Here and there but not quite everywhere!
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.
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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.
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We visited Ellanor C. Lawrence Park in Virginia today between lunch and dinner, mostly to walk around a bit to be able to eat more! This small park is between Centreville and Chantilly, a few miles south of Dulles, and owned by Fairfax County. It is a nice place for a walk with trails through a forested area nestled between a highway and smaller road. We planned on doing a loop but it turned into an out and back when we realized the western half of the trail was through partially swampy unmowed grass! We were rewarded for our efforts though as we spotted a species of bird that we’ve never seen before, the Eastern Towhee!
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I’ve dabbled rather casually in astrophotography over the years, much of which predates the existence of this site. All with standard off the shelf DSLR (and now mirrorless) equipment and without the aid of anything other than a tripod.
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Yesterday, we tried and failed to observe the Saturn and Jupiter planetary conjunction due to clouds moving in around sunset. Today, we drove to Kerr Dam and Reservoir in Virginia near the border with North Carolina to get clear and dark skies.
Continue reading “The Great Conjunction of 2020”