After shooting the sunrise on Sunday at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, I drove to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Cambridge, Maryland. It is known for its large (27,000 acres) open wetlands, marshes, canals and ponds, and of migratory birds, and also known for its eagles. And, I did see some eagles, but they were too far away for closeup shots, and I did not have a 600mm lens with me, like last time.

Blackwater NWR was beautiful, and the mosquitos were not as bad as Chincoteague. There was a good breeze that probably helped. The following is some of what I saw at Blackwater.

The water was still, and the sky overcast creating a mirror-like reflection. 

Do you see the eagle in the above photo?

The clouds began to open up revealing the deep blue sky.

Too beautiful for me to describe.  And, there were many birds.  While shooting the above images, an eagle was flying in and out of the trees, and sat long enough for me to get the below image.  The 600mm certainly would have made a difference. It was taken at 400mm.

Below, a Blue Heron was busy working a canal.

As I was leaving the refuge, there was a large field of yellow flowers that was too beautiful to pass up.

Later, as I was leaving Cambridge, the nearest city to the refuge, there was an old abandoned church along the road that caught my attention. So, I turned the car around, parked and shot a few images.

Although my passion is for nature photography, old abandoned buildings (churches, houses, barns, mills, etc.) have always attracted my attention and curiosity. They often look as though the owners/people left abruptly. Below is the church sign surprisingly still reflecting the worship services and their times.  I wonder what happened to Rev. Thurman Potter, Pastor. I wonder when the last 1130 service took place.

That’s all for tonight. Tomorrow, I am getting up at 0400 to drive to Jarrettsville, northwest of Baltimore, to shoot hundreds of acres of sunflowers at their peak bloom during sunrise. I hope. That’s the plan.