Happy Thankful Thursday!

Happy Thankful Thursday! 🙂

These are some images from our little getaway to Ocean City Md Feb 4-6th.  We stayed at a Doubletree hotel on the beach and we had a nice partial view of the ocean. 

Our "partial" view of the ocean from our hotel room and balcony. The sky and view looked beautiful.  

More of our partial view, Ocean City Maryland beach. 

We saw a few Ruddy Turnstones at the inlet and there were some Long-tailed Ducks.  I was missing the Purple Sandpipers, not seen on this trip. 

A few Bufflehead ducks.  

Looking back at the Ocean City fishing pier. 

Ocean City jetty 

Hubby's favorite thing is to watch the waves crashing on the rocks. 

The temps were in the 40's this day and there were surfers catching waves. 

Ocean City Inlet sunset. 

 Sun is setting and lighting up the amusement rides.

More of the sunset at the inlet.

I see a small line of birds in flight, maybe cormorants or ducks. 

A pretty sunset and some jet contrails. 

FYI, I changed my comment form so I can reply. If you ask me a question I will reply with an answer or I will thank you for commenting and for your visit.  I will see how long this will work, when weather permits I prefer to take walks outside and I have less computer time. 

 
I am thankful for each day I see the sunrise and sunset.  
Each Day I am Thankful, Grateful and Blessed!
I am thankful for all your visits and comments. 


Thank you Michelle for hosting Thankful Thursday. 
Thank you to Yogi the host of   Skywatch Friday


Happy Thursday, enjoy your day!

Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!

We 💗 Florida State Parks 💗

Hello and Happy Monday!


During our Florida trip Jan 4-13th we tried to visit as many Florida parks that were new to us. On Jan 8th,  we started off at the nearby Savannas Preserve State Park, then we drove to the Jonathan Dickinson State Park. Next we went to the Hobe Sound NWR Beach and to end the day we went back to the Savannas Preserve State Park. I have to say when we travel we do not sit still, it is go, go, go. My steps and mile count were high for each day of our trip. 

Savannas Preserve State Park located in Port St. Lucie Florida.
We talked with a park employee during our early morning visit and he gave us some great info on the park . He told us the birds come and go, they are there in the morning and return in the evening to roost. The Sandhill Cranes, Osprey, White Ibis, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Glossy Ibis, Great Egret and Blue-winged Teals were some of the birds we saw during our morning visit. 

A view of the trail at Savannas Preserve State Park.

Jonathan Dickinson State Park located on Federal Hwy, Hobe Sound Florida. The sky was filled with Swallows, I am guessing Tree Swallows. During our walks on the trails we saw the Florida Scrub Jays, the Red-bellied Woodpecker, Loggerhead Shrike, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Red-shouldered Hawk and a couple of Mockingbirds. 

Seeing these two Florida Scrub Jays was a treat at the Jonathan Dickinson State Park. I wish the lighting was better on my photo below. 

Hobe Sound NWR Beach, Bridge Road, Hobe Sound Florida.

The street lined with ficus trees took us to the Hobe Sound NWR Beach. There is a wildlife refuge parking lot at the dead end street for this beach. We have a national park pass or you can pay $5 to park. We enjoyed a walk on this pretty beach. We watched two guys paddle out to go diving.  The gulls, Sanderlings and Ruddy Turnstones were some of the birds hanging out on the beach. 

We loved this pretty beach, it was a gorgeous day!

Savannas Preserve State Park. At the end of the day, we decided to go back to see the birds coming back to roost in the trees. There must have been a hundred or more White Ibis, Great Blue Heron, Blue-winged Teal, Wood Stork and Glossy Ibis, Great Egret. We also saw a pretty Sun Dog and the watched the sunset.  

It was not possible to get all the birds flying in on one photo. Below is a large group of White Ibis that will roost in these trees overnight.

Sunset @ Savannas Preserve State Park

Thanks for your visit today!  I hope you enjoyed my post and photos.


Thanks to Angie the host of  Mosaic Monday

Thanks to LadyFi  the host of Our World Tuesday!

I hope to see you there. Thanks to the hosts today. Enjoy your day and new week.


As always I thank you for stopping by and as always I appreciate your comments.

Saturday's Critters #270

Welcome to Saturday's Critters !


If you love all God's creatures like I do and also like to blog about them and take critter photos this is where you can share your critter post. Link up your post and share your critters, join in with my critter party ! You can share any kind of critters the real ones, pretend ones, statues and paintings, a new or old post!

I am amazed at the breeding colors of the Green Iguana. We saw these Iguanas in the Wakodahatchee Wetlands, Delray Beach Florida. I would say the breeding male colors are beautiful. 

These Green Iguanas can get as long as 6.6 ft.

These iguanas are not native to Florida and they are not protected.

They feed off of plants, insects and tree snails and can be known to eat bird eggs. 

I assume this Great Blue Heron was watching over it's eggs or chicks with this male Green Iguana nearby. 

The Green Iguana has spikes going down it's neck, back and tail. 

This Iguana can climb up to 50 ft. we saw them mostly in the plants and bushes next to the boardwalk at the nature center. 

The males throat fan is amazing to me, a pretty orange breeding color.

Two Great Blue Heron chicks seen in a nest at the Wakodahatchee Wetlands. 

I read these iguanas are out of control in this area of Palm Beach County and other areas in South Florida. They are native lizards usually found in the Caribbean, Central and South America. 

I appreciate and thank everyone who links up their post and for all the wonderful comments !




Here is a list of my linky parties;

Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni.

Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

Happy Thankful Thursday!

Happy Thankful Thursday! 

💓💓 Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  💕💗

I still have tons of Florida photos but I today am sharing some photos of our recent trip to Ocean City Maryland. It is fun getting away to the beach during the off season. We always check the weather first and the hotels are cheaper off season. The beach is just about empty of people, the gulls are still around.  You must know me by now, I can not go any where without looking for birds, I was hoping for a Snowy Owl but no luck there. We did see lots of sea ducks and cute little shorebirds.

Our first stop near the beach was at the Indian River Inlet, I have seen a Snowy Owl there in the past. We did see 30 or more Long-tailed Ducks, we watched these ducks fly up the inlet, land on the water and float back down. They repeated this countless times while we were there. 

The Long-tailed Ducks flying up the Indian River Inlet.

The bridge over the Indian River Inlet, Delaware.

Gulls resting on the jetty at Indian River Inlet.

Brant Geese were on the beach @ Delaware Seashore State Park

Oh, what a beautiful day! I am thankful for beautiful winter days.

I think these are the female White-winged Scoter?

More Long-tailed Ducks, Black Scoter, and Bufflehead.

More White-winged Scoters?

Common Loon or Red-throated Loon?

Lots of Bufflehead females, young male and one adult male almost hidden on far right.

A peek at a Bufflehead, the Black Scoter in the middle and just the head of a Long-tailed Duck. 

The pretty sky and beach @ Delaware Seashore State Park

I am thankful for our little getaways and trips.
I am Thankful, Grateful and Blessed!
I am thankful for all your visits and comments. 


Thank you Michelle for hosting Thankful Thursday. 
Thank you to Yogi the host of   Skywatch Friday


Happy Thursday, enjoy your day!

Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!

Around the Yard

Hello and Happy Monday,  🙂

I am sharing some images from around our yard. I love watching and feeding my yard birds. I think in the winter months the birds appreciate the extra food. I have various offerings of suet, sunflowers seeds, peanut nuggets and the heated bird bath on our deck.  On Feb 2 and on the 3rd we saw a pretty sunset from our yard, the colors were beautiful. These are images from Jan 28 through Feb 3rd.  BTW, the Great Backyard Bird Count starts on Feb 15th through Feb 18th, will you be counting your yard birds?

Jan 28th, this pretty male Goldfinch was on the thistle feeder.

Jan 28th, a cold snowy day. I cleaned the snow off the deck and feeders a few times. 

Jan 30th, more snow and the birds were all over the deck and feeders. Below are the Dark-eyed Junco, Blue Jay, Female Cardinal, Pine Siskin and White-breasted Nuthatch. 

Below: the American Goldfinch, Downy woodpecker, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse, White-throated Sparrow and a Cardinal.

Jan 30th, within a couple of hours we saw first a pretty blue sky and then a snow squall passed through hours later. 

 I watched these 3-4 Blue Jays hanging around a hole in the tree across from our driveway, they were fussing and landing in front of the hole.  I have been watching this hole in the tree from my kitchen window, hoping to see a owl head popping out one day. Not sure what was inside, maybe the Screech Owl?

Cute squirrel with snowflakes on his face. 

Feb 2nd  below are the male Cardinal, Downy Woodpecker, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Red-bellied Woodpecker, White-throated Sparrow, female Cardinal and a Dark-eyed Junco. 

Pretty male Cardinal in our pine tree.

Feb 2nd and the 3rd, we saw two beautiful sunsets. The bunny is on a hook that hold my bird feeder.

Thanks for your visit today!  I hope you enjoyed my post and photos.


Thanks to Angie the host of  Mosaic Monday

Thanks to LadyFi  the host of Our World Tuesday!

I hope to see you there. Thanks to the hosts today. Enjoy your day and new week.


As always I thank you for stopping by and as always I appreciate your comments.