Super Moon

When the news reports came out that the moon was to be super-sized in appearance this weekend, I rousted out my trusty tripod and the more powerful of my two cameras and headed out to practice night photography.  I live about a ten-minute walk from the Severn River, which is east of my house, so I walked toward the river to see what I could do.  It turns out my camera is just not powerful enough to do justice to that moon, but I had fun anyway.  These were my best shots, and one of them is not even of the moon!  It seems people down that way have a penchant for lighting their trees at night.  Poor trees must be very confused, but the effect is pretty. 





I was trying out a new-to-me tripod, and I like it better than my old one. 

The moon is not to be this large, at least in appearance, until 2028.  By then I may be too old to care, but I surely enjoyed it this time.

Trip to NC

With family in North Carolina, I make pilgrimages to the area on a fairly regular basis.  Spring was in the area (and in the flowers) when I went last week.  It was a nice time to be down there even with trees pollinating like fury.

One of the newer babies in the family is my mother's first great-great grandchild.  Bentley is a little less than a year old and is much loved.  Here he was caught napping with Grandpa R.C. It may look a little precarious, but at the slightest twitch of the baby, Grandpa's eyes were wide open.  He was "just resting his eyes a little".

Bentley is a live wire when he is awake and very interested in the world around him.  Here he is with his mother, Megan, and his father, Brandon.

And let's not forget Grandmother Nancy.

He'll have a bit of competition now because Cousin Chase from Wisconsin arrived today. Chase is almost three, so he may not even be interested in a baby. We'll see.

It will be interesting to see how the dynamic has changed when I go back down there in a few weeks.  Meanwhile, it's nice to see a bit of spring here.

Progress

In my last post I spoke of a house in the neighborhood that is in dire need of removal.  Today I heard noises over there.  People were hauling stuff away from the inside, although I can't imagine being brave enough to set foot in there.

The word I got is that this mess will be bulldozed next week.  Hurray!

Sometimes it Pays

Sometimes it pays to let your voice be heard.  There is an uninhabited (except, perhaps, by wildlife) house in my neighborhood that can be seen from my deck and my yard.  A huge tree fell on that house when Hurricane Isabel swept through in Sept. 2003.  Since that time the house has had a tarp of some form on it, but no noticeable repairs.  The original damage was mostly in the rear of the house, although you could still see some of the tarp draping.  We had a 21-inch snowfall in December of 2009, followed by two 20+ inch snows in February of 2010.  The second February snow took down the tarp setup and the front wall of the second story.  About a month later the owners cleaned up some of the debris and set up a new jerry-rigged tarp set-up.  This new rig looked awful and was very much in evidence.  Then at the end of January this year we had a seven-inch snow--not very much, but very wet and very heavy--and the newer tarp setup was ripped to shreds.  And there it sits.  It has been several weeks, and the owners, I know, have been notified, but no more action has occurred.

Enough is enough!  Yesterday I notified the county inspections and permits department of this situation, figuring that nothing much would happen but that I would feel better for having tried.  A courtesy copy to the community association president got forwarded to the community relations person for the county.  By today I have received responses from all concerned.  I'm feeling much better about our county government!!

Apparently a permit application to bulldoze the place was submitted in November but there were problems with the application that have, to date, not be satisfied.  It seems the local fire department got involved on Monday and they are pushing the issue.  After seven and a half years, I think it's about time!

A Birthday Weekend in PA

Already?!  Yes, it's true.  Grand-niece Elizabeth, aka "Lil Bit", turned five this month, and I was able to join in the celebration.  It was a great weekend.  For once the weather (mostly) behaved and I could travel easily. 
We celebrated on Saturday.   Elizabeth got all kinds of neat things.  I think one of her favorites was the Barbie guitar.  All of those youngsters are music lovers, so this just added to her repertoire.

Jake and Ava played the piano at various times, but Jake's favorite is drums.  He would like a drum set, but the potential procurers have declined so far, so he is reduced to using whatever he can commandeer--pots, tables, or whatever presents itself as available.

Cousins Emily and Abigail joined in the celebration.




















It was also Super Bowl weekend, and the family gathered to root for their favorite (or preferred, if not favorite) team.  Even Abbie got into the act, snuggling with Bob as she watched.

While the predicted storm turned out to be mostly rain, there was plenty of snow still on the ground, and children who would have preferred to play outside were forced to stay inside and just look out and wish for spring.

Patience, little ones.  It's a whole lot closer than it has been (we hope)!

Birding on the Coast

Each winter I try to make a birding trip to the Delmarva coast (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia).  There are some birds that one either finds there during the winter or they just don't make it onto the year's list of birds seen.  The weather and the lack of anything pressing on the calendar convinced me that this was the week to do it for 2011.  I usually start by heading to Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in DE and then work my way south as far as Chincoteague, VA.  Let me tell you that it was COLD on the coast, at least on Friday and Saturday.  I stopped at one spot and discovered a group of American coots huddled together in one little patch of almost-water.  They looked miserably cold, even with all that insulation they wear!  And this was before I got to the coast--it was just across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge!

Once I got to the coast, it was still icy.  This was the view of the ocean from Rehoboth Beach, DE near the end of the day. 

The birding was good though--85 species for the weekend, which I consider acceptable for this weekend in the winter.  One species I was pleased to find was the horned lark.  This was the best I could do taking their photo.  Click on the photo for a better look at them.  They're rather cute!

One reason I couldn't get closer was because the prime spot was taken by this chap, and he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon!  I'd love to see his finished photos.

At Chincoteague some of the birds were a little more accessible, but even they looked cold and disgruntled if they needed to be still to fish, as did this great blue heron.

Along my route I pass Dover AFB, and as I went through one of the nearby towns, I saw this sign.

A sign of the times, I suppose, and in this case a happy one.

Winter in Maryland

With the onset of winter, birding the backyard can be rather exciting (for a birder).  This week I had a delightful visit by a hermit thrush.  I occasionally see one in the winter, but its appearance in the yard is rather rare.  It often likes more privacy than my yard offers.  But when you are hungry... 

We had a bit of snow earlier this week.  It was enough to look pretty but not enough to impede activities for long, thank goodness.  Even so, it was enough to make an interesting rim around the heated birdbath, and the birdbath, in turn, reflected tree skeletons.

At one point a male cardinal added a dash of color to the snow-covered trees.

One old tree that rests at a peculiar angle wore a girdle of green (ivy) and white.  (The ivy has to go!)

If one must deal with snow, this is the kind I prefer!