Shenandoah Nat'l Park

  I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday .

July 14, 2013

Yesterday I posted that it was my 4th blog anniversary so today starts the beginning of my 5th year of blogging. And this post I am sharing last weekend's daytrip to Shenandoah Nat'l Park.  Shenandoah is one of my favorite places to visit, we hiked my favorite Limberlost trail, we saw lots of birds, we saw a baby bear along the Skyline Drive and some pretty views of the mountain ranges and Shenandoah Valley.

The mosaic above includes the view of the mountain ranges, a baby bear, Brown Thrasher, fungi, bunny, and an Eastern Towhee.

A baby bear we saw along the side of the Skyline Drive. I did not see it's Momma, I hope she was nearby.

Above, I included some of the wildflowers I found in the park.

This Brown Thrasher was taking a dirt bath along the Limberlost trail.

Not sure what these are called but I thought they looked pretty.

The Eastern Towhee was seen along the Limberlost Trail. Other birds seen and heard were the Hooded Warbler, Brown Thrasher, Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, Vireo's, Tufted Titmouse, Veery, Ovenbirds, Dark-eyed Juncos, Indigo Bunting, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Scarlet Tanager, Turkey Vultures and Cardinals.

In this mosaic, there is a view of the valley from the Appalachian Trail, a Scarlet Tanager and going home stuck in traffic I shot a photo of the Shenandoah River at Harpers Ferry.

A view of the Shenandoah Valley seen from the Appalachian Trail.

A Scarlet Tanager was one of the birds we saw along the Appalachian Trail. We also saw a couple of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. We had a fun day at the park, seeing the wildlife and the pretty views of the mountains. I was wishing we had arranged an overnight trip I was not ready to go home.

Our ride home on Rt 340 takes us close to Charlestown WVA and thru Harpers Ferry. Above the traffic came to a stop on the bridge over the Shenandoah River in Harpers Ferry. The view is pretty where the Shenandoah River meets up with the Potomac River in Maryland. My second blog post back in 2009  Tubing the Shenandoah River was about our fun trip tubing down this river.

I hope enjoyed my post on Shenandoah Nat'l Park. Thanks for visiting my blog. I always appreciate your comments.
Join in on the fun and for more wonderful photos please visit  Mosaic Monday and more from  Our World Tuesday
 Thanks to our host: Mary our host of Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy and Jennifer.  I wish everyone a happy week!

4th blog Anniversary

I am linking up Camera Critters and I'd-Rather-b-birdin I hope you will join in on the fun and share your critters and birds.

It is hard to believe 4 years have passed since I started this blog on July 13, 2009. For my 4th anniversary post I am sharing some photos I posted previously or as near to my blog's previous anniversaries.

 My first post was short and sweet, just talking about the Caribbean cruise we took and it included a photo of one of my trip lifers.. the Brown Booby seen between St Thomas and St John.

Brown Booby seen during a boat ride from St Thomas to St John..July 2009.

  Our first port of call during this Caribbean cruise was San Juan, Puerto Rico. From the fort we could see an iguana on the grass and our ship in the distance.

My 1st blog Anniversary July 2010, I posted about my backyard birds, like the juvenile Redbellied Woodpecker.

Also, in July 2010 a Sandhill Crane was sighted in Elkton Maryland.

 My 2nd Anniversary in July 2011, I was driving around the back roads in Maryland looking for new birds.. On this day I saw the Redheaded woodpecker and.......

another favorite find while driving the back roads was this pretty Eastern Meadowlark another July 2011 bird.

In July 2012, my son and his friends and hubby and I cruised to Bermuda from Baltimore. It was a great trip and most likely the last cruise we will take.

 I loved this beach we visited in Bermuda, the sand, water and sky were beautiful.

 These Bermuda birds are (Long-tail) White-tailed tropicbirds.

Back at home in July 2012 I was posting the juvenile Catbirds in my yard. It is not often I see two catbirds so close together. I believe these were juveniles at the time of the photo. This is not a fancy anniversary post and sorry no giveaways, just a quick look back at previous years post. Thanks for stopping by and I always appreciate my blogging friends following my blog and all your comments over the years.

Besides  these two favorites Camera Critters and I'd-Rather-B-Birdin.
I am sharing some more of my favorite blogs to read and visit. Maybe you might know these bloggers already if not you may enjoy visiting their blogs too.

I think everyone knows Betsy from Tennessee, she blogs about hikes and trips with her hubby George. Betsy also shares her pretty gardens and flowers.

I love to travel and this blog makes it easy to travel to Australia by visiting Red from Oz. She shares awesome scenery and reports on her own travels in OZ the land down under.

To see some awesome photography you should definitely visit  Brian King Photography. You will see beautiful birds, flowers and more.

If you have a birding blog I am sure you know Stewart with his Wild Bird Wednesday blog but
Stewart from Australia has two blogs. On this blog Stewart shares more stories about his life and birding trips.

Last but not least, if you are addicted to birds like I am you should check out Kathie's birds . Kathie lives in Arizona and does some great reporting on the Arizona birds.

I hope if you have time click on my links and visit with my blogging friends and their blogs.

 I wish everyone a happy weekend.

 To see more beautiful photos and cute critters

 please visit:  Camera Critters and I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious hosts Misty Dawn of Camera Critters and to Anni of I'd Rather-B-birdin.