Nice to see the robins return after the winter

Seeing robins, a sure sign of spring. Over the past 4 to 6 weeks we've been seeing a lot more of them. I took these photos back in March.

This robin was squawking and sparring with another robin. They were moving too quick and I couldn't catch them both (I really need to work on my movement shots) but I did take a pic of this one when it paused for a minute.

Spotted this robin looking for its next meal

  

Spring comes alive in the Shenandoah Valley (2017)

On Easter Sunday we spent the day in Orange and Charlottesville and decided to take the much longer way home via Skyline Drive. We entered the Shenandoah National Park at Charlottesville and drove a while until the rain continued became more steady. It was getting late anyway so we exited at Swift Run Gap (Route 33). 

Along Skyline Drive we stopped several times to see spring coming alive in the Blue Ridge Mountains. A reprieve of the rain even gave us a double rainbow, which faded quickly but the single rainbow lasted for a long time (we watched it along the roads after we left the park).

Double rainbow before it faded completely

Single rainbow

The colors of spring are emerging

The sun sure was trying to peek out during sunset but there was a thick cloud cover between storms

Blue jay digging for lunch

It's rare I can capture a blue jay photo. The ones that live in my neighborhood are too fast. Downtown in D.C. though, they are easier to spot and, for whatever reason, tend to stay put. 

I watched this fella dig around for a few minutes until he found what he was looking for between the District of Columbia WWI monument and the reflecting pool.

 

Feather floating in the Tidal Basin (Washington DC)

Last month while downtown seeing D.C.'s gorgeous cherry blossoms I spotted this single feather floating around the Tidal Basin. So I snapped a few shots. 

Ducks enjoying the spring weather

I took these photos of ducks in March just as the temperatures were beginning to warm back up. They were hanging out around the Tidal Basin.

 

Sea gull reflections (Tidal Basin, Washington, D.C.)

Around the Tidal Basin there is a section that tends to flood over by the Jefferson Memorial. While walking by during a recent visit, I spotted a bunch of gulls hanging our around the edge of the basin and I noticed the reflections so stopped and took a few shots.

 

Cherry blossom peaks 2017 in Washington, D.C.

This is more or less a part two of my last post, more photos from the peak cherry blossom season of 2017.  I took these photos between March 25 and March 27. It was nice to see so many of the blossoms survive those unusually cold March temps we had after the blossoms were about ready to peak.

 

 

 

Getting close up and personal with the cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C. (2017)

This year we had a beautifully and unseasonably warm February and it confused nature, especially when March brought on freezing temperatures. Fortunately, even though some of the cherry blossoms down in Washington, D.C. were damaged, a good percentage of them did survive.

During this photo outing, I started playing with my camera settings. Not being really tech-y with the camera, I'm not really sure how to use many of them (I use a Sony Cybershot, I'm a point and shoot kind of gal). However, I did discover some settings that affect the lighting. I'll have to learn more about how to use them, it was interesting to compare the shots.

Here are some closeups I took: