MASON NECK STATE PARK - PART 2

Heads up for those who are a bit squeamish about such things, I photographed a snake and also the skeletal remains of a fish that I have never seen before but wanted to make a record of.  I have left those photos way down, so that you can enjoy the birds and then move on from my blog if you prefer.  They are below the kayak photos.From the visitor center we turned left and followed the path until we came across a few birds.  I am not sure of this one's ID but I looked up what birds had been seen recently at Mason Neck, and they mentioned the Eastern Wood-Pewee, which you can see here.  What do you think?  It is a lifer for me as I have never seen it before.  I am always thrilled when I can add to my list.

I saw him on a red pylon.

From the pylon he flew to the fence...

only staying for a few seconds...

before he flew away.

There was also a bird house nearby and a flurry of activity.  I enjoyed spending time with a pair of Tree Swallows...

and there were babies in the nest.  You can make out a head, at least the white part of its throat, in the circular entrance.

The parents were very diligent, always leaving one standing guard.

Looks like someone is getting told off in this one.

We watched as they flew back and forth, thoroughly enjoying them.

According to the park's website, the following birds were seen recently at Mason Neck.

Mourning Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Great Blue Heron, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Acadian Flycatcher

At the bottom of these steps were two information boards.

You can enlarge them if you want to see more clearly.

This is part of what is on the other side.  I neglected to take a photo of the whole sign, but I was more interested in the map in the bottom corner...

Here it is again closer-up.

There was a pond on the right.  It had a lot of green algae growing.  There is a good article if you click on this link with interesting information. 

There were a lot of dragonflies but I had a hard time taking photos.

These were the best I could do.  My hands were not very steady that day.

There were a couple of butterflies.

A black swallowtail and a zebra swallowtail.  

We had been walking along a path right next to the Potomac River.

I liked seeing the old stumps not too far out, still showing signs of life in those new leaves, perhaps ivy growing up the side.

There were kayaks for hire. 

This is where I show you photos of the snake Gregg saw.

And here is the fish skeleton I found.  I had been looking for smaller live fish in the shallows.  I wondered if this was the remains of some type of gar fish.

I took photos of new leaves.

Above are Muscadine and below is Summer Grape.

We found the path that would take us back to our car.

Halfway I saw one last dragonfly resting on an old log...

and that was it for nature shots from the park.  On the way home, I couldn't resist taking one last photo of the clouds. Below the wavy line looks like mountains but they were darker clouds causing this optical illusion.   I have never quite seen that shape before.

That's the end of our Mason Neck State Park trip, at least until we go there again, which I hope isn't too long from now.

Thanks for looking and enjoy your day.