Happy Monday!

 Happy Monday everyone!

I wish you a happy day and a great new week!

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Saturday's Critters # 393

Welcome to Saturday's Critters!

Hello and happy Saturday!

 

 If you love all God's creatures 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!

Lately I only have my hummingbirds feeders up, so I am not sharing many photos of birds at feeders.  Recently I've been seeing and hearing a Gray Catbird banging on our front windows. It has been hanging around the front Rhododendrons, there must be plenty of bugs for the birds to eat. We also have blueberry bushes that all the wildlife seem to enjoy eating. 

1.  Gray Catbird seeing it's reflection in our windows. 

2. The Gray Catbird posed for me, I was standing  inside at my window. 

3. The Gray Catbird is in the Thrush family. It is slaty gray with a dark crown and has a rusty undertail. 

4. Another shot of the Gray Catbird.  One evening the Catbird was making a lot of noises, I looked out my bedroom window and a Screech Owl was sitting in the rhododendron, the Catbird and a Cardinal were fussing until the Owl flew away. I wondered if it was the same Screech Owl I have seen previously in our yard. 

5. The American Goldfinch, one day I saw them picking at the clematis that were done blooming. The male Goldfinch looks bright and beautiful in the breeding and summer season. 

6. A Fritillary butterfly on our Bee Balm.

7. I've been seeing deer in our yard and on the neighbor's driveway just about every day.  

I have been hearing more birds from my yard than I am actually seeing, I am wondering what the birds think about all the cicadas we have flying about. From my yard, I can hear the Eastern Wood PeWee,  Eastern Phoebe, Wood Thrush, Ovenbird, Scarlet Tanager, Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, Northern Parula, Pine Warbler, Northern Cardinals, Chickadee, Yellow-billed Cuckoo and the Tufted Titmouse.

I am also linking up to Anni's blog party found here I'd Rather B Birding   Anni always has some beautiful birds to be seen on her blog, check it out!

Thanks to all my visitors and for your comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves critters and has linked up their critter post. 

Here is my linky:

YOU are all # 1.

Happy Monday!

 Happy Monday everyone!  

Wishing everyone a great day and a happy new week!  

Costa Rica, Fortuna 

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Saturday's Critters # 392

Welcome to Saturday's Critters!

Hello and happy Saturday!

Happy Father's Day weekend!  Sending out my happy Father's Day wishes for my hubby and son. This will be my son's first Daddy's day, I know he is really happy to be a Dad! 

 If you love all God's creatures 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 photos from our local walks, a visit to a local county park called Hashawha Nature Center, most of the photos are from walks on our local fire roads. 

Click on photos for larger viewing or slides.

1.....May 21st...We took a walk on the fire road to the lake. the following birds were seen or heard Osprey, Eastern Phoebe or Wood Pewee, White-breasted Nuthatch, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Scarlet Tanagers, Ovenbirds and Wood Thrush were calling. I could see fish swimming right next to the lake shore. A Great Blue Heron flew across the lake and landed on a tree and the wild Azaleas were blooming. I noticed an American Toad on the trail and a few cute tiny flowers. 

2. While sitting by the lake, I watched this White-breasted Nuthatch going in and coming out of a hole in the tree. Maybe a nest?

3.  May 26th...another fire road walk. We watched the Osprey fishing at the lake, I saw various wildflowers and flowering shrubs, a Great Blue Heron and my first time seeing a Prothonotary Warbler at the lake shore.  The Prothonotary is a bright yellow bird with dark wings. My warbler photos did not come very good, I watched it for a while moving around catching bugs. 

4. My terrible photos of the Prothonotary Warbler, on the largest image below you can see his beak, his bright yellow color and the dark wings. Can you find the Warbler? He landed on a downed tree in one of the coves and then he flew across to where I was standing and went inside a shrub. 

5.  May 28th, we are back on the same fire road to the lake. The Gray Catbirds seemed to be out in numbers, we saw a Belted Kingfisher banging a fish on a tree branch, some pretty ferns and yellow iris and the ugly cicada shells.  The sounds of the cicadas are so loud, I could not hear the birds singing. 

6.  June 1st, at another part of the lake we hiked the local George's Creek trail, the creek flows into our lake.  On this day, we saw a young Barred Owl right above the trail. He/she looked down at us and then flew off, a view of the George's Creek, a Gray Catbird, A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, flowering shrub with a Canada Goose family, a log with a group of Turtles. 

7. June 1st.. I missed the shot when this Barred Owl turned his head and looked down at us.  

8.  June 2nd.. Another local walk on the fire road and to the lake. Prettyboy Reservoir, a Green Heron with a turtle, wildflowers, Green heron again, the lake trail, Cicadas and a view of a lake cove.

9. June 2nd...this was my first sighting of a Green heron at our lake.

I know other birders have mentioned seeing it here, it is just my first time seeing the Green Heron in our neighborhood.

10.  June 2nd.. a couple of back yard birds. The Eastern Blue couple and an American Goldfinch. 

11.  June 5th.. Hashawha Nature Center..waterlilies and wildflowers, Indigo Bunting, rabbit, Black Rat Snake and a view of Lake Hashawha and the trail.

12.. Hashawha. Indigo Bunting. 

13.    June 6th..a view of the reservoir, turtles on a log, Canada Geese, Swallowtail Butterfly, male Downy Woodpecker, more Canada Geese.  

I am also linking up to Anni's blog party found here I'd Rather B Birding   Anni always has some beautiful birds to be seen on her blog, check it out!

Thanks to all my visitors and for your comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves critters and has linked up their critter post. 

Here is my linky:

YOU are all # 1.

Happy Monday!

 Happy Monday everyone!  

Wishing everyone a great day and a happy new week!  

 

Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska cruise Holland America

Comments off!  Enjoy your day!

Saturday's Critters # 391

Welcome to Saturday's Critters!

Hello and happy Saturday!

 

 If you love all God's creatures 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!

Hubby and I visited the York Pennsylvania rookery on May 14th. There are Black Crowned Night Herons and Great Egrets nesting in the trees around a little lake in the middle of the city.  It seems this year the number of nests are dwindling. It seems like the rookery is smaller each year.  

1.  Black-crowned Night Heron, looks like it is taking a nap. 

2. Below are a couple of Black-crowned Night Herons, I assume the female is sitting on a nest and is somewhat hidden behind the leaves.

3. Below is a Great Egret and you can see 2 baby egrets fuzzy heads sticking up out of the nest. 

4.  The Great Egrets were plentiful, various trees had 3-4 Egret nests.

5. Great Egret was breaking off branches to take back to the nest. 

6. I counted at least 6 Great Egrets in the photo below.  One is kind of hidden behind a branch.  

  

7. A Great Egret looking for food , not far away were a couple of Canada Geese.

8. Incoming, a Great Egret flying back to the nest..

I have posted about this York Pa Egret and Heron rookery here.  Our  first visit I posted about was back in 2012. 

I am also linking up to Anni's blog party found here I'd Rather B Birding   Anni always has some beautiful birds to be seen on her blog, check it out!

Thanks to all my visitors and for your comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves critters and has linked up their critter post. 

Here is my linky:

YOU are all # 1.

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday everyone!  

Wishing everyone a great day and a happy new week!  

Yachats, Oregon

Comments Off!  Enjoy your day!

Saturday's Critters # 390

Welcome to Saturday's Critters!

Hello and happy Saturday!

 

 If you love all God's creatures 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!

Can you believe, it is the first Saturday of June. Time is flying by, I am hoping to see some birds flying into or around my yard.  These are some birds I have seen recently during our local walks. 

Click on photos for best viewing!

1.  The end of April, I watched the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds coming and going to the feeder.

2. May 3rd, may have been my last sighting of the Red-breasted Nuthatch for the year.  

3. May 10th , I watched a female Black-throated Blue Warbler out my front window.  This view is from my exercise bike, I can watch various birds hopping around the rhododendrons and front yard. 

It is not the best photo taken out the window, these warblers move quickly. The female has a white arc under the eye and a little white wing patch.

4. May 16th, we took a walk on the local NCR bike trail. We saw a couple of Worm-eating Warblers chasing each other along the trail.

This warbler has a head stripe with black eye line and stripes on the buffy head.

5. I have been seeing bunnies in the back and front yard. I think the baby bunnies have grown quickly, but these two maybe the parents. 

6. The Tufted Titmouse is a year round visitor to my yard.  

7.  At our local Prettyboy Dam, the Cliff Swallows can be seen nesting under the dam bridge and flying over the reservoir.  

8. On another day we took a local walk on our fire road and to the lake. near the lake shore I saw a first year Baltimore Oriole, a first time seeing a Blackburnian Warbler in my neighborhood, a Red-eyed Vireo is bottom left, Canada Geese and some large Slider Turtles. 

9.  Not the best lighting looking up in the tree at this Blackburnian Warbler. 

I hope you enjoyed my yard and neighborhood birds.  Other birds I heard nearby but I was not able to take photos yet are: Ovenbird, Wood Thrush, unknown Thrush, Gray Catbird and the male Black-throated Blue Warbler, Indigo Bunting and the Scarlet Tanager. 

I am also linking up to Anni's blog party found here I'd Rather B Birding   Anni always has some beautiful birds to be seen on her blog, check it out!

Thanks to all my visitors and for your comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves critters and has linked up their critter post. 

Here is my linky:

YOU are all # 1.

What's blooming ?

 Happy Wednesday!

I wish everyone a happy month of June!  These are some images of the blooms around my yard and on our deck.

The rhododendron blooms are coming to an end now, but this is how they looked in peak bloom.

The Siberian Irises are one of my favorites.

The White waterlilies are looking beautiful, the little pond is crowded with the lily pads.

A few species of Clematis in our yard, the blooms are beautiful.  They are different shades of purple.  

I am not sure if this is called Deborah Dahl Clematis

I think the clematis is Jackmanni. 

I like this Tickseed, Coreopsis it is a new plant this year in our yard.

On our deck, I always like to have some plants that the hummingbirds and butterflies enjoy, below are the hibiscus, salvia and a pot of zinnias.

Another new plant we bought this year is called Catmint- Walker's Low

Wyatt is growing quickly, such a cutie! 

What growing in your garden?  Have a great day and week ahead!  

Thanks for your visits and comments!