American Pipit- Mt Baker, North Cascades

I found this American Pipit during my vacation to Washington state. It was seen during one of our hikes at Artist Point, Mount Baker. The American Pipit breeds on barren mountaintops and tundra. They have a white eye ring and show a streaky breast.

This is my entry for the Friday Ark and Bird Photography weekly, thanks for stopping by my blog and

to see more animals from the ark and more birds click on my links. Thanks to the hosts.

Mattawomen Creek

Hubby and I have a fun day yesterday canoeing the Mattawomen Creek in Charles County, Maryland. We had another reason for heading to the Mattawomen Creek and that was to show our support for Audubon's IBA(Important Bird Area) and protest a new cross county connector. I loved the area and it would be a shame to ruin it with another road and more development.

Also, Audubon of Maryland was celebrating the dedication of Mattawomen as an Important Bird Area. An IBA is a site that provides essential habitat to one or more species of birds. It includes nesting areas, migration stop over sites or wintering grounds. All IBA's are not open to the public mainly to protect a vulnerable species and for bird conservation. This IBA area indicted these three are risk species the Prothonotary and Kentucky Warblers and the Wood Thrush.

Here is a shot from my archives of the beautiful Prothonotary Warbler.

Besides the celebration, there were free boat rides, canoe and kayaks to see the Lotus Flowers in bloom. We arrived early so we rented a canoe, it was a nice morning to be out on the water.

 It was cool to be canoeing next to all these Yellow beauties. I usually only seen Lotus flowers at commercial nurseries or gardens.

I am linking up with Bird Photography Weekly
and
Mary's Mosaic Monday
and
Drowsey Monkey's Mellow Yellow Monday

Thanks to the host of these fun sites and thanks for stopping by my post. Have a great week!

Bombay Hook NWR

This is my entry for   Bird Photography weekly  thanks to Birdfreak for hosting.

I am also linking this post with Mary's Mosaic Monday and thanks to Mary of Little Red House.

These are photos of the birds hubby and I saw yesterday at Bombay Hook NWR.  We were amazed at the number of the different  Egrets and Dunlins, a lifer for me was my first Peregrine Falcon sighting. Very cool looing bird. We also saw Glossy Ibis, Mallard Ducks, Green Heron, GB Herons, Black Crowned Night Herons, Canada Geese, Yellowlegs, Dowitchers, Blue Grosbeaks, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Kingbirds and Redwing Blackbirds. I am sure I have not listed all the birds we saw and I am forgeting a few. Bombay Hook is a great place to visit during the shorebird migration.

Egrets and Glossy Ibis

Mallard Duck and Green Heron

Thanks for stopping by my blog to see my post and I hope you have a great week :)

Blue Grosbeak

My entry for Bird Photography Weekly  To see more wonderful birds click on my link and thanks to Birdfreak for hosting .


These shots are from my archives and my last visit to Bombay Hook NWR.  They are beautiful birds and I love the color. The male is a pretty blue with chestnut wingbars. They like to hang out in brushy fields  or on the edge of wooded areas. They eat insects and seeds.

This is my Friday Ark entry to see see more animals of the Ark click here Friday Ark

Thanks for dropping by to see my pretty Blue Grosbeak

Black Crowned Night Heron

My entry for Bird Photography Weekly click on my link to see more great bird photography.

And my entry for Mary's Mosaic Monday  click on link to see more wonderful mosaics!

Every couple of weeks, I try to make a visit to the Black Crowned Night Heron rookery. It is not far from my house, which is nice. There are also a few Great Egrets nesting in the same area. The rookery is located in trees surrounding  a busy manmade lake. The neighborhood folks use the lake to fish, there are people and kids feeding the ducks and geese. The Herons and Egrets do not seem to mind people being around. As far as I know they have been using this area for a rookery for many years.

Thanks for stopping by to see my Black Crowned Night Herons and mosaic. Specials thanks to Mary of Little Red House and to Birdfreak for the Bird Photography Weekly.

Green Heron and Turtles

Sights seen during one of our walks along the C&O Canal. The Green Heron is a regular sighting for us during our walks. The turtles on this day were all out and enjoy the sun I guess. I do not think I have ever seen this many turtles before. Pretty cool sight.

There had to be at least a hundred turtles on the downed tree. 100 might be an exaggeration. But there were some tiny ones that did not show up on the photo.

To see more cute and wonderful critter go and visit Misty Dawn's Camera Critters  and Thanks to Misty

Also my entry for Bird Photography Weekely

Thanks for stopping by to see my Green Heron and Turtle post.

Pine Warbler

This is my entry for this weeks Bird Photography Weekly click on my link to see more wonderful birds.


Looking out my kitchen door I saw this female Pine Warbler gathering nesting materials. I took the pictures from the door so they are not the greatest but the Pine warbler look so cute anyway.  The Pine Warbler is found near pinewoods, though it might forage near mixed woodlands.  They probe pine cones for insects  and larvae. The male is a bright yellow and the female has the yellow around the face, grayish wings sometimes mixed with olive. The white wing bars are also visable. I am not usre where this pretty one is building her nest but it must be close by. I have been treated with the Pine Warblers in my yard even in the winter months.

Here is the male Pine Warbler at my suet feeder.. seen last winter.

This is a more recent shot of the male Pine Warbler.

One easy way for me to see the difference between  a female Goldfinch and a female Pine Warbler is the shape of the beak.

With this post I am joining Nature Notes and the Friday Ark. You can click on my links to visit these memes.

Thank You for stopping by to see my post and thanks to Michelle the host of Nature Notes

Great Crested Flycatcher

This my entry for Bird Photography weekly  click on my link to see more wonderful bird photography.
The last few days I have been seeing the Great Crested Flycatcher in my yard. A few times it was perched in my weeping cherry tree watching others birds at my feeders. Another time I saw it flying away with a clump of my dog's hair.

Since my Golden Retriever sheds a lot I put more of her hair out on my deck railing and that clump disappeared quickly.

This weeping cherry tree sits across from my deck where I keep some of my bird feeders. The tree is very popular with all my yardbirds.

This is a photo of a Brown Thrasher perched in the same tree on the same day.

Thanks for visiting my blog and to see my birds. Visit Birdfreak's blog for more Bird photography

Ocean City Birds

Last week after visiting Blackwater we continued driving to Ocean City, Md. I was hoping to pick up a few lifers at the Ocean City inlet. My lifer was the Surf Scoter, we also saw what I believe are Common Loons, Ruddy Turnstones, lots of seagulls and maybe a Purple Sandpiper.


The Surf Scoter are cool looking birds because of their unique bill. The Male is impressive with its colorful bill. They are seen in large wintering flocks on ocean coasts where they feed on shellfish.



Please click to see larger image and a better view of the bill.

The Surf Scoters are my entry for Bird Photography Weekly  to see more great bird photography please click on the link.

To see more great birds and wildlife go and visit The Friday Ark.

Thanks for stopping by to see my birds and commenting.

Black Necked Stilt reflection

Merry Christmas,  Happy Holidays and a wonderful Happy New Years to everyone!

I visit the Bombay Hook wildlife refuge often and during the summer the Black Necked Stilt can be seen there. They are cool looking birds, their legs seem to be able to bend all kinds of ways.

They like to search for food in the mud flats or can be seen walking in water that is more like puddles.
On this one day I was able to catch the reflection of the Black Necked Stilt.


To see more birds photos from all over  go to Bird Photography Weekly

This is my entry for Camera Critters to see more wonderful cute critters go and visit Misty Dawn's Camera Critters

To see more great birds and animals you can visit The Ark

To see more Weekend Reflections go and visit James at  Weekend reflections at Newtown

Thanks for stopping by my blog to see my Black Necked Stilt. Happy Holidays and I wish everyone all the best for 2010.

American Oystercatcher

Click on photo for a larger image. If you click on this first photo you can see two Terns in the background.

The American Oystercatcher is a cool looking bird. I like to say it has a beak like a carrot. I've been able to see these birds many times at Cape May and Chincoteague on the beach and laying around the dunes. On my previous post about my visit to Avalon, NJ we saw a flock of American Oystercatchers. Probably the largest group of Oystercatchers I have ever seen.

You can view some wonderful birds and photos at bird-photography-weekly

The see more cute animals and birds go and visit The Ark

Thanks for stopping by to see my Oystercatcher.

Brown Headed Nuthatch and others for

Brownheaded Nuthatch seen at Blackwater Wildlife Refuge, to see more critters click on my Camera Critter link on my sidebar. Thank to Misty Dawn for hosting Camera Critters.

To see more great Bird Photography Weekly #62

 please click on my link on the side.

Red Breasted Nuthatch on my deck railing

White Breasted Nuthatch also seen on my deck railing

Pictures have been cropped for a closer view, thanks for stopping by to see my birds. Thanks to Michell at Rambling Woods 

for more of this weeks nature notes go to

Nature Notes

You can also see more great animal photos at the The Ark