Milka Pejovic

Travel theme: Blossom

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Today I’m participating in Where’s My Backpack’s Travel Theme photo challenge. This week’s theme is “blossom”. Remember you can click on each photo for a larger view. If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe and receive nature photography updates a few times a week.

I was lucky to visit Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia when every tree was in bloom this past April. Let me share just a few of the many beautiful tree blossoms the area has to offer in the spring.

Washington D.C. is known for its cherry blossoms, but once you see these pink magnolias in bloom, also known as tulip trees, you may just fall in love with them as I did. There were many, many of them in the gardens of the Smithsonian red castle.

Tulip trees - pink magnolia trees in bloom at the Smithsonian red castleTulip trees - pink magnolia trees in bloom at the Smithsonian red castle — Tulip trees – pink magnolia trees in bloom at the Smithsonian red castle

Tulip tree blossoms - pink magnolia blooms — Tulip tree blossoms – pink magnolia blooms

You’ll find many cherry blossoms (some of them white, the others pink) all around Washington D.C. but the highest concentration is around the Tidal Basin. They sure are pretty to look at and walk by, and when their petals fall, they look like snow, except it’s not freezing cold.

While visiting Thomas Jefferson’s estate at Monticello, I stumbled upon these lovely pink tree blossoms. I believe they belong to the dwarf almond tree.

There are many Eastern red bud trees in that area of the country and they sure welcome spring with their bright pink colors.

Dogwood trees were in bloom too, in various colors. This dogwood tree had yellow blooms.

When an Eastern red bud and a dogwood tree hang out together during blooming season, this is how beautiful they look next to each other.

Easter red bud tree and white dogwood tree blossoms

Finally I discovered the weeping cherry blossom tree during my trip. It’s a cross between a weeping willow and a cherry blossom tree. Getting lost underneath one of these trees wouldn’t be so bad.

Do you have favorite tree blossoms?

Macro Monday: dandelion in bloom and in seed

Today I’m taking part in the Macro Monday photo challenge. You can click on each photo for a larger view. If you like what you see, I encourage you to subscribe so you can enjoy the new photos I post a few times a week.

I love dandelions. Their little splashes of yellow across the grass are like nature saying hello at my every footstep. Once they turn into seed, they give me the opportunity to make a wish while helping nature make more splashes of yellow. The San Diego dirt is so dry, dandelions are a rare occurrence here but I got the opportunity to see many of them during our vacation on the East Coast.

Here are a few close-ups of yellow dandelions. I’ve never noticed the many curled-up pistils all over the dandelion blooms. Click on each picture to see them in more detail. They’re pretty cool looking.

Close-up of a yellow dandelion with curled-up pistils

I couldn’t wait to pick this dandelion in seed and blow on it, but first I had to take a picture of it.

May 19, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Bloom Photos, Flower Photos, Plant PhotosTags: blow dandelion seeds, dandelion bloom, dandelion close up, dandelion flower, dandelion in seed, dandelion macro, Macro Monday, nature photography, photos of blooms, yellow dandelion, yellow flowers 10 Comments

Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington D.C.

WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: A work of art

Today I’m participating in the WordPress weekly photo challenge and this week’s theme is “work of art”. Remember you can click on each photo for a larger view. If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe and receive nature photography updates a few times a week.

During my recent trip to the East Coast, I got to see many works of art, including in the various Smithsonian museums in Washington D.C. Some of the art you find in D.C. is larger than life, such as the Thomas Jefferson’s statue inside the Jefferson Memorial.

Wordpress Weekly Photo Challenge: A work of art - Thomas Jefferson's statue at the Jefferson Memorial — WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: A work of art – Thomas Jefferson’s statue at the Jefferson Memorial

Or the Marting Luther King Memorial, the latest addition to the monuments around the Tidal Basin. The monument represents this famous line from Dr. Luther King’s speech in Washington: “Out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope”. That quote is engraved on the side of the stone in which King is featured. What a great image for that quote. By the way, Martin Luther King directly faces the Jefferson Memorial, looking for hope in the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence.

Sometimes man can takes nature and create beautiful works of art. I enjoyed photographing this small man-made waterfall from behind.

Of course nature makes some of the most beautiful works of art. I got to see a lot of them in the shape of stalagmites and stalactites when I visited Luray Caverns in Virginia, the largest caverns in the Eastern United States.

Luray Caverns - transparent stalactites with layers — Luray Caverns – transparent stalactites with layers

Luray Caverns - giant stalactites — Luray Caverns – giant stalactites

Here’s Mother Nature at work, displaying its latest creation, a small stalactite in the making. Another million years and it will be as big as the ones shown in the photo above!

Luray Caverns - small stalagmite — Luray Caverns – small stalagmite

Nature in the spring on the East coast displays many works of art in the form of tree blossoms. I got to enjoy many Eastern red bud trees in bloom. What a sight!

But I’ll admit that my favorite probably were the pink magnolias, or tulip trees. A cloudy sky that day made for a great background to photograph the pink magnolia blooms from under.

Pink magnolia blossoms/ tulip tree in bloom

May 16, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Bloom Photos, Caverns, Flower Photos, Rock photos, Washington DCTags: Eastern red bud tree blossoms, Eastern red bud tree in bloom, Luray Caverns stalactites, Luray Caverns stalagmites, Martin Luther King memorial Washingon DC, Out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope, pink magnolia blooms, pink magnolia blossoms, Thomas Jefferson memorial Washingon DC, Thomas Jefferson statue, tulip tree blooms, tulip tree blossoms, waterfall from behind 20 Comments

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Nature animals

Today I’m participating in Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge and her theme is “nature animals”. I encourage you to click on each photo to see a larger view. If you like what you see, please subscribe to this blog to receive updates of the new photos I post, usually 3 to 5 times a week.

While spending a few days in Virginia, we visited the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News, which features a lot of animals you find in Virginia. Of course you can find some of these animals in other parts of the country, but it was nice to be able to see a few of them up close, which can be hard when you walk around in nature.

During our visit, we spotted a few deer. They’re very well camouflaged in their exhibit.

This one really knows the most intimate spot to take a nap while spying on the visitors.

We were lucky to see real deer during our trip, so I can’t complain about the unspectacular shots I got of these. 🙂

My kids saw a real beaver for the first time and they were very excited. The only time I’ve seen a beaver before was when I lived in Connecticut. There was a park with a pond at the bottom of the hill where I lived, and the beaver couple that lived there would build a dam and a lodge on a regular basis, until the town took it down. This beaver wouldn’t stop swimming, getting out of the water, and going swimming again, so it was very hard to take a good picture of him.

Finally my kids got a chance to also see a raccoon for the first time. We do have raccoons here but they’re nocturnal so encounters are rare. The only raccoons we’ve seen are the road kill in the morning on our way to school. It was nice to see a live and healthy raccoon during our visit. Isn’t he cute? Every time I see a raccoon, it reminds me of the movie Elf. “Does someone need a hug?”

Close-up of a raccoon's head — Close-up of a raccoon’s head

May 14, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal PhotosTags: beaver swimming in the water, camouflaged deer, Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, close up of raccoon head, deer in Virginia, nature animals, nature photography, photos of beavers, photos of deer, photos of raccoons, raccoon photos 8 Comments

Macro Monday: the zebra longwing and the tiger longwing butterflies

I recently visited the San Diego Zoo Safari Park’s Butterfly jungle, which is always a fun event as you hope that butterflies will land directly on you. One of my kids was lucky enough to have that happen to him, as a blue morpho landed right on top of his head. We also managed to get a zebra longwing butterfly on our fingers as we passed it around from one person to the other.

Here are a few close-ups of two butterflies out of the many we saw. The others wouldn’t sit still for a picture. Even then the photos I took are a bit blurry, probably because I couldn’t stand still myself. The first is a tiger longwing butterfly, with black and white stripes on top of its wings, and black and orange stripes underneath.

The second is the zebra longwing butterfly, first with its black and white striped wings spread out wide open, and next with its wings closed, so you can see a few red dots underneath the wings. It was a fun experience for sure. Well, if you like butterflies.