Wildlife on the Potomac

Rob Paine Deer on Potomac
Photo by Rob Paine

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to photograph Leesylvania State Park in Prince William County, Va.

The park that is full of history and nature runs along the Potomac River south of Washington D.C. According to the park’s Web site, “Native Americans lived on this land for thousands of years. Capt. John Smith visited the area in 1608 on his voyage of discovery. It’s also the ancestral home of Virginia’s legendary Lee and Fairfax families.” (please see more photos and text below)

web bird on pier
I reached the park in the late afternoon so the sun was beginning to drop providing a nice golden glow to everything.

The deer photo above was actually one of the last photos on took during my visit. I was heading out of the park and had my eyes peeled for deer.

I was not having much luck so when I reached the park’s exit gate I did a u-turn and took one more pass through. That is when I saw two deer one of which is in this photo.

The sun was in the right place and served as rim light to trace an outline around the front of the deer. Not wanting to startle the animals I shot this out of my car window.

Rob Paine Pier at Leesylvania Park

The park has a boat launch and is also a great place for fishing, offering a fishing pier that actually stretches into Maryland. The sky was very pretty with lots of puffy clouds so
I shot a panorama of the fishing pier show above. I also photographed this bird perching on a piling near the end of the pier.

web state line

The Virginia-Maryland State line is less than a stone’s throw off the Virginia shore so when you walk out on the pier at the park, you see a sign that says “Maryland.” An easy way to spend time in two states without having to do a lot of driving.

Thanks for checking out my blog today!

Comments

2 responses to “Wildlife on the Potomac”

  1. lauramacky Avatar

    Hey rob. I couldn’t find a contact link for you, so I’m posting here. You had asked me on my blog whether I have received smugmug response and I have not. It’s been horrible. In fact, I am now looking for someone to develop a wordpress site for me because I’ve kind of had it with smugmug. The format is not that user friendly and the communities is a mess. I get more views in google+ and my regular wordpress blog anyway. I don’t even print that often so why do I need smugmug again?? 🙂

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  2. Garden Walk Garden Talk Avatar

    Beautiful images and wonderful light. I have to get out more at that time of day. My brother lives in MD and I should visit that area someday, it looks like a great place to live.

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Please feel free to leave a reply. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughtful feedback, Rob