Norfolk & Western 611

The Norfolk & Western 611 steam engine rolled into Manassas a couple of weeks ago for the yearly Heritage Railway Festival. We didn't go to the festival on Saturday but the 611 was still in town on Sunday so we headed to downtown Manassas to catch a glimpse of this beauty.

Moon watching

FiFi firing up its engines

We drove over to Manassas Airport last Friday to watch the four bombers leave for the World War II Washington DC flyover. It was pretty cool. This photo was taken as FiFi, the B29, was firing up its engines.

Breitling Jet Team

The Breitling Jet Team from the Manassas Air Show yesterday

Secret tip

Here's a secret tip we've learned from a year's worth of Eagle watching. Get your camera ready when you see the Eagle poop. Usually within minutes, it will leave its perch and you'll have the opportunity for a great photo!

Manassas Eaglet is growing fast!

Manassas Eagle and eaglet

Got my first view of the Manassas Eagle with it's new eaglet today. Isn't it cute!

Drama at the Manassas Eagle nest last night

Another bird watcher told me that our Manassas Eagles have an eaglet now so I headed up to the nest last night to see if we could spot it. I didn't see the eaglet but we had a little excitement while there. Mama Eagle was sitting on the nest when we noticed Daddy Eagle flying in. All of a sudden, we realized a third Eagle flying around the nest. We're not sure if Mama Eagle came out of the nest to chase the intruder away before Daddy Eagle arrived or if she had just joined in the chase but she wasn't in the sky for long. When she saw that Daddy had the chase under control, she returned to the nest and watched the action from there.

She was not happy either. You can tell she was in a state of distress from this picture.

This is a picture of the chase.

And by the way, I could be wrong. Maybe it was Daddy Eagle in the nest and Mama Eagle doing the chasing. Hard to tell unless they're sitting side by side.

Dancing with his reflection

This Black Vulture has become a frequent visitor to the 8th floor balcony of my office building. I caught it dancing with its reflection a few days ago. Love this picture!

Northern Flicker

It's not a great picture but this is only the second Northern Flicker I've seen in my yard, ever.

Bald Eagle in flight

It's not often that I'm able to catch the Bald Eagle in flight. This was just a lucky shot!

Eagle landing

I was watching the Eagle pair two weeks ago when suddenly one flew out of the nest and went across the street straight to the ground. It was trying to pick up dried grass to fill in the nest which I believe they now have eggs. At least that's what I'm hoping!

Red-shouldered Hawk

I happened to look out my back window at the right moment last weekend and caught this Red-shouldered Hawk sitting on the privacy fence, directly in front of a bird feeder. I don't know if the hawk was watching the birds or our bunny that was in his playpen out back. Just in case, we brought the bunny inside as soon as the hawk left.

BTW, I believe I incorrectly identified the hawk in my last post as a Cooper's Hawk. I've now decided that it's this same bird.

Lots of hawks visiting lately

I don't know if they're just passing through or are watching my birds and bunny, but we're seeing an awful lot of hawks lately. This was a pretty large Cooper's Hawk. There was a squirrel on the limb below that I was afraid the hawk was going to go after but it didn't. That squirrel doesn't know how lucky it was!