Frozen Waves - Leesylvania State Park

While walking at Leesylvania State Park after a week of cold temperatures, I noticed that the Potomac River had frozen nearly all the way to Maryland.

Despite the signs warning of danger, this man walked far out on the frozen ice. If he had fallen through, he would have been in trouble and put his rescuers in danger, too.

Birds, Butterflies, Bushes and Trees - Leesylvania State Park

Taking two small children for a walk in the woods is not a responsibility I take lightly. Even for a short walk, I carry a small first aid kit, snacks, water, and Herbal Armor, a Deet-free insect repellant in my backpack.

Confident that I had packed what I needed to make the walk a success, we left our car near the park store and started on the Bushey Point Trail that winds along the Potomac River.

The girls didn't have to wait long to pull out their binoculars to look at what might be an Osprey nest at the end of the pier.

Shortly thereafter we used our Pocket Naturalist Guide to identify three butterflies, a Red Spotted Purple brushfoot, a Northern Cloudywing skipper, and an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail perched atop a Buttonbush.

We saw, but did not photograph, a Paw Paw tree, a Sycamore, an Ailanthus tree, and an orange Butterfly Weed flower near the railroad bridge.

In two hours on the Bushey Point trail, I never once felt that I could identify the majority of trees or plants. Just when walking on trail started to feel a bit familiar, adding the task of identifying plants and trees upped the challenge of the walk immensely.

Owl Prowl - Leesylvania State Park

Bedtime got pushed back last night in order to attend our first Owl Prowl at Leesylvania State Park. 

The girls brought their Dora the Explorer and Barbie headlamps and I brought my Virginia Birds Pocket Naturalist reference pamphlet.

As we climbed the stairs to the amphitheater near the Lee's Woods Trail, the wooden benches, stage, and fireplace came into view. On the mantle behind Ranger Genevieve White were three stuffed owls normally on display at the Visitor Center. 

"Owls are ninjas," she explained. Their wings are serrated, not blunt, so they fly silently.


Screech Owls don't screech but Barn Owls scream like a woman in trouble, thus, making them the source of many ghost stories 

Owls cannot move their eyes but must turn their entire head instead. Owls can turn their head almost to the opposite shoulder when looking behind them. 

Owls have one ear on their chin and their other ear near their temple so that when they fly and look down, their ears are equal distance from their prey, providing depth perception. 

Owls eat their food whole, digest the good stuff, and then spit the rejected food out their front end. If you look at the base of an owl's tree, you will find "pellets" of rejected food.

Owls kills lots of small animals, including cats, by flying off with the animal and dropping it from great height or performing quick surgery with their sharp talons.

Once the sun went down, Ranger Genevieve used her laptop to play owl calls, starting with the smallest bird first (if you call the bigger owls first, the little ones won't come). Two Screech Owls appeared quickly in the trees and started trilling.

The Barred Owl and the Great Horned Owl did not make an appearance despite the recorded calls. Possibly the owls were hiding silently in the trees hoping we brought a cat.

Our next Leesylvania outing might be the Tree Identification Hike on July 17, 2013.

The Trip That Started it All

I don't even remember how I got the idea to take my 5 year old camping. The girls and I visited Leesylvania State Park for the first time in 2012 where I heard about the nationwide program called The Great American Campout put on by the National Wildlife Federation. I had camped before having children and it sounded fun and it cost only $25 so I thought we would give it a try.

My mom, who was still alive at the time, wasn't sure if camping was safe or not so she wanted my littlest to stay home for the night so our first trip was just me and my 5 year old.

Once we arrived, Ranger Genevieve took us on a walk near the Potomac River and started our campfire. She made starting a campfire look very deceptively easy. 

At some point in the evening I realized that we were the only campers at the event. Finally I asked Ranger Genevieve if there were other campers coming and she confirmed we were the only ones. I was shocked and she must have realized it from the look on my face. She reassured me that she had camped many times at Leesylvania and that the chief ranger lived at the park and she was quite sure we would be safe. I was tempted to go home but we stayed.

Look at that teeny tiny backpacking tent that I had from my earlier days!

The music from Tim's Rivershore across the Potomac filled our tent until 2:00 am at which time it promptly shut off and woke me from the shock of the sudden quiet. There, at 2:00 am, with my child sleeping beside me, I was alone in a big field. It was kind of terrifying but nothing bad happened. Nothing bad usually happens. The night was peaceful and beautiful and we were in a protected state park, not in the backcountry. We survived.