Blackwater Wildlife Refuge #123

C and I were wondering about the grass. It takes on this beautiful golden red color - at least when the sky is gray. Later that evening I suspect I learned what it was while reading Day Trips in the Delmarva, by Alan Fisher. (Thank you very much Ward Museum Gift Shop!)

To quote Mr. Fisher, "The predominant plant of southern Dorchester's tidal marshes is Olney three-square, also called American three-cornered sedge. It is an important source of food for Canada geese. Growing about two fee high, it is easily identified by its stiff spikey stems, which are triangular in cross section. The prevalence of three-square reflects its ability to tolerate wide fluctuations in salinity, which in the marshes bordering the Blackwater River ranges from 2 percent to 42 percent of average sea salinity, depending on rainfall and the incursion of tides. Because of it's importance as food for geese and other animals, three-square is maintained at Blackwater NWR by annual burning in the fall. Burning is not harmful to the three-square roots and rhizomes, yet helps to prevent intrusion by other plants. Burning also produces fresh growth on which geese can graze during late winter and early spring, when food is scarce."

Of course, without taking a hard look at it and/or a field guide, I can't be sure what we liked so much is three-square. I'm not sure it would look this way had it been burned. Or maybe we were seeing sections not burned? In conclusion, I'm not sure what it was, but I might know, and now I have another thing to wonder about and research. haha!

Blackwater Wildlife Refuge #115

C stopped the car and suggested I shoot this. He knows what I like. I have a few better pics but this one is interesting because you can see the water creeping towards the road in the foreground as well as along the right side of the house's foundation. I love interesting old buildings, interesting natural settings and water (in moderation).

I wonder how old this property is. I wonder about the people that lived here. I wonder if little girls and boys played in the attic, sticking their heads out the window taking in miles and miles of marsh and grass. I wonder if there ever was a garden? I clearly wonder too much!

Blackwater Wildlife Refuge #114

Bunch of loblollies all in a row. . .

Blackwater Wildlife Refuge #113

Blackwater Wildlife Refuge #110

Blackwater Wildlife Refuge #109

This is a good one to double click to enlarge, just to left of center, you can barely make out the silhouettes of two birds in the sky. Of course, when I took the pic, I had no idea they were there.

I'm impressed how all of these shots turned out given the driving rain and wind. Not impressed by my eye or the composition but in terms of the camera's functionality. One would have thought the rain would have created an auto-focus problem for the camera. It did a little when I was attempting to use portrait mode but otherwise, the camera operated just fine - especially considering the abuse it took.

Blackwater Wildlife Refuge #108

As frequently happens when I'm the navigator, we got a little turned around while we were trying to do a loop of two Harriet Tubman childhood sites and Old Trinity Church. We ended up quite off course, driving through Blackwater Wildlife Refuge as waters started to slosh and spill over the roads. I've been to Blackwater before under better weather conditions and it's phenomenal. It was pretty impressive on Thursday too - but in a more menacing fashion. I did manage about 3 good pics. Thank goodness for rainboots!