WATCHING THE PLANES COME IN AT GRAVELLY POINT ON 4-10-26

The brain was tricked into thinking that these planes were coming in pretty slow until all of a sudden, they were overhead and disappearing fast. I caught the ones further out okay, but it was hard getting 'all' once they were 'there'.  The little girl was enjoying herself running around in her pretty sparkly dress as my focus was on that plane coming in to land. Her family was right there but out of frame. I had fun people/family watching, seeing everyone having a good time, a place where everything was put aside for a little while. There is the Washington Monument on the right and you can see the road construction I mentioned in my previous post. This is not on the main road but next to it inside the park perimeter.

Here's another one...They just kept flying in, one after the other...

but there was a break when we heard airplanes taking off at the end of the other runway.  

Back to landing.

I sometimes wonder what those people up there are thinking right about now, and where did they come from.

"Here's a quote from the movie Airplane. Does anyone remember it?  Click here if you would like a refresher. It was released in 1980, a silly movie but I laughed all the way through it. I should find it again for a rerun.

Passenger: Nervous?

Ted Striker: Yes.

Passenger: First time?

Ted Striker: No, I've been nervous lots of times.

A groaner and you know how much I like those.

I never thought I could be so entertained watching planes flying in. This one looks like it is kissing the trees.

We had been here for over an hour, and this was the last one. It was time to leave.

Here's another one of those flying machines about to take off with a potato chip in its beak, a Red-winged blackbird. An opportunity for him as there were many having picnics. I was amazed that any birds were around with all those roaring engines overhead.

That's all from Gravelly Point, until the next time we go. 

SATURDAY MORNING AT THE BIRD FEEDER - DOGS?

 

5.26 p.m. on the 10th: we have just had unexpected visitors on the deck. Two very young, very boisterous long-haired golden retrievers. They appeared out of nowhere. I was shocked to see two young dogs running around the deck in circles and when they heard our voices they ran over and jumped up on our screen. The door was open and the screen was pulled across preventing entry, at least at that moment. 

Some bright spark, however, got it into her head to go outside to see if she could find a dog tag on the collar of the nearest one. That was an invite for one to slip through and start running all over the house, with the other one following immediately behind. I realize my reflexes have slowed down to molasses. I am as slow as a snail. The one jumped up on the couch and did a few full-length races back and forth, the other one followed before I could close the door, and started joyously exploring all other rooms and up the stair he went. I was trying to calm them down - and myself down - long enough for them to listen to me because they were having a most joyous time. 

Gregg had gone out the front to see if there was anyone looking for them. In the meantime, I finally got pups outside and was trying to get hold of a collar to see if there was any id. Couldn't find one but they were very jumpy and were still extremely boisterous. I was trying to sit down in one of our outside chairs when the one jumped up and knocked me flying unceremoniously backwards into the chair with a thump, and I barely escaped falling out of it. A comedy of errors in the making. 

They both took this as a sign to continue playtime. I had two young dogs jumping all over me, and I have scratch marks on both arms to prove it. One grabbed my hand with his mouth and I felt his teeth, not mean but playful puppy teeth, so I have a sore thumb now and have dabbed antiseptic on the scratches. Ironically, I am off to get my tetanus shot next week. I was supposed to get it last week but there you go.

Our neighbors across the street have had golden retrievers in the past and I suggested to Gregg that he go over there. These were their dogs and I don't think they have had them for very long as this is the first time we have set eyes on them. They didn't realize they had gotten out. Happy to say all's well that ends well. Very happy it took such a short time, but amazingly eventful time, to find out who they belonged to. Two beautiful young big pups full of energy, a couple of bouncing-balls (Gregg said they were in jailbreak mode). I thought they were nervous being apart from their humans.

All's well that ends well, we were concerned that they might go further and get up on the main road with all the traffic. It's funny how you immediately become very protective of two young dogs you've never set eyes on before. We were really shocked when we saw them on the deck. We don't have fencing, no gate. At least if they get out again and they made it back over here, we'll know whose door to go knocking on.

Thank you Mr. Red-winged blackbird and yes, they have. We will be going down to Home Depot tomorrow to get a new one as their claws created several holes.

The birds out back made themselves scarce when all this was going on but I was thankful Mr. Red-winged Blackbird hung around. One added note: as I was typing this, my battery started flashing on the laptop, which is unusual because I keep it plugged in most of the time. When I looked over at the wall socket, one of those pups had yanked the plugs out of the wall on his merry chase around, plus had stuck his head into my trash bucket and scattered things willy-nilly. 

I am going to take a nap now.

And there you go, that's how it goes on a

Saturday Morning at the Bird Feeder,

even much livelier than usual.

Thanks for visiting and 

I hope you are all having a great weekend.

Added note today the 11th at 11.50 a.m:  Gregg just told me that he heard yelling/calling and looked outside to see the dogs had escaped again. They were running around but fortunately ran back inside their house when called. Apparently, they visited another neighbor’s house next door this time.  Gregg said they can run like the wind!

For our international friends to translate using my widget on the sidebar.

Photo 1: 

"Who are you?"

Photo 2:

"You have visitors!"

Blackbird:

"I will let she of the house tell you."

Photo 3:

No words

Photo 4:

"He's the naughty one, I am a marshmallow."

Photo 5:

"Nope, he is the naughty one. I am the marshmallow."

Photos 6 & 7:

No words.

Photos 8:

"They have put holes in the screen."

BACK TO WALNEY POND

 I am concentrating only on a few things today. Two are the dragonfly photos Gregg took. We are thinking the red-beading effect on its wings in the first photo, was the reflection from the sun bouncing off its wings? Maybe?

And this in another spot. It may have been the same one as we were waiting for it to stop plant-hopping long enough to take its photo. I identified it as the male Blue Dasher Dragonfly. Experts, let me know if you disagree please.

Next is the female Redwing blackbird who was in a tangle of branches.

In the next tree, we found the male Redwing blackbird.

The photo above shows the clearest picture of his striking red and yellow epaulette. You can read all about them here. The bird photos were also taken by Gregg.

Lastly, the Bumblebee on the Common buttonbush, which on the day we were there, held my fascination for some time. I couldn’t get it as sharp as I would like it to be, but I was happy. There are several species of bumblebees that are native to Virginia. If you missed the first part of our visit, you can find it at this link. My post today is Part 2. I found a splendid website with the title, "For Wild Bees, these Native Plants are the Superstars."

I am now on the hunt for local honey. There is a beekeeper who sells it locally. I just need to do a search as it’s not in the local supermarkets and it is outstanding honey, my all-time favorite. I can't remember what kind it is now (when I see the bottle I will know). I ran out ages ago and bought a jar of regular. It is very nice but I try to give my business to the smaller family run local businesses when I can. I might have gotten it originally from a weekend farmer's market.

Thanks for looking and I hope your day is a great one.

HUNTLEY MEADOWS CONTINUED...

 

It was a day for conversations. Not ten feet into the park a little boy ran up with an insect box showing two colorful frogs inside. They were hard to see because there were fresh leaves inside. He chattered away as his mother came up behind him and whispered quietly, "They aren't real, just toys." I smiled and listened to the dear child telling me about his 'frogs'. The insect box was real and I told him how wonderful his frogs were. He said his mommy was going to get him more and I told him what a wonderful mommy he had. His sister came up behind him, maybe two years older, and started chatting also. 

They were with another lady and her two children about the same age. The mommies looked similar, sisters perhaps, and all were smiling. What a wonderful thing they were doing for their children, to introduce them to nature at such an early age.

I noticed a spider's web and snapped a photo.

I found this plant very interesting. Checking with my plant app I was given two dogwoods, Red osier dogwood and Silky dogwood. I am not sure which is correct. They aren't the dogwood I am more familiar with. You can check the link on their names to see what I mean.

This is the same area where we saw the Canada Geese and their goslings. Every time we visit, the water level is different due to the beaver dams, which were always very visible. The last couple of times it has been on the drier side. One of the photographers told us that the park people had told him the beavers have moved to the west and took their beaver dams with them. The lodge that I have become used to, near a bench we always sit on, is slowly disappearing back into the mud. They weren't discouraged, they just upped and left!  We were sorry to hear that as we have loved seeing the beavers over the years, along with their intricate engineering skills. Maybe they will move back. I will always remain hopeful!

One constant is the frog! Thankfully they are still around! All you had to do was look at a damp, muddy area and there they were, occasionally obscured by twigs and reeds. 

What we were actually seeing was the American Toad.

They are found throughout large portions of North America but are not generally present in the southern states. This is what I read anyhow, and perhaps our southern bloggers can agree or disagree on that. American toads shed their skin every couple of week or so while growing. They can also eat up to 1,000 insects a day!  

This Snapping turtle was a bit shy!

There were lots of dragonflies in the area. I came across a few settled on the boardwalk. I am still very much a novice on identifying many things, dragonflies are on top of the list. I believe this is a male Common Whitetail Dragonfly.  If you are more knowledgeable, please let me know if I am incorrect. I would rather know than not.

Below is a female Common Whitetail Dragonfly. The Juvenile males are very similar but their wings are more like the male above, whereas the females are more like this. You can go here to see what I am talking about. Anyhow, it was fun to read about them.

This isn't a very good photo but it looks like a female Red-winged blackbird. It is easier to identify the male...

and here he is. I took more photos of him because he was right on the sidewalk as we were walking towards him to go back to our car...

and a collage of the same bird. If you click on this link, you can hear its distinctive call. 

I think I will stop here with today's post, and will share more photos another time. Thanks for looking and I wish you all a great day!