Saturday's Critters # 619

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!

Florida was one of my favorite places for birdwatching.  It seemed like the birds did not spook easily with so many people around.  I always try to keep a good distance from any wildlife. Owls are one of my favorite species of birds.  These are all archived images and these Owls were all seen during our time visiting or living in Lakeland Florida. 

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

Click on images for better viewing.

1. The Burrowing Owls seen at the park in Cape Coral Florida. 

The Burrowing Owl is 7-11 inches long. They have brown head and wings white white spots. They are year round residents. They nest and roost in burrows, when threatened they can make rattling and hissing noises like a rattle snake. They eat large insects, frogs and small rodents. 

"Every moment of life is precious."

"Smile, life is too short to be unhappy." Does it look like the owl below is smiling? 

Keep wildlife wild!

Leave no trace! Respect the wildlife!

2.  Barred Owls seen at the Circle B Reserve near Lakeland Florida. 

This pair of Barred Owls were often seen sitting in trees close to the Circle B Reserve's parking lot.  

The leaves and moss almost hide these Barred Owls, there were times we saw three Barred Owls sitting close together.  There are two in the photo below, possibly the adult male and female. 

6. The Great Horned Owl and owlets seen at the Lake Parker Park in Lakeland Florida. Their nest were on the lights at the soccer field. Some of the light poles had an Osprey nest, I guess they did not mind having their nest close to the Owl's nest.  

The owlets are adorable, the nest sat high on the lights over the soccer field.  

Below you can see part of 2 Great Horned Owlets with an adult behind them. 

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 # 589

 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!

Today is National Payday it Forward, spread the kindness!

On this last Saturday of March, I continue with a mish-mash of photos. I am sharing my yard birds, walks around the lake, on the fire roads and photos of our dog Miney. 

Click on images for better viewing.

1. Feb 21st, looking out my kitchen window I noticed this hawk sitting in a tree at the end of our driveway. Needless to say my yard birds all went into hiding.  I am guessing that it is a Red-shouldered Hawk. But, the Red-tailed Hawk is another common raptor seen in my neighborhood. 

2. The hawk seems to have something in it's sight line, staring intently.  

3. Feb 23rd, we took Miney on a walk to the Prettyboy reservoir to see the Eagle's nest.  We did not see the Eagles, I hope all is well with their nest.  We did see lots of Canada Geese and some Common Mergansers.

4. Miney always enjoys her walks, on this day we had a short car ride around to another section of the reservoir. 

5. Lots of Canada Geese on the lake and on the far shore I see at least one Common Merganser, usually there we see lots of the Mergansers in this area.

6. Feb 25th, I took Miney on a shorter walk. Just up and down the street.  During my walks, I could hear the Hairy Woodpecker, American Robins and some crows. 

7. A Facebook flashback from From 2015, 10 years ago. I would see many American Goldfinches in my yard and at the feeders.  I am missing them now because I no longer put out bird seed in feeders. This is a male starting to get his summer colors and black forehead.

8. Flashback Feb 2017, two Barred Owls sitting in a palm tree at my favorite birding spot Circle B in Florida.

 

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.

Here is my linky:

Thank you for sharing your critters and post!

Saturday's Critters # 560

 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 skipping all around with my posts, sharing photos and outings I have not shared yet. These are all photos from my yard and deck, the local fire road and the nearby lake. 

A juvenile Red-bellied Woodpecker stopped in for a meal.

One of the many bunnies in our yard.  

These are from a walk on our local fire road trail, we heard two Barred Owls calling. I could only find one. Also in the mosaic are the Brown Thrasher, Blue Jay and the Peacock. 

Below, the Swallowtail butterflies are loving our butterfly bushes. 

A walk to our local lake, I saw a mama deer with her fawn. I like the reflection on the lake.  

A Thrush, maybe a young Wood Thrush?

The Downy Woodpecker is a regular visitor to my deck, they like the peanut suet balls. 

These images take me to the end of my July images, more of my Alaska trip photos to come soon. 

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.

Here is my linky:

Thank you for sharing your critters and post!

Saturday's Critters # 449

  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!

Images are from various local walks, views of the Prettyboy Reservoir, NCR bike trail, the grand-dogs, various birds and wildlife and Hashawha Nature Park. 

Click on images for larger viewing.

1. June 25th images of the Ruby-throated hummingbirds are quickly emptying my feeders. I am seeing 4-5 hummingbirds flying around my feeders, plants and yard.

2.  June 25th  The male and female Hummingbirds are seen regularly, I think their young are being seen now too. 

3. June 27th, the deer was standing at the end of our driveway, walks on the fire road with the grand-dogs and an Ovenbird seen during our walk. 

4. June 27, the Ovenbird is a common bird seen and heard in our local forest. 

5. June 28th, our walk was on the NCR bike trail at Bentley Springs, we saw the deer, Eastern Phoebe, various wildflowers, Louisiana Waterthrush and the Belted Kingfisher. 

6. June 29th, our walk with the grand-dogs to the lake, only birds photographed were the Canada Geese. On this day I heard more birds than I actually saw.  The Yellow-billed Cuckoo was heard and not seen.  

7. July 1st, another walk to the lake with the grand-dogs, slider turtle, dragonfly, Osprey and Mimosa tree blooms.  It cool to watch the Osprey dive into the lake for a fish. 

8. July 4th, early in the morning Hubby and I drove to the nearby Hashawha Nature Park, we enjoyed seeing the wildflowers, Tree Swallows flying over the lake, a Barred Owl with a mouse, Mourning Dove on the wire, caterpillar with a dragonfly. 

9. July 4th, a larger view of the Barred Owl with it's breakfast. we watched this owl for a short time just perched on the branch holding the mouse before it flew to another tree. 

I hope you enjoyed my critters 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 also linking up to Anni's blog party found here I'd Rather B Birding   Anni always has some beautiful birds to be seen on her blog, check it out!

Saturday's Critters # 418

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 archived photos, pairs of various bird species. Are they mates for life? 

1. The Bald Eagle is one of bird species that is known to mate for life. The Bald Eagle mating season starts the month of  October in Maryland. 1-3 eggs are usually laid in February.  Both sexes help to build the nest, bringing materials to the nest.  The female is known to do the placement,  then together they weave the materials. They can take up to 3 months to complete a nest and the nest could be re-used year after year. 

2. Cardinals are monogamous and will typically mate for life. The Cardinal couple will work together building the nest and they can take 8-9 days to build their nest. Breeding season can last from March to September. the female will lay 2-5 eggs.  The male Cardinal will help feed it's mate and their young. 

3. A male and female House Finch. I read the House Finch will have one mate for life. The male will feed the female and guard their mate from other males.  They build a nest shaped like a cup. Their nest is made with fine twigs and stems, two inches deep. 

4. Below are the male and female Purple Finch. The Purple Finch is closely related to the House Finch seen above. During he nesting season, the male will sing and hop around puffing out it's feathers to attract the female.  The female does most of the work building the nest, taking about 3 to 8 days to complete. They have 2-7 eggs and their nesting period is 13-16 days. 

5. One of my all time favorites are the Eastern Bluebirds. Some years they like to use my nesting boxes, either to keep warm or  during the nesting period.  They have been known to mate for life, unless a mate should disappear. The male bluebird will help supply building material and then the female will construct the nest. The bluebird can lay 2-7 eggs and nesting period is 17-21 days. They can have 1-3 broods during a season. 

6. A pair of Wood Ducks, they form seasonal bonds or monogamy.  The use nest cavities in trees, 2-60 feet high and not far from water. Sometimes they use an old woodpecker's nesting cavity or a nesting box is provided. They can have 6-16 eggs, taking 56-70 days for their nesting period. 

7. The male and female Hooded Merganser. I was surprised when I read that the Hooded Merganser is known to egg-dump. They dump their eggs into a nesting cavity of their own species and other duck species like the Wood Duck. Apparently the other mommy does not mind taking care of all the extra chicks. The young chick can leave the nest in 24 hours. 

8. The male and female Downy Woodpecker. It is said most woodpeckers will mate for life. They often return to the same nest cavity each season. They can lay 3-8 eggs and their nesting period is 18-21 days. 

9. Below are a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers. These woodpeckers will excavate a nest in a dead tree, usually takes 3-6 weeks to construct a nest. Sometimes they will re-use a nesting cavity.  The female can lay 3-5 eggs, nesting period is usually 24-31 days. 

10.  Barred Owls, I saw this pair close together often during our walks at Circle B preserve in Lakeland Florida.  The Barred Owl male is known to be territorial, therefore could possibly mate for it's life time. 

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 sharing your critters and linking up a critter post.

Here is my linky:

I am also linking up to Anni's blog party found here I'd Rather B Birding   Anni always has some beautiful birds to be seen on her blog, check it out!