Point Lookout State Park Beach Trip

 We wandered down to Point Lookout to hear the surf and view the Bay from a different perspective.  

I grabbed a shot of a bird over the causeway and realized it was an osprey with a fish later. Many of the osprey have already flown south.

Nearby, someone had a sun umbrella disaster.  I don't know if it was fixable.  

We sat down to enjoy lunch and I spotted a few boats.  I didn't realize the fishing net posts had a bird on every post till later. 

We had a nice lunch and I walked down to the beach to see the Lighthouse from a distance.

Near the beach I spotted a songbird I didn't recognize.  Maybe a Vireo?

  

A Visit to Point Lookout State Park

I visited Point Lookout State Park to look for birds before the summer crowds.  I didn't see many closeup, so I am sharing park photos.  I went close to the beach area to see a view of the Lighthouse.  Then I stopped at the reconstructed Fort Lincoln.  This time the white buildings were open and contained wood stoves, tables and bunks.  I even saw a few deer.  Last, I stopped at the 2008 Confederate Memorial Park where several tents were erected and orange day lilies were in bloom.

Thomas Point Park in Annapolis

We visited Thomas Point Park in Annapolis after a doctor visit, since I had never seen the Thomas Point Lighthouse.  I knew it would be a good distance away, so I brought my very longest lens, up to 600mm and still had to crop the photo alot.  The fall foliage was looking good and there was a cute dinosaur statue in the woods by the side of the road.  The day was mostly cloudy, so I spent most of the time waiting for the fog to get interesting and the sun to show itself.

The park was named after Philip Thomas, an English merchant who owned the nearby land in the mid 1600s.  It is popular for fishing, biking, walking, birding and picnicing.  The park is so small that you must make an advance reservation with a fee to visit except during the colder months.  There is hardly any parking.

Thomas Point Lighthouse

Fall Foliage

Dinosaur

William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bay Bridge Glowing

Piney Point Sunset

It was a nice night for sunset at Piney Point Lighthouse, but kind of windy.

Keepers cottage

Sunset at Piney point lighthouse

Cupula

A Spring Visit to Point Lookout State Park

I spent a lovely few hours at Point Lookout State Park to see if there were any birds around and found access to the beach and Fort area.  I visited the redoubt (panorama) and prison re-creation with a few tents and a guard house.  There were 2 occupied osprey nests.

Lighthouse with Cormorants

Guard Post No. 9 Prison of War Display

Redoubt

Cape May B September 12, 2018

     Cape May Point beach Sep 12th

     Old bunker WWII

     Cape May Point Lighthouse

     St Peter's by the Sea

Visiting Point No Point Lighthouse

We tried out our new used Wellcraft boat for a short distance on the bay.  It was getting cooler, but we wanted to see how it runs before storing it for the winter.

It rocked and rolled some, but seemed fairly sturdy with winds less than 10 mph.  We drove around the lighthouse twice in the late afternoon.

     A little reflection

     Backlighting

     The outhouse

     What is it?  It reminded me of a bear with paws up.

     Some type of iron support, but I wasn't quite sure.  A davit to pull boats up?  You can see it on the first photo too.

     Time to return.

Redbuds are A'Bloomin'

In St. Mary's County the parking lots are full of beautiful flowering trees.  The cars in the background usually turn the photos into snapshots, so I just enjoy the flowers with my eye instead of a camera.  I tried my best to keep the cars out of these particular photos.  I especially liked the parking lot in Callaway where the Redbud trees were everywhere.

 

 The reflection is from the moon roof of my car!

The shadows on the wall were interesting.