Thursday, May 9, 2013

Birding the Great Falls

Linking up with NF Winged   and  Skywatch Friday

 Last weekend, hubby and I decided to take our walk at the Great Falls National Park in Maryland.

It was a beautiful day, the sky was blue with pretty white clouds. It was a pretty sky for my skywatch post. And the birds and Zebra Swallowtail are perfect for NF Winged.


I love this scene with the clouds reflecting on the Potomac River.


Above is some of the wildlife we saw along the river loop trail. The Goslings, Zebra Swallowtail butterfly, Hairy Woodpecker and a Bald Eagle. Also, seen was a white-tailed deer and the Prothonotary and Yellow-rump Warblers were teasing me. They would pop up in front of me and as soon as I lifted my camera they hopped away. I heard many Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers and Great Crested Flycatchers.




A pretty sky with a Great Blue heron flying by. There is a heron/cormorant rookery on the other side of the river.


A view of the river and sky from the Great Falls overlook.


Great Blue Heron at the Potomac Rookery.


Above a pretty Zebra Swallowtail seen along the river loop trail in Great Falls. I hope you enjoyed my post and walk along the river.

Thanks for visiting my blog and I always appreciate your comments.

Happy Skywatching  to everyone!

To see more pretty skies from around the world please visit  Skywatch Friday
and to see more of the winged critters check out NF Winged

Thanks to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday! Thanks to Monica the host of NF Winged.  Also, thank you for stopping by to see my post. I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

69 comments:

  1. Wonderful photos, Eileen!
    You can feel the stress melt away walking in places like that. What a fantastic area to walk in.

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  2. Hi Eileen, what a great selection of pictures and what a beautiful spot to take a walk. Thanks for sharing your pics. :)

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  3. What a fabulous place for walk! The sky reflection on the river is stunning! And the little Goslings are just adorable!

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  4. The goslings are so cute; I love the sky reflection in the water and I love all the other images. Your butterfly images are beautiful! Here in East Africa, butterflies don't stay still long enough to get good photos. Thanks for sharing. Jo

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  5. Ohh - nothing more adorable than little ducklings! LOVE your shot of the shoals. Almost no good place to paddle that one!! Beautiful!

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  6. i love those fuzzy babies. great waterfalls. blue skies & puffy clouds. so pretty. the eagle flies. you got some great views. nice!!! ( :

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  7. Beautiful set of photos.I particularly like the butterfly shot.

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  8. Beautiful place! I'm jealous of your eagle...we don't see them often here. We do have a heron rookery, but I've been unable to locate it so far. It's on a river, too.

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  9. Love your post Eileen! That beautiful butterfly is a treat.

    I saw Mourning Cloak twice already, but it won't land, and my chase is fruitless :-(

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  10. I like everything you've been posting. Seems like spring is so beautiful there.

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  11. Wonderful peaceful shots - love the colours and reflections.

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  12. That first shot of the clouds reflected in the water is spectacular! Lovely images, all. What a great place to hike and observe nature. :)

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  13. LOVE, LOVE your eagle shots! And the sky reflection is awesome, Eileen. I have never seen a zebra swallowtail in person!

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  14. gorgeous area! the butterfly is beautiful. LOVE the eagle!!!

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  15. What a great place for a walk. Love all the wildlife you captured and the beautiful blue sky!

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  16. your pix are awesome....such a wonderful group of nature captures....I enjoyed our walk...

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  17. Love the zebra butterfly and share a love of the eagles! Great photos!

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  18. Hi Eileen. I am coming here via NF 'Winged'. You have some lovely shots on this page, but the Zebra Swallowtail is the star!! Great shot.

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  19. so beautiful it is, the Zebra swallowtail. And all your birds too of course.

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  20. Gorgeous place and beautiful photos.

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  21. Aww the goslings are too cute! And the river is beautiful. Such a gorgeous setting!

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  22. Terrific photos as usual. : )
    Passed by your area on Monday. Opened the window and yelled, " Hi Eileen wherever you are."
    : )

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  23. Eileen....The minute I read this post I emailed my niece in Arlington telling her I HAD to go to the park. Your pictures are a great promo job for someone like me. Could not get to Chestertown this time. The weather is just too iffy. It looks like your visit to the park was memorable. genie

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  24. Stunning photos Eileen - I always love popping into your blog to see your photos.

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  25. Fantastic photos. I just love the swallowtails. Very fine birdphotos too.

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  26. A lot of wings and colours. What a fantastic trip. :)

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  27. Beautiful birds and critters all around.

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  28. Very nice, Eileen! Love the falls--it's hard to imagine such a gentle river doing that--wow!

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  29. Hallo Eileen!!Your photos are so beautiful!You saw so many preety birds!I like the American Eagle!You were so lucky seeing him!Thank you for sharing!Have a lovely weekend!
    Dimi..

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  30. Hi Eileen, lovely sky shots, have a great weekend.

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  31. Gorgeous captures, Eileen, as always!! Love the birds and the eagle is magnificent! Wonderful rushing water and delightful little winged ones! Thanks for sharing the beauty!! Have a great weekend!

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  32. Nice Eileen. This would be a beautiful walk. And the birds you feature are some of the birds I'd like to get better observations. Wonderful pics of the park. Looks like your feet may get wet on this one:)

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  33. Wow! What a beautiful place and your sky and wildlife photography is marvelous as always ~ Great for SWF ^_^

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  34. Wonderful images you captured! Such a nice place for a walk.

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  35. Wonderful shots. I love seeing the babies and the reflection in the first shot is fantastic. The butterfly, bald eagle and woodpecker are also great.

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  36. Very nice photos. That place is familiar, I've been there a few times!

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  37. Hi Eileen...so glad I got back to see this post ..it is fabulous!!
    Those ducklings are adorable, and that water fall lovely!!
    Love the Zebra Swallowtail..we have the Tiger Swallowtail here!!
    Grace

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  38. Beautiful capture of the birds and butterfly!

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  39. Gorgeous captures! I'd love to canoe on that river.

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  40. Lovely photos!
    Thanks for sharing!
    Have a great Friday!
    Lea
    Lea's Menagerie

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  41. Such fabulous photos . . . from baby ducklings to the Bald Eagle, WOW!

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  42. Lovely pics! I like that pic of small mallard chicks!

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  43. Lovely series, truly great falls and those chicks are so cute!

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  44. Stunning series, Eileen. Admire the views and your shots.
    A wonderful place indeed.
    Thanks for your visit :)

    http://www.womenandperspectives.com/2013/05/sky-watch-sunset-sky.html

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  45. The Zebra Swallowtail is my fave, and all of them are precious, well done Eileen.

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  46. Very beautiful photos for SWF,Eileen!Thank you for sharing and have a great weekend!

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  47. You have captured many treasures through your camera. The sky and the surroundings are truly beautiful. Gorgeous shots!

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  48. Wonderful shots, Eileen. I like the sky over the river and its reflection.
    Great shot of the butterfly too.
    Thanks for sharing and enjoy your weekend.

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  49. Dearest Eileen,
    Wow, I DID enjoy your gorgeous post and walk along the river; how marvelous it would be if I could be with you♡♡♡
    My favorite is the last picture of Zebra Swallowtail which can be seen along the river loop trail in Great Falls; love the beauty of it , just BEAUTIFUL♬♬♬ 

    Sending you lots of love and hugs from Japan, xoxo Miyako*

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  50. What lovely photos! The first view is so serene and the cloud reflections are beautiful!

    The bald eagle is so impressive, it reminds me of the African sea eagles that used to nest behind my house when I lived in Malawi

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  51. Great post, I love your big expansive sky and falls are wonderful. Expands my mind a little bit about Maryland.

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  52. Looks like a gorgeous place to explore, Eileen. I've never seen a Zebra Swallowtail - incredibly beautiful photos!

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  53. Great photos, looks like a wonderful place with such beautiful skies and birds! A greeting.

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  54. As always - beautiful pics! The zebra swallowtail is stunning! Have a wonderful weekend:)

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  55. Delicious bird picture! Happy Skywatch Friday to you!

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  56. what a beautiful place for a walk, eileen.

    i love the butterfly.

    wonderful series of bird photos, too.

    happy weekend~

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  57. Your outing was definitely worth while. Lovely sights. I am in awe at the number of comments you get. I think it is wonderful. I treasure each I receive.

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  58. Fantastic photos Eileen. Have a great weekend :)

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  59. beautiful colours & composition....lovely!

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  60. Wow! Such a tranquil and peaceful scene.

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  61. I haven't been to Great Falls in years. You took wonderful photographs of the birds and butterfly. The falls look the same as I remember them.

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  62. You have so many wonderful places close to you and you get see such a lovely variety of birds. Very nice collection of shots! I actually saw a butterfly in my yard yesterday. Yes, there's still snow but it's going rapidly and there are bare spots. Finally!

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  63. Wow, you got a Zebra Swallowtail! What a sight!

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Have a happy day, Eileen

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