Birds spotted in Washington DC - Part 2

Yesterday I posted pics of some of our feathered friends spotted yesterday on and around the National Mall. For today's post I added a few more pics.

Deep in conversation

Hunting for food

Posing for the camera

Birds spotted in Washington DC - Part 1

Being forecasts predicted a 62+ degree day, we decided to take a ride downtown on Sunday to visit some museums and just enjoy the weather. We arrived pretty early about 8:45 a.m. and went bird hunting along the National Mall. Spotted lots of feathered friends - these are a few shots I took. More to come on my next post.

This bird was in a scuffle with another bird just before taking this shot. I missed the scuffle by seconds, but tracked him as he flew up into the roof of an information stand.

Spotted this bird alongside one of the Smithsonian Museums (I do not know what kind of bird it is - if anyone knows, please feel free to let me know in the comments!)

This fella was keeping watch on the construction site of the National Mall where major renovation is going on to redo the turf/grassy areas.

Bird spotting in Fairfax County in March 2016

As I noted in yesterday's post, it's shaping up to look a little like spring. Hopefully, anyway! Being the temperatures were so nice on Monday, went for a late afternoon walk. Spotted a large bird high up in a tree and tried to zoom in to get a few shots. It was confusing me because I kept changing angles as I wanted to see its face. But every time I moved, all I'd see was a tail feather. A pretty tail feather, but not exactly what I was hoping to see.

It wasn't until about 10 minutes later I realized there were two birds! They were sitting in two different trees but the branches came together. Once I figured that out it was easier to find the direction each was facing. 

Signs of spring in Fairfax County (2016)

I was so pleased to see after the three feet of snow melted that the crocus and daffodil stems were still peeking out and even thriving. As a bonus, a hyacinth spotting was there too. 

But then the temps dropped again, but that hasn't stopped the flowers. I was pleased to see several crocus bloom on Sunday and then multiply on Monday. Also spotted some daffodils in a nearby wooded area that look like they'll be blooming soon.

First crocus spotting of the year. On Sunday we had rain - took this shot before it started really coming down.

Taken on Monday

By Monday many more crocus had opened up

Another one taken on Sunday as the rain was coming in

Hopefully won't be too long now!

 

February frost in Northern Virginia

In Northern Virginia January went out with a bang with the massive snowstorm (we saw about 2 to 3 feet here). February so far is mostly pretty chilly. On my way into the house this morning I noticed some beautiful frost in the yard so I stopped to try to shoot a few macro-photos.

To me many of the frost formations looked like diamonds and spikes. What kinds of shapes do you see? 

Memories of summer: Flowering plants

Last spring and summer we decided to invest in the yard a bit, planting flowers throughout and also a few potted plants. Here photos of two we placed our doorstep - the name of the plant(s) escapes me but I believe it began with a "d".

Rainy days and spider webs

Macro photography is something I'd like to master some day. I've been practicing with my point and shoot in order to learn how to get the right angle, lighting, etc. These are some pics of water droplets on spider webs I took last fall after a night of rain. 

Horses grazing in an open field

Last summer we were driving along a back road in New York and saw these beautiful horses on the side of the road. I was compelled to pull over and snap a few photos.