by Marlene Berlin The people you meet on Rock Creek Park trails are generally friendly. The same can’t always be said about the wildlife. I took a hike in Rock Creek Park on a sunny but cool day in late April. As I headed back toward home, I saw this common short-eared owl. It was […]
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Backyard Nature: Turkeys on the trail
Before the Soapstone trail’s March closure for the sewer rehabilitation project, it was a popular place to take a stroll. And apparently, it still is. Minsuh Son, who can see the trail from her backyard, spotted two wild turkeys on the main trail last Friday. This fellow’s female companion was just out of frame. Son […]
Backyard Nature: The Broad Branch frogs are putting on a show
by Marlene Berlin I must admit I have been worried about the frogs. I’m used to hearing the hum of the American toad permeate the neighborhood beginning in early March. This spring, I heard nothing. Not until last week along the Linnean trail. Many years ago, when I first noticed the high-pitched hum, I was […]
Spotted in Rock Creek Park: Bald eagles
by Marlene Berlin On Sunday, a friend and I were walking up Broad Branch Road, close to the Soapstone trailhead, when we saw a large bird flying across the sky and swooping down onto a tree. My first thought? That it could be an owl, but my friend exclaimed that it was a bald eagle. […]
Backyard Nature: Two neighbors out for a stroll on Albemarle Street
Two of Barbara Lardy’s neighbors enjoy walking her block of Albemarle Street. “Lovely couple,” she says. Lardy, who is the president of Van Ness Main Street’s board as well as a neighbor, says she first encountered the wild turkeys a couple of weeks ago. “I was returning from a walk (around 11 a.m.) and found […]
Backyard Nature: This cold weather really is for the birds
by Marjorie Rachlin Have you noticed the mallard ducks swimming lazily in Rock Creek when it’s cold and there is snow on the ground? “Why aren’t they freezing?” a friend asked. I went to the web to find out. It turns out that birds have several different kinds of feathers that keep them warm. When […]
Backyard Nature: Insects produce the backyard symphony of August
by Marjorie Rachlin It’s 8 a.m., and I’m sitting on the back porch, looking out at the garden. No birds, no bees yet. It’s August and nature is slowing down. Suddenly a persistent buzz comes from the oak trees. In August and September, the sound filling the air is not bird song. This is when […]
Backyard Nature: The creatures that put on a magical light show
by Marjorie Rachlin Your backyard or local park is the stage for a magical light show each summer night. It’s firefly time. And I’ve been sitting on my back porch after sunset, watching the lights go on and off. As it gets darker, the yellow flashes appear up in the trees, over the garden, and […]
Backyard Nature: I went down the rabbit hole on the rabbit-fox connection
by Marlene Berlin This spring, I was getting numerous reports of rabbit sightings, with some neighbors complaining that the visitors were nibbling on stuff they shouldn’t. And I had my own cotton-tailed visitor, but this one seemed to behave itself, attacking no plants other than my grass. But I have not seen my bunny lately. […]
Backyard Nature: Sure, they’re big. But these snakes aren’t so scary once you get to know them.
by Ken Sands Every spring in our region, snakes emerge from their hibernation dens looking for food and water and to mate. And while snakes are not abundant in Rock Creek Park, they are present in sufficient quantities to be spotted regularly by particularly lucky (or unlucky) hikers. According to the National Park Service website […]