Viewing nature with Eileen

Happy Monday everyone!


I am sharing the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, these are various photos I took thru the summer. By now, some my hummers are on the way south for the winter. I wish them safe travels.  I may see a straggler come thru and I will leave my feeder up just in case.



The female has all white underparts and is emerald green above.  They can hover at the flowers due to their high wingbeat frequency.


The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is 2-3 inches long.


These hummingbirds have heart rates up to 1260 beats per minute and have been able to fly 20 hours non-stop.


You can see they have a forked tail below and have that long bill.



A shot of the male below, it is hard to get the ruby-throat looking colorful without having some sunlight shining on this pretty hummer. They are feisty birds, I have seen them chase away larger birds if they think they have to share their feeders.


I will look forward to next spring and to see these beauties in my yard.


I hope you enjoyed my hummingbird pho…

Welcome to Saturday's Critters!

If you love critters 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 playing catch up with all my blog reading, hubby and I took a short trip to Pennsylvania. I finally met up with Linda, her blog is  Thebeautyaroundus. I hope to return visits and comments asap.

'I am sharing some photos of critters and birds seen from our walk at the local Hashawha Nature Center. We walk a loop that goes by several ponds, their raptor center, wildflower field and back past the larger lake.

A couple of Slider Turtles sunning themselves.


Some views from our loop hike around the nature center.



From the Raptor Center, the Red-tailed Hawk and a Barred Owl. These birds are hurt and can not survive in the wild.




Some sc…

Hello, happy Thursday,

I thought I would take you back to May and our visit to the Hoh Rainforest in the Olympic National Park. We walked a few trails, one trail took us close to the Hoh River. The Hoh Rainforest is lush and green from all the rain received in this area. There is a mix of coniferous and deciduous trees, lots of mosses and ferns. 

A view of the Hoh River and a pretty sky. 



Fern and mosses growing on a downed tree.


An Elk trying to hide from us just off the trail.


Below a line of trees growing out of one old fallen tree on the ground.


Wood duck couple and some very green reflections.


Another look at the Hoh River.


Looking up at the sky thru the tall trees. 



Below is the cute Wilson's warbler, easily id from the black line on the top of it's head.


The Northern Rough-winged Swallows were seen near the Hoh River.



There were a few ducks in this pond, but the Wood Ducks were a little closer for a photo. 



Beautiful view of the Olympic Mountains and the Hoh River. 




The Hoh R…

Happy Monday everyone!

Terns, Terns and more Terns. There are 15 various Terns listed in my field guide book for North America. But, on this post I am only sharing the Sandwich Tern. My first sighting of the Sandwich Tern was at Chincoteague. I was happy to see the Sandwich Tern again while In Florida near Daytona Beach. These photos were taken just south of Daytona Beach at the Ponce Inlet and Lighthouse Point Park.


You can't miss the Sandwich Tern with it's sharp black bill with a yellow tip. It is small to medium sized seabird and gull like in appearance. They have long pointed wings, grey above and white below. and legs are black.


They have a shaggy black crest. The Tern plunges and dives for their food.


Below two Sandwich Terns and bottom right I believe is the Royal Tern with the orange bill.


Just to show an assortment below is a gull, a few Royal Terns and one Sandwich Tern in the middle.


Closer look at the bill of the Royal Tern compared to the bill of the Sandwich Te…

Welcome to Saturday's Critters!

If you love critters 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!

On this day hubby and I took a walk on the local fire road to the lake. We have lived near this lake going on 28 years now and this was the first time we saw a snake in the water. It looked like it was checking us out.



I zoomed in on this Turkey Vulture high up in a tree.


We saw a nice group of Canada Geese floating on the lake.




A couple of Eastern Kingbirds seen in the tree off the fire road.


There was a family of the Eastern Kingbirds in this one tree, can you find three Kingbirds in the tree below. Click on photo for a larger view.





A mosaic with the birds seen during our walk. The Turkey Vulture, the lake, snake, leaves turning colors,…

Hello and happy Thursday!

These are some images from our walk at the North Point State Park in Baltimore County, Maryland. It is great seeing the Little Blue Herons at this park, usually we can see  the juveniles Little Blues too. The Ospreys and Swallows were plentiful on this day and we had pretty views of the Chesapeake Bay.

One of the first Little Blue Herons was on the hunt for food.



A lunapic landscape edit of the Rose Mallow or Wild Hibiscus.


A tree full of swallows.



Another Little Blue Heron.


Osprey, we saw 3-4 Ospreys at the park. Some must be juveniles.


A juvenile Little Blue Heron.


A view of the pretty sky and Chesapeake Bay.



A dead tree and a few osprey high in sky. In case you did not see the Osprey, one is on each side of the tree high in the sky.





This is a Lunapic Landscape edit, I like the reflections of the sky on the marsh water. 


My thankful list for today:
I am thankful for the simple things, like a pretty sky and beautiful views.
I am thankful for the beautiful birds an…

Happy Monday everyone!

I am sharing one of my favorite birds seen in Florida. We saw many of the Cattle Egrets at the Circle B Bar Reserve near Lakeland Florida. During the breeding season they have pretty tan or golden feathers on their head, chest and back. They are smaller in size compared to the other Egret species. They are all white with a yellow bill and legs.

BTW, I hope Florida and my friends and family there have all safely survived Hurricane Irma. I also hope all my favorite birding spots, birds and wildlife have survived this storm.


If you click on the photo below you can see some of the Cattle Egret below that have the golden colors on their head.


These two Cattle Egrets were seen in Baltimore County Maryland. So they are found up and down the coast during the summer season.


A few more Cattle Egrets seen at a local Florida preserve.  They eat insects on gassy fields.




I hope you enjoyed my Egrets photos and post.
As always I thank you for stopping by and as always I appre…