. But Congress didn't fund it until 1960 and it was dedicated in 1967. By contrast, the whole of the Mt. Rushmore sculpture, a huge undertaking, started in 1927 and was finished in 1941.
But possibly more famously, the island is known as a good spot to see birds. On today's walk I think I saw more giant zoom lenses than there were people at the actual Memorial with the statue and fountains and such. Again very fitting for a conservationist president.
So yes, I was mostly there to go for a walk and see some birds, but did visit the memorial and read some of Teddy's notable quotes etched in marble. And, while I tend to write this blog in the first person, my most beautiful wife and budding-photographer kid were with me. Very enjoyable family day out.
So, crossing the walking bridge to the island I took a rather standard shot looking up-river toward Georgetown University. Just a tourist snap, but I missed something.
http://www.nps.gov/this/index.htm
As a fairly large island (88 acres), in the Potomac River, it is a fitting site for a conservationist president. In 1931 the island was bought for the memorial project, and the following year Congress approved it. But Congress didn't fund it until 1960 and it was dedicated in 1967. By contrast, the whole of the Mt. Rushmore sculpture, a huge undertaking, started in 1927 and was finished in 1941.
But possibly more famously, the island is known as a good spot to see birds. On today's walk I think I saw more giant zoom lenses than there were people at the actual Memorial with the statue and fountains and such. Again very fitting for a conservationist president.
So yes, I was mostly there to go for a walk and see some birds, but did visit the memorial and read some of Teddy's notable quotes etched in marble. And, while I tend to write this blog in the first person, my most beautiful wife and budding-photographer kid were with me. Very enjoyable family day out.
So, crossing the walking bridge to the island I took a rather standard shot looking up-river toward Georgetown University. Just a tourist snap, but I missed something.
Georgetown University buildings from Theodore Roosevelt Island. Well, and other stuff.
There was a most bodacious inflatable Santa in the picture. I didn't see this until we got further around the island and I then took this photo.
Santa on the roof with the Dahlgren Quadrangle of Georgetown University in the background
So, those aren't birds. I didn't get so many great bird pics, but here are the reasonable shots I did get.
Male cardinal on a branch
A hairy woodpecker which was hammering on this tree
And note the smaller size of the beak, a downy woodpecker.
Downy woodpecker on an old tree
Another view of the downy woodpecker
A cedar waxwing eating berries
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