Great Falls of the Potomac River (POTD)

It was a beautiful fall day today so I decided to walk out to the Olmsted Island Overlook and see Great Falls of the Potomac River. The trees have some nice dark yellows and reds in them.
 

Beaver in Cabin John Creek

Swimming beaver, Cabin John Creek

Last week I saw unmistakable evidence of a beaver in Cabin John Creek.  I decided to try and take a picture of the actual beaver.  It took me a couple of days to do it since beavers are nocturnal and go to bed right around sunrise, but as you can see, I managed. 

When this beaver noticed me it swam upstream for a bit then, with a splash went under water and didn't come back up.  I believe it swam to it's lodge and decided it was bed time.

Beaver stripped branch

Beavers eat the bark off tree branches, so there were branches without bark floating in the water. This is one of the telltale signs of active beavers. 

Beaver Branch closeup

Here's a closer shot of a branch that a beaver has eaten the bark off of. You can see the gnaw marks on it. 

Beaver eaten tree

A beaver stripped some of the bark off this sapling but left it standing.  You can see a few gnaw marks on it.

 

 

 

 

Have you seen the Aurora Borealis?

 

The Aurora Borealis (or Northern Lights) have been strong recently.  A couple of times there have been predictions of them in the DC area and I have tried to go see them without luck.  Last Thursday night was a super strong one and I happened to be in Shenandoah National Park. I watched them for a couple of hours and got some great pictures. Some friends of mine posted photos they took in Olney, so they were visible in Montgomery County, but, with all the light pollution we have around here I'm not so sure about Bethesda.

This one is from early in the evening. It started out as a pale green that spread across the sky, the reds came in later.

To my naked eyes, this looked a but like light pollution on high clouds, but a long exposure on the camera really brought out the color.  I highly suggest taking pictures. The night mode on your camera app does a decent job.  I used a full-frame mirrorless camera and all this pictures were 30 second exposures.  Later in the evening, I could see the reds spread across the whole sky and some pale green even without using my camera, it was incredible.

If you have missed them so far don't give up. the Northern Lights are caused by sunspot activity and they go through an eleven year cycle that is peaking over the next few months.  The aurora isn't visible every day, I use a couple of websites to keep track. Space Weather is the first one, usually the top paragraph is telling you the chance of a solar flare (this is what causes the aurora) hitting earth.  Look for G4 or G5 class flares if you want a chance of seeing them around here.  The second site I check is SolarHam, which is for amateur radio, but they have a page with the forecast and pictures that show how far south the aurora should be visible.

 

 

 

 

Goodbye Linden Oak

Last week, the county removed most of the Linden Oak.  This tree has been growing for over 300 years, but recently had a bad patch of luck and ultimately died last year.  The county planned to remove it back in June, but found they needed a Historic Area Work Permit. 

The actual removal was on July 18th.  No one consulted with me prior to setting the date so they picked a time when I was unavailable.  I did, however, make it the next day to take some pictures of the remaining stump. They 12+ foot section at the base of the tree will remain as an on-site memorial.

 

The dead Linden Oak in June, before it was felled.  The two stones in the foreground have 3 plaques on them. these stones and plaques will remain.

 

Here's a picture to give you a better idea of where it was. To the right (beyond the road closed gate) is beach drive. The traffic light is Maryland Route 355, here known as Rockville Pike.  The road in the foreground is the one you are on if you exit 495 and want to go south on 355, or if you are going north on 355 and want to make a u-turn or turn on to Grosvenor Ln.  The dead Linden Oak is visible directly behind the yield sign and to the right of the pole.

 

 

 

Looking down on Great Falls

Most of the time, when I go to Great Falls, I either walk or bike on the C & O Canal, or I go out to Olmstead Island, or I do the Billy Goat Trail.  All fun things to do and experience.  There is, however, more to do there.  There is a whole network of trails on the far side of the canal from the river, and one of them leads up to this overlook where you can get a nice view of the area (though your view is punctuated by trees).
 

A Bald Eagle in Bethesa?

 This afternoon I went for a hike in Cabin John Park to enjoy the warm weather we are having.  While there, I saw a bald eagle sitting on one of the poles holding up the high-voltage wires. (Thanks to the woman who pointed it out).  It was far away so this was the best photo I could get of it.

After a few minutes it took off and flew away.  A couple of years ago I saw a bald eagle soaring over Democracy Blvd and the I-270 spur, I wonder if this is the same one.

Young Love (cicada style)

 "In the Spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love." (Alfred, Lord Tennyson)

Now that the cicada's have been out a little while, and the racket they make has grown increasingly loud, it should come as no surprise that the singing is starting to pay off, at least for this lucky fellow and equally lucky lass.  They are especially lucky that no one stepped on them while they lay in ecstasy on the sidewalk.

After spending today listening to the cicadas, I was a bit surprised tonight to not hear them.

A couple of Cicada videos

Here are a couple of videos I have taken of the cicada attack.

This first video is a time-lapse of a Brood X cicada molting on a blade of grass.  This time-lapse was taken over a period of about 2.5 hours one night. One picture every 15 seconds.  Where a cicada walks over the emerging one and where the emerging cicada flips so it is holding onto its shell I have duplicated each photo 4 times to slow it down and make it easier to see what is happening.

 

This next video isn't a time lapse, it is just a view of about 20 cicada nymphs crawling aimlessly through the grass.  I was taking a timelapse of a molting cicada at night so had a couple of lights turned on, it appears the nymphs are attracted to light.

Some Brood X Cicada Photos

 

The cicadas are out in force and for the past week or so I've been watching them and taking pictures.  Here are a few of my favorites.

 

These Brood X cicadas have been underground for 17 years, but now they are climbing out and onto trees and plants. Once out, they do a final molt to their winged form.  They will only live for about a month longer during which time they will mate and lay eggs.

Timelapse of cicadas molting

 

I took this timelapse video of a couple of cicada nymphs  molting and their wings expanding. One cicada starts molting then another climbs on top of it and also starts molting.

A newly molted Cicada

 

I took this photo of a newly molted cicada a couple of nights ago.  Last week they were only coming out some evenings, but this week it has been every night, and each night there are more and more of them.  They have only been emerging in the warmer areas, ground that is in shade for much of the day still hasn't released it's hordes.

The cicadas have arrived in Bethesda!

 I was walking around Bethesda, MD this morning and noticed the first advance troops of cicadas on the trees.  They weren't everywhere, some trees would have a dozen or so, others just a couple, but most trees didn't have any yet.  That will change in the coming days.

When they start coming out en-masse scenes such as this will be common.  Here you have a few cicadas still emerging from their exoskeleton and a couple who have just finished emerging but whose wings are still wrinkled up.

As they rest, their wings expand to full size. Notice they are very pale, it takes them a few hours to darken and for their bodies to harden.

They don't limit themselves to just the tree trunks, they climb out onto the small branches and leaves.  They'll be everywhere.

Coming soon! the 17 year cicadas

 

My favorite anachronistic insect is on its way.  The 17 year periodical cicadas should be out in force very soon.  Even as we speak, they are lurking just below the surface, biding their time.  For 17 years they have dwelt deep in the ground, feasting on sap from the roots of trees. Now, they are burrowing up to the surface, waiting for the time to be right.

The rain yesterday evening flooded these poor creatures out. I took these photos just after it ended and I expect they will crawl back down into their burrows when it dries out.

I'm amazed these creatures can survive in a dynamic suburban environment like Bethesda.  The last time they were here was in 2004, think about how much has changed since then.  How many new or enlarged houses, how many widened roads, how many trees cut down and new trees planted.