Weekly Winners – March 22, 2009 – March 28, 2009
March 29, 2009 at 12:19 pm 14 comments
This week’s set includes a remaining shot from my brother’s birthday party in Occoquan, Virginia as well as some shots of spring in Elizabeth City, North Carolina and Hertford, North Carolina.
Have Food? Then You Have Friends – Occoquan, Virginia
Magnolia Leaves in the Sun – Elizabeth City, North Carolina
Spring Bud – Elizabeth City, North Carolina
While I was taking these shots a goose startled me when it fled into the water. It turned out she was nesting and quite upset at me. This may not be my most stunning shot– but the goose does look agitated.
Mama Goose – Elizabeth City, North Carolina
Red Bud Pollination – Hertford, North Carolina
P.S. Those flowers are edible!
Even with all the beautiful spring blossoms in Hertford, some abandoned railroad tracks managed to catch my eye.
Sharing the Tracks – Hertford, North Carolina
Nature (and Dogs) Take Over Tracks – Hertford, North Carolina
More pictures of my brother’s birthday party, Elizabeth City and Hertford are available on my Flickr site.
Also, be sure to check out more of this week’s Weekly Winners at Sarcastic Mom!
Entry filed under: Elizabeth City, Hertford, Weekly Winners.
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TGAW 
1.
Secret Agent Mama | March 29, 2009 at 12:45 pm
I love photos on railroad tracks!! Great!!!
2.
Secret Mom Thoughts | March 29, 2009 at 12:51 pm
I love the signs of spring shots. Yay!
3.
Elaine | March 29, 2009 at 1:14 pm
I didn’t know that about the red bud flowers. Thanks for sharing.
I really like your shot of the red buds and the railroad tracks.
4.
Jeanette | March 29, 2009 at 1:42 pm
what pretty flowers
5.
Smoochiefrog | March 29, 2009 at 2:50 pm
With a close as you were to her nest, I bet she was pissed!
6.
Tara R. | March 29, 2009 at 3:16 pm
I love the red bud blossoms, so pretty!
7.
Christina | AmiExpat | March 29, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Haha, the goose story is funny. It reminds me, once I was wandering through the woods looking at the trees and ground for good views to take photos of, then suddenly I looked up and there was a deer right in front of me. The deer seemed caught equally by surprise and we just froze and stared at each other for at least 30 seconds, maybe even a minute. I started to move my camera to take a photo and he ran off though.
8.
frogpondsrock | March 29, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Lovely photos. Have food have friends is so true, lol But here the cat begs as much as the dog.. I enjoyed every single one of these and I couldn’t pick a favourite, though the train tracks is very interesting. As an Australian there is something Very American about that shot.. cheers Kim
9.
chriggy | March 29, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Be VERY careful around railroad tracks, and never assume they’re abandoned. The one set of tracks looks like it’s abandoned, but the other set actually looks quite well maintained to me(and believe me, I’ve spent ALOT of time around and on railroad tracks). In your pics, I can see a thin reflecting line on top of the rails, which does indicate fairly recent traffic. Also, don’t assume that you’ll hear a train coming, because often, you won’t, especially on welded rail.
Over 500 people get killed by making that mistake every year(many of them children and teenagers). And that’s just fatalities, about the same amount get injured each year. It doesn’t take much, a caught shoelace, a dogs leash caught on a spike, and things can turn ugly REAL quick.
Also, keep in mind that railroad tracks(even if they have no fence) are private property, and being on then can and will get you arrested for trespassing.
Sorry about the lecture, but even people who have training to be around tracks(which I was required to have) get killed.
10.
Kitty | March 29, 2009 at 8:57 pm
I also love the signs of spring shots! I’ve had the fun of startling a goose out of her nest before, too…. except my goose was a bit more aggressive and came AT us instead of away!
🙂 How do you link your iNaturalist shots to your blog? Is it just a double post, or is there some funky widget I can download? 🙂 I finally posted a couple of species! Thanks!!
11.
scienceguy288 | March 30, 2009 at 9:23 am
Having spent practically my entire life around tracks, I can understand the desire for caution by the guy two comments up. However, I’d say that you are pretty safe. I don’t expect you to say, “The train is still like a mile off, we can stay longer.”
It looks like the dogs are having fun.
Also, don’t forget to vote for your favorite team to win the scientist cup:
12.
DNLee | March 30, 2009 at 1:02 pm
red bunds are blooming here (St. Louis, too). and they’re edible…sounds like free food to me. haha
Thanks for visiting
13.
tgaw | March 31, 2009 at 6:29 am
Thanks all. A couple of additional comments:
@chriggy- Thank you for your concern and counsel, I will exercise the appropriate caution.
@amiexpat – Once I was on the Appalachian Trail and I saw a large black mammal in the forest. Thinking I was seeing my very first black bear I got out the camera and started snapping pictures. It turned out to be a cow. A cow. In the middle of the woods.
@scienceguy288 – Vote submitted!!!!
@kitty – The iNaturalist site has RSS feeds, so that little widget just points to my own sighting RSS feed. It is ordered based on the siting date and not the data you submitted to the website. So if today I entered stuff I saw in 2003, the top five items on my RSS feed won’t refresh.
@frogpondsrock – Interesting! I wouldn’t have noticed there was anything especially American about that shot without your outside perspective. Thanks!
@DNLee – I’ve been trying to muster up the nerve to steal some Red Bud flowers for a salad. I was close on Saturday, but that tree is in a Tree Memorial park. It felt a little….weird…to steal flowers from a memorial tree. 🙂
14.
chriggy | March 31, 2009 at 6:43 pm
And BTW, great pictures, just be careful 🙂