Conowingo – May 2017

We had more success at Conowingo in May than we did back in April although we first got there – all I saw were cormorants in the water.

There were no vultures on the high reaches of the dam or birds sitting on the big towers.  It was very windy and I eventually started looking lower on the rocks across the river from our vantage point. It’s a little far away for pictures…but that’s where the birds were. The first group I saw included a Great Blue Heron and some pigeons (the pigeons are usually all over the dam but seemed to prefer the rocks on the windy day).

I started taking pictures of all the rocks. How many eagles do you see in this pictures (remember the immature eagles don’t have white heads and tail feather yet)?

I count 7 Bald Eagles…and a Great Blue Heron and a Cormorant.

Eventually I saw an eagle on one of the towers

And then thought to zoom in to the platform of the tower after remembering someone commenting last month that there was a nest on one of the towers. Sure enough – it looks like there is. Hopefully no one will have to go up there until the eagles are done with the nest for the season.

I took a few none bird pictures as well. This spider web was somewhat damaged by the wind but I was pleased my camera would focus on it. The spider jumped from the web to me while it got the picture! Fortunately, I noticed and managed to get the critter to the ground somewhat close to the web.

I photographed the flowers of the Princess Tree that is growing on the cliff that is across the parking lot from the bird viewing area. These invasive trees are easy to spot this time of year because of the color of the flowers. They grow very fast….and the seeds are dispersed so I seem to see more of them every year.

Disappointment at Conowingo

The weather was a little warmer than usual when we made our trek to Conowingo last week. The weather turned out to be the best part. The eagles must have finished their breakfast by the time we got there and were not very active; this was the best picture I got – from all the way across the river. You can tell that those rocks are favorite perches (all the ‘white’).

The black vultures were not very photogenic either. The big grouping that usually eyeballs cars going over the dam from a fence only numbered three birds. The others must have been out and about – maybe at some substantial carrion site.

At first I thought the cormorants would redeem the trip. There were at least two of them and they were within photographic range. But then I realized that the reason they were staying in one location was a tangled (and trashed) fishing lure rather than a fish (you can see it (light green) and the line that evidently snagged it to the rocky bottom in the middle picture below).

There were a few gulls about. I tried taking pictures of them as they landed or flew up from the water. The one with the orange spot on the bill is a Herring Gull. The other one could be a Ring-billed Gull since the beak looks like it has black instead of orange toward the end.

There were two Canadian Geese in the shallows on the other side of the dam abutment – almost out of camera range.

The same was true for a flock of pigeons. They usual are on the dam structure but they must have been startled by something because a large number left the dam at the same time and moved to the rocks.

On a botanical note – the Princess tree buds still look the same as they did last time we were at Conowingo. The buds on the tulip poplars (at the end of the twigs) seem to be getting larger.

On the way home, I took a picture of the mounds of salt along I-95 near the tunnel (through a dirty window). Generally the salt piles are significantly reduced by this time of year….but not this season. I wonder what will happen to it since the salt storage buildings are probably already full.

Ten Little Celebrations – February 2017

Usually February has been a low-key month with weather dampening activity. This year – the weather has been mild – and my celebrations have been more active than usual for February.

I celebrated outings to 1) Conowingo (for Bald Eagles), 2) Brookside (for witch hazel and snow drops), 3) Mt. Pleasant (skunk cabbage), and

4) State College (to see my daughter and son-in-law.

There were also learning experiences to celebrate: 5) the TED dialog with Yuval Harari (I enjoyed his “A Brief History of Humankind” via Coursera back August 2013) and 6) The Changing Global Order course on Coursera (from Universiteit Leiden).

There were new (big) purchases to celebrate: 7) a Samsung Galaxy S7 and

8) a new Honda CR-V for my husband (I am celebrated more room for me in the front passenger seat than in his previous car…and I am still celebrating my Prius Prime every time I drive it).

Two things for myself that I celebrated this month: 9) a short haircut that maximizes the little bit of natural curl my hair has and 10) lots of lots of Zentangle tiles (new pens and more time than usual to create tiles).

I had a lot of celebrate in February 2017!

Conowingo – February 2017

We picked a cold sunny day to trek to Conowingo Fisherman’s Park last week. We stopped at the Visitor’s Center to bundle up: ski bibs and footwarmers inside hiking boots. When we got to the park we added a balaclava, hat, coat, and handwarmers inside gloves. The extra layers of warmth kept use reasonably comfortable. My nose got cold because I couldn’t pull the balaclava up over it without my glasses fogging up. The first think I noticed was that weren’t many birds about. There were icicles on the railing. The churning water creates just enough spray for them to form on the section closest to the dam.

I walked back toward the entrance to see the buds of the Paulownia that grows on the cliff side of the park. They are brown and velvety already. They are an invasive species in our area but this one does not seem to be propagating itself.

The gulls that were so plentiful last time were scarce…but the black vultures were around. They seem to like the view from the top of the dam.

There were very few eagles about (we’re spoiled because there are often so many of them). My husband got a few ‘in flight’ pictures. I decided to just watch the birds rather than trying to follow their flight with my camera.

As we were leaving there was an eagle in a tulip poplar tree on the cliff side. Its feathers were fluffed against the cold. He kept looking toward the river…and eventually flew off in that direction.