[Rootchopper]

This morning I spotted a red winged blackbird, a great blue heron, a bunch of robins and grackles, and an osprey (at the Belle Haven nest).

Yesterday afternoon I saw a cockatoo. It was perched on the shoulder of a cyclist heading north out of Belle Haven Park.

[Rootchopper]

I saw a beautiful downy egret in the swampy land south of the Slaters Lane apartments. No pix because my camera is broken.

[Rootchopper]

The best way to find the nests is to look for people with binoculars or cameras with massive telephoto lenses. That’s how I found the Morningside nest.

[Rootchopper]

Bald eagles are my favorite. There are at least three nests visible between Old Town and Mt. Vernon. The Belle Haven nest is about 1/8th mile south of Porto Vecchio on the edge of the golf course. It’s clearly visible year round. The Morningside nest is directly opposite the last GW Parkways sign for Morningside. It is between the trail and the river. It appears to be a bigger nest than Belle Haven and seems to be occupied now. Heading south pull over just before the last (new) wooden bridge that is opposite Morningside. The tree is about 80 yards off the trail.

Last month I spotted a bald eagle near Fort Hunt. He was perched on a branch 15 feet above the trail! There is a bridge that carries the MVT and the GWP over a creek just before the climb to Mount Vernon. Stop there and scan the trees along the water line towards Mount Vernon to find the nest.

I spotted another large nest last week. It’s on its own little bit of an island in the river near where the fishermen do their thing on the bend in the GWP after Tulane. This one could be an osprey nest.

Ospreys are white underneath. They look big until a mature bald eagle comes along. Then they look like runts.

There are also lots of great blue herons around too. I saw one take off from a creek near my house last night. It was huge and Seussian.

[Rootchopper]

@murphsmydog 17821 wrote:

Rootchopper, it’s east of the end of the W&OD – and is marked as the 4 mile run trail.

Yeah, I know. Just annoyed by the WO&D that I hear all the time.

Didn’t the 4 Mile Run Trail used to be called the Anderson Trail?

[Rootchopper]

Liz

Have you tried the Indian Head trail in Indian Head MD? I think it’s about 32 miles out and back. Paved the entire way. Not much in the way of services.

[Rootchopper]

@JustinW 17086 wrote:

Who maintains the trail along Four Mile Run between the end of the WO&D near Shirlington and the connection with the Mt. Vernon Trail along the river?

Reason for asking – the “joint” between the asphalt trail and the concrete elevated trail / bridge @ Four Mile Run Drive and S. Cleveland St. seems to be separating, such that, going eastbound, riders get a pretty solid impact going over the connection. It would be great to get that attended to before it gets worse. Who’s the boss of that part of the trail?

Would be the end of the Washington Old and Domminion Trail?

[Rootchopper]

Has the Park Service considered taking the right angle out of this intersection? If the MVT was straight here then 2/3rds of the problem would be eliminated.

[Rootchopper]

If a Park Police officer treats you with disrespect (regardless of whether you are in the right or wrong) get his/her identifying info. Name, badge number, vehicle number. Then call and report it.

[Rootchopper]

Last night on the way down the hill, I encountered the aftermath of an apparent vehicle crash which left the base of the Rosslyn bridge treacherous:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rootchopper/6894334688/in/photostream

I would guess that the accident did not involve police or that they simply took no steps to clean up after it.

I agree that a broom would have worked wonders.

I used to encounter this on a regular basis on the Case Bridge over near L’Enfant Plaza. An accident would happen on I-395 and someone would toss the accident debris out of the roadway and onto the side path.

Sorry to hear that someone was injured. I fell, albeit for different reasons, about 100 feet from this spot late last week.

[Rootchopper]

In India, bell and horn use is the opposite of the US. Everyone uses their bells and horns constantly. It’s as if they have a sonic force field around themselves. Of course, we don’t have cows and goats on our streets either. Imagine the Custis Trail with livestock thrown into the mix.

[Rootchopper]

I was on the trail at a little after 8.

I drove up from Mount Vernon and the car traffic on Washington Street was unbelievably heavy.

I noticed when I was dropping the car off that gas now costs over $4 per gallon. These things seem not to go together.

The Intersection of DOOM desperately needs to be reworked somehow. The current configuration is a disaster waiting to happen.

[Rootchopper]

Garfield Street near the Cathedral has a long row of blossoms. Head north from the Cathedral on side streets between Reno and Wisconsin and you’ll see plenty of blossoms.

I waddled my recumbent around the tidal basin this morning. This is one of the best years ever for blossoms. (My recumbent goes right under those low hanging branches by the way.)

Go a half hour after dawn. The low angle of sunlight makes for a great show.

[Rootchopper]

I rode the Case Bridge daily for over ten years. The jumpy pedestrians are often tourists (expecially this time of year) who are walking from L’Enfant Plaza – there’s a metro and two hotels – over to the Tidal Basin. Also, working folk park their cars over in East Potomac Park and walk (or cycle) to work over the bridge. Parking is plentiful and free. (Somedays it’s underwater but your can’t have everything.)

A couple other comments. I worked at L’Enfant and commute over the 14th STreet bridge. The loop from the bridge past the George Mason memorial, down Ohio Drive to Buckeye and over the Case is by far saner than riding 15th and Constitution. No cars. No lights. Even a nice spritz from the NPS sprinklers on hot summer days.

The Case Bridge sidepath has been part of the 50 States Ride for a long time. It always seems to stump riders when the see there is no curb cut at Banneker Circle.

[Rootchopper]

You could alwayys take the road instead. I did once, before that section of the trail was open. The downhills are amazing. The uphills not so much. I think I left a lung on the side of the road outside Frostburg,

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