Around the yard Part 3

My favorite time of the week...Yea!! Friday is here. Also time for Green Day and Camera Critters and I'd-Rather-B-Birdin

Today I am posting some more scenes from around my yard.  My backyard birds are always around for some photo opportunities. I took a shot showing that most of the trees across from my driveway are all still green, only a few have some Autumn colors.  On my deck I have some Salvia trying to hold on, the hummingbird just loves this plant and I have a couple of blooms on my hibiscus plant. The purple stems and berries on the Pokeberry bush look pretty while the birds pose for me.

Only a few of the trees have some color. It is still mostly green around my neighborhood.

This Tennessee Warbler seems to like this Maryland backyard. I am sure there is some official date when it is suppose to leave and head south. But, right now I happy that it likes my yard.

This Salvia plant is still trying to hang on, luckily for the hummingbird that was still around my yard.

I love this hibiscus plant, the blooms are a pretty color.

I have lots of the Tufted Titmouse like the shot above in my yard, they are cuties.

Another shot of my Tennessee Warbler enjoying the pokeberries. And I have a lot of pokeberries for the warbler to eat. It blends in well with the color of the yellowish and green leaves.

The Titmouse likes to pick apart the sunflower seed while perched on my Weeping Cherry tree.

I hope you enjoyed going on another walk around my yard and deck.


To see more beautiful photos and cute critters please visit: Green Day  and Camera Critters and I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host Fiona of Green Day, Misty Dawn of Camera Critters and to Anni of I'd Rather-B-birdin.  Thanks for visiting my blog and post. I wish everyone a very safe and happy weekend.

Skywatch>>backyard

It is time to link up with one of my favorites memes Skywatch Friday and  NF Winged.  My entry this week is some of the skies above my yard and a few birds for NF Winged.

I enjoy watching the sky, a simple pleasure everyone can enjoy!

The Black Throated Green Warbler is still hanging around my yard. I guess it wants a full belly before it heads south.

I love to look up and see these beautiful white puffy clouds.

The Mourning Doves are a common visitor to my yard, on this day I had ten or more hanging around my deck and feeders.

Looking west after the sun had set, there were a few clouds left that turned a pretty pink.


To see more beautiful photos and pretty skies please visit Skywatch Friday
and NF Winged

Thanks to Sylvia and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday! Thanks to Monica the host of NF Winged. Also, thank you for stopping by to see my post. I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

The Rose-Breasted Grosbeak

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

 For this week's post I am featuring the Rose-Breasted Grosbeak .  These birds only show up in my yard during their migration. They might stop off for a meal or two in the spring and in the fall. They breed in cooler parts of North America. I have seen them during my hikes at Shenandoah Nat'l Park  in the summer months.

The adult breeding male has a black head , back, wings and tail. The male has this bright red rose patch on its breast. They have the white eyebrow or supercilium. They are one of my prettier yardbirds.

They are insect eating birds but they seem to love the Black-oiled sunflower seeds.

The female has darker brown back and wings and the white eyebrow.

Here is an archived shot of a spring male showing the pretty black. His colors are beautiful.

Here is another one of my new warbler yardbirds passing thru. Not the best photo, it was a Cape May Warbler. The warbler are loving this pokeberry. The Cape May Warbler passed thru on the same day as the Rose-Breasted Grosbeak.. I have to say this has been the best year for new warbler yardbirds. 




To see more beautiful and wonderful photos please visit: Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes.
Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday and thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes.

Around the yard-Part 2

Hello, I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday

These shots were all taken earlier today Sept. 23 just walking around my yard. I still have some flowers blooming. There was one waterlily, the morning glories, and just one Stella D'oro lily. And just because they attract the warblers the pokeberry, we are letting the pokeberry grow close to our deck.

Above is my warbler attracting pokeberry, the female hummer is still here, my latest new yardbird the Black-throated Green Warbler, waterlily.

My newest yardbird the Black-throated Green Warbler, it is a beautiful warbler.

My pretty female Hummingbird.

I forget what this plant is called, but it has these pretty pink blooms.

Above is one Stella D'oro lily, a view of my side yard, chickadee, impatiens and morning glories.

My cute chickadee at one of my popular birdfeeders.

Just one pretty Stella D'oro lily decided to bloom for the end of summer.

We recently had to remove a pine tree it was a little TOO close to the house. During a heavy snowstorm the branches were knocking up against our bedroom wall. Just the sound was scary to hear, much the thought of  large branch crashing onto our roof.

My newest warbler yardbird is so pretty, I have to show another shot of him.

To see more wonderful photos and mosaics please visit Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday
 Thanks to Mary of Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia and Sandy .  Thanks also for stopping by to see my post.  I wish everyone a safe and happy week!

Around the yard

For my Green Day and  Camera Critters  and I'd-Rather-B-Birdin
I am taking a walk around my yard and sharing some  flowering plants and a few birds and critters.

A bluejay molting.

A cute chipmunk enjoying my birdseed.

One of my regular yardbirds is the White-Breasted Nuthatch.

The birds are not the only ones that like this feeder. My last post showed a Grosbeak inside feeder chowing down on the birdseed.

These impatiens have been blooming since last spring. They do look pretty next to our driveway.


To see more beautiful photos and cute critters please visit: Green Day  and Camera Critters and I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host Fiona of Green Day, Misty Dawn of Camera Critters and to Anni of I'd Rather-B-birdin.  Thanks for visiting my blog and post. I wish everyone a very safe and happy weekend.

Backyard birds &Skywatch

I am linking up with NF Winged and Skywatch Friday

These are shots of my backyard birds and the pretty sky over my yard.

This sky looked promising to be a beautiful sunset later in the evening.

A couple of my pretty American Goldfinches.

Another one of my cuties the Carolina Chickadee.

Finally one of the chickadees decided to sit still for a second.

This bird decided he would be much more comfy inside the feeder, than having to leaning over and reach in. No birds were hurt during the filming. He jumped out after his belly was full.

The Rose-breasted Grosbeaks stop in my yard for a few meals during their spring and fall  migration.

This is the same sky as above just a little later in the evening.

The clouds turned a pretty yellowish orange color. A colorful sky is always a treat for me, definitely one of my simple pleasures.



To see more beautiful skies from around the world please visit: Skywatch Friday  and NF Winged

Thanks to Sylvia and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday! Thanks to Monica the host of NF Winged. Thank you for stopping by to see my post. I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

Common Murre Lifer

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

While hubby and I were vacationing on the Oregon coastline we stopped at the Cape Meares Scenic viewpoint. Cape Meares provide a view of the largest colony of nesting Common Murres. Another lifer for me the Common Murre is also known as the Common Guillemot. The Common Murre is in the family commonly called Alcids. The Thick Billed Murre is also in the Alcidae "Alcids"  family.

The Common Murre is an Alcid that dives for their prey. They use their wings and their feet for propulsion and steering. The Common Murre has a thin bill. It has a black head, back and wings and white underparts.The face is white with a dark spur behind the eye.

The Pyramid and Pillar rocks are part of the Oregon Island National Wildlife Refuge. I was able to zoom in few a few closeups. But the photos of the Common Murre are fuzzy.

The Common Murre breed in colonies in high densities, nesting pairs maybe in bodily contact with their neighbors. They do not make a nest, their egg is incubated on a bare rock ledge.

The Three Arch Rocks provide habitat for more than 200,000 nesting seabirds, primarily the Common Murre.

The vertical seacliffs support nesting seabirds such as the Tufted Puffin, Common Murres, Pigeon Guillemots, Pelagic Cormorants, Peregrine Falcons and the Bald Eagle.

A fuzzy shot of a few of the Common Murre in the ocean.
It was an amazing sight to see so many of these Common Murres in one spot. Zooming in on any one spot on the rock I could see how close the birds were to each. The Murres and other birds were sitting on just about on every spot of the rock. It was an amazing sight to see, if you are in the area I highly recommend visiting Cape Meares.

To see more wonderful birds and photos please visit Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

Hashawha Nature Center

I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday

These are some scenes we saw during our drive to and our hike at the Hashawha Nature Center on Saturday. I read the the word Hashawha is a Native American term meaning "old fields". During our hike we stopped at the raptor center, the raptors are birds that are injured in some way and can not live in the wild. The owls are some of my favorite raptors at the center. It is just sad for me to see them in cages.

We passed this field of sunflowers along the way, I could not pass up stopping the car for some photos.  I can just imagine how happy the birds with this field of sunflowers. They must be in heaven with a buffet of sunflower seeds.

While hiking on the loop trail we passed by this small pond. I see a large owl box towards to back of the pond. It would be cool to  be there when the box is in use.

At the Raptor Center I zoomed in on the Great Horned Owl's face trying to remove most of the wire fence in front of us. The owl has the coolest looking eyes. They also have a Bald Eagle, Red Tailed Hawks and a Barred Owl.

The loop trail also took us by this field, I like the layer of colors. I was hearing all kind of birds along the walk but except to see one flying away I could not report a specific bird.

We walked past this old 19th century log cabin, it is not in use except for historic reasons. I love the wood and the big stone chimney. Around here I saw some Cardinals and heard a very noisy wren.

We saw lots of American Goldfinches on this field of yellow goldenrod. There was also some pretty purple thistle mixed in that attracted the birds. I believe I had some quick glimpses of a few Orchard Orioles.

We ended our walk near alarger lake filled with lilypads. As you can see with the pretty sky and cooler temperatures, we had a beautiful day for our hike and some birding.



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

Thanks to Mary of Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia and Sandy .  Thanks also for stopping by to see my post. Have a safe and happy week!