Dennis McDonald's Web Site

After the great snow of February 6, 2010.

Snow overnight. followed by a sunny morning.

The snow and cold are back.

The crocuses are coming up. Seems a bit early, but who am I to argue? Also, here's what things looked like one year ago today: http://www.ddmcd.com/timber-branch-creek/a-walk-through-the-park-on-january-25-2009/

I took these pictures on January 8, 9, and 10.

It's freezing outside.

A day of rain melted the snow.

The Snow Arrives.

After a night with frost, the day arrives as sunny, cold, and bright.

Another dog walker told me she had just seen a fox a few minutes before we crossed paths near the pedestrian bridge.

I repaired the LCD screen on my Casio EX-Z850. These pictures are from this morning's walk.

The robins were out in force this morning; one sat still long enough for me to take its picture.

A cold, wet, drizzly pre-snow walk this morning.

A touch of frost overnight. A mallard has returned to the creek as well.

The heron's nest - unoccupied and forlorn.

I totally missed the heart in all the years I've been walking past this tree.

A spectacular sunny morning. A lot of color, again.

I'm always pleasantly surprised at how colorful a dreary, gray, and drizzly day can be.

Today's theme is NOVEMBER LEAVES.

Here's what the park looked like one year ago today: http://www.ddmcd.com/timber-branch-creek/a-walk-through-the-park-on-november-5-2008/

Finally, a really sunny morning.

Yellow is becoming the dominant color.

Cool and cloudy this morning.

Experimenting with different settings on camera to accommodate cloudy conditions.

I took these pictures over the past three mornings.

Air was cooler this morning. A few leaves are falling here and there.

Fall may be coming but flowers are still blooming and bugs are still crawling.

Overnight the temperature dipped into the 50's. Fall is coming.

Lots of bugs today.

Several of the flowers here I have not been able to identify.

After a night of rain the sun shines.

The touch-me-nots (jewelweed) are not blooming as much as last year and I have not seen any hummingbirds yet.

It was very humid this morning. The plants have responded positively to last night's rain. I have seen the yellow crowned night heron once this past week.

I have not seen a Yellow-crowned Night-heron for 5 days.

The Yellow-crowned Night-herons are out and about, flying all around the creek and surrounding neighborhoods. During this morning's walk one almost hit me flying away as I disturbed it walking along the creek.

I saw the Walking Backwards Lady this morning.

I'm constantly amazed at the day to day and week to week variation of flora and fauna in this little park. This is the first time I've seen Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa).

I am having some difficulty identifying all the flowers here (other than the big fat orange one).

Wild Strawberries!

The "Touch Me Nots" are blooming (see the orange flowers). Can the hummingbirds be far behind?

After a night of rain it was STILL raining.

Very sunny. Yellow-crowned night-herons not seen. Lots of dew from overnight.

After so many days of rain, the park has taken on a lush green appearance.

Lots of rain this past week. Things are very green

Finally some bug pictures.

Really wet and drizzly this morning. But lots to see.

Wildflowers continue to appear. It has now been two days since I saw the Yellow Crowned Night Herons.

May Apples Blooming. Plus a mystery item found hanging from a branch.

Two days of sunshine after lots of rain.

The May Apples are coming along nicely, Dogwood continue to bloom, and the Yellow Crowned Night Herons are maintaining their precarious perch high above the creek.

Easter Morning. Beautiful sunshine.

Tent Caterpillars are here. Also, Trout Lilies are deepening in color after several days of blooming.

Warm today. Hawk guarding nest. Spotted 4 male mallards. Trout Lilies blooming.

Cool this morning but sunny. Mallards hanging out by the pedestrian bridge. Hawk seen nearby in tree high above.

Wet and foggy, today's Spring Cleanup was a great success!

Lots of pollen in the air. Pictures include a sleeping duck.

Crocuses are almost all gone, and bushes are starting to explode. Still wet and rainy but that's good.

The snow is gone and serious green is starting to show. Plus there are more crocuses than ever before AND I caught a hawk taking a bath in the creek.

The crocuses have survived the snow and bitter cold.

Yep, it snowed.

A slight dusting of snow does not prevent Spring from showing through. And, the bamboo I thought we eradicated years ago is starting to make a comeback!

Cold but very bright and sunny. Signs of Spring.

The crocuses bloomed today!

I like ice patterns.

Viewing included Geese and a Hawk.

The temperature was 10 degrees F this morning.

Winter is setting in but there is still much to see. For these pictures I borrowed Number One Son's camera. (The third to the last picture contains an image of a hawk perched in a tree.)

A dusting of snow overnight. Last image: raccoon tracks.

Frost on leaves this morning and ice skimming over slow moving parts of the creek.

Most of the leaves are down now. This makes it much easier to see the birds.

There are a couple of things here I don't recognize. Always something new to see.

The theme for today: Orange and Red.

The theme today: Yellow and Gold.

Some flowers are still blooming, and yesterday I saw some bees buzzing around. But the changing of the leaves appears to be accelerating.

It was bright and chilly this morning, but still not cold enough overnight to wilt the Sensitive Fern (last picture in series).

A couple of these pictures are from October 16, 2008. My favorite: the flowering holly.

The mornings are getting cooler. I saw no hummingbirds this morning around the little orange flowers.

It was gray and wet this morning but there were still many nice things to see.

The title of the last picture is "The Boy Who Caught a Fish In His Shoe"

Despite the lateness of the season, a lot of things are still blooming.

I heard an owl hooting while walking the dog this morning.

This was a late afternoon walk.

Another walk with the dog. At one point I smelled grapes.

It rained last night. The air this morning was clean and bright.

Pictures taken from April through June, 2008.

I took these pictures while walking my dog on the morning of July 20, 2008.

For the past 2 years, Alexandria resident Diane Blair has organized an annual volunteer clean up by nearby residents of the narrow parkland that stretches along Timber Branch Creek.

First snow of the season!

I took the dog for a walk again, this time on Sunday afternoon, November 13. It was a glorious Autumn day. Here are some pictures of what we saw.

Over the past two weeks, Spring has slowly but surely been creeping in. The real tip-off was the return of the Duck Family...