8 March, 2020          Some cars have sunroofs – mine has an eagleroof

Picture taken through my eagleroof

I drove to the river on the morning of Virginia’s Democratic Primary and looked up and saw this gorgeous bird perched directly above the road in a tall Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera). According to wikipedia (a little trivia), tulip poplars are “the tallest eastern hardwood.” I slowly rolled to a stop almost directly underneath it while opening what I used to call my “sunroof.” Now, for obvious reasons, I refer to it as my “eagleroof.” There was zero traffic and I put on my flashing lights and pointed my camera straight up through my eagleroof and got that picture. What a treat! 

This is what the river looked like when I arrived a few minutes later: 

Peaceful

I was also fortunate to photograph a Barred Owl at Pony Pasture that morning – the fifteenth consecutive week. It was overcast that day and I photographed the owl in better light this morning so I’ll use that picture: 

Fifteen weeks in a row! And just as excellent!

The first time I photographed that eagle was (it says on my camera) 12:25 PM. I went to the polls later that day: 

Voting Tuesday

Speaking of politics – I’m nearly finished this book. It comes with my strongest endorsement – it is fantastic. The book is called You Are What You Read – Why changing your media diet can change the world by Jodie Jackson. The first sentence of her goodreads author intro says “Jodie Jackson is an expert on the psychological impact of the news on our mental health and the health of our society.” It is in every way worth your time: 

You Are What You Read: Why Changing Your Media Diet Can Change the World by Jodie Jackson

Of course obviously politics are so far down my list of favorite subjects it’s actually expressed as a negative number. Hiking with a friend at Deep Run this week an enormous female Red-tailed hawk swooped down and landed on a branch about a camera strap’s length above our heads. Much higher on my list of favorite subjects. She kept hopping from branch to branch and staying directly above us! I have no idea what that was about. But I do know I didn’t have to take a picture through my eagleroof – she was practically on top of me! I just turned my camera up and took these two quick images: 

The first picture I took of a Red-tailed hawk at Deep Run this week:

Same bird a moment later

So obviously the raptors are active. I can’t recall a week when I’ve photographed as many as I did this week. Maybe last year some time. I’m seeing a few ospreys but haven’t gotten a real good look yet. Probably by next week. But the early season flowers are really coming in, especially the ones that have Evelyn to coax them a little. I couldn’t decide whether to do an an inside daffodil or an outside daffodil so I’ll use both. I should highlight the hyacinths more but they’re dragging their feet a little still. Maybe next week, with the ospreys. But here’s an outside daffodil from earlier this week. Incredibly (in my experience) this daffodil even smells good:  

Outdoor daffodil (from our yard, courtesy of Evelyn and good breeding and photosynthesis)

I took this picture on our kitchen windowsill at 4:30 this afternoon. The daffodils and hyacinths look nice together. This could be in the picture dictionary next to “Spring”: 

Daffodils and hyacinths. It is impossible (for me, anyway) to look at this and not experience joy

Probably because it’s Spring (late winter anyway), I’m overrun (in a happy way) with pictures. Here’s one of Mackey and Turner at the river this morning: 

Look at that beautiful river. Look at those beautiful dogs.

Someone asked me recently about their leashes. They’re flexi brand leashes; they are super, super common. They carry them at Walmart, Amazon, Petsmart, Pet Club, chewy, my guess is they’re the most common brand of retractable leashes. You can get them anywhere.

Anyway, speaking of not dogs, I’ll close with Dash enjoying the sunshine of the first morning of Daylight Saving’s Time, 2020. See that gaze? He is a master at being completely focused and being completely relaxed at the same time. It is a brilliant talent: : 

Look at his gaze. He notices everything but nothing worries him.

If you’re interested, by the way (even if you’re not), the 2020 Iditarod got underway at 6:00 PM EDT today. The really, really fast front-running teams will finish beginning in the evening (EDT) a week from tomorrow. The all time record was set in 2017 at 8 days, 3 hours, 40 minutes and 13 seconds. 

Have a great week! Come back next week! 

All best, 

Jay