Odonata457's photostream  

It was cold this year during the Mid-winter bird count. Overcast and slightly snowing it stayed around freezing all day long. My location, the BARC airport, is exposed and not sheltered from the wind. I was still able to identify 36 species of birds at the airport during the count. Abandon Airport, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Maryland. Eastern Meadowlarks.

It was cold this year during the Mid-winter bird count. Overcast and slightly snowing it stayed around freezing all day long. My location, the BARC airport, is exposed and not sheltered from the wind. I was still able to identify 36 species of birds at the airport during the count. Abandon Airport, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Maryland. Northern Shrike.

The lower left insert is a liverwort (Frullania eboracensis) that was growing on the bark of an American Hornbeam tree (Carpinus caroliniana). While examining the liverwort under the microscope to confirm the species identification I came across the strange looking "critter" shown in the main photo. It was attached to one of the leaves of the liverwort by a number of its long tentacles. The "critter" is a cleistotheca of one of the Powdery Mildews but I can not match the distinctive truncated tentacles to any genus on the web (but Sphaerotheca or Erysiphe are possible). If anyone knows the genus -- please let me know. Gorman Stream Valley Park, Maryland.

Theodore Roosevelt Island, Potomac River, Washington D.C.

Theodore Roosevelt Island, Potomac River, Washington D.C.