Urban Dinosaurs10h ago
Going to owl in a handbasket? One of two great horned owlets, in a basket put up to replace a storm-damaged nest. The other owlet has fledged; I saw it briefly but couldn't photograph it. Also: a red-bellied woodpecker and an osprey. Huntley Meadows Park. (Aside: the 11 news and two of my three weather apps were certain it would be dry today. Guess what the third weather app said? Guess which was right?)
#birds #wildlifePhotography #birdsforbecsnan
Urban Dinosaurs2d ago
A double-crested cormorant, once drying its wings and once perched with some turtles. Also: two of my last four walks I've encountered snakes, this time a garter snake. Lake Needwood.
#birds #wildlifePhotography #birdsforbecsnan
Urban DinosaursApr 6

The prize, though, is a great horned owl with a back story. Two owlets were found on the ground after a bad storm that mostly destroyed the nest. A wildlife rehabber pronounced them healthy, so someone climbed the tree and installed a basket as a replacement nest, and put the chicks in it—and at least one adult rejoined them.
3/3

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Urban DinosaursApr 6

Soaring, I saw an osprey and a juvenile bald eagle. There was also a red-shouldered hawk that perched very close a a red-headed woodpecker—only the third I've ever seen—on trees. Those were especially cool, because I saw them on my way out of the park. 2/3

#birds #wildlifePhotography #birdsforbecsnan

Urban DinosaursApr 6
An excellent afternoon in Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria, VA—a place I'd go more often if it weren't for the @#$%^ bridge I have to use.
In the water: an American coot, a pair of hooded mergansers, a fish crow in between a wood duck couple, and a group of green-winged teals. 1/3
#birds #wildlifePhotography #birdsforbecsnan
Urban DinosaursApr 4
From Patuxent Research Refuge: a pair of tree swallows (there were many around), an osprey on a nesting platform, a mockingbird mocking away, and a black racer, a snake that's about a meter long that slithered across my path.
#birds #wildlifePhotography #birdsforbecsnan #snake
Urban DinosaursApr 1
Hanging out at the feeder in Wheaton Regional Park…
A female purple finch (a lifer!), an American goldfinch, a Carolina chickadee, and an eastern bluebird at the feeder with its tongue showing.
#birds #wildlifePhotography #birdsforbecsnan
Urban DinosaursMar 21
A pied-billed grebe with a soon-to-be ex-frog…
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Urban DinosaursMar 16
I tried and failed (again) to get a good look at the vagrant red-flanked bluetail at Great Falls National Park, but I did have a good time on the bird walk anyway. So: a double-crested cormorant, trailed by a pied-billed grebe; a pair of ring-necked ducks; a yellow-rumped warbler; and some great blue herons in a rookery along the Potomac.
#birds #wildlifePhotography #birdsforbecsnan
Urban DinosaursMar 10
I went to Great Falls (Virginia side) to try to spot the red-flanked bluetail that has been reported there. No joy. I did, however, spot a rock with common mergansers and American black ducks, a double-crested cormorant, a black vulture, and what I think is a painted turtle.
#birds #birdsforbecsnan #wildlifePhotography