Walking Manassas Battlefield trail

Last Friday after Thursdays rains I took a long walk at Manassas National Battlefield park. It's always a great place to see nature and this summer it's nice and green. On my way home from a nice lunch with my pal Val in Upperville VA. the wait to pass over route 29 heading back reminded me I needed to get a hike in before I came back to the hot city.

I arrived parked and crossed the field to the wood trail to the back of Stonewall Jackson's equestrian memorial sculpture. As I entered the wooded areas the lush green grasses really looked amazing. The trees are green and the old dead trunks standing and fallen always attract my eye. 

The deer are everywhere but not always east to spot. I was lucky to be there alone this time of the afternoon before the joggers arrive to run the trails. I saw several deer in different spots along the way. They noticed me but usually did not flee which means I got to take pictures. 

 In this field which is surrounded by trees on all sides and the distant edge has a creek for a border one doe was munching on tall grasses. There is a white flower all over the field too fine to see in the landscape photos. Also dragon flies with black marked wings.

I saw lots of little birds but they move fast and have lots of leaves to hide behind. This one I managed to capture but I don't know what type of bird it is at only about 5 inches in length I can't even guess. Maybe it is some type of warbler is my best guess but it may not be mature enough to have adult markings. 

On the trail which is gray gravel much of the way for tractors to traverse I saw an pretty butterfly with black and blue and a little orange colored markings and a toad hopped by me almost unseen. I would not have seen it without it's movement it's so well camouflaged. 

A huge pasture was near the end of my walk and the big white clouds floating over the tall sandy colored grass reminded me of that long ago movie Out of Africa. 

 On the wooded edge of the fields I found this tall Jack in the pulpit seed pod forming with it's shiny green seeds.

All along the path I kept seeing Eastern blue birds flying down out of the trees to the ground and back up to the low branches. Each time I moved a muscle they would flee and hide. Finally on my way out I spotted a bunch of them and my chance came to capture one preening on a branch for a while. What a treat it was to watch and photograph that pretty little blue bird.  

Last of all I captured was this king bird who was chasing a mate and alighted on the very top of a tree to catch it's breath. It made a nice end to a lovely walk in the park. 

Stuart's Signal Hill trail part two

Stuart's Signal Hill Trail head 

In Manassas overnight with Keith, today we decided, in spite of a steamy July kind of day, that we wanted to go to Stuart's Hill trail in the Bull Run National Battlefield Park for a nice long nature walk. Keith missed the first time and I really wanted to explore it again with him along to share my experiences. I got a few more photos of things I didn't see last time. Wild field flowers and stream side a very beautiful blue flower. We saw an adult pair of wild turkey but they slipped by so fast at the end of the trail I barely had time to see them. There was a most exotic crimson red and black ant that was as big as my little finger about about 1.5 inches long! He was moving fast too but I captured something to show. Different this time was the way I went roving up the other side of the trail I had missed the first time through a wood that had been hit by winds or a storm and felled a lot of pine and cedar.  We found lots of turkey feathers in a couple different spots along the trail. There were deer dashing off into the woods. Birds included a small flock of blue birds, several pairs of blue jays. We spotted a hawk and a couple woodpeckers too. There were lots of things jumping we didn't catch a good look at but it was hot and the woods are drying out now. Fall is sneaking up on us even thought it feels like the fourth of July today.

goldenrod

sweet everlasting

switch grass flowers pale yellow

purple gerardia

sunflowers

look closely for the gray "deer foot" moss between the blades of grass 

the edge of the woods the last field before  the trail to Lewis house. 

field seen from the edge of woods where the Lewis house stead was. 

back into the woods 

lichen on the rocks and bark in the woods 

 in bright sun the great lobelia's blue flowers by the creek 

by the creek blue flowers of great lobelia, lower right side

blue flower great lobelia at the edge of creek 

closer view of the  great lobelia 

remarkable grass going to seed 

Stuart's hill today 

brown and orange butterflies are called Pearl Crescents (Phyciodes tharos) in the grass field on white asters 

two of these pearl crescent butterflies were the size of a quarter or smaller

"red velvet ant" that raced along the trail running from my camera is actually a female wasp  

this wasp lays eggs on bumble bee larvae and have a sting that hurts so much it's also called a Cow Killer wasp.  

Keith marching along beside me on the trail through the field 

Proof I had company

there he is the little frog or toad that jumped on the trail