Annapolis Windows for April St. Mary's County Camera Club Competition

The April Camera Club Competition theme was windows and doors.  We went to Kent Island to see the boat show with our friends Tommy and Angela.  Afterwards, we decided to visit Annapolis for dinner.  I suddenly realized that I would have a little time to find some window and door photos for the coming competition.  There are some lovely back streets with colorfully painted houses not far from the State house.  I asked Tommy to stand in front of this clever Trump L'Oeil painting of a bicycle by a window.  I asked  him to pose with his hand on the bicycle seat, like he was part of the painting.  The "wisteria" were very pretty and made me think of the scent I love.  I don't normally photograph other people's art work unless I can change it to make it more unique.  I would be happy to credit the artist if I knew who it was.  Please comment if you know. The photo won third place in the competition.  

Here are a few of the other interesting windows and doors I photographed in gorgeous colors.

This last one was interesting because it showed a door IN a window IN a door.  Fancy that!

May Day at Historic St. Mary's City

Historic St. Mary’s City celebrated the coming of spring on May 3^rd at 11AM with a dance around the May Pole near the St. Mary’s River, for visitor’s and staff.  The colorful satin ribbons were delightfully woven at the end of the dance and were slowly unfurled by the staff, preparing for a second dance at 3 PM.  Visitors also participated in crafts and colonial games.

For some reason, I always wanted to watch a May Pole Dance.  (I must have read too many British novels!)  I wish I could have figured out a way to take pictures and dance at the same time. It looked like fun.

The Private Osprey War 2014

I captured some somewhat unusual video footage of a male osprey attacking the pair on our nearby osprey nest.  Six short videos totaling about 3 minutes of footage have been pieced together.

The attacking bird was extremely aggressive.  He actually picked up a bird by the claws (not shown) and tossed it into the water, stomped on the birds,  and tried to knock them out of the sky.  One bird was cut on the leg.  Meanwhile, the nesting pair tried to build up their nest, even carrying a large stick that had fallen into the water to add to the nest.

The private war was quite exciting to watch, but I kept hoping that none of the birds would be critically injured. (and I don't think they were)  I am wondering if the birds were fighting over the nest or the female.  The nest is quite popular and there might be a shortage of good nests nearby. 

The female is the larger bird with a sort of brown necklace of feathers.

Please comment if you like or if you notice anything interesting about the behaviors of the birds.

Cherry Blossoms at the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C.

 Jim and I spent a lovely day in Washington DC photographing the beautiful Cherry Blossom Trees at the Tidal Basin on the Potomac, the circular basin surrounding the Jefferson Memorial, the FDR Memorial, and the nearby Washington Monument.  I hoped to be there just after sunrise, by getting up a 5AM, but that was much too late. 3AM might have worked or an overnight in town.  The weather was gorgeous and I tried to capture some of the curves of the basin and the trees, as well as the paddleboats.

Most of the Cherry trees along the Tidal basin are single white flowered Yoshino Trees, with some single flowered pink Akebono trees.  We took a $1 shuttle to East Potomac Park to view the many other Japanese Cherry trees:  Weeping Cherries, Kwanzan, Autumn Cherries (double flowered), Takesimensis, Afterglow, Sargent, and Okame.  The park has a golf course and picnic area.  The West Potomac Park also has some different cherry trees along the water.

Here's a few photos from our memorable day.

             Tidal Basin Panorama

                          Japanese pagoda

     Washington Monument with Paddle        Boats

                       Looking up!

Easter cards

Check out my Easter cards on Zazzle from the top of the page or http://www.zazzle.com/calmreflectionsphoto  

I have a cute Easter dog a gorgeous pink flower and cherry blossoms.  You've got to be quick though!  

An Unexpected Visitor

Imagine my surprise when two daring geese decided to check out the view from the osprey nest, after the osprey had returned for the season.  These two were keeping an eye out in both directions.  Beneath the nest, two friends kept watch for dangers below.  So far I have seen osprey, eagles, great blue herons, geese and various little birds on the nest.  Popular place!!

My Osprey in snow just got posted on the Bay Net

See my little annoyed osprey in the snow, (similar the the well known "angry bluebird") on the Bay Net at "State gives Schools a Spring Break".  The photo was taken in Tuesday's flurries.  Here's the link.  

http://www.thebaynet.com/news/index.cfm/fa/viewstory/story_ID/36195

Please comment if you like.