Third Beach, Olympic Nat'l Park

Hello and happy Thursday,

I am linking up with Lydia of Where the Wild Things Were and the Favorite Fotos linky. Thanks Lydia for hosting the party.

MY thoughts and prayers are for all the victims of Hurricane Harvey  in Texas.

I am sharing some images from our Washington State trip. For 4 nights in May,  we stayed on the Pacific Coast at the Quiluete Ocean Resort. The resort is located right next to the Olympic National Park and we had an ocean front room on First Beach. The resort is operated by the Quiluete Tribe, there are no TV's or Wifi in the rooms. This was our second time staying at this resort they are very reasonably priced for an ocean front room.

Sunset on Pacific Ocean

This is a Pacific Wren or in some places known as the Winter Wren.

A scene from the trail to the Third Beach, it is a 1.4 mile hike one way.

Pink Trillium was seen all along the trail to the beach.

 Hike to the Third beach, there is a pile of  driftwood or more like a wall of tree trunks to climb over when you get to the bottom of the trail on the beach.

Third beach and Waterfall

A view of the sea stacks and ocean

Outside our room I was able to watch the White-crowned Sparrows and Gulls begging for food near the picnic tables.

A view gulls from our balcony.

A cloudy day sunset.

A map showing the Olympic National Park beaches. La Push is the town where the Twilight movie series was filmed.

"Collect moments, not things."


My thankful list for today:

I am thankful to be able to travel, it is a gift to be able to enjoy visiting beautiful places.
I am thankful for my hubby who shares my travel dreams.
I thank you for visiting and your comments.

I hope you enjoyed my post and photos.  Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments. Have a happy day!

Thank you Michelle for hosting. Thankful Thursday

Thank you to the hosts of   Skywatch Friday

Tricolored Heron

Happy Monday everyone!

My prayers go out to all those in Texas affected by Hurricane Harvey.

My wild bird this week is the Tricolored Heron. Also known as the Louisiana Heron. They nest in colonies often with other heron species. The Tricolored heron has a blue-grey head, neck and back and a white line down it's chest and a white belly.  It can be seen stalking and running in the shallow water while searching for it's prey.

Adult herons have the long plume on it's head.

The photo below shows off some of the pretty colors on the Tricolored Heron.

The breeding colors on the Tricolored Heron,  shows the pretty blue and black tip bill.

I hope you enjoyed my Tricolored Heron  photos and post.
As always I thank you for stopping by and as always I appreciate your comments.

My list of memes for today, I hope to see you there. Thanks to both of the host below.


Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes

Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

Saturday's Critters #193

Welcome to Saturday's Critters!

If you love critters like I do and also like to blog about them and take critter photos this is where you can share your critter post. Link up your post and share your critters, join in with my critter party ! You can share any kind of critters the real ones, pretend ones, statues and paintings, a new or old post!

I am sharing some more images from our visit to Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge in Delaware. I have blogged many times on our various visits to Bombay Hook NWR, it is one of my favorite places to see the birds and view wildlife. I hope you enjoy my photos.

On this day we arrived at the wildlife refuge early in the morning since we spent the night in Dover Delaware. We were able to see 5-6 Clapper Rails with some chicks.

We saw lots of Egrets, some Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets and there may be the juvenile Little Blue Heron too.

The Green Heron posed nicely on the fence for me.

The first Clapper Rail sighting at the beginning of the wildlife drive.

Another adult Clapper Rail with a cute chick. Their chicks are black in color.

There are two Clapper Rail chicks above, it is great to be there during the low tide to see these secretive birds come out of the grasses looking for food.

The Great Egret above with it's yellow bill and black legs. It is one of the taller egrets.

Not the clearest shot, but I think this Fox was cute that came out and sat on the wildlife drive as we went past.








I appreciate and thank everyone who links up their post and for all the wonderful comments! I hope you enjoy my post and photos too!

Here is a list of my linky parties;
Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni.

Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

Maryland Heights, Harpers Ferry Maryland

Hello and happy Thursday!

I am sharing some photos from Aug 9th. The almost full moon and our 4.2 mile hike to the Maryland Heights overlook at Harpers Ferry, Maryland. This is National Park land and you must either have a park pass or pay at the pay box near the trailhead.

My morning started off with a view of the moon setting.

The 4.2 mile trail, was a steep hike to the overlook at Maryland Heights and Harpers Ferry Maryland. We had to stop often, I guess we are not used to hiking the steep hills and elevation change of 1519 ft.  We stayed on the Overlook red trail, but there is a blue trail that heads to a Stone Fort used during the Civil War. If you take the blue trail add 2 more miles onto your hike.

In the mosaic below are some wildflowers, a blurry Eastern Towhee, some spiders webs and one of the biggest beetles I have seen in Maryland. I believe the beetle is the Eastern-Hercules-Beetle. This beetle was as long as my index finger or longer. I heard many birds during our walk, like the Pileated Woodpeckers, Tufted Titmouse and Chickadee, Cardinals and Blue Jays. We also saw a few deer running across the trail. Sorry, I could not take photos of the birds and critters.

The view looking down at Harpers Ferry, the Shenandoah River on the left side meets up with the Potomac River which is on the right side. Two closer bridges, one is a pedestrian bridge for the Appalachian Trail and the other bridge is for working CSX and other trains. In the far distance, top of the photo is Route 340 heading to Charlestown West Virginia.

From the overlook I zoomed in on the St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

I also zoomed in on this white barn, way in the distance in Harpers Ferry. I will share this barn with Tom's Barn Collective on Sunday.

Can you see the little white spot on the top of the photo below?  The barn looks like it is hiding in the trees. That is the barn in the photo above.

A view of the Potomac River from the Maryland Heights overlook. In the summer months, rafting companies take many people on the Potomac for both tubing and rafting. My hubby and I along with some friends did the tubing years ago.  I did my first post on River rider, Harpers Ferry

Harpers Ferry West Virginia is a National Park. There are many historical buildings you can tour, I love the views of the rivers. It is a gorgeous area, where Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia all meet.

Even though this was a super hard hike, hubby and I would like to do this hike again when the trees are turning colors in the fall. I found out about this hike from searching the internet for various hikes in our area.. 



My thankful list for today:
I am thankful for Google, I am able to research hikes, trips and much more. The internet is a wonderful thing.
I am thankful for your visits and your comments.

"Be thankful for all the troubles you don't have." 

Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments. Have a happy day!

Thank you Michelle for hosting. Thankful Thursday

Thank you Tom for hosting The Barn Collective

Thank you to the hosts of   Skywatch Friday

Belted Kingfisher

Hello,

This week I am sharing the Belted Kingfisher. Unless it is a rare sighting, the Belted Kingfisher is one of the only Kingfishers seen in the USA. I usually hear their sharp rattle sound before I see them. They are shy birds around me, take off before I can get a sharp clear photo. I am always trying for that great shot though. I hope you enjoy these Belted Kingfisher photos.

The are known to hover and then plunge head first into the water for their catch of fish.

The adult female Belted Kingfisher has a rufous belly band. The male has a bluish belly breastband. Both male and female have white underparts and a dark crest.

They are often seen perched in trees near the water.

I have so many favorite birds, the Kingfishers are another favorite.



I hope you enjoyed my photos and post.
As always I thank you for stopping by and as always I appreciate your comments.

My list of memes for today, I hope to see you there. Thanks to both of the host below.


Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes

Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

Saturday's Critters #192

Welcome to Saturday's Critters!

If you love critters like I do and also like to blog about them and take critter photos this is where you can share your critter post. Link up your post and share your critters, join in with my critter party ! You can share any kind of critters the real ones, pretend ones, statues and paintings, a new or old post!


These are some images from our last visit to Bombay Hook NWR in Delaware. On this day we saw a lot of birds, awesome sightings of the Purple Martins, Great Egrets, Mallard and ducklings, American Avocets, a few sightings of a Red Fox.


The Purple Martin houses are close to the visitor center.

This Red Fox was laying right on the wildlife drive. I think it is a young one and looked sick.

A view of one of the ponds and some Great Egrets and Canada Geese.

I believe this is a Mallard with her ducklings.

The American Avocets, a pretty shorebird.

I have much more from our visit to Bombay Hook NWR, we visited for two days. There is always so much to see.  I appreciate and thank everyone who links up their post and for all the wonderful comments! I hope you enjoy my post and photos too!

Here is a list of my linky parties;
Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni.

Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

Cape Flattery & Neah Bay

Happy Thursday, everyone!

I have a some Washington State photos to share, these are from our visit to Neah Bay and Cape Flattery. Cape Flattery is the most northwestern spot you can visit in the United States and it is part of the Makah Reservation.


You will need to buy a special permit from the Makah  to hike on the trail to see the Cape Flattery Lighthouse.

A view of the Cape Flattery trail.

The beautiful Pacific Ocean, seen from one of the Cape Flattery overlooks.

A look toward toward the Makah Bay and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Some of the birds seen Western Grebes, various Gulls, Harlequin Ducks, Rhinoceros Auklets, Red-necked Grebe, Red-throated Loon, Cormorants and a Bald Eagle with a fish.

While we were in the area we ate lunch at a restaurant called the Warmhouse in Neah Bay. We had eaten here before back in 2015, they have great milkshakes.  We also enjoyed watching the Bald Eagles right outside the restaurant windows. On this day there had to be 20-30 bald Eagles both adults and juvies. They put on a show for us while ate our lunch.

Neah Bay Bald Eagles. I think one Juvenile Eagle had a fish which attracted all the other eagles. The juvie eagle  held tight onto his fish and was not going to share.

Back at our Ocean Resort and First Beach for the sunset.

"May every sunrise hold more promise and every sunset hold more peace."



My thankful list for today:
I am thankful for good health to hike on trail like the Cape Flattery Trail.
I am thankful for blue skies and lovely weather.


I hope you enjoyed my post and photos.  Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments. Have a happy day!

Thank you Michelle for hosting. Thankful Thursday

Thank you to the hosts of   Skywatch Friday