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Seeing is Believing

After spending the first part of Saturday morning watching my cute little jock of a grandson play football, I drove to Conowingo Dam to see the eagles.

I went, armed with my camera, knowing I was not going to get any great bird images. It was rainy and overcast, so the light wasn’t great. You need good light to capture great details. I also knew I don’t have the right equipment or skills, and presumed, correctly, that the eagles would be across the river.

I know birds. Not as well as some, but better than most. It’s sort of geeky, but it comes from watching birds (as a backyard birder only) and looking at bird books to identify the birds I see.

As stated in an article in Nature Photographers Online Magazine…

Bird photography is a very challenging endeavor, requiring specialized skills and equipment – one does not simply pick up the camera used for family vacation photos and capture compelling avian images.

My camera is decent enough for a hobby photographer (Canon Rebel XT), but to get really good bird images like this one, and this one, and this one, you either need to be fairly close or have at least a 400mm lens, which lists at $1,799. A 600mm like this one wouldn’t hurt either, but with a suggested retail price of $9,199, that’s not an option for me either. (Check out the image on this page to see what that lens looks like when in use.)

Enough caveats? I just want to make sure my photographer friends don’t think I’m trying to say any of the images I’m sharing below are good bird pics. They are merely snapshots to back-up my claim that there are some eagles to see at Conowingo Dam.

Since I don’t have any great lenses, you will need to click on these images to enlarge them if you want to see the birds.

When I first arrived at the dam, I overshot the turn for Shuresville Road on the Harford County side of the river. The first image in this post (above) was taken from the Cecil County side just to show everyone what a dismal day it was.

Once I managed to get to Fisherman’s Park at the base of the dam, I was happy to see there were actually eagles there. There are at least two in this shot of the rocks right across the river.

I walked downriver a couple hundred yards and looked again. More closely this time.

“Holy cow,” I said aloud. “They’re all over the rocks.”

There are at least 18 mature eagles (with white heads) in the shot directly above. Eighteen is a lot of eagles.

Then I looked slightly further downriver and saw even more of the majestic birds. I honestly thought you could only see this many eagles at one time in Alaska.

Quite intrigued at that point, I kept watching. In this image, you can see one flying while others are still perched on the rocks below.

Even if I couldn’t get any great shots, it was fun just watching. I mean, how often do you get to see multiple bald eagles flying around?

I kept snapping pictures, too. I tried counting the birds while there, but it’s hard on a tiny little image screen. Once I got home, I looked through the MANY pictures I took to see which one had the most birds in it. Now, if you count mature and immature eagles, there are AT LEAST 36 of them in the above image. Maybe a couple more. There are some crows and herons in the shot, too.

Thirty-six eagles captured in one photo. I’m guessing there are at least 100 birds of those majestic birds in the general area. Probably more.

It really was neat to see. And they don’t just hang out on the rocks. They fish and fly around, too. I actually saw two, at different times, flying overhead with fish in their talons.

It’s neat just watching single birds soar. But what’s really cool…

…is when two or more fly around together.

I wish I could have stayed longer.

You know what’s really amazing? Supposedly the highest numbers of eagles are present December through February. You can bet I’ll be back there later this year, with Hubby, to see this again.

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Where in the World?

Which of these four things do you think Hubby and I did yesterday?

a) Visit Paris
b) See the War Correspondents’ Arch
c) Walk the Appalachian Trail
d) Ride an automobile ferry
e) all of the above

Come on, give it some thought. We couldn’t go to WV because Hubby flew off to Chi-town this morning for a work thing.

Give up? You’ll never guess.

We did all of the above!

Our trip to Paris, Virginia was brief. So brief, in fact, that I didn’t take any pictures. But here’s a good one that someone else shot.

We were exploring Northern Virginia, between Leesburg and Winchester, for a possible relocation destination. Any move would be quite a ways down the road.

Since we love back roads, and I love cool, quirky stuff, Hubby plotted a route that took us across the Potomac River at White’s Ferry.

This is near Poolesville, Maryland, at mile 35.5 along the C&O Canal. There used to be around 100 ferries facilitating river crossings on the Potomac, but this is the last.

It is used by a variety of vehicles. We’ve been across it before, twice I think, on our motorcycles.

We passed a gazillion bicyclists yesterday (not one was chubby!). That’s our green car in the foreground. Hubby is behind the wheel, but you can’t see him because of the glare.

I think the ferry can hold about 21 cars.

It is actually quite efficient. I had just enough time to hit the potty and snap some quick pics before we boarded.

Notice the horse trailer? I told you it carries a variety of stuff.

Here come some bikers. It was a gorgeous, summer day. Too bad my bike is at the WV place.

This is the Virginia side of the river. It’s just outside of Leesburg.

This is a view of the river, from the ferry, looking northwest.

The area around Paris was gorgeous. East of there, towards Leesburg, is horse country. Lots of very large horse farms. West of there is the Shenandoah River. It’s sort of mountainous there, too.

On the way home, after crossing back over the Potomac at Harper’s Ferry (no longer a ferry), I saw a sign for Gathland State Park. It’s a Maryland state park I have never seen, and have always wanted to, so I said to Hubby, “Turn there!”

Of course he listened. He’s pretty good about humoring me.

This is the War Correspondents’ Arch. This is why there’s a Gathland State Park. If you really want to know more, follow the link. I don’t feel like recounting the history here.

I was sort of excited to see that the Appalachian Trail goes right through the park.

Since I’m sort of fascinated by the trail and anxious to hike on it (not the entire 2,000+ mile length!), I just had to walk on the trail.

We didn’t go far. It was sort of hot and VERY gnatty (as in bugs). But I did get Hubby to agree to return later in the year for a 12-mile hike! (Remember what I said about him humoring me.)

The arch is sort of cool, I guess. Again, one of those odd, quirky things. I suppose if we were Civil War buffs, which we aren’t, it would’ve been more interesting.

There were some picturesque buildings there (the remains of the summer home of the guy that built the arch). I like stone buildings.

Since I didn’t get to take any pictures in Paris, at least there was something interesting to capture images of to share with my blog audience.

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Hot + Humid = GROSS

Yep, summer has officially arrived in Maryland. It’s hot. It’s humid. And there are thunderstorms. In the morning and in the afternoon.

Even if I couldn’t go outside first-thing yesterday morning, I had to go out. I had to walk. After the storms had passed, I was ready. I left the house at 10:15 (early lunch!). It was 71 degrees (not too bad) with 84% humidity (bad).

It was gross.

Humidity measures the moisture in the air. Just how bad is 84% humidity? Late yesterday afternoon, while it was raining, the humidity level was 74%. That’s ten whole points lower than when it was not raining.

I was hot. But I did it. It’s a good thing, too, because we got hit by some wicked storms yesterday afternoon. Check out these pics…

As the storm was rolling in, I snapped this shot from inside of the house.

Then Hubby said, “The sky looks really cool over there.” I had to step outside to see (and document) just how awesome the sky looked. Notice the airplane in the pic? You have to look closely. At first glance, I thought it was dirt on my lens. It is towards the top of the frame, just left of the center line. If you click on the image itself, a larger view should pop up. I left the image large intentionally so you could get a closer look.

Here’s what the sky looked like to my right.

And here’s how it looked on the left. The storm was moving fairly quickly.

It had been thundering for a few minutes at this point, and I could see a few distant flashes of lightning. Then I saw a wicked lightning bolt straight ahead of me, but off in the distance. THEN there was a bolt of lightning that was much closer.

There was enough electricity in the air to change my camera settings!

That’s when I went inside.

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Election Day is Finally Here

I am really, really, REALLY glad November 4 has finally arrived. Not because I’ve been chomping at the bit to cast my vote, but because I am so sick of reading about it in the paper/on the Web, hearing about it on the radio, seeing billboards, etc.

I couldn’t resist posting this video, though. My Mom sent it to me. It’s cute. And timely. And is great fodder for my Blog.

I just haven’t had much to say since my last post on Halloween. Not that a lot hasn’t happened. Just not a lot of Blogworthy stuff.

Although I guess I could mention that autumn has finally arrived in my backyard. Saturday, despite the fact that it was oddly warm outside (about 75), I took some pictures. I’ll share a few here.

At left is the “bigger picture” view.

Nice, but not overly dramatic.

You have to get out there. Look closely. Stop and appreciate the spectacular color while you can.

My yard really isn’t all that big. Just under 1/3 acre, I think. But by actually going outside, looking closely and from different angles, I got some pretty cool images.

Like this one…

This is a close-up of a beautyberry bush. From afar, it is quite unremarkable.

I like all the greens in the image below.

And here’s a close-up of a dwarf burning bush.

CLICK HERE to see the rest of Saturday’s photos.

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What We’re Missing in West Virginia

cartoon from www.weblogcartoons.com Hubby and I stayed home in MD this weekend. With the long Labor Day weekend looming, we figured we’d just hang out in MD for a change. We actually had a nice day yesterday (Saturday). It was sort of like life before WV.

Neither of us had anything pressing that had to be done. Although I was determined to finish piecing the quilt I have been working on for what seems like forever. More on that later.

Oddly, as I was busy sewing away, it occurred to me out of the blue that we should visit Second Chance. It’s an architectural salvage company in downtown Baltimore That rescues “the wood, metal, marble, plaster, stone and other architectural elements that make [a] building special” which gives those “pieces new lives, in new homes, in new ways, with new uses.”

Second Chance has a dual purpose. They work with low-income residents of Baltimore, training them in a wide variety of skill sets, ranging from carpentry to craftsmanship, with the goal of creating skilled workers who can make a living wage with benefits for themselves and their families. These people “become self-supporting members of the community with new skill sets. At Second Chance, we believe that second chances are not just for buildings, they are for people, too.”

I’ve purchased a few things there for the WV place: kitchen cabinets, the kitchen table top, and a coffee table/end table for the living room. Yesterday we got two very cool cabinets, which are perfect for the WV garage, and two little cabinets to serve as nightstands in the guest room.

Afterward, we went to the nearby Cross Street Market hoping to find something for lunch. Neither of us could decide on what we wanted to eat. So we took the long way home, through the Inner Harbor, which was crawling with Yankees fans. We were heading into Fells Point, trying to decide what/where to eat, when Mike said, “Hey, I wonder if Lenny’s is open.”

Lenny’s is a big deli on the corner of Lombard and Center streets, just east of the Inner Harbor, at the end of a block that was once known as corned-beef row. It is not a fancy place. It has yet to be discovered by the tourists, but the locals and business people love the place.

When I still worked downtown, we’d go there for lunch periodically. Mike always got a reuben (corned beef, sauerkraut, swiss cheese and thousand island dressing grilled on rye bread). I’ve always had a sensitive digestive system and would never dream of eating such a thing in the middle of a work day. Yesterday, knowing we’d be heading home afterward, I decided to have one, too. It was delightful.

This morning, wondering what we missed in WV yesterday, I visited the Hampshire Review Web site. I was amazed to see that the Hampshire Review has a Web Cam. Not only that, they have a You Tube page, too!

There’s a video introducing you to the 2008/09 HHS Trojans (high school sports teams). Another video features Alverde Kelly, a county resident who turned 100 recently. There’s an even an older one, titled Local Pigs Go to State Fair.

Gripping stuff.

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.