A BEAUTIFUL LATE WINTER'S DAY AT BLACKWATER WILDLIFE REFUGE, Cambridge, Maryland, USA

What a spectacular place to spend a day - driving the trails, or hiking the paths - and just soaking up the scenery.  When they say "refuge", they mean it.  The 25,000 beautiful acres on Maryland's Eastern Shore is a waterfowl sanctuary for birds migrating along the Atlantic Flyway.

Melting ice

A stream runs by the walk in the woods

Marshlands provide habitat to a variety of birdlife

Canada Geese about to head north for the summer

Grey heron posing in the shallows

A stand of "Loblolly Pines" are home to many bald eagles

The exquisitely beautiful Pine bark

A little friend peers down from a tree - Possum, or to be proper, an Opossum - don't you just love those pink fingers and nose!!  Then there is the little baby carrying pouch which makes them one of the "marsupial" family.  Interesting…….

Seagull glaring at me as I disturb a fishy feast - wipe your beak!!

A flock of Tundra Swans going for an icy stroll.  

Burnt orange Asiatic Lilies on a cold day

The Icicles of a Winter's Day

We had freezing rain yesterday and it coated every little twig, branch, piece of furniture, leaf, dried flower and blade of grass, in a clear coating of what looked spectacularly like glass.  It was magnificent.  Then the sun came out, and everything melted.  It's almost the end of Winter and I look forward to the Spring.  

Icicles hanging underneath the patio table like crystals from a chandelier

Dogwood branch in all it's winter flory

The under table icicle display

Those dogwoods have spring buds in there somewhere

FRIGID TEMPS AND ICY CREEKS

Annapolis, MD saw record breaking temps this past weekend, as a result, the creeks and rivers around are frozen - just a few pics taken from my office today overlooking Spa Creek, Feb 16th, 2015

BEAUTIFUL FADING TULIPS

These old ladies are just so gorgeous, maybe even more beautiful than the day they were freshly arranged - Parrot Tulips delicately fading and about to drop their petals.  

SNOW FALL in ANNAPOLIS, MD - THE OTHER DAY

Just one of those pretty snowfalls that made everything look pristine and clean and oh so beautiful.  

Meet Sammy, he lives in the office next door - out playing in the snow on the deck

The deer out in my back yard

SPECTACULAR SNOW GEESE

The Eastern Shore of Maryland and the Delmarva (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) Peninsula are home to a huge number of migratory birds that over winter in the colder months.  SNOW GEESE are just one sight to behold, and after breeding way north up in the Arctic Tundra, our winter to them must seem warm.  Ever seen the movie "Fly Away Home"??  One of the most amazing sights I have seen is a flock of SNOW GEESE take flight and land again.  There are so many of them that all flock together, when they take off the flurry of activity and sound of them honking is indescribable.  Other than to say, breathtakingly beautiful.  Yesterday we went for a drive up the Eastern Shore of Maryland and spotted a field of white - no not snow, SNOW GEESE.  So a quick u-turn, a short trip down a farm road and there they were in all their glory.  After a short while, they put on a show for us that was so magnificent, and so special, it made our entire day.