Birdsnsky: flowers

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Dec 14 2009: Green Spring Garden Park, Alexandria, va.

Green Spring Garden Park in Alexandria, Va., is one of my favorite places to take pictures. This Fairfax County Park strives to have flowers and plants growing and visible year round. If freezing has already occurred, the greenhouse on the premises is also available.

I decided to pack my camera and stop by this Park on my way to work. These are the highlights of what I saw 10 days before Christmas. It was sunny with a light breeze. I stayed for about 30 minutes. Next time I'll check out the stream below.

I love the bright red pyracantha, with the old country house in the background.

A winter cabbage with last night's rain having beaded up.

A few berries are in bloom here.

Even with a recent freeze, this plant was reasonably intact.

I like the water droplets on this frozen rose.

I love "explosions in nature"

Another cabbage

I particularly like the texture and color of these leaves.

I like the look of grasses

More flowing, wispy grasses

Sunday, June 14, 2009

May 19 - 20 2009: Holliday Lake State Park, Va.

My wife and I spent one night at this fairly new state park. Amenities and facilities were rather new. The RV camping area was on the side of the hill, so I used all of my leveling boards.

Several remarkable things here: the sky was so incredibly clear and lacking of city lights that I had a difficult time finding the Big Dipper! I don't recall seeing such a stellar display! Unfortunately, the Milky Way was behind the treeline, so I could not see it. However, I did see four meteor bursts!

Second, we saw for the first time the Brown Thrasher! It *ran* the length of the paved roadway, stopping and looking for caterpillars. When a thrasher found one, it would pick it and start smashing it before eating it.

Also while here we saw a big brown bunny AND a mockingbird the size of an adult blue jay. Unfortunately, it flew off just as I pointing my camera at it.

Holliday Lake