WaPo Weather Glitch

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For a few minutes there, the Washington Post weather page was telling us that the temperature through to next week would be 299°C below absolute zero. Just when all the winter coat clearance racks at Marshalls and Hechts are empty, too. (Quick catch via my coworker Keith.)

Red Tailed Hawk on the National Mall

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Everyone was gawking at this peregrine falcon red-tailed hawk perched in a tree near the Smithsonian Metro exit on the National Mall yesterday afternoon. Hanging from a nearby branch were the remains of its latest meal: half a squirrel.

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Update: Turns out this was a red tailed hawk, not a peregrine falcon. I’ve updated the entry as needed.

Wild Saturday

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Before anything, the photos: Hiking around Camp Fraser Nature Preserve and Cherry Blossoms at Sunset.

Yesterday morning at Camp Fraser, I woke up early and took a sunrise hike around the nature preserve by the Potomac River, deliberately leaving my camera behind so I could enjoy the walk without having to think about flash and composition and timing and shutter speed and exposure. Along the way I saw deer, Canadian geese, a beaver slapping its tail in the water, and a red fox.

The rest of the day consisted of talks on vocation, a fun ride on a zip line, and two bees found mating on someone’s bag. Before the group left, I took the hike again, this time with a camera, and met up with a girl on a horse and a lady with two dogs, and two black snakes in a fallen tree trunk.

After getting back from camp, with a couple of hours of sun still left, I headed over to the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms, stopping along the way to admire a peregrine falcon which had perched in a tree along the National Mall, alongside the remains of its lunch — the half-eaten carcass of a squirrel. Many stopped to gawk at the bird before it spread its wings and flew off to the north, continuing its migration from South America to Canada.

The cherry blossoms did not disappoint, and I walked the full perimeter of the Tidal Basin and took about 50 photos, before staggering home via Metro and flopping into bed. Easily one of the best Saturdays I’ve ever had.

By the Misty Potomac

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By the Misty Potomac

This morning I saw deer, geese, a fox, and a beaver. Got myself rather muddy.

Sunrise in the Woods

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Sunrise in the Woods

Lovely, isn’t it? I’m out for an early morning walk to the river. Deer everywhere.

Campfire

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Campfire

There’s one bar of signal here and we’re cooking s’mores.

Pandora’s Box

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I bought a fax machine two weeks ago, and found that the box was just the right size for my cat, Pandora. So I cut a hole in the box, set it upside down by my desk, and made a floor for it with the catnip mat. I call it — wait for it — Pandora’s Box.

Pandora's Box

Of course, being a cat, she loves cave-y places, so she’s enjoying her box immensely.

Google Maps Sightseeing

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Since Google Maps sightseeing is suddenly all the rage, here’s a satellite view of my general environs. Over to the right is Union Station, and if you go south a few blocks you’ll see the big pixelated blur hiding the US Capitol. (It’s not just the security; the anti-satellite pixelation field is a crucial aspect of the Washington Masonic Illuminati’s Super Secret Defense and Weather Control Grid. It’s terrible going into the Pixel Field when it goes up during orange alerts; not only the Capitol, but everything, including FBI-shirt-clad tourists, turn into shimmering, blockish squares of indistinct color.)

More Google satellite sightseeing: