Sunday, April 1, 2012

Sunday morning hike

I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday

This morning hubby and I went on a hike around the Patuxent wildlife refuge. Visiting the National Wildlife Refuges must be one of my favorite things to do. If you scroll down on my blog you can click on the letters NWR and it will show some of the posts I have made about my NWR visits.

I saw my first of the year Osprey on the nest, lots of Tree Swallows, Bluebirds, Ruby Crowned Kinglets, Chipping Sparrows, heard and saw a few Northern Flickers, Juncos, Robins, Canada Geese, Mallards, Ring-necked ducks and the pretty Wood ducks.

My mosaic is made of some of the sights and birds we saw at the refuge.



In my mosiac, the refuge had a cool sculpture of a wolf family, wood ducks were making their way along the edge of the lake and tree swallows were flying all around us. The tree tops looked pretty with their colorful buds, the flowering redbud looked gorgeous and I tried hard to get a decent reflection of the Canada Goose and a reflection of the bridge.


The wolf family sculpture outside the visitor center was cute.

The redbud tree looks gorgeous and is one of my favorite blooming trees in the spring

One of the many Tree Swallow we saw, most were flying around, I guess catching bugs.

An Osprey was on the nest and I liked the pretty trees on the other side of the lake. The buds on some of the trees looked orange and reddish.

 My fuzzy zoomed in shot of the Osprey on the nest.




I hope you enjoyed our walk around the wildlife refuge. I hope everyone has a happy week ahead. Thanks to Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday and thanks to the hosting group at Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sandy and Sylvia.

To see more wonderful mosaics and photos, please visit Mosaic Monday  and Our World Tuesday

50 comments:

  1. I can see why you like going here. I would like going there too. It reminds me of the Audubon center near us.

    ReplyDelete
  2. the tree swallows are so handsome. i only see the barn swallows here.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a great photo of the osprey on the nest...that's always exciting to see! Love the redbud in full bloom, too! It's a great time to hike! ♥

    ReplyDelete
  4. The bird photos were great! You even managed to catch the osprey...you were pretty far away too! That wolf sculpture looks a lot like the one at Brookgreen Gardens in Myrtle Beach, SC. I have a photo of that one...very nice sculpture!

    ReplyDelete
  5. What an awesome place, Eileen. So glad you live close enough to these wildlife refuges to visit them on occasion. I would love it...

    Great mosaics --and I loved seeing the wolf family sculpture.

    Our Redbuds are about gone --and so are our Daffodils and most of our Tulips.. We now are waiting on the Irises and DayLilies and Lilies....

    Hope you have a great week.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lovely shots, Eileen. It's great to see signs of Spring appearing where you are. That tree in blossom is especially gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for taking us along on your walk . Redbuds are my favorite and we just planted a baby redbud in our yard.

    ReplyDelete
  8. You do have the best weekend hikes! Thank you for sharing. We saw some osprey nests on the way to the beach last week (our first for the year too). Good shot of the tree swallow -- I hardly ever see them sitting still. And I just saw my first (virtual) redbud tree -- I don't think we had those in Oregon -- too cool I guess.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow it was great to see the birds that won't be here for a while yet. V

    ReplyDelete
  10. It looks like the Patuxent wildlife refuge has something for everyone ... including sculpture! Thanks for taking us along!

    ReplyDelete
  11. It was a wonderful tour, great shots. I hope you have a great week:)

    ReplyDelete
  12. It looks like spring is really here.

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a great place for a morning walk! How exciting to be able to capture an Osprey while in the nest, thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  14. You always find great birds in your preserve. I guess the East have different species than in the west. The bright pink cherry blooms light up the environment!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Looks like a great place to bird and relax! I love that red bud too! Wow! what an explosion of color!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oh I can hear the enthusiasm in your voice. How exciting for you to be out and about and enjoying seeing your beloved birds again. The trees in blossom and bud give me hope!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Fantastic photos and what a great place for a hike.

    Darryl and Ruth :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi Eileen, I certainly did enjoy the walk. The redbud is one of my favorite trees also. I have a twisted redbud, but it is just budding. Can't wait to see that color burst forth. The little bird on the branch is a cutie. My sister and a friend were up this weekend for a visit. I showed them the pic of your birdhouse on your pergola from last week. We loved it so much that we made one. Do you care if I post your mosaic on my blog when I do a post showing my birdhouse? I would like to give you credit.
    Hugs,
    Jann

    ReplyDelete
  19. you are so lucky to have such a beautiful place to walk, with so much for you to see!!

    i really like the redbuds but don't you think they should be called purplebuds??

    ReplyDelete
  20. Great birdphotos. We have the Canadian Geese here too but I haven't seen so many this year. Have a nice week and Happy Easter.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Fabulous spot. It was terrific to see the Osprey on its nest and the Canada Goose shot was lovely. I must say the Redbud tree in bloom is certainly spectacular.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Beautiful images, especially Tree Swallow and the Ospey, marvelous.

    ReplyDelete
  23. fantastic photos, i like very much the ones with the animals, cool =)

    ReplyDelete
  24. I love the sculpture of the wolf family. I like collecting photos of sculptures. The osprey collects huge sticks for its nest.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Beautiful view! Love the spring flowers. Thanks for the visit.

    Spring Flowers

    ReplyDelete
  26. thank you for the stroll around the refuge. I really hoped we would get out for an autumn walk this last weekend, but I ended up coming down with a cold, and we had a lot of jobs to do around home - so that was that!
    Have a wonderful week, and thank you so much for stopping by my blog to say hi.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hi Eileen, I enjoyed your collage a lot. The one photo I really like is of the Osprey. Osprey are such wonderful birds and are hard to get to see. Good job in spite of the fuzz - all of us have those kind of pictures. Wonderful post! Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Well I certainly enjoyed my virtual hike Aileen, thanks for the lovely photos.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Good to see the Ospreys back nesting Eileen and I guess those tree Swallows will be at it soon too.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Hi Eileen! Wonderful photos. I really am missing a nice long walk at a bird refuge. Have a wonderful week.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Gorgeous shots... Can't go wrong with a walk around a wildlife refuge!

    ReplyDelete
  32. What a cool sculpture of the wolves and I loved your reflection of the goose. Just to explain and clear up in case I confused you. My husband and I are South Africans, born and bred. We have a home in South Africa. We work and live for most of the year in other parts of Africa, presently in Tanzania, East Africa. We come home for short breaks every three months. (We are in South Africa at the moment in our own home) We are going on a holiday to the UK in June. Hope that clears up any confusions I may have caused you. Enjoy your Easter. Greetings Jo

    ReplyDelete
  33. Great visit to the wildlife refuge, Eileen! Terrific captures as always! Love the red bud trees and the sculpture of the wolf family! Thanks for the tour! Hope you have a great week!

    Sylvia

    ReplyDelete
  34. Thanks for sharing your photos of the walk around the refuge. It looks like a great place to visit. The statues of the wolf family are great!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Beautiful sculpture!! Boom & Gary of thr Vermilon River, Canada.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Thanks for the tour. I can see why you enjoy your walks there.
    Thanks for stopping by and nice comment.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Handsome birds, looks like a wonderful place for a visit.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Gee, that red bud tree is gorgeous..so is the little fellow below in the tree! I like the sculpture of those wolves too and the bridge in your mosaic with the tree hanging over is cool!

    ReplyDelete
  39. That looks like a great refuge, and I certainly enjoyed the photos.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Love your shots of the Osprey:) What an amazing bird!

    ReplyDelete
  41. Wonderful shots! I really like the wolf sculpture.

    ReplyDelete
  42. I can picture myself lost in the beauty of this scenery.
    You are lucky living so close to this place.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Wonderful place to walk, Eileen, looks like a great day. I love that sculpture and your bird shots are always amazing. Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  44. A wonderful place to visit! I love the wolf sculpture and the redbud...that's stunning!

    ReplyDelete
  45. What calming and beautiful captures of tones and textures, and nature's delight.

    ReplyDelete
  46. The Patuxent wildlife refuge looks like a wonderful place to walk and birdwatch, Eileen. You are lucky to have so many areas like this near where you live.

    ReplyDelete
  47. What a lovely place to hike!Beautiful photos as always.

    ReplyDelete
  48. love that swallow. Can´t wait for them to come back to sweden. We don´t have tree swallows, but they are all so lovely.

    ReplyDelete

Hello, thank you for visiting my blog. I always appreciate your comments.

BTW, Anonymous comments unless a name is included will not be published. Also, comments with links will be deleted.

Have a happy day, Eileen

Happy Monday!

Wishing everyone a great day and a ha ppy new week! "Sometimes miracles are just good people with kind hearts." Rick's Cafe, N...