SWF>>>>Dawn to Dusk

I am linking up my post with  Skywatch Friday

This post starts with the sunrise from my deck, there were a little bit of clouds around that turned pink and the moon was setting. I am always up early and on this day 11/19  hubby and I planned a daytrip to the Susquehanna River to see the eagles. Migrating eagles usually stop at the river below the dam for a break. On this day we saw about 39 eagles, I am sure there were more eagles hidden  by the trees and rocks on the river.

I heard from my friend that the following weekend there were over 100 eagles seen at the same spot below the Conowingo Dam. Usually, the perfect time to see a lot of the eagles at this river is when it is really cold and the river is low.

A couple of eagles with a few Black Vultures.

A view of the Susquehanna River and the pretty sky.

Three eagles on the tower at the river

Back at home the view of the sunset from my mailbox and street.

I hope you can take some time to check out some more beautiful skies from around the world.

Click here for  Skywatch Friday.  Thanks to the hosting group: Sylvia, Sandy, Wren and Fishing Guy.

Also, thanks for stopping by to see my skies. I hope everyone has a safe and Happy weekend.

Neighborhood and backyard birds

I am linking up with World Bird Wednesday  and  Nature Notes

This weekend we some family things to do and a friends surprise 50th birthday party so we stayed close to home for our walks.  I did some backyard birding and hubby and I took a walk on the fireroad near the side of the house.

Some of my backyard birds were the Redbellied Woodie, Tufted Titmouse and a Junco.

These are some shots from along the fireroad and down to the lake.

One of the two  Hermit Thrushes we saw playing along a small creek off the fireroad.

One of the four eagles we saw while out for a walk. The other three were juvies that were chasing each other.

A few of the Canada Geese we saw on the lake. They were pretty noisy, I thought maybe because the eagles were nearby.

My youtube video of the geese and one of the eagles we saw at our lake. Not really our lake but I like to call it ours, it is just a short walk out the back door.


To see more beautiful birds check out World Bird Wednesday  and Nature Notes.  Thanks to Springman of World Bird Wednesday and to Michelle of Nature Notes.

Birding the Eastern Neck NWR

Working a full time job makes it hard for me to go on the chase for lifers. I am a little envious of other birders who can run and see new birds at any time. So,  when I do get the chance to see a "rare" bird on the weekends I grab my hubby and I am on the go too. On this weekend the rare bird was a Golden Crowned Sparrow, sighted in Kent County across the Chespeake Bay.  The Golden-crowned_Sparrow is a western bird, seen in the west coast states of the USA. I used Wikipedia's link for a photo because even though I saw the bird I was not able to get a photo. Still I was a happy birder, just being able to see the Golden Crowned Sparrow and to add a new bird to my life list.

Here a few of the other birds we saw in the same area as the Golden Crowned Sparrow.


                                    A field of  Snow Geese

White Throated Sparrows, Cardinal and Bluejays. Every once in a while my new lifer the Golden Crowned Sparrow would join these other birds down on the ground.

                                        Cedar Waxwings

Not a bird but, I thought this sheep sticking its head thru the fence was funny and cute.

After being able to see the Golden Crowned Sparrow twice, hubby and I visited the Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge. It was a cold windy so most of the birding was done by car on the wildlife drive.

One of the first birds we saw at the refuge was the Bald Eagle.

The Bufflehead ducks and some Scaups pictured below were bobbing around in the Chesapeake Bay.

A view of the Eastern Neck Wildlife Refuge.

These are my Camera Critters for this week, I hope you enjoyed them. To see more cute and wonderful critters please visit Misty Dawn's Camera Critters

Thanks for stopping by to see my post. Have a great weekend and good birding!

Conowingo Eagles

My hubby and I love to go and see the Eagles at the Susquehanna River here in Maryland our latest trip was on 11/20. During the winter months hundreds of eagles can be seen perched in trees, on the electric towers, sitting on the rocks and fishing in the river. The drive for us is less than an hour but, some people drive hours to get there just to see the eagles.


To all... please have respect for the birds and wildlife.  I do believe photographers can get their great shots without having to stress the birds.

Today, I found out that there is one photographer getting closer to the eagles and other birds, scaring  them away to the disappointment of all the other birders and photographers. This photographer is crossing the line and is harassing the birds. He is kayaking out to an island to get a closer photo. This idiot has not only done this once but has been seen on various days.

On the day we were there at least thirty or more Great Blue Herons standing along the edge of the island. The island is in the middle of the Susquehanna River below the dam.

This "photographer" is the talk of various wildlife photography forums and now these wildlife photographers are taking pictures of the idiot walking on the island and in his kayak. You can do a search on flickr to see some great eagle shots and photos of this jerk in his kayak. Apparently, I am not the only person who is mad at this guy. How far will this guy go to get his photo? He is totally disgusting and obviously not a birder. I have to say that not all professional photographers are rude idiots and just uncaring to the wildlife.

 My eagles photos are not the greatest, my lens does not reach far enough to get a good shot, you can click here to see Great eagle photography.  The flight shots are awesome.

Black Vultures circling the island, these birds were perched on the tower but all took off flying at the same time.

From what I have read while the idiot is there walking on the island the birds all take off and fly away.

I love the birds and would never harass or stress birds or any animal to get a photo of them. I do not understand why some people have to get closer and closer to the wildlife. Not only are they scaring the wildlife away they are ruining the moment for other people that are there just to enjoy.

Sorry my Camera Critters post is a rant but I just need to have my say.

To see more cute critters click on my link. Thanks to Misty Dawn for hosting and thanks for stopping by to see my post.

Birding the Susquehanna

On Saturday my hubby and I decided to visit the Conowingo Dam on the Susquehanna River. This time of the year the Bald Eagles are migrating and hundreds of them can be found at the river right below the dam.  The eagles attract birders and professional photographers from all over. I felt a little out of place with my Canon Powershot when I see the professionals photographers there with their bazooza lenses. But, then I am just taking my photos for fun and to keep a record for my birding log and not for the fame or money. Sorry, the zoom on my camera does not give me the clearest shots of the eagles on the rocks across the river.

So on to the birds I saw at the river. Beside all the Adult Bald Eagles we saw various stages of the juvenile Eagles. The adult Bald Eagle has the white head and tail and striking yellow bill and feet. The adult plumage starts around age 5. There were also high numbers of Great Blue Herons, Cormorants and Black Vultures, pigeons and seagulls. I was told earlier in the day there was a Peregrin Falcon and a Golden Eagle. The Bald Eagles are the main attraction. The eagles put on a great show and are awesome to watch in flight, chasing each other and stealing fish. The Eagles usually show up starting in late October and stay maybe thru March. There are some Eagles that are at the river year round. The Eagle population is steadily increasing over the years since the pesticide DDT has been banned.



This picture below shows some adults and some of the juvenile Bald Eagles in various stages.

Below , is the closest shot I could get of their big and awesome looking yellow bill.

Below a picture shows one adult eagle perched on top of the rock and below are all the cormorants, black vultures and pigeons.

Below,  are a few adult Eagles, juvenile Eagles and a few Great Blue Herons hanging out together.

My header shot is of the river showing some beautiful yellow fall foliage. When we looked in the binoc's there were also eagles sitting in these trees.

I am link up with Mary's Mosaic Monday and Drowey Monkey's Mellow Yellow Monday and That's My World

Thanks to the wonderful host of these fun memes and thank you for stopping by to see my post.

Blue Monday, Blue Sky and Bald Eagles

On Sunday morning, my hubby and I went for a walk along the Susquehanna River. It has a nice trail to walk along the river and enjoy the birds. There must have been hundreds of Great Blue Herons  standing on rocks in the river. And in the sky we watching juvenile Eagles chasing each other and some adults flying nearby. The sky and the river were both a pretty blue and the weather was perfect.

Hundreds of Great Blue Heron standing on rocks in the river.

Not the best eagle photos, but my camera only goes so far.

It was fun watching the eagles chasing each other.

I am linking my post to Sally's Blue Monday  stop by and visit the Blue Monday post.

Thanks for visiting my blog and I appreciate your comments.

Birding at the Blackwater NWR

The Blackwater refuge is one of my favorite place to go birding. This time of year the shorebirds are back, Ospreys and Eagles are all on their nest. Turtles are sunning themselves on the shore,  rocks and fallen trees. It is just a wonderful time of year to see nature and some great birds.

                                 Osprey working on their nest, please click on photos images look better enlarged

A far away view of the Eagle parents. I had heard from volunteers at the visitor center that  there were two eaglets in the nest.

To see more click here for Susan's  Outdoor Wednesday and Michelle's Nature Notes

Thanks to the both of them  and for stopping by to see my post.

Susquehanna, Conowingo Eagles

The Susquehanna River trail is a trail my hubby and I frequent often. The Susquehanna River is 444 miles long. And is the longest river on the East coast. It starts in New York, goes thru Pennsylvania and empties in the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.

The Susquehanna River, my entry for Watery Wednesday. To see more great Watery photos go and see 2sweetnsaxy at Watery Wednesday

We love to go and see the Eagles below the Conowingo Dam. We see other birds at the river below the dam but the Eagles are the main attraction.  The guy pictured above was just about over my park car, he was eating a big catfish. I was able to zoom in on him.

                                           

Bald Eagle sitting on a rock in the river

                                                    Juvenile Bald Eagle

The Eagles are there year round but in the winter the numbers increase dramatically. Our last visit was Sunday a week ago and there were well over a hundred Eagles juvies and adults maybe mo


I know I posted about these Eagles previously but, it is a favorite place of mine to visit especially when I able to see the Eagles.

Thansk for stopping by to see my That's my World post  to see more photos from around the world go to

That's My World. Thanks to the hosting team of  Sylvia, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy, Klaus and Louise.

Viewing Eagles at the Susquehanna and Conowingo

Pictures are clickable.




The Bald Eagle at the Susquehanna River



The Susquehanna River below the Conowingo Dam is a the best place I know to see the Bald Eagles. Usually I can see the Eagles there year round, not as many are there in summer but the counts goes way up in the winter months. There was one time last year the count was around 175. The most I have ever seen an estimated amount of 125 and it was the last weekend in November, 2008. I am hoping to be able to see the same this year.




I guess the Bald Eagle can be considered a critter too? For more Camera-Critters # 75click on my camera critter link.





The Eagles can be seen flying up and down the river, they are great to see fishing. They sit in the trees above the parking lot. The juveniles are fun to watch chasing each and the sounds they make are just wonderful.





The juvenile eagles will chase each try to to steal each others fish, we have seen the juveniles and the adults in the trees eating the fish they caught.




The Susquehanna river is the one place I know where you can view and compare the juveniles at their different stages of reaching their adult plumage.






Osprey are also at the river and build their nest in the towers seen in the river. The Osprey are another bird I like to watch fish, they are just awesome.





There is also a Great Blue Heron rookery in the trees along the shore of the river. There have been times we have seen hundreds of Great Blue Herons.

The Great Blue Heron, this photo only shows a small part of all the GB Herons that were there the day of our visit.



Cormorants, this picture only shows a small section of Cormorants that were there.





On another visit we have seen probably a thousand Cormorants and during another visit there were tens of thousand Seagulls.
It was the most amazing sight and the most gulls I have ever seen. It was like a white-out, so many gulls flying around us.







The Baltimore Orioles have been know to nest in the trees along the river. I have the seen the Baltimore Orioles in the treetops along the river and the walking trail. And in the spring you can see breeding warblers and other warblers resting during their journey north. In the spring you can walk on the trail that follows along the river and see many different wildflowers and butterflies.