Sunday, September 18, 2011

Birding and hiking Soldiers Delight

For this weeks Mosaic Monday  and Our World Tuesday.  I can not believe how fast these weeks are going by. Since, I work Monday thru Friday hubby and I enjoy getting out on the weekend to enjoy nature and to do some hiking and my favorite hobby birding.

This Sunday morning hubby, Goldie Girl and I hiked the Serpentine Trail at Soldier's Delight a natural environmental area here in Maryland. This trail is 2.5 miles goes thru the largest serpentine barren in the eastern United States. The park or NEA consist of grassland, wetland and an oak forest. The barrens are underlain with serpentinite a rock that has very little quartz and aluminium bearing minerals, it consists mainly of serpentine. Serpentinite is naturally disolved by rainfall which leaves a thin layer of rocky soil. Soldiers Delight was also mined up until 1860 for chrome and was once one of the largerest producers of chromite in the world.



I saw three Eastern Phoebes during my walk. Other birds seen and heard were Bluejays, Cardinals, Chickadees, House Wren, Nuthatches, Mourning Doves, Hairy Woodpecker, Redbellied Woodpecker, Crows and Turkey Vultures. I was really excited to see a kettle of Broad Winged hawks. My first time for seeing a kettle, there had to be at least fifty of these hawks flying together. Very cool sighting and photos to come on another post later.

Buckeye Butterfly





This Serpentine barren contains scrub oaks, pines, cedars, grasses and some unique and rare wildflowers.  We passed many signs requesting hikers to stay on the trails due to the sensitive nature of the ecosystem.

A few bluebirds and an unknown hawk was seen off the trail. The hawk may have been a Coopers Hawk.


 
To see more wonderful mosaics please visit Mary's Mosaic Monday  and to see more wonderful photos from around the world check out Our World Tuesday.  Thanks to Mary of Little Red House and thanks to the gang at Our World: Sylvia, Sandy, Arija, Gattina,  and Lady Fi.

Also, big thanks for visiting my blog and post. I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

52 comments:

  1. i love the buckeye and the grasses. lovely!

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  2. LOVE the grass...the light is dancing perfectly across it!!

    and wow on the buckeye, that's a great shot!!

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  3. I love your new banner! And your mosaics are beautiful this week! The time just flies by! It's hard to believe it's the end of summer and we are already back in Florida! Enjoy your week! ♥ At least we can take photos to document our time! ♥

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  4. Hi Eileen! What a wonderful trail to explore. My kind of walk...
    Have a great week!

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  5. Hi Eileen, Looks like a great place to go for a hike. Love the moth or butterfly shot. Take care and have a great week:)

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  6. What wonderful mosaics this week! Your Buckeye is beautiful & I love your amber waves of grain :-)

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  7. Absolutely the most beautiful butterfly!!!! Well done! Cathy

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  8. Once again Eileen, your photos are amazing...I love the grass and the butterfly.

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  9. The biggest buckeye I have ever seen! The critters in your mosaic are just so pretty!

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  10. Eileen...What a gorgeous series of photos this week. The grasses remind me of Chestertown and Still Pond where my daughter and her family live. The Serpentine Trail sounds like a wonderful place to go walking/hiking. I looked it up in the internet and it looks like it’s near Baltimore. My daughter drives there everyday to work so I will have to get her to check it all out so we can go when I go up for Christmas. We always plan one outdoor adventure no matter the weather. Thanks for including all of the interesting info on the area. I really do want to see it up close and personal. genie

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  11. It's a beautiful spot. Loved the grasses shots, the moon in the daytime sky, and that terrific butterfly.

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  12. Oh Eileen, it sounds like such a wonderful hike! My husband has been so busy at work that we have not been able to get out and walk since we came home from SF. :( Thanks for sharing at MM. :)

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  13. The Buckeye Butterfly was quiet amazing - nature is a constant surprise.

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  14. Love your mosaic, Eileen, and I wish I were hiking with you. I just know you could teach me so much about birds.

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  15. My husband will be glad to know there is a butterfly named after his fave OSU Buckeyes.
    Love the grasses!

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  16. Your find such interesting places to walk and birdwatch, Eileen. The moth looked gigantic!

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  17. Beautiful photo's, Eileen! What a lovely walk, just beautiful.

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  18. Very nice photography!

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  19. Eileen,
    As usual, your pics are great. I love the butterfly! My hubby and I did not do nearly enough hiking this summer. Something we both love to do, but just too many yard projects.

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  20. Beautiful place. The shots of birds and butterflies are delightful.

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  21. beautiful shots, the grass is so inviting, the meadow is so peaceful, the butterfly is so beautiful, ahh, everything speaks about the beauty of nature.

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  22. A Sunday that was filled up with grasses, butterflies, birds and more.

    What more to ask for?

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  23. I love that sky and the openess of the place. You seem to have a lot of good spots in Maryland to view nature. Here in Michigan , it's a lot of pine forests--and I miss those open spaces....

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  24. HI Eileen. You always come up with such beautiful nature and bird photo's. THe butterfly is so clear and lovely. Have a great week.

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  25. What a lovely special place to walk and enjoy nature. I am impressed with all the birds you see and identify. Wonderful post and mosaic. V

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  26. Great shot of the butterfly - lovely spot to hike!

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  27. Absolutely fantastic photos Eileen, this is a spectacular place for a nice long walk I can see. Thanks for taking us along.

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  28. Very lovely photos and mosaic. I like the photo of the butterfly very much.

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  29. Amazed with all photos...
    Thanks for dropping by :)

    www.1sthappyfamily.com

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  30. Looks wonderful! I was wondering if you (and hubby) go to view the great hawk migration.
    Love your sweet little phoebe!
    Have a great week Eileen!

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  31. Lovely, I like them all great creations, I especially like the butterfly, pretty colors

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  32. lovely captures Eileen. a feast for the eyes. i love that butterfly.

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  33. Great information and photographs. What a wonderful place to explore.

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  34. Wonderful to go on your walk with you, Eileen.
    — K

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  35. Beautiful pictures of nature, Eileen! I love the butterfly, so gorgeous..

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  36. LOve sharing your walks -- and I can't believe you have time to blog so beautifully when you're still working all week! So glad you make the time to share your weekends. This walk yielded some wonderful finds -- the kettle of hawks -- all the other birds -- and I knew nothing about serpentine -- that was interesting to learn.

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  37. Thank you for taking us such a wonderful walk, Eileen! So much beauty! And you've captured it all so delightfully! Love the butterfly! Hope you have a great week!

    Sylvia

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  38. Ooh, the kettle of hawks must have been an awesome sight!! Great mosaics!

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  39. Beautiful photos - that must have been a wonderful hike.

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  40. You are a genius in identifying birds.

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  41. Hi there - what a good set of pictures. Like the tall grass shot - and I wonder if it would translate into black and white.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Australia

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  42. Thank you for taking us along on this wonderful hike with so much to see.great photos too.

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  43. Another wonderful and informative hike with Eileen! Yay!

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  44. Great hike!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  45. another great place for you to explore. :)

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  46. What a magical hike - the sky so clear and bright, the view so lovely! And what marvellous shots of butterfly and birds.

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  47. These photos really say Fall to me. I love that wide open prairie shot - so peaceful and beautiful.

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  48. Wonderful photographs, especially the butterfly. Wow!

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Have a happy day, Eileen

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