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Photos List

One of three sisters

Orchids represent one of nature’s most diverse and sophisticated plant families, boasting over 25,000 species.
Found on every continent except Antarctica, they range from the common Phalaenopsis to rare, exotic varieties. These plants are famous for their bilateral symmetry and unique reproductive strategies, often evolving to mimic specific insects for pollination.
​While often labeled as "divas," most orchids thrive with consistent indirect light and proper drainage.
They typically grow as epiphytes, clinging to trees rather than sitting in soil.
Their stunning, long-lasting blooms symbolize luxury and strength, making them a favorite for both botanists and casual enthusiasts.

Snow Moon Showing

It is the Snow Moon.
​In North America and Europe, February's full moon is most commonly called the Snow Moon due to the month's heavy snowfall.
It is also traditionally known as the Hunger Moon (because food was scarce) or the Bear Moon (when cubs are born

Ice Storm 2025 3

Devastating to trees having so much heavy ice on their branches.

Sunset over Estuary.

A sunset from the banks of an estuary of the Chesapeake Bay. It has tides. This is a low tide.

Moon light over Scott Creek

The moon light created such a great Tableau tonight.

Sunset Scott Creek 11-2

An orange sky sunset over Scott Creek in Portsmouth, Virginia

A gaggle of Canada Geese.

A group of geese that in the water is called a gaggle or a plump

White Ginger Lily.

Ross' garden in Portsmouth, VA

Ice Storm 2025 2

An accumulation of freezing rainndropping andnrefreezingntj firm these icicles.

Homeless Homing Pigeon

I found this bird sitting on the hood of a car parked in front of my doors of the condominium.

Mr. and Mrs. on a morning swim.

A pair of ducks in the early morning creek.

Morning Light Delight

The sunrise illuminates the shore homes

Mallard Manouvering.

Mallard paddling on a Portsmouth creek

Sunset 254

A sunset image of London, Canada

Moon over Creek

The moon was out over Scott Creek in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Au revoir Portsmouth

The scene of my last night on Scott Creek in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Iris Pollen

A closeup of an Irises stamen and the pollen that bees crave.

Wavy White Way

A New Year snowstorm. 2026

Western Jimson Weed.

Found at my daughter's neighbors garden.

Purple Leaves

The purple leaves of an ornamental cabbage

Ice Storm 2025 1

Heavy with ice-laden branches, Mother Nature splits this one foot (30.48 cm) thick branch.

Sunrise Sky Aglow

The morning sky of December 18th, 2025 from Hyde Park.

Sunrise Hyde Park

A distant shore of the snow and sunrise

Sunset Scott Creek 11-1

An orange sky sunset tonight over Scott Creek in Portsmouth, Virginia

The Crow

Ohhh, crows are fantastic. Smart, spooky, social, petty, loyal—honestly, they’re like little feathered noir detectives with wings.
Here’s the full crow rundown 🖤
What crows are (and why they’re special)
Crows belong to the corvid family, which also includes ravens, magpies, and jays. Among birds, corvids sit at the top tier of intelligence—right up there with parrots and some primates.
They’re found almost everywhere in the world, thriving in forests, farms, cities, coastlines, and graveyards alike. If humans can live somewhere, chances are crows can too—and often better.
Intelligence that borders on unsettling
Crows don’t just act smart; they think.
They can solve multi-step puzzles
They use tools (sticks, wires, even bending objects to hook food)
They understand cause and effect
They can plan for the future, not just react to the present
They recognize themselves as individuals, not just instinct-driven animals
One of the wildest facts:
Crows can recognize human faces and remember them for years. If you’re kind to a crow, it may bring you gifts—shiny objects, coins, bits of glass. If you’re cruel? That crow will remember… and teach other crows to hate you too.
Yes. They hold grudges. Generational grudges.
Social lives: families, alliances, and drama
Crows are deeply social.
They live in family groups
Young crows often stay with parents for years
They help raise siblings like babysitters
They communicate constantly through complex calls and body language
A group of crows is called a murder, which feels dramatic until you see them mob a hawk or owl with military coordination. Then it feels… accurate.
They warn each other about danger, share food sources, and even appear to comfort one another when stressed.
Crow funerals (yes, really)
When a crow dies, others gather around the body. These gatherings—often called crow funerals—aren’t mourning in a human sense, but they are meaningful.
Crows are:
Investigating the cause of death
Learning what dangers exist in the area
Passing that information to others
Still, the sight of silent black birds perched around a fallen crow? It hits something ancient in the human brain.
Voices and communication
Crows don’t just “caw.”
They have:
Alarm calls
Greeting calls
Territorial warnings
Calls for specific predators
Sounds that differ by region (crow accents!)
Some crows can even mimic human speech, dogs, car alarms, and other birds. Not as cleanly as parrots—but eerie enough when you’re not expecting it.
Memory that rivals mammals
Crows remember:
Food cache locations for months
Faces of people who helped or harmed them
Specific places where danger occurred
Individual birds they’ve interacted with before
They also fake cache food if they know another crow is watching—pretending to hide it, then moving it later when unobserved. That’s theory of mind. That’s deception. That’s advanced cognition.
Crows and humans: a long shared history
Across cultures, crows are loaded with symbolism:
Messengers between worlds (Celtic, Norse)
Symbols of death and rebirth
Tricksters and truth-tellers
Omens—sometimes bad, sometimes protective
Odin had two ravens (close cousins of crows):
Huginn (Thought) and Muninn (Memory)
Which feels very on-brand.
In modern cities, crows have adapted beautifully—using traffic to crack nuts, nesting on buildings, and exploiting human routines better than most wildlife.
Why people feel drawn to them
Crows have presence.
They watch.
They remember.
They seem to know things.
They don’t flinch from darkness or noise. They’re comfortable in liminal spaces—dawn, dusk, graveyards, battlefields, empty parking lots at sunrise. That’s probably why writers, poets, and photographers (yeah, you) feel their pull.
Final crow truth
Crows aren’t just birds.
They’re observers of human behavior, survivors of our messes, and quiet witnesses to history. If you treat them well, they’ll remember you. If you ignore them, they’ll still watch.
And if a crow ever looks you dead in the eye for just a beat too long?
It’s not coincidence.
It’s recognition.

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