Shenandoah

These are some shots and sights we saw during our Saturday visit to Shenandoah Nat'l Park. Along the Skyline Drive there are these beautiful yellow wildflowers. They remind me of the Black Eyed Susan but the center is not black.

We hiked two different trails,  first was the Limberlost trail and is my favorite trail 1.3 mile loop. We were able to watch several deer and fawns on the trail as we walked. The deer did not seem to mind us at all and stood next to the trail as we walked by. The trail was very birdy, with warblers bouncing all the the trees. The warblers are quick movers and hard to focus on to get a good shot. I did manage to get this bird, it stayed still long enough for my photo. It has a yellow color along the side of its wings.

After the Limberlost trail we made our way down the Skyline Drive to the Big Meadows campstore to get lunch. Across from the campstore we saw this cool looking buck. The deer at Shenandoah do not seem to mind people and do not spook easily.

After lunch, we decided to hike the trail called Dark Hollows, this is a nice trail heading downhill to the waterfalls, but it is a steep hike coming back up to the parking lot. Dark Hollow is 1.5 miles and has a nice cascading waterfall.

I am linking up with



Mary's Mosaic Monday


and



Drowsey Monkey's  Mellow Yellow Monday



and


That's My World




Thanks to the host of these fun sites and thanks for stopping by my post. Have a great week!

Piscataway Park

My Pink Saturday post is here:   Pink Saturday

After leaving the Mattawomen creek( in my post below) hubby and I stopped for a walk at the Piscataway Park. The trail leads you down to a boardwalk along the Potomac River. Even though it was later in the day we saw a couple of Prothonotary Warblers, a flock of  swallows, a few Osprey, a cormorant, lots of butterflies and dragonflies.

Common Buckeye

 Swallows

Cormorant and Osprey

Swallowtail Butterflies

Not sure

I am linking up with 2sweetnsaxy's Watery Wednesday

and

                                          Susan's Outdoor Wednesday  thanks to both of these wonderful host.

                     Also, a big thanks to you for stopping by my post and blog. Have a great day :)

Mattawomen Creek

Hubby and I have a fun day yesterday canoeing the Mattawomen Creek in Charles County, Maryland. We had another reason for heading to the Mattawomen Creek and that was to show our support for Audubon's IBA(Important Bird Area) and protest a new cross county connector. I loved the area and it would be a shame to ruin it with another road and more development.

Also, Audubon of Maryland was celebrating the dedication of Mattawomen as an Important Bird Area. An IBA is a site that provides essential habitat to one or more species of birds. It includes nesting areas, migration stop over sites or wintering grounds. All IBA's are not open to the public mainly to protect a vulnerable species and for bird conservation. This IBA area indicted these three are risk species the Prothonotary and Kentucky Warblers and the Wood Thrush.

Here is a shot from my archives of the beautiful Prothonotary Warbler.

Besides the celebration, there were free boat rides, canoe and kayaks to see the Lotus Flowers in bloom. We arrived early so we rented a canoe, it was a nice morning to be out on the water.

 It was cool to be canoeing next to all these Yellow beauties. I usually only seen Lotus flowers at commercial nurseries or gardens.

I am linking up with Bird Photography Weekly
and
Mary's Mosaic Monday
and
Drowsey Monkey's Mellow Yellow Monday

Thanks to the host of these fun sites and thanks for stopping by my post. Have a great week!

Wordless Wednesday

You can find my PINK Saturday  on my blog at Just Nature photos from Eileen

Click here to see more Wordless Wednesday

Thanks for stopping by my blog to see my Wordless Wednesday

Birding the Potomac

With this post I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and That's My World Click on these to visit some wonderful blogs.

Yesterday, hubby and I enjoyed a day birding at the Potomac River and C& O canal. We stopped at a few places to check out the birds. First stop was at Hughes Hollow a wildlife management area. We saw a lot of Egrets, GB Herons, Green Herons, and some Little Blue Herons. There were also some Canada Geese and Mallard ducks.

At the next stop called Violettes Lock we walked along the C&O canal. Here along the Potomac River we saw some Cormorants and it was the first time I have ever seen two Kingfishers sitting close to each other. Turtles were sunning themselves on downed trees in the canal.

I am always checking out the wildflowers along my walks and the trails. There were purple flowers that I have not seen before and do not know its name. So if anyone could me id this flower, I would appreciate the help.

Some wild Hibiscus

Thanks for stopping by my blog and thanks to Mary host of Mosaic Monday and

 the hosting team of That's My World

Longwood Gardens birds, butterflies and dragonflies

My Critter photos from Longwood Gardens for Wordless Wednesday

Ruby Throated Hummingbird

I love this one below, it just glittered in the sunlight.

American Robin on one of the water fountains

Click on my link Wordless Wednesday to see more.

I hope you enjoyed my Wordless Wednesday entry and thanks for stopping by my blog.

Green Heron...Wordless Wednesday

Click here to to view more of Wordless Wednesday  and Watery Wednesday

Thanks to the host of Wordless Wednesday and to 2sweetnsaxy the host of Watery Wednesday

Happy WW and thanks for stopping by to see my Green Heron.

Bombay Hook NWR

This is my entry for   Bird Photography weekly  thanks to Birdfreak for hosting.

I am also linking this post with Mary's Mosaic Monday and thanks to Mary of Little Red House.

These are photos of the birds hubby and I saw yesterday at Bombay Hook NWR.  We were amazed at the number of the different  Egrets and Dunlins, a lifer for me was my first Peregrine Falcon sighting. Very cool looing bird. We also saw Glossy Ibis, Mallard Ducks, Green Heron, GB Herons, Black Crowned Night Herons, Canada Geese, Yellowlegs, Dowitchers, Blue Grosbeaks, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Kingbirds and Redwing Blackbirds. I am sure I have not listed all the birds we saw and I am forgeting a few. Bombay Hook is a great place to visit during the shorebird migration.

Egrets and Glossy Ibis

Mallard Duck and Green Heron

Thanks for stopping by my blog to see my post and I hope you have a great week :)