After having lunch inside the DC beltway, we decided to head a bit further in to the National Arboretum. We parked at the National Grove of State Trees and ultimately found ourselves walking along the short Fern Valley loop trail. A nice walk with a nice breeze, lots of shade, some flowers, and a few birds.
Continue reading “National Arboretum and the Fern Valley”Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
Yesterday, there was a significant chance of rain all day. Today was looking worse with thunderstorms in the afternoon. But, things started clearing up before noon and the updated forecast was for overcast skies but little chance of rain. So, we decided to head to Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Virginia! We visited for the first time last week and noticed a likely oriole nest so wanted to check it out again.
Continue reading “Meadowlark Botanical Gardens”Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
This afternoon, we decided to visit the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, VA. It ended up being quite a nice place to visit! We enjoyed walking the paths and encountering a number of birds as well as observing some interesting behavior. It is also apparently quite popular for quinceaños photography as we saw a number of groups going through the park.
Continue reading “Meadowlark Botanical Gardens”Local Cherry Blossoms & Finches
It has been nearly a week since the local cherry blossoms have started to bloom. The first few trees still look wonderful with very few petals that have fallen to the ground. The weather has been quite a bit cooler since the first day and trees that started a bit later seem to have quite a mix of flowers and buds. Today, we were treated to a wonderful sight – a few male House Finches were busy eating the flowers!
Continue reading “Local Cherry Blossoms & Finches”DC Cherry Blossoms, Again
We headed down again to Washington DC today and once again viewed the cherry blossoms. While the weather was a bit cool, it was quite pleasant though unfortunately the sky was overcast. Overall, quite a few of the cherry blossoms have fallen from the trees already, perhaps because of the cool and rainy weather yesterday. Some of the trees that were a bit late in blooming have progressed, but there are still quite a few unopened buds on many of the trees. We think maybe the cooler weather is slowing things down a bit.
Continue reading “DC Cherry Blossoms, Again”