After consulting Astrospheric, we decided to head to Shenandoah National Park to see the Jupiter and Saturn conjunction that is currently taking place. Tomorrow is supposed to be the closest that they will appear in the sky but tonight’s forecast was more favorable. Also, today is the first day that any of Skyline Drive, the road through the park, was open after the storm a few days ago. We were hoping to see some snow!
Continue reading “Winter in Shenandoah National Park”Snow in Maryland and West Virginia
The nor’easter yesterday blanketed western Maryland with snow. There wasn’t a huge amount of snow on the ground in the places we visited but it was still quite beautiful!
We were originally planning on driving to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia but Skyline Drive, the road through the park, was closed due to snow. We decided to visit some places in Maryland while waiting to see if any parts of Skyline Drive would open. Ultimately, none did.
Continue reading “Snow in Maryland and West Virginia”Last Remnants of Fall
While the majority of the trees are without leaves and have been for a week or more now, there are a few stragglers that aren’t letting go. These few trees definitely stand out now that they’re just about all that is left!
Continue reading “Last Remnants of Fall”Sharp-Shinned Hawk
We’ve been hoping to find a Sharp-Shinned Hawk for awhile now. Recently, we’ve seen a good number of the very similar Cooper’s Hawk. There’s been a few that we thought might have been “sharpies” but they weren’t. We were pretty lucky today as this bird flew right past us and into a nearby tree. It stayed there as we walked closer and remained until we found a good clear vantage point. We were a bit surprised at how small it was! Seeing it in real life and reading about it are two very different things!
Continue reading “Sharp-Shinned Hawk”Fall Is Done
Technically, there is still a bit more than a month left in fall. Winter isn’t quite here yet. But it sure felt that way today! It was below freezing when we went out for our morning walk and there was frost on the ground. And a particular tree that was full of leaves yesterday was almost completely bare today! It was quite a pretty tree, and a rather large tree, and now it’s just like most of the others. But the leaves on the ground were nice.
Continue reading “Fall Is Done”