Sunday, February 28, 2016

Around the yard


I have a list below of memes I am joining for this week, and to save time I am doing one post for all. They are all fun memes to participate in...I hope you can join in with the fun  and check out some of the participating posts. Special thanks to all the wonderful host and their memes, I hope you have some time to check them out.

Hello, I have been sent a link for Tina's aka EG Camera Girl's funeral notice and service. You can view the EG Camera Girl  here and the  Service here. You can email a condolence message to the family per 
To send a condolence message to the family.
Please in the subject line of your message include the name of the deceased.
All messages are being passed on to the family

 I copied and pasted the email to send my email message.



I am sharing some yard birds from my Great Backyard Bird Count which was Feb 12th thru Feb 15th and a couple local barns from the neighborhood. I hope you enjoy!  Can you believe February is almost over? Just one more day due to leap year and it will be March.  I am so looking forward to Spring, flowers and the new spring birds. Bring it on, please!

Some of my yard birds, above top Mourning Doves Downy Woodpecker, White-throated Sparrow. Bottom row the Blue Jay, Dark-eyed Junco and Brown-headed Cowbird.


The first day of my Great Backyard Bird count, I counted 18 species of birds and a total of 151 birds in approximately in 3 hours on the first morning Feb 12th.  The bird with the highest count was the White-throated Sparrow at 41 birds seen at the same time.


The White-throated Sparrow seems to be the most common bird in my yard. Following close behind is the Mourning Dove with 29 being seen at one time and then the Dark-eyed Junco the third highest count with 27 being seen at one time on my deck. The Weeping Cherry tree has become a landing spot for the birds before they reach my feeders.


A new bird for my GBBC list this year was this Field Sparrow still hanging around on Feb 12th. All my bird photos are taken thru my dining room window, so I am sorry they are not the best images.









Taking the back road home I can pass the barns in the photos above and below.  I like the weathered wood and colors on the barns and buildings above.


For Tom's Barn Collective meme I am sharing the two photos above. They are both local places in the neighborhood. The barn above recently was renovated and has a new green roof. The trees are still bare, but this street is pretty when everything is green.

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate your visits and nice comments. Have a happy day and new week ahead!


As always thanks to the wonderful group of hosts listed below.
Thanks to Tom for hosting The Barn Collective
Thanks to Judith our  host of Mosaic Monday
Thanks to Monica for hosting NF Trees
Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes
Thanks to the hosting team of Our World Tuesday!

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Saturday's Critters #115

Saturday's Critters #115

To those who have not heard, I am truly sorry to pass on this sad news and to hear of the loss of our blogging sister Tina  @ EG Camera Girl and her husband Tom. My heartfelt condolences and prayers go to the family, may God give them peace and comfort in these difficult days. Tina will be truly missed in our blogging world. I will remember Tina when I look back at her beautiful photos, she has left many photograph memories that we can cherish.


RIP Tina.



Happy Saturday, it's time to share your critters and post. Any kind of critter will do, even a new or old post.. I appreciate everyone who is linking in with this week's critter party.

For my post I am sharing a few Purple Finches that stopped by my yard briefly. They ate and ran  flew away.













Nibbles our grandpuppy is now a little over a year old.




As always thanks for the visits and the nice comments. I also thank everyone who is linking up and sharing their critters.. Happy Saturday, have a great weekend!

To see more beautiful birds and cute critters, check out these two memes below.

Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-BirdinThanks to the gracious host: Anni.  Also check out Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting this fun meme.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Eastern Neck NWR, part 2

I am linking up with Skywatch Friday  and Good Fences
I hope you can join in on the fun and share your fence scenes and pretty skies.

Blog update:
To those who have not heard, I am truly sorry to pass on this sad news and to hear of the loss of our blogging sister Tina  @ EG Camera Girl and her husband. My heartfelt condolences and prayers go to the family, may God give them peace and comfort in these difficult days. Tina will be truly missed in our blogging world. I will remember Tina when I look back at her beautiful photos, she has left many photograph memories that we can cherish.


RIP Tina.



This is part 2 of our visit to the Eastern Neck NWR in Rock Hall Maryland. I am sharing some of the birds we saw, the trails and views of the river and bay.


My mosaic above shows a lot of the birds we saw during our visit to the wildlife refuge. Top row: American Black ducks, Common Mergansers, Ring-billed Gull. Second row are the Turkey Vultures, Bald Eagle and Black Vultures. The third row Great Blue Heron in flight, Tundra Swan group, Tundra Swan. Bottom row is a Northern Cardinal, Flock of Canada Geese, various Gulls.


For Teresa Friday's Hunt one of two images for the week's favorite above: The Tubby Cove boardwalk.

Thanks to Teresa for hosting.

Friday's Hunt
1. the letter I
2. week's favorite
3. something blue






The Tidal Marsh Overlook trail.


Live life to the fullest, there may not be a tomorrow!

A flock of Canada Geese in my skywatch shot.



The Chester River Sanctuary and in the distance you can see the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.


For my week's favorite and something blue a Bald Eagle couple with an airplane flying over. I hope you enjoyed this post on the wildlife refuge and my photos. Thanks for visiting and for the nice comments.

To see more pretty skies from around the world please visit  Skywatch Friday
and check for more fence shots at Tex's Good Fences

Thanks to Theresa @ The Run*A*Round Ranch for hosting Good Fences this past year it has been fun looking for fences for my post. Also, thank you to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for doing such a great job at hosting Skywatch Friday.    I wish everyone a happy day and weekend ahead..

Sunday, February 21, 2016

My mish-mash


I have a list below of memes I am joining for this week, and to save time I am doing one post for all. They are all fun memes to participate in...I hope you can join in with the fun  and check out some of the participating posts. Special thanks to all the wonderful host and their memes, I hope you have some time to check them out.

I am sharing a mishmash of images.  On these cold winter days I enjoy walking on my treadmill in the warm house. I can watch the birds out the window as I walk. On one day I found a new bird for my Treadmill bird list, it was the Fox Sparrow.


The Fox Sparrow was a new bird for my treadmill window sightings. They are pretty sparrows, with lovely colors.


My list of treadmill birds below is growing, I am up to 25 now. I may have missed one or two. I have photos of most of them, just for my records and some I have already blogged about.


My Treadmill bird list

1. Northern Parula
2. Ovenbird
3. Wood Thrush
4. Mockingbird
5. Cardinal
6. Blue Jay
7. Dark-eyed Junco
8. White-throated Sparrow
9. House Sparrow
10. Screech Owl
11. Tufted Titmouse
12. Carolina Wren
13. Carolina Chickadee
14. Gray Catbird
15. Cooper's hawk
16. Red-bellied Woodpecker
17. Hermit Thrush
18. Veery
19. Mourning Dove
20. Common Grackle
21. Eastern Towhee
22. American Crow
23. Fox Sparrow
24. Field Sparrow
25. Northern Flicker..no photo


Updated Feb 9th, my latest Treadmill window bird was this Field Sparrow. He/she was hanging out with a big group of White-throated Sparrows.


Various sky shots from my yard and deck.


The view of the woods and sky next to our driveway.


Lately I am seeing a lot of White-throated Sparrows out my treadmill window. I am happy to have a nice view of the birds while I am on my treadmill.
Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate your visits and nice comments. Have a happy day and new week ahead!


As always thanks to the wonderful group of hosts listed below.

Thanks to Judith our  host of Mosaic Monday
Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes
Thanks to the hosting team of Our World Tuesday!
Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Saturday's Critters #114

Saturday's Critters #114

Happy Saturday, it's time to share your critters and post. Any kind of critter will do, even a new or old post.. I appreciate everyone who is linking in with this week's critter party. I am not sure how quickly I will be able to visit today I will be visiting everyone as soon as possible.

Feb 3 & 4th were sparrow days for me. Two new yard birds and one is a lifer.
Below are the Field Sparrow and my latest lifer the American Tree Sparrow.


It was a rainy foggy day and did not expected to see two new yards and one is a lifer. Above is the American Tree Sparrow a lifer and a great bird to show up in my yard.


The Field Sparrow arrived at the same time as my Tree Sparrow. They must have been traveling companions on this rainy day.



They both got busy with the buffet of seed I spread out on my deck railing.


The marking on a Tree Sparrow are the bi-colored bill, a dark spot on its chest, they have a rusty cap and eyeline.





I was happy to add these two birds to my yard list and a new lifer, hooray!





As always thanks for the visits and the nice comments. I also thank everyone who is linking up and sharing their critters.. Happy Saturday, have a great weekend!

To see more beautiful birds and cute critters, check out these two memes below.

Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-BirdinThanks to the gracious host: Anni.  Also check out Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting this fun meme.

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Around the yard

I am linking up with Skywatch Friday  and Good Fences
I hope you can join in on the fun and share your fence scenes and pretty skies.

I am sharing some birds from my yard, our sunset one evening and the moon setting. I hope you enjoy my simple pleasures.


A pretty Song Sparrow on our deck railing. I hope this also counts as a fence shot.


A mourning dove on our deck railing, in the distance an old wood fence.

Below, my sunset images are for Teresa's Friday's Hunt.
1. letter H
2. week's favorite
3. family


My week's favorites above and below for Teresa's Friday's Hunt...A beautiful sunset seen from my yard.





I hope you enjoyed this post and photos. Thanks for visiting and for the nice comments.

To see more pretty skies from around the world please visit  Skywatch Friday
and check for more fence shots at Tex's Good Fences

Thanks to Theresa @ The Run*A*Round Ranch for hosting Good Fences this past year it has been fun looking for fences for my post. Also, thank you to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for doing such a great job at hosting Skywatch Friday. Thanks to Teresa of Eden Hills for hosting Friday's Hunt.   I wish everyone a happy day and weekend ahead..

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Eastern Neck NWR


I have a list below of memes I am joining for this week, and to save time I am doing one post for all. They are all fun memes to participate in...I hope you can join in with the fun  and check out some of the participating posts. Special thanks to all the wonderful host and their memes, I hope you have some time to check them out.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!  



I am sharing various images from a daytrip hubby and I took to see the Eastern Neck NWR in Rock Hall, Maryland. We walked on the various trails such as the Tubby Cove Boardwalk, the Wildlife Trail, the Tidal Marsh Overlook Trail and the Bayview Butterfly Trail.


A view of the bay from the Bayview Butterfly trail. We were happy to see that the snow had melted on Maryland's eastern shore. The trails may have been a little muddy or wet in places but not too bad.


Loblolly Pines are a common tree seen in the wildlife refuges on Maryland Eastern Shore. They can grow up to 100 feet tall, the bark is thick and scaly. They are known as pioneer trees, meaning they are one of the first trees to grow.



A pretty view of the river, it is sad to see the plastic water bottle. Do you know it takes 1,000 years for a plastic bottle to bio-degrade.


This Great Blue Heron was spooked, I managed to capture it as it flew away.



The Eastern Neck Wildlife Rufuge a 2, 285 acre island is located on the Chesapeake Bay and Chester River. Some scenes from inside the visitor center.


Large numbers of Tundra Swans arrive at this refuge in November before migrating 4,000 miles in March. They can fly up to 50 miles per hour.



The Bald Eagles a common sight on Maryland's Eastern Shore. They start to work on their nest in December. We saw them at the wildlife refuge and flying along the road and on the fields during our drive to the refuge.


For Tom's Barn meme, I am ending our daytrip with a barn scene we pass close to home. You can see our neighborhood still has a lot of snow left from the big snow storm.  Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate your visits and nice comments. Have a happy day and new week ahead!


As always thanks to the wonderful group of hosts listed below.
Thanks to Tom for hosting The Barn Collective
Thanks to Judith our  host of Mosaic Monday
Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes
Thanks to the hosting team of Our World Tuesday!
Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Saturday's Critters #113

Saturday's Critters #113

Happy Saturday, it's time to share your critters and post. Any kind of critter will do, even a new or old post.. I appreciate everyone who is linking in with this week's critter party.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone and  Happy President's Day!



This weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count,  you can find more info here at Cornell's  GBBC  Feb 12th -15th

Sharing some of my backyard bird couples for Valentine's Day, they were all visitors to my yard at one time or another.


 The Eastern Bluebird couple, male on the left and female on the right.



 In the spring and fall I can usually see the Rose-Breasted Grosbeak couples stop in my yard to refuel.



I am seeing the Purple Finches now, the male is a pretty raspberry color.


 The Eastern Towhee, male on the left and female on the right.


The Scarlet Tanagers are breeders in the woods next to my house. They seem to love the blooms on our Crepe Myrtle bush.



I am looking forward to seeing Mr and Mrs Ruby-throated Hummingbird arrive back in my yard.


The pretty Cardinals are a lovely couple.

The Pileated Woodpeckers, the male is one left with the red moustache and the female is on the right.


The Red-Bellied Woodpecker, male on the left and female on the right side of the photo.


The Downy Woodpecker, again the male is on the left and female on the right.


I hope you enjoyed this post and photos. As always thanks for the visits and the nice comments. I also thank everyone who is linking up and sharing their critters.. Happy Saturday, have a great weekend!

To see more beautiful birds and cute critters, check out these two memes below.

Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-BirdinThanks to the gracious host: Anni.  Also check out Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting this fun meme.

Happy Monday!

Wishing everyone a great day and a ha ppy new week! "One small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day." "T...