Happy Monday!

Wishing everyone a great day and a happy new week!

"The bad news is time flies. The good news is your the pilot."

Tundra Swans at Blackwater Wildlife Refuge, Cambridge Maryland.

Bye-bye January, hello February!

"Time flies but memories last forever."

"We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone."

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Saturday's Critters # 476

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!

These photos and birds are from my back yard and our nearby lake/reservoir. Hubby and I are happy that the lake is just a walking distance from our home.

We live near the Prettyboy Reservoir which is one of three reservoirs owned by Baltimore City. I recently posted about the ducks seen at the Loch Raven Reservoir which is one of the three reservoirs, Liberty Reservoir is the third reservoir. Baltimore City and five surrounding counties have plenty of drinking water. 

1. Jan 7th, in the back yard, hubby and I were watching a large group of Dark-eyed Juncos pecking away at the ground, two Northern Flickers joined the Junco group.  Photos were taken through the windows.  Click on images for better viewing.

2. The female is brownish-gray in color and has the pink bill and the white in the tail area. 

3. The male Dark-eyed Junco is a dark grey with a pink bill and white outer tail feathers which show more while they are in flight.

4. Jan 7th, the Northern Flicker pecking away at the ground. Not sure if these birds were finding seeds or bugs on the ground. 

5. Jan 7th, our walk to the lake, we saw groups here and there of the male and female Common Mergansers.  Of course most were across the lake, so I had to zoom in to get a closer look. 

6. Below the male with the green head is with a group of female Common Mergansers. 

7. Taking off, these Common Mergansers would fly from one end of the lake to the other end.  

8. Two female Common Mergansers. They started off close to us near the lake shore, but quickly swam to the other side of the lake. 

 

9. The sunlight on the male Common Merganser. He is beautiful, also known as a Goosander. They are considered a seaduck, found in rivers and lakes. 

10.  Jan 7th, a view of our Prettyboy Reservoir. If we did not look closely we would have missed seeing the Mergansers. At times they dive and disappear, reappearing in a different spot.  

11.  Jan 9th, On the NCR trail, hubby and I walked a few miles on the bike trail. A chilly day so it was a brisk walk. I have a few scenes and some Eastern Bluebirds taken from the trail. 

12. Jan 11th , after seeing beautiful photos of a Golden Eagle on the Maryland Birders facebook page, the Golden Eagle was being seen at our lake since early January. Hubby and I decided to take a chance and see if the Golden Eagle was still there, of course we missed it again. We did see more Common Mergansers, Cooper's Hawk, Vultures and a Bald Eagle. 

Thank you for sharing your critters and post!

Thanks to all my visitors and for your past and present comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves and respects wildlife. Thank you for linking up a critter post.

Here is my linky:

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! Also, I am also linking up to Heidrun's Mosaic Monday  I hope you can stop by and visit Heidrun and check out the Mosaic Monday post. 

Happy Monday!

 Wishing everyone a great day and a happy new week!

"Run wild and free like a waterfall."

"Life is better with waterfalls."

Upper Falls at Old Man's Cave, Hocking Hills State Park

"We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone."

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Saturday's Critters # 475

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!

1. Early January we had a few nice weather days, mild temperatures but not always sunny. On this day hubby and took a walk at the Loch Raven Reservoir, usually you can always find some winter ducks on the lake between the two dams. 

2. The male Hooded Merganser, it is one of my favorite ducks. The males have a black head with a white patch that changes sizes when the crest is raised. They have a white breast with chestnut flanks. 

3. The Canada Geese had the highest count, the geese population seems to doing very well.

4. The Ring-necked Ducks have dark heads and backs with gray sides. Adult males have a prominent white ring on their bill. The females are brown and have a white patch near the bill. 

5. I could only find a few Bufflehead ducks mixed in with the other duck species and a large count of Canada Geese.

6. More Canada Geese, some Ring-necked Ducks and a few American Wigeons.

7. Below are a few Canada Geese, two Ring-necked Ducks and 4 American Wigeons. the male American Wigeon has a cream color forecrown.

8. There have been years that the Eurasian Wigeon would be seen hanging out with the ducks on this reservoir, I tried zooming in on various groups but I did not see any other duck species. 

9. Canada Goose, Ring-billed Gull with two male Hooded Mergansers.

10. The Ring-billed Gulls are a common sight to see at this reservoir, they can also be found on parking lots.

11. Male and female Mallards.

12. The Hooded Merganser couple, the handsome male with the female.  The female is a gray-brown with cinnamon tone on the head. 

13. More male and female Mallards hanging out near the shore, people come to feed the ducks in this spot. So the ducks seem to be more tame around people. 

Bonus image: our grandson Mason will be 1 year old on the 24th..  Happy Birthday to Mason.

Thank you for sharing your critters and post!

Thanks to all my visitors and for your past and present comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves and respects wildlife. Thank you for linking up a critter post.

Here is my linky:

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! Also, I am also linking up to Heidrun's Mosaic Monday  I hope you can stop by and visit Heidrun and check out the Mosaic Monday post. 

Happy Monday!

Wishing everyone a great day and a happy new week!

"Life is only a reflection of what we allow ourselves to see."

"May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears."  Nelson Mandela

"We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone."

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Saturday's Critters # 474

 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!

Jan 1st was a mild sunny day in the mid 50's. It was our first hike of the new year. Our  hike and birding was at the Conowingo Dam and the Susquehanna River State Park. Winter time is a great time of the year to see the Bald Eagles at river right below the dam, it is an Ebird hotspot. The Great Blue Herons were hanging out along the rocks on the far side of the river and fishing park and they were in their usual spot and rookery on the island. The gulls were mostly Ring-billed Gulls,  too many to count.

1. The Bald Eagle is always the star of the show, they were in the trees at the parking lot, on the electric towers, on the dam wall and on the rocks and in the trees on the opposite side of the river. 

2. Some Bald Eagles, both adult and juvenile are perched on part of the dam wall. Gulls were flying above their heads. 

3. The juvenile Bald Eagle resting on the rocky section of the river with a group of Ring-billed Gulls.

4. Mostly Ring-billed Gulls, but there can also be Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls feasting on the chopped up shad coming out of the dam gates. 

5. I lost count of the Bald Eagles, this Eagle looked to be watching the gulls flying by. 

6. A view of the river and towers, a nice day to be out for a walk and to watch the birds. 

7. Two juvenile Bald Eagles, their heads showing more white. Maybe 2-3 years old? The Bald Eagle has a full white head when it is five years old.

8. Below a gull flying by, a Black Vulture, one juvenile Bald Eagle and two adult Bald Eagles, one had a fish he seemed protective of his meal.

9. On the far side of the river almost every tree had a Bald Eagle, some trees like below had 3 or more Bald Eagles. 

10. Some Great Blue Herons were on the ground and rocky area of the island. 

11. Rock Pigeons were plentiful, sitting on the rocks on the river's shore. 

12. I think some of the Great Blue Herons have picked their favorite nesting spot in the trees on the island. 

Thank you for sharing your critters and post!

Thanks to all my visitors and for your past and present comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves and respects wildlife. Thank you for linking up a critter post.

Here is my linky:

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! Also, I am also linking up to Heidrun's Mosaic Monday  I hope you can stop by and visit Heidrun and check out the Mosaic Monday post. 

Happy Monday!

Wishing everyone a great day and a happy new week!

"Travel light, live light, spread the light, be the light."

"Be a lighthouse, shine for others when they are in darkness."

 "We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone."

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Saturday's Critters # 473

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!

My birding outings slow down in the winter months, I am a wimp when it comes to the cold weather.  I am sharing some birds from my back yard, from our neighborhood and some birds from our Maryland State Parks. 

Click on photos for best viewing!

1. A neighborhood walk, we always enjoy walking our local fire road trails. This trail to the Prettyboy Reservoir has been one of my favorites. On this day we saw a juvenile Bald Eagle sitting on a downed tree on the lake, the Canada Geese are here year round. 

2. When the back yard birds are not eating the peanuts I put out, they are finding some berries to eat. They kind of get lost in the vines where the berries are growing. Below are the Downy Woodpecker, White-throated Sparrow, Carolina Chickadee, Northern Flicker and a squirrel. Can you find the birds?  

3. North Point State Park, located in Baltimore County, Maryland. Here we can see birds in the forest, male and female Bufflehead ducks, various ducks out on the Chesapeake Bay, we saw a group of Tundra Swans and a couple of Belted Kingfishers. I missed the Snow Buntings that were being seen at the end of the fishing pier. 

4. We were watching two Belted Kingfishers, chasing each other along the shore. 

5. I saw a few Song Sparrows on the fishing pier, I was hoping to see the Snow Buntings in this spot. But, they must have moved on. 

6. Back in my yard, a Northern Mockingbird posing on a old dead tree that we left for the woodpeckers. 

Dec 30th, coming back from our walk to the lake I found two Golden-crowned Kinglets bouncing around the trees in our front yard. 

These images are all from December, I am slowing catching up sharing outings and photos. 

Thank you for sharing your critters and post!

Thanks to all my visitors and for your past and present comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves and respects wildlife. Thank you for linking up a critter post.

Here is my linky:

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! Also, I am also linking up to Heidrun's Mosaic Monday  I hope you can stop by and visit Heidrun and check out the Mosaic Monday post.