Happy Monday!

 Wishing everyone a great day and a happy new week!

" Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man."

Cliffs of Moher, Ireland May 2023.

"Nature is the greatest place to heal and recharge."

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

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Saturday's Critters # 502

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!

I am still skipping all around, I am way behind sharing photos from my backyard, neighborhood, our outings and our trip to Ireland. I try to make my post short and not too many photos. The mosaics help to share more photos at one glance. Sorry they are not the larger images. 

You can click on the image to see a larger view.

1. Our walks on the local fire roads and to the lake. Top row is a Green Heron in flight and a group of Canada Geese on the lake, a Great Blue Heron. Bottom row: An Ovenbird, Baltimore Oriole and a deer.

2. Our walk at North Point State Park in Baltimore County. Top row: Mallard Duck pair, Osprey, Slider Turtles. Middle Row: Blue Dragonfly, pair of Tree Swallows, Osprey on nest. Bottom row: Great Blue heron times two and another Slider Turtle. 

3. Our walk at Prettyboy George's Creek. Top row: Eastern Kingbird, Yellow-throated Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo and a White-tailed Skimmer. Bottom row: group of Slider Turtles, a group of Canada Geese with goslings and a Canada Goose with fishing boat nearby. 

4. In our back yard and on our roof: top row is the male Eastern Bluebird and a juvenile Red-bellied Woodpecker. Bottom Row two deer seen in our yard. 

5. Every year hubby and try to visit the York PA rookery. We can see the Black-crowned Night Herons and the Great Egret rookeries. Below are two of the juvenile Black-crowned Night Herons. 

6. Then we saw three more juvenile Black-crowned Night Herons.  The adults stayed mostly hidden in leaves and tree branches. 

7.  One of the many Great Egret nest seen at the York Pa rookery. 

8.  It was neat seeing the Egret chicks, they grow so quickly.

9. Some of the nest were in dead looking trees, below you can see two nest close together with 5 or more Great Egrets. 

10. Also seen at the park and rookery an American Robin. 

11. I also saw a Northern Flicker. A large woodpecker that finds it's food on the ground.

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 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!

"Follow your dreams, they know the way."

Alpacas at the Kerry Cliffs, Portmagee, Skellig Ring, Ireland 

"Happiness is not by chance, but by choice."

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

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Saturday's Critters # 501

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!

May 10th and 11th, I am still making my way through the Ireland photos. 

1. The scenic views and stops were at Galway and on the road to Doolin.  Grey Heron, lots of gulls along the river wall, a Galway street scene, more gulls and Mute Swans on the river bank. 

2. The Grey Heron, it looks very similar to our Great Blue Heron. 

3. Mute Swans were seen all around during our travels. 

4. There were lots of Gulls and Mute Swans along the river bank in Galway. 

5.  Some of the wildflowers seen on the Burrens.

6. I believe this is a Meadow Pipit, there were fields around the back of our lodging and along the road.  As always I hear more birds than I actually see. 

7. The view outside our room for the night in Doolin.

 

8. Hubby and I were in the habit of taking an early morning walk before breakfast and before the tour started for the day. These are the early morning birds I saw in Doolin, the Pied Wagtail, Eurasian Robin, White-throated Dipper, Jackdaw, Rook and the House Sparrows. 

Two Jackdaws on a Doolin rooftop. The jackdaw is smaller than the Crows and has a black crown, wings and tail and paler plumage on the rest of the body. 

9. I was able to watch this White-throated Dipper for awhile, it looks like it found breakfast. 

I enjoyed seeing all the scenery and the birds in Ireland. Each day was a new experience, so much to see.

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 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!

The Coomeenoole Beach surrounded by the cliffs. A view from our tour of the Slea Head Drive, Dingle Peninsula.

"May the best day of your past be the worst day of your future."

"Life is a journey. Travel it well."

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

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Saturday's Critters # 500 & 14th Blog Anniversary

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!

Wow, can you believe today is Saturday's Critters # 500.  I am  also celebrating my 14th blog anniversary which was on the 13th of July. Thanks to all who participate and love critters!  I am very thankful for all of my critter loving bloggers, some have been linking up with Saturday's Critters since the very first post on December 7, 2013. Thank you everyone!  

For this blog anniversary and # 500 Saturday's critters post, I tried to highlight some of my favorite birds and critters. Photos were taken from my Saturday's Critter posts. There is one photo for each month from the period of Dec 2013 to July 2023 in a mosaic. I did add some links to a few of the original posts.

Click on photos for larger viewing.

Dec 2013, one of my earliest critter post, taken on a snowy winter day. The mosaic looks like I had a theme of red going on.  The red color of the Cardinals and winterberries really pop.  My post includes the Northern Cardinals, Mourning Doves, Carolina Wren, Dark-eyed Junco and more Cardinals. 

2014 was a year of  good and bad memories, the good part was I retired from my job after 30 1/2 years the bad part it was the year we lost our Goldie Girl. Photos are our Goldie Girl, Blue Jay with peanut on our deck, gulls with Black Scoter in Ocean City, Alpacas with a cow at the zoo. Second row: Belize birds, Night Heron and Egret rookeries in Maryland and York Pa, backyard Scarlet Tanager with Bluebird, Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Bottom row: Colorado Rocky Mountain NP birds, Ocean City, Terns with Black Skimmers, Heinz NWR in Philadelphia and an American Bittern in Chincoteague NWR Virginia.

2015  Jan 2015 pair of Hooded Mergansers, Edwin Forsythe NJ, Feb 2015 Nibbles our new grandpuppy, March 2015 Florida birds are the Roseate Spoonbills in the Everglades Fl, April 2015 Manatees Merritt Island FL, May 2015. Second row: two Little Blue Herons with a Wood duck at North Point SP, June 2015, Virginia Rail seen in Havre De Grace Md, July 2015 White Pelicans with Whistling Ducks in Ocala Fl, Aug 2015, Oystercatcher in Cape May NJ, Sept 2015. Bottom row: Fritillary Butterfly backyard, Oct 2015 various backyard warblers, Nov 2015 Rhinoceros Auklet in Washington State, Dec 2015 Bald Eagle at Conowingo Md. 

2016 January started with a visit to Assateague, seeing the ponies. An American Tree Sparrow made an appearance on my deck, The Sandhill Cranes were seen on a trip to Tennessee, the following are yard birds: the Red-bellied Woodpecker, Pine Warbler, Carolina Wren. Second row: Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, the neighbor GB Heron Rookery, Downy Woodpecker, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Bottom row: Cape May Warbler, Nashville Warbler and the last two are Florida birds: the Reddish Egret and a Green Heron This was an exciting year, in July 2016 we bought a home in Lakeland Florida. We moved there in Oct 2016. The birds and critters in Florida were a main attraction for me. 

2017 We lived in Florida until March 2017, the first 5 photos: Jan  Glossy Ibis, Feb the Yellow-crowned Night Heron, March the Circle B Alligator, April the Barred owls in Circle B, Second row: May is the Common Snipe are from Florida, June  is the Gray Jay is from our Washington State trip, July  is the YC Night Heron rookery in Baltimore, Aug  are the Avocets in Bombay Hook. Bottom row: Sept our backyard bull frog, Oct , a pair of Northern Flickers, Nov is a Great-horned Owl nest and Dec the Brown Pelican in Sunset Beach NC. 

2018 I included a lot of my yard birds and some birds seen during my travels. Starting with the top row is the Blue Jay, Red-tailed Hawk, Purple Sandpiper seen Ocean City Md, a pair of Pine Warblers with a Downy Woodpecker. Middle row is the Yellow-rumped Warbler with a Goldfinch, Summer Tanager, Great Blue heron on our deck railing, Black Swallowtail. Bottom row: Bombay Hook Great Egret tree. a Screech Owl at my front window, Clapper Rail and my Eastern Bluebirds. 

2019 Top row are the Snow Buntings seen in North Point SP, Iguana in south Florida, a pair of Purple Finches and a Brown Thrasher with a squirrel. Middle row: Two backyard Pileated Woodpecker, Prettyboy Great Blue Heron rookery, Monarch Butterfly and a Black-necked Stilt at Bombay Hook NWR. Bottom row: Sept trip to Iceland various Iceland birds, Cooper's Hawk , Black bear seen on Blueridge Pkwy and a backyard Northern Cardinal.

2020 in the top row are the White Ibis, Coots with an alligator at Pinckney Island NWR SC, Brown Pelicans in Florida, backyard Pine Warbler and Snow Geese and Tundra Swans at Blackwater NWR. Middle row are a pair of American Goldfinches, two Downey Woodpeckers, Granddogs Winnie, Chewy and Nibbles, two Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterflies. Bottom row: Backyard Cape May Warbler, Belted Kingfisher, our dog for a day the Corgi Tater Tot and the  Bald Eagle at Conowingo. 

2021 the top row: backyard Pine Siskin, Eastern Bluebirds, Long-tailed Ducks Delaware Indian River Inlet, backyard Red-breasted Nuthatch. Middle row: backyard Red-headed Woodpecker, Prettyboy Blackburnian Warbler, family of raccoons at Bombay Hook, Scarlet Tanager at Prettyboy. Bottom row: Osprey at Blackwater NWR, Cattle Egret at Chincoteague NWR, Prettyboy pair of  Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and a Prettyboy Winter Wren. 

2022 the top row: Chincoteague NWR ponies, backyard Tufted Titmouse, Prettyboy Trumpeter Swans and Friendly Farms ducks, Prettyboy Hermit Thrush and granddogs. Middle row is a wood Duck at North Point SP, backyard Veery and Scarlet Tanager, backyard Carolina Chickadee, Prettyboy Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Bottom row: backyard White-tailed Deer, Kauai Birds, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and a Merlin in Chincoteague NWR.

Dec 2022 extra, birds seen on our Nov 2022 Jamaica trip 

Below on the top row: on my finger a Yellow-faced Grassquit, the Red-billed-Streamertail on a perch and on hubby's finger, White-chinned Thrush, Jamaican Oriole. The middle row:  the Jamaican Woodpecker, Mango Hummingbird, Black-faced Grassquits in the bath, Bananaquit, Cattle Egrets. Bottom row: the photos from our resort are the Brown Pelican, Great Egret, White-winged Dove, in flight a Tern with a Gull, Magnificent Frigatebird. 

2023: I splitting this partial year up starting with January at Prettyboy the Common Mergansers, February in Cape Henlopen Delaware the Surf Scoter with Grebe and March a Prettyboy lifer the Golden Eagle. 

April 2023: I blogged mostly about the birds and critters from  Puerto Vallarta

In my mosaic below are the Golden-cheeked Woodpecker, San Blas Jay, female Violet-crowned Hummingbird, Crane Hawk, Streaked-back Oriole, female Varied Bunting, female Blue Grosbeak, male Varied Bunting, another Oriole, Inca Dove, Great Kiskadee, Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Groove-billed Ani, Mexican Parrotlet, Vermilion Flycatcher, Masked Tityra, Stripe-headed Sparrow.

April 2023  Marietas Islands Blue-footed Boobies

May 2023: a great sighting of the King Rail seen right next to the Blackwater NWR wildlife drive.  

June 2023: I posted about our walk at the C&O Canal trail and the Great Falls NP in Potomac Md. 

In the mosaic below are the Prothonotary Warbler, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Eastern Bluebird, wildflowers, Slider turtles, Great Blue Heron, Double-crested Cormorants, Mallards and Blue-winged Teal.

July 2023: Ireland Birds I have posted so far. All together I saw 21 new birds {lifers} in Ireland. Eventually I will be posting about all my Ireland birds and lifers. 

Below top row: Tufted Ducks, European Goldfinch, Hooded Crow, Mute Swans with Mallards, Eurasian Moorhen and a Rook.

Middle Row: Great Tit, Pied Wagtail, Eurasian Oystercatcher times two, Mute Swan and the Eurasian Robin.

Bottom Row: Chaffinch, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Eurasian Magpie, Dunnock, Eurasian Robin and the Song Thrush.  

As long as I have participants I will continue my Saturday Critter linky.  Thanks again to everyone who links up and shares their critters.

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 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!

"Still round the corner, there may wait, a new road or a secret gate."  Tolkien

"Take only memories."

Slea Head Drive and a view of Dunmore Head. It is the western most point in Ireland. The ocean was mostly calm on this day, not many waves to be seen. 

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

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Saturday's Critters # 499

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!

I have more birds to share from my yard and from our walks in the neighborhood and fire roads. These posts are also a record of the birds I see, where they were seen and the dates they were seen. 

1. June 3rd, on our walk to the lake we saw the Great Blue Herons, first time 3 seeing Belted Kingfishers together, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Wood Pewee, Mourning Dove, yellow Iris wildflowers and a pink wildflower.

2. The Pileated Woodpecker is a common bird seen and heard in our neighborhood. 

3. June 4th,  our walk at the Hemlock Gorge, Prettyboy.  We saw a lot of Louisana Waterthrushes, a Carolina Wren and an unknown warbler sitting high in a tree, the Dames Rocket and wild Mountain Laurels. 

4. June 4th, one of the six Lousiana Waterthrushes I saw during our walk on the trail at the Hemlock Gorge Prettyboy. 

5. June 4th, a Scarlet Tanager was seen in a tree next to the trail at the Hemlock Gorge area of Prettyboy. 

6. Here are two Lousiana Waterthrushes of three that were seen at this spot near the Prettyboy Reservoir. 

7. June 5th,  a Wood Thrush was walking ahead us on the fire road. 

8. June 5th, we saw one deer walking around our yard, the other two were seen off the fire road during our walk. We have been seeing 2-3 deer in our yard every day. They must be finding lots to eat here. 

9. June 6th, On our morning walk again was on one of the Prettyboy fire roads in our neighborhood.  I was walking ahead of hubby when I thought I saw a dog on the fire road but a closer look it was a fox. 

10. June 9, our walk was on the NCR bike trail.  We walked round trip 3 miles. I saw and heard so many birds, some of the highlights were 3 Scarlet Tanagers chasing each other around. 

11. The Cedar Waxwing is a beautiful bird, I recognized their sounds during our walk too. 

12. The Northern Parula was singing loudly, I heard a few of these birds during our walk.  

I hope you enjoyed my birds and critters!  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 linking up to Heidrun's Mosaic Monday  I hope you can stop by and visit Heidrun and check out the Mosaic Monday post.