Saturday's Critters #26

Saturday's Critters #26

Hello and happy weekend!  OK, it's time to share your critters. I hope to see you join in on the Critter party.


I am sharing a few of the birds and a lizard seen at the Sleeping Giant Rainforest Lodge in Belize. I saw many new birds just walking around the grounds of our lodge.

Beside the lodge was a farm with free roaming chickens, duck and Guineafowl. I believe are these Guineafowl. During our walks these birds would come close to hubby and I.  It was like they were greeting us..

The Green Kingfisher is the smallest kingfisher and were a common sight to see down at the river.. Sometimes we would see two flying or hanging out together.. I believe my photo is of the female or maybe a juvenile, the male would have a rusty colored band around the chest..The female has two green bands around the chest.  I think there was a nest on the opposite side of the river.

This close up shows that there is a start of the second green belly band of the female..so most likely we saw the juvenile Green Kingfishers.

The Brown Basilisk also known as the Jesus lizard..only because they can be seen running across the top of the water. They were a common sight walking around the grounds of the lodge.

There were many different species of  hummingbirds  around the lodge.. above is the Violet Sabrewing.  It is one of the largest hummingbirds I have ever seen, a beautiful color too. This bird was a lifer for me..

The Blue-grey Tanager could be seen on the tree outside the dining room window..

While eating breakfast I watched a couple of the Blue-grey Tanagers were catching bugs in this tree.  My eyes were following the birds moving around more than on my food. I hope you enjoyed my critter post. Now, I want to see your critters..   I wish everyone a happy weekend.

An InLinkz Link-up

Thank you for linking up to the critter party. I appreciate the visits, comments and the support of my blogging friends..


To see more beautiful birds and cute critters, check out these two memes below.

Please visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni of I'd Rather-B-birdin. Also, sharing with Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting.

A tower view

Linking up with Skywatch Friday  and Good Fences
I hope you have a chance to check out both of these fun memes.

We are happy to be home now with our Goldie Girl. Hubby and I had a great vacation in Belize. These are some scenes from the Gazebo Tower and some scenes from around our Sleeping Giant Rainforest resort.   On a hot humid day, the hike up to the Gazebo tower was rough..At times there was a rope along the side to hold onto as we hiked up the mountain.. Once we arrived at the top the views were beautiful and then we got stuck there until a passing storm went by..It was an adventure.

A view from the tower, you can see the cows way down there. The road is called the Hummingbird Highway, I love that name..

I was glad I decided to zoom in for a look at these cows, I captured a fence for Tex's Good Fences.

Here is a view looking up at the Gabezo tower from when we did some birding along the orchard road. The tower is at the tippy top almost in the middle of the photo above the white cliff rocks.

After we climbed to the top of the tower we noticed the rainstorm approaching.. It makes sense, we saw rain during our vacation. After all we were in a rainforest..So, my vacations are not totally rain free anymore..

We could see the rain coming towards us...a cool looking Skywatch shot..

Here I am waiting for the rain to stop so we can hike back to the resort and our room.. Looks like another fence for my Good Fence post.

I took some shots of the foilage around the tower while we waited for the rain to stop..I like these heart shaped leaves..they were huge.

Not sure what kind of berries these are but I spooked some bird away taking a photo.

Neko was our birding tour guide one morning at the resort. His company is  Belize Inland tours  in case you are interested in visiting Belize check out their website for various tours. They are located at the Blue Hole National Park on the Hummingbird Hwy. Hubby and I also did a tour at the Blue Hole Nat'l Park more on that tour on another post.

Above is one of my Belize lifers..it is called the Black-headed Saltator. A resident from Central Mexico south to Panama .  It has a large black bill and head, a pale supercilium, pale gray underparts. They eat both fruit and insects. This Black-headed Saltator can be seen foraging with a flock of mixed species..

A view from the opposite side of the tower. There is an orange orchard and you can see the river. On the bottom of the photo you can see the dirt road we walked along to do our birding. I hope you enjoyed my post..


To see more pretty skies from around the world please visit  Skywatch Friday
and check more fence shots at Tex's Good Fences


Thanks to Tex @ The Run*A*Round Ranch for hosting Good Fences and to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday!   I wish everyone a safe and happy long weekend.

Collared Aracari

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes


For this week's Wild Bird I am featuring the Collared Aracari of the Toucan family. We watched this family of Collared Aracari's from the resort's dining room.. At times we saw 5-6 of these toucans flying or perched in the trees on the edge of the resort's property near the river.

Like the other toucans this bird has a large bill, is a dull yellow and has a black saw-tooth pattern..They also have a black head, a reddish collar and red rump.

The Aracari's were a treat to see and especially so many at one time.. My first sighting of these cool wild birds was in Costa Rica Collared Aracari

The Collared Aracari can lay three eggs in a nesting cavity. They roost socially, up to 6 adults and fledglings sleep in the same hole with their tail folded over their backs. 




Thanks for stopping by my post and for all the nice comments.

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.  Thanks to our host Michelle our host Stewart.  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

Belize Vacation

  I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday 

Hubby and I just returned from a week in Belize. We started our trip with 4 nights at the Sleeping Giant Rainforest Resort.  A beautiful resort with lovely landscaped gardens, the rainforest,  a view of the mountains and river.  I will do a review of our stay on Trip Advisor but I wanted to start my post with the first day of our vacation in Belize.

The resort was located in the Belize rainforest.. lovely trees and flowers surrounded the resort and hotel rooms..

The bougainvillea  in Belize is gorgeous, so many pretty colors..

The ducks and turkeys roamed freely around the resort, the flowers attracted all kinds of birds. I will share more of the lifers and new birds I saw while in Belize.

The Flamboyant trees were one of my favorite trees, also known as the Royal Poinciana.

The Social Flycatchers were silly trying to build a nest inside an umbrella near the resorts pool.

A view of the Sleeping Giant and mountains surrounding the rainforest resort..We had a busy week, touring the Mayan ruins, birdwatching, caving and hiking in the rainforest.. I have over a thousand photos to go thru and this is just the start.. Thanks for stopping by and for the comments.

Join in on the fun and for more wonderful photos please visit  Mosaic Monday and more
 from  Our World Tuesday

 Thanks to our host: Mary our host of Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy and Jennifer.  I wish everyone a happy week ahead!

Saturday's Critters #25

Saturday's Critters #25

Happy Memorial Day!!

Hello and happy weekend!  OK, it's time to share your critters. I hope to see you join in on the Critter party. I may still be away from the computer today. I hope you join in and visit some of the participants linking up with the critter party..

Pretty sure these are mostly Yellowlegs..not too sure which Lesser or Greater?

These shorebirds were seen in a local Maryland park.. I hope you enjoyed my birds and post. Have fun with the critter party. 

An InLinkz Link-up

To see more beautiful birds and cute critters, check out these two memes below.

Please visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni of I'd Rather-B-birdin. Also, sharing with Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting.

 I hope everyone ( in the USA)  has a wonderful and safe Memorial Day weekend.

Thank you for linking up to the critter party. I appreciate the visits, comments and the support of my blogging friends..


To see more beautiful birds and cute critters, check out these two memes below.


Please visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni of I'd Rather-B-birdin. Also, sharing with Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting.

Saturday's Critters #24

Saturday's Critters #24

I am scheduling this post as I will be away from my computer.. So I am praying that the linky will be working ok.  I will catch up with everyone's post as soon as I can.  I will be turning my comments off... instead of leaving me a comment it would be nice if you could visit a new critter blog and post.

The White-throated Sparrows were seen in a local park in Maryland during one of our outings..

A pretty male American Goldfinch also seen in the park during our walk..

An InLinkz Link-up

Comments turned off for this post, thank you! I will catch up will everyone's post as soon as I can.

Thank you for linking up to the critter party. I appreciate the visits, previous comments and the support of my blogging friends..Have a happy weekend!


To see more beautiful birds and cute critters, check out these two memes below.

Please visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni of I'd Rather-B-birdin. Also, sharing with Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting.

Backyard Birds

Linking up with Skywatch Friday  and Good Fences

My post today I sharing some fence scenes from my neighborhood for Tex's Good Fence meme, some backyard birds and a couple shots of the moon for my Skywatch Friday post.

For my Good Fence post this week  I am sharing this fence that has birdhouses on all the fence posts.. I ride by here often and I enjoy seeing all the different kinds of birdhouses. Sometimes they change them out and put out new houses. 

 A closer view of some of the houses and fence.I have not seen teakettle bird houses.

If I were a bird, I would be a little afraid of this birdhouse..

Some more of the houses seen along the fence.. we had to move (traffic got in the way) so I could not get more closeups of the houses, but they all look cute..

 Back in my yard..is a Tufted Titmouse.. they seem to be quite active in my yard.. Chasing each other all around..

The pretty Indigo Buntings are still visiting, it would be nice if they stayed all summer.

 The moon on Monday evening..Almost full.

I zoomed in for a gorgeous look at the moon. The Full Moon is on the 16th.  I hope you enjoyed my post..


To see more pretty skies from around the world please visit  Skywatch Friday
and check more fence shots at Tex's Good Fences


Thanks to Tex @ The Run*A*Round Ranch for hosting Good Fences and to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday!   I wish everyone a safe and happy long weekend.

It was a Rail day

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

For this week's wild bird I am featuring the Virginia Rail..

 Hubby and I were among many of the Maryland birders that went to see the Virginia Rails being seen at the Swan Harbor Farms in Aberdeen, Maryland.. On one day 10-11 Virginia Rails were being seen.  Hubby and I saw 5 Virginia Rails, a Sora,  a Clapper Rail on the same day at the same place.. We sat in a blind and just watched them coming out of the reeds. It was so cool. We thought we also saw the King Rail, but it is not included in any of my photos..

 The Virginia Rail is a small water bird of the Rallidae family. Their breeding habitat is marshlands. They are secretive bird that usually remain hidden in the vegetation. They have a long curved red bill and gray cheeks, rufous throat and breast.

A Virginia Rail and muskrat

Together above were three Virginia Rails and a Sparrow.

 A few Sora's were being seen also.. With this bird their yellow beak is good to help with their id. This bird was able to hide and more shy than the rails..

Another Clapper Rail was seen with the Virginia Rails.. It's beak looks a little darker than the Clapper Rail I saw at Forsythe.  It was Rail weekend for me after seeing the Clapper Rail at Edwin Forsythe only two days earlier.



Thanks for stopping by my post and for all the nice comments.

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.  Thanks to our host Michelle our host Stewart.  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

Around the Yard_May 10

  I am linking up with Personal Photo Challenge and Our World Tuesday 


This week's challenge is COLOR

I wish a Happy Mother's Day to all my blogging friends!

I am sharing some bird and blooms around my yard, especially timed for Mother's Day!  This is my first attempt at the Personal Photo Challenge..this week is color..

Lately I've been seeing 4-5 Indigo Buntings in my yard.  Above is the adult male, non-breeding male and a female bottom right.

 Our pink Dogwood blooms, dogwood blooms mixed with a Redbud tree that is behind and an Azalea bush.

On this shot the Dogwood tree sits in front of the Redbud tree. I like the mixture of colors with the pink blooms from the Dogwood and the Purplish colors from the Redbud tree.

 I am not sure what these pretty pink flowers are, it is a little bush. Also is a Titmouse and Bleeding Heart blooms..

These carnation like flowers are on a small bush next to our driveway.. They were planted before we moved in almost 25 years ago. I am not sure of their name?

We have a ton of red maple seedlings growing under our big red maple tree. These are in our front yard.

 The collage above starting left is the adult male, middle is the female and on the right is the non-breeding male Indigo Buntings.

A non-breeding male Indigo Bunting..

Thanks for stopping by and for the comments. Join in on the fun and for more wonderful photos please visit  Personal Photo Challenge and more from  Our World Tuesday

Edit: Mary @ Mosaic Monday is having power problems after being hit with a bad storm..I hope all is well at Mary's home and wish her a Happy Mother's day!

 Thanks to our host: Donna @ Cottage Days and to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy and Jennifer.  I wish everyone a happy week ahead!