Saturday morning was probably the coldest of the year so far but thankfully the frigid NE wind has died down and after topping up the feeders I opened the window and stuck my lens out to give it a whirl at any birds that showed up.
With a bit of rain yesterday combined with low temperatures overnight this morning was not only frosty but quite misty too. The local weather forecast is advising of dense fog patches. I took myself up the yard to photograph one of the trees in the field. Not quite as misty as I'd hoped but nice anyway. There were some nice grasses along the field edge that looked photogenic and coming back into the yard I stopped and took some shots of the Norway Maple leaves.
The light was pretty good this morning and we didn't have a howling Westerly blowing through the window so I had a go for the feeder birds this morning. Several Dark-eyed Juncos were in the yard, these are the Snowbirds and are one of my favorites in the Sparrow family.
The Chickadee's were way too fast for me this morning, a quick touchdown and away with a peanut or sunflower. The Blue Jays were very active as was at least 4 Cardinals and a few Starlings.
As both of my avid readers know I have to get permission from She Who Must Not Be Named to receive a day off from my House Elf duties. Well it so happened that my child bride SWMNBN was going to visit her Sister on Saturday. So I was considering where can I go on my day off. I do miss the waterfalls at Ricketts Glen State Park in the fall but a fall foliage website indicated that the foliage was over for the Northern Pennsylvania counties but Lancaster county to the South was at the peak colors. I decided to visit 3 Southern locations, first stop was to Pinnacle Overlook, part of the Susquehannock State Park along the Susquehanna River. The second stop was even further South to Conowingo Dam just over the Mason-Dixon Line in Northern Maryland to photograph the Bald Eagles just below the Hydroelectric Dam. I knew it was a bit early as generally the peak Eagle numbers are around Thanksgiving at the end of the month but eBird reported lots of Eagles present. The third stop was to be Shenks Ferry Wildflower Preserve again along the river. Shenks Ferry Wildlife Preserve Although the flowers will have been long gone I was hoping that Thurday's intense rain would make it good for Fungi. I never made it to Shenks Ferry. More later.
Pinacle Overlook.
I think I was a bit too late to get the best colors on the opposite bank as the sun was quite high by the time I got there. I took loads of pictures but they're all pretty much the same.
Pinnacle Overlook
Conowingo Dam.
There wasnt anywhere near as many photographers lining the Fishermans Car Park as there will be in months time but I asked and was told there was some Eagle activity. I got set up and waited, and waited, and finally a burst of excitement from the crowd. Yeah, OK the eagle activity was about half a mile away.I waited and waited but by 11AM, I was bored. Apart from a few scenic shots I left disapointed. Hopefully a cold snap further North will bring the Eagle numbers up to the 200's as in previous cold winters.
Not too far from Shenks Ferry Wildflower Preserve.
Crossing back into Pennsylvania and turning onto the backroads on the way to Shenks Ferry I had my first US traffic accident after 25 years. Bummer.
If you don't have a Dashcam get one.
My Outback
Firemen and Firelady. She was cute!
I was not hurt fortunately, the BFT (Big Effin Truck) driver was also a bit shaken but unhurt. Luckily the lady in the car to my right was a paramedic and she took charge of diverting traffic and calling the firebrigade and the State Police. I was a bit shaken up and bursting with adrenaline according to my lovely wife who I called to come and pick me up as the car was not driveable. The funny thing was that the State Trooper asked if I was OK and was this my car and from my short answer his first word was "Leicester", he recognised where I was from perfectly, I was stunned. Kelly says I dont have an accent, it must have been the adrenaline rush. Turns out he was from Cheltenham which I knew well and we had a nice chat afterwards. Very nice bloke, many thanks Trooper Joel.
The car was towed to a nearly towing company yard and when Kelly arrived we drove round to get more camera gear and the dashcam which I had forgotten. As she hadnt had anything for lunch we stopped at the Fox Meadows Creamery in Clay which included ice cream!
