Watery Wednesday and birding Cape May and Avalon NJ

My watery Wednesday for more great watery Wednesday photos please click on my link. Thanks for stopping by my blog and a big thanks to the host of Watery Wednesday.

I spent this past Sunday and Monday birding Cape May and Avalon, NJ. At the Avalon seawatch I enjoy watching the waves breaking over the wall.

Cape May and Avalon are great places to see birds. They usually stop there on their way southbound. Warblers, shorebirds and the Monarch butterflies are migrating. There were a lot of warblers on the boardwalk trail near the lighthouse. I saw a beautiful Northern Parula and I believe I have a photo of a young Common Yellowthroat and a Red eye Vireo.



The Red Eyed Vireo

Maybe a Juvie Common Yellowthroat

The Mute Swan

In Avalon I saw the American Oystercatchers, Black Skimmers, Semipalmated Plovers, Sandpipers, Sanderlings, Pelicans, Snowy Egrets and the Great Egrets.

Semipalmated Plovers

Black Skimmers

My lifer the Marbled Godwit with some American Oystercatchers

My other world.. the work week

That's MY World Sept, 28,2009, for more great photos please click on my link for That's My World. Thanks to the guys and gals who do the hosting of That's My World. Thanks also for stopping by my blog and My world.

Federal Hill

For this weeks "That's My World" I decided to take a lunch time walk to the Harborplace. It is just a short walk from my office. There are a lot of attractions for the tourist and some great restaurants for lunch. Since the work week is a good chunk of my world and my life I thought showing where I work would be a good entry.


Harborplace is full of eateries and small shops

Sometimes I like walking during my lunch time and the harbor is a great place for walking. Not far from here and just around the corner is the place where Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner. On this day I was even able to get in some birding during my lunch I saw a few ducks in the harbor and lots of gulls.


The water taxi's can take you to other attractions and neighborhoods in the city. As far as tourist attractions just to name a few there are the Science Center, Aquarium, Hard Rock, ESPN zone and the Galleria mall.

ESPN, Hard Rock Cafe, Barnes and Nobles and part of the National Aquarium in Baltimore

The pointed glass section of the aquarium is where the rainforest is located.

The Baltimore Orioles  baseball stadium, the Ravens stadium is on the left side and not seen from this area.

I am wondering if ayone can guess what city I am in, without me saying. Does anyone know where I am in these pictures? I am sure there is at least one picture that is a great hint. If you are a sports fanatic(or a baseball fan) the last picture is a big hint.

Pontoon boat ride on the Patuxent

These pictures are from my pontoon boat ride this morning. I went with my bird club to look for Sora's, Rails and other birds. The scenery here is wonderful, at least I think so. So I am including the first shot as my scenic Sunday photo.

 Pictures are clickable and to enjoy more GREAT photos from around the world click on my SCENIC SUNDAY link.

The flowers closeup.

The birding was great and here is a report of my birding at Jug bay Patuxent river. We saw Bald Eagles, Osprey, GB Herons, Great Egrets, Green Heron, Wood Ducks, Mallards, Lots of migrating Canda Geese, Belted Kingfisher, Redbellied Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Greater Yellowlegs, Ring billed gull, lots of Red-winged Blackbirds. The tide was too high to the see Sora's but we heard a few and we also heard the Virginai Rails. It was neat hearing the Sora's and Rails call back and tehy seemed to answer calls more to clapping then the actual bird sounds.

This GB Heron seemed to be having trouble swallowing whatever it was trying to eat. Close to this time was when I saw my first Merlin. So I did get one lifer today. I am not counting hearing the Sora and Rail as lifers.

One of the highlight of the trip for me was seeing three Hawks, we believe they were all Harrier's flying low over the river and marsh.

 

There were plenty of Wood Ducks, Blue-winged Teals and Green -winged Teals.

On the way back to the boat dock we went past a yard that had goats and it seemed funny to me to see a couple of Great Egrets not far away.

I want to thank the Scenic Sunday host for putting this Meme together for me and you to enjoy. And I thank everyone who stops by my blog.

Eastern Bluebirds back on shore.

Camera Critters.... Plovers... Skywatch Friday is now following my critters.

These pic's are actually from this past spring but I thought they were perfect and so cute for Camera Critters. DH and I were walking along the beach near the Cape May Lighthouse when I saw movement right in front of me. It was a Piping Plover chick. Cape May does have a roped off section for the Piping Plovers during their nesting time. But I guess the Plovers do not know they are suppose to stay on the other side of the rope.


The chick was having fun hopping all over the beach for awhile.  (pictures are clickable for better viewing)

Sometimes the chick would sit down and I guess rest.

Another time as we started moving away the chick ran over to the adult.

Next thing I see is the adult sitting on the chick. Is it feeding or is it for protection? I am not sure.

It was fun watching the Piping Plover family, especially when I know these are a protected species. It is not often you get to see the Piping Plovers. Also sighted in the area were American Oystercatchers, and some Least Terns. Lots of seagulls and people.

I am glad I saw the chick and stopped walking but I think the chick was able to move pretty fast. I believe the adults were there too. Some of my pictures are cropped so I could see them closer, I did want to give the family their space.



For more wonderful and cute Camera Critters please click on my link. Big thanks to our host for making Camera Critters a big success. And thanks to all that stop by my blog to check out my critters.

Skywatch Friday.. skies from the TETONS

I have some neat pictures of clouds hanging around the Teton mountains. In the Teton National park we stayed at Colter Bay and had some gorgeous views of the mountains.

I hope you enjoy the mountains and clouds as much as I do. I should have said fog not clouds.

As usual to see more wonderful skies from around the world click on my Skywatch Friday link.
Also a big thanks to the team of guys and gals who make  Skywatch happen. I have a great time looking at everyone's photos. Last, thanks in advance to anyone who stops by my blog and check out my Skywatch photos.

Watery Wednesday,,

These a few of my pic's from a cruise to Alaska we took a few years ago. LOL, we saw a lot of water on the cruise and I thought it would be appropriate for Watery Wednesday. Our cruise included cruising Glacier Bay which is a national park, Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan. While cruising the Glacier Bay a park naturalist boarded our cruiseship to talk with the passengers and answer any questions.


Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

When we reached Juneau my son and I took a city tour which included the Meadenhall Glacier, a Salmon fishery, and a neat garden. The Meadenhall Glacier was wonderful and you can see signs of the glacier melting and receeding. A section of the glacier looked like a waterfall. I am not sure how often this happen but the whole time we were in Alaska the temps were in the 90's.  We had great weather.


The Meadenhall Glacier

This Eagle greeted us at the Juneau pier when our ship docked, I think it knew I was coming and that I love Eagles.

Please click on my Watery Wednesday link to see more great photos.

Thanks for looking at my pictures and my blog. A special thanks to the hosts who put Watery Wednesday together for all of us to enjoy.

That's my World... this is my neighborhood

That’s My world, this is my neighborhood...pictures clickable... Please check out more great blogs and photos and click on my  THAT'S MY WORLD link.

My house is one of six in the neighborhood that is close to a watershed and just a walk away from the lake. It is like having a park right outside our door. I was born in a city of townhouses (row houses) and I can definitely say I am not a city girl any more. I love my neighborhood. My hubby and I and our dog are always taking walks on the fireroads around the reservoir.

My goldie loves swimming in the lake.

On the lower side of the lake is a dam and the state park.

Another great thing about my house and neighborhood is the birds. I get to see some great birds.
The woodpeckers are one of my favorites, I see the Redbellied woodpeckers, Pileated, Downy, Hairy Woodpecekers, Northern Flickers, and the Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. A few times I have seen Bald Eagles fly over my house and sometimes I see them in the trees near the lake. The deer are always nearby, once in my yard eating birdseed. Hunting season started recently so the hunters are parked up and down the street. We have to be careful walking in the woods now.

Male Downy Woodpecker

Female Redbellied Woodpecker

Hawk on playset..not sure of id

This has been my world for twenty years now and it is the place I call home. Thanks for stopping by my blog, I appreciate all the lovely comments. Also a BIG thanks to our host who put together THAT'S MY WORLD.

White Pelican for Camera Critters

You can click on picture for a larger image, Scenic Sunday pic's follow my critters.


During my trip to the Tetons and Yellowstone National parks I was able to do a lot of birding. I saw the White Pelican in various spots in both parks. I saw a large group of the White Pelicans on the Snake river while doing a float rafting trip. The White Pelican seemed to be very common in both parks.

This White Pelican was seen in the Tetons at Owbow Bend. To see more Camera critters from all around please click on my critter link.


This Osprey was seen near the Old Faithful Boardwalk loop.




The Mountain Bluebird was seen in many places in the parks.


The Raven is another bird common to the parks.



Finally a lifer for me was this Grouse seen in the Tetons on the road to Signal Mountain.




I hope everyone enjoys my Yellowstone and Tetons birds for the camera critter meme. Also thanks to the host Misty Dawn of Camera Critters for making this all happen. I really enjoy seeing everyone's critters.

Scenic Sunday # 62

Scenic Sunday the Grand Prasmatic spring at Yellowstone, photos are clickable


This is one of my favorite scenes from Yellowstone National Park. It is called the Grand Prasmatic spring. I love how the wind is blowing the steam to the side. The colors of the Grand Prasmatic are just out of this world. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. There are so many wonderful scenes from Yellowstone I have a hard time choosing which is more scenic.







For more wonderful scenic Sundays photos please click on my link.
Thanks for stopping by my blog and checking out my Grand Prasmatic spring photo. I really enjoy everyone's photos from all around the world, this is such a great idea!

Skywatch Friday...Belize sunset

To enjoy more beautiful skies from around the world click on my SKYWATCH link. You can click on some pictures for a larger image.


I took this sunset picture from the back of our ship as we were leaving Belize. We were on a western Caribbean cruise and we stopped at Belize for a day. Belize was wonderful we arranged an excursion which was cave tubing. Our tour guides picked us up at the cruise terminal and we got a little tour of Belize on our way to the river for tubing. This is when I saw my Belize lifers the Gray necked wood rail and I saw the beautiful Vermillion Flycatcher. We hiked thru jungle a bit carrying our tubes, I heard all kinds of birds on the hike but we were on a mission to do our cave tubing. After tubing we had lunch at the resort and enjoyed the resorts butterfly farm.

Gray necked wood rail.. our tour driver stopped so I could take a picture of this lifer.





Cave tubing







A big thanks to everyone who puts Skywatch Friday together for all of us to enjoy.
Also thank you for looking at my sunset picture and my blog.