Happy Monday!

 Wishing everyone a great day and a happy new week!

"Think of the happiest things. It's the same as having wings." Peter Pan

"Curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." Walt Disney

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

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Saturday's Critters # 515

Welcome to Saturday's Critters!

Hello and happy Saturday!

Wishing everyone a Happy Halloween!  🎃😱👻🎃

 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 15th, I almost forgot I did not share the last two days of our trip to Ireland. On this day we visited the Cahir Castle, the Rock of Cashel and drove on to our next stop in the town of Kilkenny. 

1.   Cahir Castle, located in the Tipperary County of Ireland. It is in the Cahir town center and sits on a rocky island in the River Suir. The castle dates back to the 13th century. When Lord Cahir died the castle became the property of the Irish state and named a national monument. 

2. Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail and the Cahir Geese that hang out on the River Suir next to the Cahir Castle walls. 

3. A gaggle of Domestic Geese have become famous in the town of Cahir, seen on and around the Castle grounds. 

4.  Rock of Cashel located in Cashel, Tipperary County Ireland. It is a complex of buildings dated from 12th and 13 centuries. 

5. Views of the countryside surrounding the Rock of Cashel, herds of cattle near the Hore Abbey, Pigeons and I believe the last two images on the right below are of a Raven. 

6.  Hore Abbey is seen from the Rock of Cashel complex. The former Benedictine Abbey was given to the Cistercians in 1270. Now known as the ruins of a Cistercian Monastery.  A herd of cattle are seen on the grounds around the Abbey in the photo below. 

7.  The River Nore and the Kilkenny Castle. 

8. The River Nore runs next to the Kilkenny Castle. There was a nice trail next to the river we saw lots of Pigeons, Mallard Ducks, Grey Heron and a female Blackbird. 

9. Below on the shore of the River Nore are the Pigeons, Hooded Crows and Mallard Ducks. 

Edit: Thanks to Margaret, the birds below are Jackdaws and not the Hooded Crows. 

10.  On the morning of May 16th, we had time to take a early walk along the River Nore and a walk on the ground of the Kilkenny Castle. In my mosaic below are views of the Kilkenny Castle walls next to the river, castle and park land, cute doggie, Eurasian Blackbird, Eurasian Wren, Eurasian Robin and a female Blackbird. 

11. The view of the Kilkenny Castle, we did not have time for a castle tour but we did walk around the grounds outside.  

12. From our walk on the castle grounds and river trail I did find a few birds, below is the Eurasian Robin.

13.  Also on the trail we found the cute Eurasian Wren.  

I hope you enjoyed these Ireland trip photos. Happy memories of our trip and travels. 

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!

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."

Glen Burnie Gardens at the Museum of Shenandoah Valley

"Sometimes later becomes never. Do it now."

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

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Saturday's Critters # 514

  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!

On Sept 16th hubby and I enjoyed a fun outing with our son, DIL and our grandsons at the Catoctin Wildlife Preserve in Thurmont Maryland.  

1. There were a lot of birds to be seen at the wildlife preserve, many were native of Australia and Africa. Parrots, Black Swans, Cockatiel, Parakeets, Storks, Peacock and the Barred Owls are seen in my mosaic. 

2. White bellied Storks also known as the Abdim's Stork, found in Africa. 

3. The butterfly garden, lots of pretty flowers and a few butterflies and bumblebees. Wyatt looking like a junior birdwatcher took control of our binoculars that hubby was using. Wyatt ended up carrying our binocs throughout our visit.  

4.  We had some food for the animals in the children's zoo feeding section. There were goats, llamas, alpacas and some cows.

5. This goat was having a roaring good time, looking for food.

6. This Ring-tailed Lemur looked to be practicing yoga. 

7. Kangaroos with a Giant Tortoise. 

8.  Murals of various birds, it was fun seeing our grandsons posing with these pretty birds. 

9.  We had some food for these Koi fish, they were practically jumping out of the water for the food. 

10. The Green Iguana is one of the largest, they can be found in Florida. 

11. We saw some of the animals like the Zebra  that could be seen  on the wildlife preserve safari ride.   

12.  Giant tortoises look like they were going to kiss. 

We enjoyed our walk through this wildlife preserve, our grandsons loved all the animals and birds.

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!

" An early morning walk is a blessing for the entire day."

Limberlost trail, Shenandoah National Park

"Be like a tree, stay grounded, keep growing and know when to let go."

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

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Saturday's Critters # 513

 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!

This is a mish mash of photos and various dates in September. Some photos may look familiar many are of same birds and the same views but they are taken on different days. I am still a little behind sharing our outings and birdwatching in my neighborhood and in my yard.

1. Sept 5th, our walk on the NCR bike trail. It is a popular trail for bike riders, joggers and walkers like hubby and I.  Images are of the trail, the moon, cardinal flowers and an unknown bird, possibly a Red-eyed Vireo. Just a guess. 

In my yard, at this time I am still enjoying my Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. 

2. Sept 8th, photos are from our morning walk to our local lake. The water levels are getting lower, more mud than water and we are starting to see some Autumn colors. On this day I saw the continuing Solitary Sandpipers, a new sighting for the lake was a Wilson's Snipe, the Belted Kingfisher is always nice to see. 

3. I had to check with the local bird club members to verify this bird's id, most people said it was the Wilson's Snipe, I had a few people that said it was a Whimbrel and some a little far fetch said it was  Limpkin. (At this time a Limpkin was being seen at the C&O canal trail in Potomac Md). The Wilson's Snipe tend to blend in with the muddy surrounding, it has a dark head with whitish stripes, head is round and it has short legs. The bill is long and straight.  On my photo the bill is facing down which might make it look curved some? 

4. On Sept 9th, hubby and I drove around the lake to another fire road. We had to take another trail due to downed trees across our usual trail.  It was a longer walk total 3 miles round trip. I heard more birds than I could see and photograph. The Eastern Box Turtle is almost a rare sighting around here. The Pokeberries and the Devil's Walking Stick berries were plentiful providing the birds lots to eat. 

5.  Sept 10th, at our local lake and just a short walk from our home is my favorite spot for birdwatching lately. Below are the Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Belted Kingfisher, Osprey, a view of the lake with the low water level and another shot of the Green Heron.

6. Sept 10th, on this day I found the Osprey sitting in a near by tree over the lake. 

7.  Sept 10th , the Great Blue Heron is always seen at our lake, the fishing must be good. 

8.  Due to the drought our lake water level is getting very low. 

9. I enjoy seeing the Green Herons at our local lake.  

10.  Sept 11th,  another day and another walk to our local lake.  The Great Blue Herons and Green Herons are constant visitors.  The Bald Eagle flew over a few times. 

11.  Sept 11th continued, unknown bird seen at the beginning of the fire road, the lake and lots of turtles lined up on a log. Canada Geese hanging out on the lake shore, a Double Crested Cormorant and more turtles. 

12. Sept 14th, I have been noticing the warblers are showing up in my yard. Below are the male and female Cape May Warblers. They do love the berries on the Devil's Walking Stick. 

13. Sept 14th, hubby and I took our walk on another section of the NCR trail. I found the Belted Kingfisher and a male Downy Woodpecker.

Still behind I am making some headway sharing our walks and bird sightings.  I hope you enjoyed the birds, turtles 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 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 the path that lifts you up and lights your way."

"Each path goes somewhere, choose your destination."

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

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Saturday's Critters # 512

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 sharing photos from our overnight getaway to Winchester, Virginia to see the Nature Connects exhibit by Sean Kenney at the Museum of Shenandaoh Valley. We went on Aug 30th, the exhibit was ending on Sept 4th.  I first heard about this exhibit on Linda's blog The View from Squirrel Ridge  also on Denise's blog An English Girl Rambles2016.blogspot.com/

The outdoor exhibit features Lego Sculptures which were all nature related. Life size critters made from Legos. We walked around the museum's Glen Burnie Gardens to view each one of the Lego Sculptures. 

1. Sean Kenney is the artist, who created all these wonderful critters made with Legos. 

2. The Polar Bear with cubs was one of my favorites, the cubs are just adorable. The sign along with stating how many Legos were used to created this sculpture it also mentions how these beautiful animals are losing their habitat in the Arctic.

3. Below I am missing the sign but I have photos of both the front and back of the Monarch Butterfly Lego sculpture.  Isn't it a beauty! 

4. The Dodo Bird, this bird has been extinct for a long time. Last known to be seen in 1690 on the island of Mauritius.

5. The Chameleon was so pretty and colorful. These lizards are well known for their distinct range of colors and their tail is used  for stability on the tree branches.  It is another critter that is endangered due to humans and habitat loss. 

6.  The Whooping Crane, the tallest North American bird and it is on the endangered list. Primary reasons are habitat loss and unregulated hunting for the meat and feathers. They depend on a healthy wetland ecosystem. These birds winter on the gulf coast of Texas. 

7. Below is the Sea Turtle hatchling, it is said that just 1 in a 1,000 hatchlings will survive into adulthood. The temperature of the sand determines the gender of the baby sea turtle, the warmer the sand will produce more females. Will climate change and warmer temperature have an effect on genetic diversity?

8. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird sculpture is beautiful, this tiny bird is seen in many gardens including my own.  They migrate south for the winter to Central America and Southern Mexico. These tiny birds will remember where they find shelter and nectar and will return each year.  I am happy to see these Hummingbirds return to my yard each year.  

9. The Zebra travels across the Serengeti with giant herds of Wildebeest and Antelope. The Zebra and Wildebeest will protect and graze together in harmony. The Zebra's  stripes are as distinctive as fingerprints. 

10. The Wildebeest, are native to Eastern and Southern Africa. They are also known as Gnu, also called wild cattle and they are in the antelope family. 

11. The Snow Leopard is found in the Himalayas. They are also in decline, due to threats  from humans and habitat loss. These animals are poached for their skin and their bones are used for traditional medicine. 

12. The Rhinoceros, is also said to be disappearing, due to illegal hunting and there is a loss of habitat. These animals are found in Africa and Asia. 

13. The Coral Reef sculpture was lovely and another favorite.  The Coral Reefs are a diverse and valuable ecosystem on earth. They provide shelter to many species of marine life. Pollution, overfishing mining for coral and the warmer ocean temperatures are damaging the reefs. The recent heat wave in Florida is causing the bleaching of the Florida Coral Reef. The marine life depends on healthy coral reefs. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the largest coral reef. 

14. The Lego Bats were located inside the actual Museum building. The North American Bat is endangered due to a loss of habitat and disease. The bats are very important for insect control and for maintaining a healthy ecosystem. Bats are known to gobble up insects that harm the farmer's crops and reduces pesticide use. 

Sean Kenney is a New York based artist and has been creating Lego Sculptures for 15 years.  His award winning exhibit has been traveling globally since 2012. He is also the author of 9 children's books. 

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.