bird | Roving Sun

October 21, 2023October 30, 2023

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens and Catoctin Mountain Park

We started out this morning by heading out to the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Virginia, arriving a bit after they opened for the day. We saw the full variety of fall colors, including many species that had completely dropped their leaves already and others that were still completely green. After having lunch nearby at Mama Chang and dessert at Matcha Cafe Maiko in Centreville, we briefly stopped by the Leesburg Premium Outlets on our way to Catoctin Mountain Park in Maryland. We saw a variety of colors there as well, though it wasn’t quite at peak fall colors yet.

September 25, 2023October 8, 2023

Jungfraujoch

Today, we visited Jungfraujoch, the “Top of Europe,” and the main event of this trip. After breakfast at the Belvedere, we headed out to take the train down to Grindelwald Terminal and caught the Eiger Express up to Eigergletcher. From there, we took the train up to Jungfraujoch. We checked out the beautiful scenery from the Sphinx Terrace and went outside to hike in the snow to Mönchsjochhütte on the southeast side of Mönch. After returning to Jungfraujoch, we visited the Glacier Plateau at the base of Jungfrau before heading back down to Grindelwald to end the day.

August 13, 2023

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

We were extremely surprised to find a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird today! While they’re not supposed to be uncommon, particularly if one has the appropriate feeder in their backyard, they certainly are hard to find due to their extreme speed and tiny size. Today, we saw one on a branch of a tree right in front of us while walking around the neighborhood! And even more surprisingly, we saw it fly away and return to the same branch again and again!

August 12, 2023

A Hot Summer Morning at the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

It was hotter than we expected today as we arrived at the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens when they opened at 10am today. We didn’t spend too much time there as it only got hotter throughout the day. It is always enjoyable to see how the flowers change over time and of course to see what is going on with the local birds.

July 1, 2023July 1, 2023

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

We visited the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens again this morning. It was warm and humid and felt like summer, particularly when the sun was out. There was still some smoky haze from the Canadian fires but luckily we didn’t smell it in the air. Many new flowers seemed to have bloomed since our last visit a week ago. And of course, many birds!