Saturday's Critters # 657

   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!

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir

I am sharing walks with Miney and Hubby at our local favorite spots, Prettyboy watershed and reservoir, the NCR bike trail in Parkton Md, Georges Creek and a bonus with our visit with son and grandkiddies. 

Click on images for better viewing.

1. Our walk with Miney at the NCR trail. 

Merlin birds at the NCR tral.

"Birds are nature's living jewels."

Two Barn Swallows on a wire sitting above the NCR parking lot.

2. Below we started off with a walk at the George's Creek trail, it was so overgrown we had to turn back and head to a different trail. 

Possible Northern Rough-winged Swallow near the Prettyboy Dam. 

For a short bit of trail and back to our car, I did hear a lot of birds around the creek.

"Happiness is enjoying the little things."

3. On this day it was just me and Miney on our local fire road.  We walk around a mile, I included my merlin birds heard on this walk also. 

4. Some clematis are growing near the side and end of our driveway.  Another walk with Miney on the fire road.  

Merlin Bird heard on the Prettyboy fire road.

5. Love Miney and the pretty ferns.

"Slow down and enjoy the peace of nature."

6. This trail below is another local trail, I call it the pine tree loop trail.  

7. Another day and another walk on our local fire road. It is convenient I do not have to drive, it is close to home. 

8. I took Miney out for a quick walk before we headed to visit with my son and grandkiddies.  

Hubby with grandchildren at our son's home.  

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.

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.

Check out  Catblogosphere.com

Here is my linky:

Thank you for sharing your critters and post! 

Saturday's Critters #240

Welcome to Saturday's Critters!

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!

These are some birds and images from my visit to North Beach, Maryland.

Snowy Egret

Barn Swallow

I am guessing this is a Yellowlegs, not sure though.

Osprey,  one of many seen around the Chesapeake Bay.

The Osprey was perched on this tower.

Double-crested Cormorants.

I am again guessing, this is a Snowy Egret.

I appreciate and thank everyone who links up their post and for all the wonderful comments ! 

Here is a list of my linky parties;

Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni.

Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

Saturday's Critters #191

Welcome to Saturday's Critters!

If you love critters 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 some critters from our last visit to Shenandoah Nat'l Park and Skyline Drive. It is a favorite place for a daytrip,  we enjoy hiking on the trails and just riding on the Skyline Drive.

I have to admit, seeing the black bears at this park is a thrill. This black bear below looked kind of young and skinny. I hope it survives.

On the Limberlost Trail I watched these two Hairy Woodpeckers pecking at the same tree. The Hairy Woodpeckers look like the Downy Woodpecker only bigger in size. Their bill is larger in size too. It is hard getting a clear shot of one moving woodpecker much less two woodpeckers. Their heads are always pecking into the trees, lol.

I believe this is the Field Sparrow below, if not I would appreciate the id help. It was seen at the Big Meadows, Shenandoah. The Field Sparrow has a pink bill.

Also on our Big Meadows walk we saw lots of Swallows, I believe these are the Barn Swallows.

The Big Meadows is an awesome spot in the park for a walk. We saw lots of butterflies and birds. I think this is the Wood Nymph Butterfly. Edited my butterfly id thanks to Karolina.

I appreciate and thank everyone who links up their post and for all the wonderful comments! I hope you enjoy my post and photos too!



Here is a list of my linky parties;
Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni.

Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

Point Wilson Lighthouse

Happy Thursday,

I am continuing our travels in Washington state on this post. We were driving on Route 20 and after taking the Coupeville Ferry we arrived in Port Townsend. We visited the Fort Worden State Park and the Point Wilson Lighthouse in Port Townsend.

These are some images of the lighthouse, beach and birds seen on our walk around the park. It was a cloudy day, luckily no rain during our walk on the beach and around the lighthouse.

The sky blends into the white color of my blog post. This is the Point Wilson Lighthouse, located in Port Townsend Washington.

A walk on the beach, the body of water is the Strait of Juan de Fuca and is at the west entrance to the Puget Sound.

My mosaic shows various birds we saw while walking on the beach and around the grounds of the park. Some are the Common Murre, various Gulls,  Red-necked Grebe, Common Mergansers, Rhinoceros Auklets, Fox Sparrows, Barn Swallow, Oregon Junco and Wilson's Warbler. Click on the mosaic for an enlarged image, the birds look a little better.

Walking on the beach, I had a different view of the lighthouse.

Below is my Lunapic edit of the photo above, I like how the sky changed color.

I loved this rusty old canoe.

My thankful list for today:

It should go without saying, I am thankful to wake up each morning.
I am thankful to be able to travel. Our country has some beautiful places to visit.
I thank you for visiting and your comments.

I hope you enjoyed my post and photos.  Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments. Have a happy day!

Thank you Michelle for hosting. Thankful Thursday

Thank you to the hosts of   Skywatch Friday

Various Swallows

Hello,


I am sharing various swallows we saw while visiting Washington State and some other Swallows seen while on other trips. I have a mix of Tree Swallows, Barn Swallows, Northern Rough-winged Swallows, an awful photo of the Violet-green Swallow, a distant look at Cave Swallows.  I am always working on getting what I think is a great shot of any bird I see. When it comes to a new bird, I will keep what I think is an awful photo just to record the time I actually saw my life bird.


Barn Swallows on their nest under the pier. The Barn Swallows have a steel blue upperpart and a rufous forehead, chin and throat.

Barn Swallow collecting mud for their nest. The building a cup nest from mud pellets.

Two Northern Rough-winged Swallows. These swallows are brown above and white underparts. Their throat is white with a brownish gray wash.

They usually nest near streams, we saw these birds next to the Hoh River in the Olympic National Park.

This swallow photo below  is not my best, I will still have to work on getting a better shot of the Violet-green Swallow. I was able to get an id confirmation with this photo and that is why I am keeping it for now.  This swallow has long pointed wings, has a glossy green color on top of it's head and white cheeks.

Below, a Tree Swallow sky. Swallows are fast flyers and it is very hard for me to get a clear shot and closeup of a moving swallow.

Tree swallow talk. These swallows have a iridescent blueish-green upper part and white underparts.

Below are the Cave Swallows seen as they excited the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. They nest in natural caves. They have grey-blue upperparts and brown-tangerine forefront. It is hard to see their colors in my photo.

Other swallows seen in my area are the Bank Swallow and the Cliff Swallows.

Thank you for stopping by and as always I appreciate your comments.

My list of memes for today, I hope to see you there. Thanks to both of the host below.


Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes
Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

Saturday's Critters #140

Saturday's Critters #140

Happy Saturday, it's time to share your critters and post. Any kind of critter will do, even a new or old post.. I appreciate everyone who is linking in with this week's critter party.

I assume the birds have nothing better to do in the Florida weather than to just hang out and stay cool. These are more birds we saw at the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive.

The Little Blue Heron seem to be one of the more common birds we saw on this day.

White Ibis has a cool looking bill color.

Great Blue Heron with an Egret in the background. This Heron almost blends in with the sticks all around.

There were a lot of Barn Swallows hanging out near a bridge, I believe their nest was under the bridge. One bird look different below do you see it?

Update: Thanks to Ken for the id of my unknown bird below. It is the Bank Swallow.

The Swallows are sweet birds, I love seeing them flying around doing what they do best catching the bugs. As always thanks for the visits and the nice comments. I also thank everyone who is linking up and sharing their critters.. Happy Saturday, have a great weekend!

An InLinkz Link-up

To see more beautiful birds and cute critters, check out these two memes below.

Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni.  Also check out Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting this fun meme.