Nature Photos

At Chelsea farm Office, we've been seeing the big boy deer  with new fuzzy antlers!....

 A small goose family heading toward the pond...

 On July 3rd, we got a first look at two Spottie fawns almost hidden in the tall field.

A few turkeys were at the far side of a wheat field, but they left us a souvenir!  Might be good for a headdress!....

Here's a robin at home with some white stripes---leucism in birds...

 Hooray! A large, dark bird in a Park tree!  A black vulture has taken over an eagle perch.....

 "Is it safe to come out?" asks groundhog, Leonard, from under the Park shed?...

 A playground!  Leonora or Leonard have a family.....

 At home we saw our first Painted Lady on the verbena.....



Patuxent Osprey Cam

Pictures of monitors are not very good, but had to show the 3 eggs in the cam nest. It is broadcast on UStream......

 

An exciting week began Tuesday AM, when there seemed to be extra excitement with both ospreys in the nest. The male was squawking and female was shaking something from under her belly. She stood, and a tiny bobblehead could be seen! We were alerted that there might be a second hatch that day--(not before 4 PM)....

Patuxent Park Ospreys, Early June

Here are some photos taken by Park Naturalist, Matt Felperin. He's had some classes at NCTC. How lucky to be in a boat!!......

 

Adding a milestone kitten event picture....

 





Park Eagle Nest

Happy Memorial Day!!!

 

The nest in late April only showed a nearby adult eagle...

 Could see it better walking down the road...

 A bad weather/blurry day, but first sighting of a large chick being fed by Mom!!...

 Lots of leaves, but can see a large eaglet in center of nest!....

 And surprise! An adult sitting next to the nest.....

Last Tuesday, our new beaver friend volunteered to travel up the stream valley to spot the nest!....

 Oh, Happy Day!! He spotted TWO eaglets, just as our naturalist had said!...

Flora, April and May

Our crabapple at home was not too colorful this year due to rain and then heavy winds which caused early petal rain!....

 Bleeding Heart....

 Redbuds at the Park....

 

At Chelsea farm office we had pink dogwood....

..and wisteria is just starting to open....

 Azaleas at home. Some other colors such as the apricots, etc. are just beginning to bloom.  Next to the patio, these are on the left side of a "rock garden".  The tiny green sprout in the center front was my butterfly bush. Although it had been trimmed, it and a few other plants had to endure the Forestville chainsaw massacre!....

 Other side of the "rock" garden....

 These are on the other side of the patio, below deck and under "Magnolia Gardens"!  The two trunks are from the Sweetbay magnolia tree. When deck was constructed, the end had to be angled to accommodate the tree which was there FIRST!....

Kitty plant....

One side of front porch....

Neighbor's Buttercup field....

 



Osprey and Eagles' Nests 4-8-14

Our Park live osprey cam is now online;

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/osprey-camera

Some good chirping, too!

 

Our chief naturalist said that late last week, this nest already had 2 eggs. However when they weren't tended, probably crows came and vandalized! Female now laid more eggs.  They are towards front~~brownish spots....

 

In the afternoon, Mom eagle appeared to be up and scanning the sky. We did not see or hear anything, though.....

Tundra Swans 4-1-14

Here are 92 swans flying East over the Patuxent River in Upper Marlboro, MD!

Here is the link for their sounds; http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/tundra_swan/sounds