OCCOQUAN BAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, VIRGINIA 3-2-22 - PART 2

Continuing our walk at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, we are on the way to Painted Turtle Pond.  We see another Hermit Thrush hopping on the ground.  Gregg took its photo.  

Cropped from above.

At this link it will give you information on how Occoquan (the town) received its name, and much more.  The following information I found at Wikipedia here.  

"Occoquan (/ˈɒkəkwɒn/) is derived from an Algonquian Doeg Indian word, meaning "at the end of the water."

We continued walking along this trail, and it wasn't long before we reached the pond.  

As the sign says, it is an ecological study area.  I couldn't find much more information, but I will keep looking.

I don't think I have ever seen a group of turtles as big as this one.  A group of turtles is called a bale, so…

we left our bale of turtles without further investigation.  

This walk is always quite a long one and our energy level had been depleted.  Knowing that we had to get back, we decided it prudent to leave it for another day.  Good news is that on following this loop around, the distance back to the car was about half as long.  We now know a short cut to the pond and will be returning in a couple of week.  

We came across a large patch of Sumac and there is an interesting article at this link.  It says that it is related to the cashew and there's talk of toxicity if you are interested.  I am not sure what type of Sumac this is. 

There are about 35 species of the flowering plants in the genus Rhus, (also spelled sumach).  Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, including East Asia, Africa and North America.  Sumac is used as a spice, as a dye and in medicine.  Its scientific name is "Rhus". This info came from here...

and at this website, The Spruce, has more.

Another gift on our walk was the sighting of our second Eastern Bluebird.  

It stayed around long enough for me to take a few photos.

It was wonderful seeing the blossoms and there were signs of Spring everywhere.

This was identified as a Callery Pear, botanical name Pyrus calleryana, also known as Bradford pear.  Unlike other blossom trees, it is said to have an unpleasant odor when it blooms.  It does, however, look quite spectacular.  It was named after a French man, Jospeph Marie Callery (1810-1862), who originally brought the plant from China to Europe.  He traveled extensively in Asia (Java, Philippines and China).

We made our way past the gate, turned right and a short walk took us back to where we had parked our car.  It was a wonderful walk and we are looking forward to going back in a couple of weeks.  

USE THE TALENTS YOU HAVE...

 

"Use those talents you have.  You will make it.  You will give joy to the world.  Take this tip from nature: The woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except those who sang best."

~Bernard Meltzer~

OCCOQUAN BAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE - 3-11-22 - PART 1

 

We were trying to decide where we were going to take our walk.  I suggested Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.  It is hard to believe that our last trip was in October of last year, which we enjoyed tremendously.  Then and now there were only a few people.  It is probably a different story on the weekend.  

On our last trip we said we should go to Painted Turtle Pond, and that's what we intended to do.  Where you see the people walking in the picture above, that's the route we took before.  You can see the water in the distance.  Where I am standing is a right hand fork, which is the way to the pond.  As it turned out we didn't spend a lot of time there, but will be going again in the not too distant future.  All our time and energy will be devoted to the pond, and we now know of a short cut. 

One of the trails was closed and I read the sign.  It is the first time I have come across an area where birds are actually banded.  

We are never too far from the water…

and I loved all the trees.  This one had the sun behind its main trunk, and it gave a nice halo effect.

We were curious about this side trail and saw a bird blind at the end. 

It would give a great view of waterbirds, but there were none that I could see today.

We were surrounded by Red Maple trees and they were showing signs of warmer weather.

I saw this lying on the deck rail.

 I am assuming it is from one of those buds.

Further up the trail I noticed movement in a tangle of branches and found this sweet thing.

I have never seen this bird before so it was exciting to try and identify it.  

I looked at a lot of birds online and think I have it identified, a Hermit Thrush? 

If one of my blogging friends could confirm that, I would be very grateful.

We spotted an Eastern Bluebird high in the branches of another tree.  It also stayed long enough for a few photos...

and was still there when we left.

I always thank them as they yet again confirm that being around nature is good medicine for the soul.

If you missed our last trip and are curious, click on the links provided below.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

I still have more to share from our walk but it is getting late and I will stop for now.