Smallwood Village Lake, Waldorf MD

I had to visit Waldorf for several doctor's appointments, so I took a pleasant break at Smallwood Village Lake/Post Office Lake during my lunch time.  The easy flat walk around the small lake is less than a mile and includes some different sights during various season of the year.  It's a little oasis in the middle of a bustling city.  I saw several different birds, floating vegetation islands, a small bridge and a little children's playground.  During other visits, there were fishermen as well.  The parking is a little difficult, since it is on a divided highway, and only easily accessible from one direction.

                          

The whole lake
                  

The bridge is just out of the photo on the far right.

Great Blue Heron

Possibly black ducks

Red winged blackbird

The floating islands in the lake had a few flowers.  I didn't notice that they were moving around at first, but when I started photographing them, I noticed they had shifted to new places.  They seem to be made of some type of floating plastic sections hitched together, so they move around easily.  

Some people refer to the lake as Post Office lake, so it confused me a little.

 

Cute Buffleheads in the Creek

I just love watching the bufflehead ducks in the nearby water in the Winter.  They bob up and down looking for food.  They are very quick and very cute to watch.  I am sure they are just trying to stay alive by constantly feeding.  They eat water insects, snails, crustaceans (crabs in this case) and water plants.  They are pretty powerful swimmers and known as the smallest North American duck breed.  From a distance they look black and white, but closer up there are more greens and purples visible in their plumage.

Here are some older favorites of the little birds.

Hollywood Area Visit August 2022

We wandered around Hollywood to look for water, boats and anything interesting or places we hadn't seen before.  Here are my favorites.

Governor Thomas Johnson Bridge

Boat Ramp

Blackstone Marina

Hibiscus

Bald Eagle Having a Meal

The fish was too small to share with the partner bird!  The left eagle in this photo had just flown down with a fish, nearly hitting it’s partner.  The right eagle actually ducked to avoid getting hit with his/her partner’s wings.  I have some blurry photos of it taken at high speed, but not high enough.  They add to the story a little anyway.  I put them at the end since they aren’t the best photos.

Eagles can be bad flyers sometimes.

Bufflehead Portrait

I photographed a local Bufflehead in a pond for my friend who wanted a memory of this cute visitor.  This one looked black and white until I put it on my computer.  Now you can see the subtle reds and greens in their feathers.  I love to watch them bobbing in and out of the water when they have their meals.  They are only 13-16 inches long and are one of the smallest ducks.

Camera Club Winning Photos for 2018

 Winning Photos from the monthly competitions at St. Mary's County Camera Club in 2018 (1st to 3rd prize).  These photos will be in the end of the year competition.  Do you like any of them?

Most of the photos were taken in the last 2 years except for Oops!(planes miss) and the flat car.

 Bubble Reflection-Theme Blue

Blue Curves-Theme Blue

 Flamingo Heart-Advanced

 Flamingo Takeoff-Advanced

 Eagle Takeoff-Advanced

 Concert Fire-Advanced

 Abbott Lake-Advanced

 Strike-Theme Weather

 Sunflower-Advanced

 Illusion-Theme Perspective

 Oops!-Theme Perspective

 

 Ballerinas-Advanced

 Cactus-Advanced

 Newfound Gap-Advanced

 Sit-Theme Letters

JHM-Theme Letters

 Wet Dog B-Theme Wet

 Wet Race-Theme Wet

Sewing-Theme Industrial

Flat Car-Theme Industrial

 Odd Turtle-Advanced

Pink Carriage-Advanced