Beavers

My home is in Fairfax County in Virginia. There are over a million county residents in a sprawl that leaves very little green space. A side effect is that there is a significant problem with storm water runoff. To deal with it, the county created a series of stream valley parks with dams to trap sediment and control runoff. There is one of these lake/dams near my neighborhood.

When the weather is nice, I take a walk along the lake shore. In the last few months, I've noticed a beaver lodge near the spot where a stream flows into the lake. And if I time my walk right, I have a good chance of seeing at least one member of the beaver pair swimming around, nibbling on leaves, or foraging along the shore. I've had several opportunities to see them late in the day after the shade of the surrounding trees darkens that entire end of the lake.

I've taken my camera along a few times, hoping for a shot or two of the beavers. The conditions are challenging, with low light, dark backgrounds, and dark animals. I'm using a 300mm lens at f4 and about 1/320 second and ISO 800 or higher. Sharp shots are hard to get. When the beaver is close enough for a good shot, it is also likely to see me, slap its tail on the water, and dive.

But, with persistence, I've managed a few keepers.

Coming Right At Me

Nose High

Nose High Again

Better Light This Time

Towing a Branch Around

Droplets on Whiskers

Dinner with the Tail Showing

There are lots of tree stumps around the lake; the beavers have been busy. Some of the trees were planted after the county drained the lake to remove sediment a few years ago. I fear it's only a matter of time before the park authority decides that these animals are too destructive, at which time the trappers might get a call to remove them.

Ride of the Patriots 2018

It's Memorial Day weekend, which means Rolling Thunder, which means Ride of the Patriots. I went to the same spot as last year, on a bridge on Cedar Lane over Interstate 66. It was cloudy and HUMID. Here are my photos from the event as thousands of motorcyclists rode by to join the main event, Rolling Thunder, at the Pentagon.

Deserted Interstate 66

The police blocked the road prior to the first group of motorcycles coming through. An empty I66 is so unusual, I had to start with this.

Empty I66

The cops could be forgiven for having fun on the job. Here's the lead group as they escorted the main body. I don't know where this first group started; they're not part of the Ride of the Patriots.

Fairfax County and Virginia State Police Lead the Way

Out of thousands of motorcycles and hundreds of photos, I've selected a few because of unusual motorcycles, or interesting riders. Lots of passengers and riders used their phones or GoPro cameras during the ride.

Waving to us on the Bridge

 The rider in the rear has quite a beard.

Beards

 I saw only one of these.

Put your hands on the wheel!

The photos above are from a smaller group that came through before the Ride of the Patriots. Then the police let the cars through, and it was PACKED for a while as the backup rolled through.

Typical I66 Traffic

Then the Ride of the Patriots began. The motorcyclists gather in Fairfax and depart as a long convoy. Here are the lead riders with their police escort. Again the police had shut I66 to other traffic.

Ride of the Patriots

 Here's another impressive beard.

What a Beard!

 Riding and photographing...

Concentration on his Face, or Cycling and Photographing

 The guy on the right of this photo gets into the gallery because of the arm tattoo.

Quite the Sleeve on this Rider

 And this rider had the most unusual helment.

Seems like that Helment is Hot!

When photographing, it's always a good idea to at least glance at the scene behind the main event. Here they are riding away from me, toward DC.

All Lined Up

 I'd say she likes purple. And I like the pigtails on her helmet.

Purple and Pigtails

Most of the riders seemed to have a lot of gray hair. And even though most of the women participants were riding with men, some had their own rides.

Enjoying the Ride

 I was glad to see so many women among the riders.

Nice Trike

 There were more sidecars last year. This one seems retro.

With a Sidecar

 Here's another impressive beard.

Beard in the Wind

I was also pleased to see just how much the riders look like America. We may have deep political arguments but for Memorial Day you wouldn't know it. Men, women, children, and every shade of skin were represented.

A Smile and a Wave

 Here's another impressive beard.

Beard

I chose this one because she's riding a big bike and has an unusual helmet. Women tend to go for smaller motorcycles.

Odd Helmet

 For obvious reasons...

OK, Who's Driving?

 There were lots of flags.

Flag Waving in the Wind

Finally, here's the rolling road block that followed the last of the riders, presumably to keep the cars from overtaking the riders.

Rolling Roadblock

It got really crowded on the bridge as lots of people showed up to see the show. The motorcyclists would wave, rev their engines, honk their horns, and smile as the people on the bridge waved back and waved flags.

This was a lot of fun, and I expect to be back for it again next year.

Beautiful Morning at OBNWR, Came for Birds, Found Turtles

Spring is turning into Summer and I'll probably take a break from visiting the refuge for a while. It gets hot and full of bugs and the birds that I like are harder to see behind all of the foliage. But today was beautiful and I have the day off and I made one more trip before the heat really sets in.

The eagle nest near the shore was occupied with a single eaglet, and the parents were on their usual perch above.

Looking Bored and Alone, Ready to Fly

Looking to their Right

I think the one on the right of this photo is the female; it's much larger than its mate.

I was disappointed by the lack of much action while I proceeded along the shoreline. Well, there was action, but it was heard, not seen. Ospreys are busy, herons were flying around, geese too. But the smaller birds were too far away or obscured to get anything useful.

I made it to the second eagle nest and found that the eaglets are much larger than last I saw.

Two Eaglets

These two will be flying soon. On my way out, I found this snapping turtle on the road. It's smaller than some that I've seen here, and he/she stopped and allowed me to photograph it. In the shade I had to crank my ISO. I also had to keep back beyond the minimum focus distance. I definitely had the wrong lens for this and the next two turtles.

The darkness meant I was shooting at F4 and 1/500 and ISO 1000 and still I had to process the photos because they were dark. The closeness and wide open aperture made for a razor thin focal plane.

Farther along, in a darker area along the road, I encountered another snapping turtle that had dug a hole in the sand and had its rear hanging over the hole. It seems late in the season to be laying eggs. There were many empty egg shells strewn around, so I think that nest either hatched its eggs or some predator got them. It was way to dark to photograph and there was tall grass obscuring the turtle, so no photos.

Spotted Turtle

Finally, this small turtle was on the road near the parking lot.

Eaglets

After a string of bad weather and just plain being busy, I finally managed to visit OBNWR again. I'm not particularly satisfied with my latest round of results, but the subjects make it worthwhile to post some of them.

Over two visits, I was able to observe two eaglet feeding events. The first was in the evening, in fading light, with the nest back-lit. I had to boost my camera's ISO to 1000 just to get a shutter speed that I could use hand-held. The sky is completely blown out to get the right exposure. I cropped and processed the photos, leading to some pretty washed-out results. And on top of that, the eagles didn't cooperate, never simultaneously showing their eyes.

Three Eagles

Feeding Time

I went back a few days later, hoping for another opportunity, this time in the morning with the light behind me. A cold, brisk gusting wind made for uncomfortable conditions and an unsteady camera, and again the eagles didn't cooperate.

Both Eagles Looking at Me

Eaglet Shows Early Wing Feathers

 After I'd been there for a few minutes, the parent got very vocal. I looked up and noticed this immature bald eagle passing through, having a hard time flying straight and level in the gusting wind.

Bald Eagle

And I had two lifers for me, so I'll post these too.

Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

Prothonotary Warbler

More Cherry Blossoms

I made my annual trip to the Tidal Basin over the weekend to try to photograph them, but the weather was awful. I had the opportunity to go again yesterday afternoon. Here's the second round of photos.

Cherry Blossoms

The Grebes were Playing among the Petals

Cherry Blossoms

Jefferson Memorial

Cherry Blossoms