Happy New Year 2024

 Happy New Year 2024

May the New Year bring you happiness, peace and prosperity. Wishing you a wonderful New Year!

Comments off! Have a great day!

Saturday's Critters # 524

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 wish everyone all the best in 2024, a very Happy and Healthy New Year! 

This is my last critter post and linky for 2023. I want to thank everyone who has participated and commented throughout the year.  I hope to see you and your critters in 2024. 

I am sharing some of my yard birds and local birds from our walks around our lake and to the NCR bike trail.  I am still catching up with my photos, these were mostly from November and early December. 

1.  Late fall we enjoyed a walk on the NCR bike trail. My bird sightings were the Brown Creeper and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. The Brown Creeper can be hard to find it blends in well with the bark of the tree.

2. Below are a few yard birds and neighborhood raptor.  A yard bird is the Dark-eyed leucistic Junco, he is a cutie. 

3. In the back corner of our yard, I noticed a flock of Cedar Waxwings.  They found some berries on a nearby tree. I counted 10 Waxwings, there may have been more. 

4. On our walk to the lake, we watched some Blue Jays and a Vulture flying around a hawk perched high in the tree. 

5. At the local lake, we found a Bald Eagle taking a bath. The Canada Geese were not too far away. The bottom right photo is an unknown in my back yard. 

6. Our outings are not always nature related, we do visit with our son, DIL and grandsons and of course we love seeing our grand-dogs Winnie and Nibbles. They are cute critters. 

Christmas with the family and the grand-dogs.

7. The Tufted Titmouse hanging out in our front yard too, this one is sitting in the rhododendron outside our den window.  

8. I've been seeing and hearing the White-throated Sparrows around my yard. Sometimes they come to the deck for the peanut nuggets I put out on our deck railing. 

9. The Blue Jays seem to be the most common bird seen in my yard. They can grab up to 5 of the peanut nuggets at one time. 

I hope you enjoyed my birds and critters. Thank you for sharing your critters and post! Happy New Year to you and your family!  

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.

Merry Christmas 2023!

 Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

"May the Christmas season fill your home with joy, your heart with love and your life with laughter.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

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

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Saturday's Critters # 523

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!

Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday weekend! 

Nov 7th, I arranged for a birding tour in Turks and Caicos with a local birding guide. We were picked up at our resort 7am and we drove to the Wheeland Pond not too far away. It was a short outing, in 1 hour and 20 minutes we saw 41 species and 291 individuals, most of the birds I was able to take a photo of and a few I missed the shot. These are some of the birds we saw, I did see a few lifers. One lifer was the Mangrove Cuckoo, I saw it through my binocs but I could not get a good photo. 

1. On the way to the main pond, we stopped along the road to see the juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Gray Kingbird and the Royal Terns. 

Click on photos for larger viewing. 

A Spotted Sandpiper was seen at the beginning of the pond.

2. Below are the Black-necked Stilts and shorebird friends.

White-cheeked Pintail with American Avocet and another photo of the Black-necked Stilts.

3. Plovers, Sanderlings, Ruddy Turnstone and the 4th bird in front is another lifer the Wilson's Phalarope. 

4. Another lifer is the Thick-billed Vireo. 

5. A lifer, the White-cheeked Pintails. They are very cute, I like their colorful bill.

6. A closeup of the White-cheeked Pintails, it is a lifer for me. The White-cheeked Pintails are sitting close to a Ruddy Turnstone and a Killdeer. 

7. More of the same, the Black-necked Stilts, Plovers, Killdeer and the White-cheeked Pintails. 

8. Plovers, Killdeer, Ruddy Turnstone and more.

9. Black-bellied Plovers and an American Golden Plover. 

10. A view of the pond, mangroves and native plants. 

I hope you enjoyed all the birds I saw in Turks and Caicos, it was a short and fun trip. 

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!

"Smile more than you cry, give more than you take and love more than you hate."

Wheeland Pond, Turks and Caicos

"Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land."

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

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Saturday's Critters # 522

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!

Nov 5-9th, 2023 hubby and I enjoyed a short getaway to Turks and Caicos. Also known just as TCI, it is a British territory. These islands are located close to the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic. The Turks Islands consist of 8 major islands and many smaller islands inhabited. We stayed at a beach resort located in the Grace Bay area of the island of Providenciales.  

1. A view from our resort at Grace Bay, on the island of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. 

"Collecting memories one destination at a time."

The TCI waders seen were the Great Blue Herons flying over the bay, Great Egret and Green Heron at the resort. 

2.   The Great Egret was one of the birds seen  at our resort.  This egret may have been looking for a dinner of  a lizard. 

Workers at the resort said the Green Heron was their friend, hanging around the pool area and outside restaurant areas. 

3. I saw a few kitties at the resort, they may be enjoying the lizard meals too. 

4. Enjoying a relaxing time on a beach chair, I watched these Great Blue Herons fly by, until they were closer  I thought they were Brown Pelicans. 

5. Another look at the Green Heron this one was on top of an umbrella over a pool chair.  

Sunset, moon and Kestrel sighting. 

6. From our balcony, this American Kestrel (TCI version has more of a white chest) was perched on the roof right above us. 

7. The Brown Anole, they can have a whitish or yellow pattern on it's back. They are found in the Caribbean and Florida and expanding north in coastal Georgia. They eat insects and spiders. Other lizards seen in TCI are the Curly-tailed Lizard.

Smooth-billed Ani

8. The Smooth-billed Ani, it was neat seeing this group of 6 Ani's. They make a strange sound, announcing their arrival.  They also hung around the resort area. 

9. Another shot of the Smooth-billed Ani, it is a glossy backed cuckoo with an oversized bill. They eat insects, lizards and fruits, groups of these birds do everything together. 

10. A closer look at the bill of the Smooth-billed Ani. 

11. I found another Kestrel at the resort, this time on the path to the beach.  We saw a pair of them almost every day of our visit. 

"Life is short and the world is wide."

Hubby and I love to travel, hubby was able to snorkel at Grace Bay, I was happy with my book and a beach chair with a beautiful view. Another day I was able to arrange to do some birding with a local birder. I will have one more post on the birding outing with the local guide. I hope you enjoyed seeing some of 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 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 beach is calling I must go."

"Life takes you down many paths, but the best ones lead you to the beach."

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

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Saturday's Critters # 521

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 continuing with my last post on our visit to Chincoteague Island NWR. Oct 11th, was our last morning at Chincoteague before the drive home. We started off with the sunrise on the beach, watching hundreds of Swallows feeding on insects at Tom's Cove and the usual waders seen along road to the beach.

1. Starting off our day with a pretty sunrise at Chincoteague. 

"Nature unfolds her treasure at the first ray of sunrise."

2. I like this shot of the gull walking toward me, I believe it is a juvenile Laughing Gull. 

3.  Near the beach I parked facing Tom's Cove,  we enjoyed watching this large group of swallows flying around the wetland grasses , there must have been lots of bugs for the swallows to eat.

4.  Along the road to the beach, a Belted Kingfisher was sitting in a dead tree overlooking the water. 

5. We saw a large flock of White Ibis, a Great Egret and two Tricolored Herons. 

6. One of the Tricolored Herons looked upset to share the space. 

7. The Chincoteague ponies are always a treat to see if they come up close, this was the closest we were able to see them.  

8. There were two foals mixed in with the older group.

9. A pretty Great Egret taking a break.  

We enjoyed our 2 days at Chincoteague, the beach scene and the birds are always a beautiful sight to see. I hope you enjoyed my post.

Tomorrow is my hubby's birthday, Happy Birthday Hubby!

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.