HUNTLEY MEADOWS PARK IN ALEXANDRIA

First of all, thank you for the many Birthday Greetings on Gregg's special day.  He read them all and was very touched by the comments made. I said once again what a great family our blogging community is.  I have known that from the beginning so thank you my friends, from the both of us.

As many regular visitors will know, I have shared Huntley Meadows many times before since I have been blogging.  This was our first visit of the year.  Our last one was in the Fall.  It was good to see new signs of life.  The trees are showing lots of buds.

There were plenty of turtles sunning themselves on logs, and one or two in the water.

There were plenty of geese in the area too, some who had paired up in preparation for nesting, others on their own.  There was a little territorial honking and flapping of wings going on also, and some beat a hasty retreat.

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard were enjoying a late lunch, munching on new shoots rising out of the water.

I was very happy to see this lovely water bird.  He is a Northern Shoveler.  I don't ever remember seeing him before except in my bird book, so was happy to add him to my lifer list.  I read that they liked to forage in shallow wetlands.  You can read more about him here.

Gregg spotted this bird on the other side of one pond, and I recognized it as a Catbird, and you can read about him at this link.

   I was actually trying to get a focus on two other male Northern Shovelers, and completely missed the little Catbird just below them (photo below).  Fortunately I have a great spotter with me.  

As I began to move on Gregg asked if I had seen this interesting little bird.  Thinking he meant the Shoveler pair I said yes, but am glad I retraced my steps to his side as he was pointing in their direction.  I cropped the photo to get an even closer look when I got home.  Gregg can always spot things I miss the first time around.  

There were two geese at the side of the walkway, in the water a couple of feet below.  Obviously not bothered by anyone's presence, they stared at us as we walked by.  I got a shot of this one.  They always make me smile these Canada Geese.  They are so feisty, and their territorial honking could be heard all along our walk.  We were almost back to where we began at this point.

It really was a beautiful day, still a tad too chilly to leave our coats behind in the car, but the sun was good medicine and our walk in these beautiful surroundings was great.  Here is one last shot of a Northern Shoveler with its mate.

We are now off the boardwalk which takes us through the marshy area, and are heading back to our car along the path through the wood.  There have been many others enjoying themselves.  We pass people who are heading into the park.  There were lots of children beside couples like us.  It is good to see parents and grandparents introducing these young ones to everything we love about nature.   

I look up and see the trees coming to life.  They are a glorious sight.

"My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature."

~Claude Monet~

Have a great week everyone, and thanks for stopping by.