Saturday's Critters # 59

Saturday's Critters #59

Happy weekend, everyone!  It's Saturday and it's time to share your critters.. Any kind of critter will do, even a new or old post.. I appreciate everyone who has linked up in the past and for those who are linking in on this week's critter party. And of course I always appreciate my blogging friends stopping by just for a visit.

The Eastern Bluebird is a gorgeous bird and another one of my many favorites..seen at the same park as my Redpoll lifer.

While waiting for my lifer the Common Redpoll to show up I took a few shots of some of the other feeder birds.

A cute Pine Siskin with a few Goldfinches..

Back at home this squirrel has been showing up in my yard and on my deck the last couple of days.. It's face and head looks awful! Michelle of Ramblingwoods has told me it could have a Pox Virus.. So far, this is the only critter I have seen looking like this..

It's head looks swollen and there are bald spots around its eyes and on its head..The rest of the body looks normal?

Another backyard bird.. A Hawk ( a Cooper's Hawk thanks to my commenters)  has been seen hanging around and spooking my songbirds away.  They are awesome to see, but I like to see it move on soon..To someone else's yard...
I hope you enjoyed my post & photos..Again I thank you for linking up to the critter party. I also appreciate the visits, comments and the support of all my blogging friends................... Have a happy weekend!

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks to Tex Theresa aka Tex, I was able to add this link up button and thanks to  Jennifer for creating my photo badge.

<a href="http://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/"><img src=" https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3915/15299083201_9709303697_m.jpg" width="185" height="240"></a>



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

Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni.  Also check out Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting this fun meme.

Atlantic City & Edwin Forsythe NWR

Linking up with Skywatch Friday  and Good Fences  

This post continues our overnight trip to the Jersey Shores..We spent the night at Atlantic City, courtesy of Resorts Casino. I have some sunrise and beach fence & bird photos to share. To see the birds we made a second stop at the Edwin B. Forsythe NWR before heading home..

Sunrise at Atlantic City, NJ.

A fence scene and a view of some of the Atlantic City casinos and hotels.. Two casinos are now closed....the Showboat (House of Blues) and the Revel which is the tall silver building with the ball at the top.

Sunrise and a fence scene... a twofer...for my Skywatch Friday and Good Fence post.

From the Edwin B. Forsythe NWR  a few American Black Ducks and a couple of Northern Pintails.

The Hooded Mergansers are one of my favorite ducks.. They seemed to be plentiful at this wildlife refuge..

The Common Mergansers are also pretty ducks.. The male has the green head and the female has a rufous head. I hope you enjoyed this post and photos..As always I appreciate your visits and nice comments..


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

Thanks to Theresa @ The Run*A*Round Ranch for hosting Good Fences and thanks to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday.  I wish everyone a happy day and weekend ahead..

Common Redpoll

Linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

This was my second try for my latest lifer..the Common Redpoll.  I always watching the Maryland listserve and saw that the Common Redpoll was still being seen at a local park in Montgomery County, Maryland.. I went once and missed seeing this bird by 30 minutes.  I had to give it another try for this cute bird.

A brownish grey-finch with dark streaks and a red patch on its head. This is a female, the males have more red on their breast. It looks a little like the Pine Siskin to me..

A partial migrant moves southward in late autumn and stays until mid March or April. As you can see it is a seed eater.. From what I have heard there have been more sightings of the Redpoll in the Mid-Atlantic states..

This bird seemed to like hanging around some other birds like the Pine Siskins and Golfinches which are seen above..

I was happy to add this cute Redpoll to my life list, which is now at 448 lifers.

I hope you enjoyed my wild bird post.. Till next week's wild bird post.. I wish you happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird and nature photos please visit:

 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes

Thanks to all of our hosts... Michelle for Nature Notes and Stewart of Wild Bird Wednesday.

  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

Around the yard_Jan 24

I am linking up with   Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday 

I am sharing some photos and scenes from around our yard for the past week.. We seem to be having snow every couple of days..Luckily it does not hang around on the street but the trees and grass looks pretty.. Since I do not have to go to work now, I can say let it snow...and not worry..

One of the best things about snow is watching my yard birds.. They seem to love our trees and of course the feeders..The Blue Jays are a rowdy bunch when they arrive..

I think they are waiting for me to put out some peanuts for them.

 A few captures of the sky over the past week.. I love seeing the pretty crescent moon.

One evening we had some colorful skies, I ran out and took a few shots from the driveway. I see four birds way high up in the sky, maybe four geese?

More from around the yard, we have some large pine trees in the back of the yard, a cute squirrel, Mr & Mrs Cardinal and  puffed up Mourning Doves..

Another find the Junco photo..Can you see the Junco in the Pine Tree? I hope you enjoyed the photos and mosaics..I thank your for visiting and all the wonderful comments..

I use Pic Monkey to create my mosaics, you can use Pic Monkey free or pay for an upgraded version.
I hope you can join in on our fun at  Mosaic Monday and   Our World Tuesday

 Thanks to Judith 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 #58

Saturday's Critters #58

It's Saturday and it's time to share your critters.. Any kind of critter will do, even a new or old post.. I appreciate everyone who has linked up in the past and for those who are linking in on this week's critter party. And of course I always appreciate my blogging friends stopping by just for a visit.

These are some birds we saw last week at the Edwin Forsythe NWR in NJ.. Even though most of the water was frozen we did see some ducks and geese at the wildlife refuge..

A pair of Hooded Mergansers...

I believe these are Dunlins in flight and a couple of American Black Ducks..

A few male Hooded Mergansers along with a couple of female Hooded Mergansers. The females have those crazy "hairdos'. The Mergansers were seen in various spots along the wildlife drive.

I am pretty sure these are the Gadwall ducks..I do not mind if you need to correct any of my id's.. I can honestly say I know I have made id mistakes in the past..

A Northern Pintail is having a talk with the Gadwall ducks..

Above maybe an American Wigeon along with the gang of Gadwall ducks..Except for seeing some duck hunters we enjoyed our visit to the wildlife refuge... I hope you enjoyed your visit and my photos... As always I appreciate your nice comments..

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks to Tex Theresa aka Tex, I was able to add this link up button and thanks to  Jennifer for creating my photo badge.

<a href="http://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/"><img src=" https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3915/15299083201_9709303697_m.jpg" width="185" height="240"></a>



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.  Also check out Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting this fun meme.

Barnegat Lighthouse & beach

Linking up with Skywatch Friday  and Good Fences  

Hubby and I enjoyed an ovenighter to the Jersey Shores.. We started out at Barnegat Lighthouse and beach and then worked our way back down to Atlantic City, New Jersey were we spent the night.

Barnegat Lighthouse and the beach are my go to spot to see the winter ducks..I was a little disappointed with the amount of Harlequin Ducks, usually we would see them all along the rock jetty. This visit we saw a few out in the ocean but nothing like the quantity we saw in past years.

When we checked the weather before leaving they were calling for sunny weather, I think someone goofed.. It was mostly cloudy at Barnegat..My sky and fence shots are of the Barnegat Lighthouse..

Another shot looking back at the lighthouse and a few Savannah Sparrows..also known as Ipswich Sparrow.. a lighter colored Savannah which is seen on the coast..The fences along the jetty wall are there to protect peeps from falling on the rocks and into the water..

Another distant shot of the lighthouse, a few male Harlequin Ducks and bottom right are some Common Eider..

Our cloudy sky at Barnegat Beach.. the wind picked up too. I think the weather arrived a day early.  At least it did not rain, I am looking on the positive side.. We missed seeing a lot of the usual ducks like the Long-tailed Duck and the Scoters.. We left Barnegat Beach and started our drive south again, we made a quick stop at Edwin Forsythe NWR which will be another post.. But, I have a sky shot from the wildlife refuge..

I hope you enjoyed the first part of our getaway and photos.. Thanks for stopping by and for the nice comments..I hope you enjoyed your visit.

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

Thanks to Theresa @ The Run*A*Round Ranch for hosting Good Fences and thanks to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday.  I wish everyone a safe happy healthy NEW YEAR and a great weekend.

Sandhill Crane

Linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

For this week's wild bird I am featuring the Sandhill Crane..


If you have been following my posts you would have seen a few weeks back I went on a wild goose crane chase here in Maryland.. It was too foggy to see the Sandhill Cranes.. I was not too worried about missing the Sandhill Cranes I have already seen them here in Maryland.

This Sandhill Crane above was seen on private property in Carroll County, Maryland.

This Sandhill Crane was seen in a local Maryland park..

 I saw them in Florida. This Sandhill Crane family was seen off of the road to Myakka River State Park in Florida.

This Sandhill Crane was seen in my SIL's Florida development walking around the golf course.

These Sandhill Cranes were seen at the Bitter Lake NWR in New Mexico. This shot only shows a few of the Cranes we saw here..They were all over the place.

More Sandhill Cranes from the Bosque Del Apache NWR in New Mexico..

More New Mexico Sandhill Cranes with some Snow Geese.. I love the colors in this shot..I saw thousands of these Cranes in New Mexico.. I am not the kind of birder that keeps a list for the year, state and or the counties they are seen in.  I have one life list for all the birds I see. I read somewhere there are nicknames for certain kinds of birders.. I wonder what kind of birder I am, I should be called the fair weather birder..

I hope you enjoyed my wild bird post.. Till next week's wild bird post.. I wish you happy Birding and have a wonderful week!



Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird and nature photos please visit:

 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes

Thanks to all of our hosts... Michelle for Nature Notes and Stewart of Wild Bird Wednesday.

  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

Hemlock Gorge

I am linking up with   Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday 

I like that I can take my walks any time I want now, instead of waiting for the weekend..weather permitting of course.. These are some scenes from our walk to a local area called Hemlock Gorge.. The river is called the Gunpowder River and runs into the lake near our home..

I like the reflections captured in the photo on the left and the Hermit Thrush is seen in our area only in the winter months..

More river scenery and the sunlight coming thru the hemlock trees and some icicles..

Above the icy river and a cute Winter Wren we watch for a while hopping along the river's edge. It was a chilly and brisk walk, great exercise too. I hope you enjoyed my walk. I thank your for visiting and all the wonderful comments..

I use Pic Monkey to create my mosaics, you can use Pic Monkey free or pay for an upgraded version.
I hope you can join in on our fun at  Mosaic Monday and   Our World Tuesday

 Thanks to Judith 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!