Barred Owl in Potomac, Maryland

A friend of mine told me about a secluded little scenic pond in Montgomery County, Maryland. He said there were stories about an owl that returns every year there, and I was in Rockville yesterday with some free time so I headed over to this pond. And there it was, up in a tall pine tree, a sleepy eyed Barred Owl. She posed quite nicely for her portraits, and should be laying eggs very soon. Stay tuned for followups on this posting.

If you are interested in more information about these interesting creatures, have a look at this site:
Barred Owl Basics.

Birds of Spring

Finally, spring is here, and the big birds are out in full view. Here's a set of recent photographs I shot from the docks of friends and neighbors at Lake Barcroft and along the W&OD and Four Mile Run Trails. 

The first set of the Great Blue Heron images is a sequence that includes the two photographs many of you had seen earlier this week. The heron actually speared the fish. I have photographed herons before but never saw them do this. From my research, it is, in fact, one way they do catch fish.

These eagles were very high up, so I did my best in editing them to be as sharp as possible. 

This was a male and female eagle pair soaring and swooping over the Waterway and Lakeview sides of the lake before heading north.   

Here's an Osprey with his catch, looking for a good place to eat.

This tree turned out to be his lunch spot.

Thanks to Victoria Fernandez and Sheila Wayman for offering the great vantage points at their lakefront docks.

Out on the bike trails, I first stopped at the Sparrow Pond on the W&OD and saw a trio of Mallards doing what ducks do in the spring: swimming and I think an attempt at mating, but two males and one female?  

A Great Blue Heron, yet again, catching a fish, and another up in a tree.

 Is this a muskrat?

Finally, a Red-Winged Blackbird.