Saturday's Critters # 632

      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

Click on images for better viewing.

I am sharing a mish-mash of images taken on various dates. They include  my back yard birds, local fire road and reservoir scenes and some archive images. 

1. On our deck railing a Dark-eyed Junco was taking a break from the feeder. 

Hubby, Miney and I took walk on the fire road at Prettyboy and then we drove around the lake to the boat dock.  Usually in the winter months we see various ducks, geese and sometimes an Eagle. we saw a few ducks too far away to id and a large group of Canada Geese. 

Same day as above, the peacock is still visiting on a cold winter day. He is walking around on our driveway. 

2. Hubby and I took a ride out to get some milk and decided to take a short detour around the lake to look for some winter ducks.  We only saw some Canada Geese on the reservoir and a juvenile Bald Eagle perched in a tree near the boat dock. 

3. After our Christmas dinner hubby and I took Miney for a short walk on the fire road.  

4. We celebrated Christmas with our son, dil and the grandkiddies on Christmas Eve. Grand-dog Winnie had to sniffed the toy fox for Sophie. 

5. One of my favorite species of birds I have been able to see are the Booby species.  I have been lucky to see the Brown Booby and the split Cocos Booby, the Masked Booby, the Red-footed Booby, the Blue-footed Booby. These photos are all from my archives. 

The Brown Booby below was seen while we were on a shuttle boat to the island of St. Johns in the Caribbean. 

6. Cocos Booby the photos below were taken from boat ride to the Marietas Islands in Puerto Vallarta Mexico 2023. 

7. The Masked Booby was seen on the island of Oahu, Hawaii..

8. The Red-footed Booby was seen at the Kilauea Point Lighthouse NWR, Kauai 2022. 

9. The Blue-footed Booby below, the photo was taken from boat ride to the Marietas Islands in Puerto Vallarta Mexico 2023. 

Bonus image:  I want to wish a very 4th HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my grandson Mason.

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 # 487

 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 critter photos, join in with my critter party ! You can share your post that includes any kind of critters the real ones, pretend ones, statues and paintings, a new or old post!

March 8, this is part 2 of our boat trip to the Marietas Islands in Puerto Vallarta. If you are ever in the area, the Vallarta Adventures Marietas Eco Discovery boat tour is highly recommended. Boats are not allowed to land on the island, it is a national park and sanctuary for the birds. Snorkelers are allowed in the water for 30 minutes and have to be back on their boats in the allotted time. They have park boats around enforcing the rules. All my photos are taken from our boat. 

Click on photos for better views. 

1. Seeing the Blue-footed Booby was a highlight of the tour for me, I did love seeing the whales too. The baby Blue-footed Booby is born all white, their bright blue feet are a product of their diet. 

2. The Blue-footed Booby nest on the ground, they are excellent divers plunging into the water and eat mostly small fish. They have a wingspan of almost 5 feet. 

3. During mating season the males will strut around showing off their bright blue feet.  

4. The Magnificent Frigatebird nest on the islands too, we watched a few come and go to this nest.  Their nest are usually located near the Bromelia plant, the thorns keep predators away and providing the eggs and babies protection .

5. The Magnificent Frigatebird  is a large seabird, it has a forked tail and has a sturdy long bill with a hooked tip. They like to chase other birds and steal their food.  

6. The Brown Booby is common and widespread, my first sighting was in the Caribbean in St. Thomas. They are seen around the Atlantic and a few times at the Baltimore Harbor. 

7. The Brown Booby are a dark brown with white bellies. They have pale bills and yellow feet. Juveniles are dark billed and mostly brown in color. The nest and forage in groups, their nest can be on the beach, cliffs and hillsides. 

8. There were plenty of gulls around the island, we saw the Laughing Gulls and the Heermann's Gulls, which were both plentiful. 

9. Various photos from the boat tour, we had lunch and drinks. We had to watch the gulls they were trying to steal lunch right off our plates. Hubby decided not to snorkel, the water temps were cold. He would have needed to bring his wet suit. We were also entertained by the crew. It was a fun tour and a great last full day in Mexico. 

10. On the islands and in the sky, the birds were being seen everywhere we looked. Above are the Magnificent Frigatebirds , the Booby, Laughing Gulls and Heermann's Gulls. Also seen were Egrets and Great Blue Herons. 

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! Also, I am also linking up to Heidrun's Mosaic Monday  I hope you can stop by and visit Heidrun and check out the Mosaic Monday post. 

Saturday's Critters # 468

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!

These are images from our last two days in Kauai. One of my favorite places to visit was the Kilauea Point Wildlife Refuge and home of the Kilauea Point Lighthouse. Reservations are needed to visit this wildlife refuge. I made reservations a month in advance for the morning of Sept 29th and the afternoon of Sept 30th. Over the years a remarkable 27 species of Seabirds have been observed at Kilauea Point. 

Click on photos for better viewing!

1. It is the best place to view sea birds, like the Red-footed Booby, Great Frigatebird,  Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Red-tailed Tropicbirds, White-tailed Tropicbirds, Brown Booby and the Nene Goose. 

2. A tree on the bluff decorated with the Red-footed Boobies. 

Below several looks at the adult and juvenile Red-footed Boobies. Most of the adults have the red feet and are white with black flight feathers. They can have pale bluish bills. The juveniles are similar to the young Brown Boobies. 

3. The colony of Red-footed Boobies at Kilauea Point is the largest colony in the Hawaiian Islands. All the tiny white dots on the bluff are the Red-footed Boobies, you can not see the grayish looking juveniles mixed in, the numbers of birds seen were amazing. 

4. Below both the White-tailed Tropicbirds and the Red-tailed Tropicbirds are breeders at Kilauea.  There have been 350 pairs of the Red-tailed Tropicbirds nesting at the refuge. 

5. The Brown Boobies have been seen roosting on a little island seen from the cliff top above. The Brown Booby has a chocolate brown head and a white belly. Most nest on the ground in small colonies. 

The Great Frigatebirds have been seen using the island too. These birds tend to chase other birds trying to steal their food. 

6. The juvenile Red-footed Booby, was sitting on a structure next to the Lighthouse. It did not seem to mind us walking by on the path right below. 

7. The Wedge-tailed Shearwaters nest at the refuge using burrows in the ground. I found a few chicks nestled in the burrows. 

8. The Wedge-tailed Shearwater are the most numerous species on the refuge, it is estimated 8,000-15,000 breeding pairs. 

9. The Great Frigatebird below, it is amazing to watch their aerial performances. 

10. The Nene Geese have one of the largest concentrations at the Kilauea Point wildlife refuge. Their population is increasing and they are doing well at the refuge. 

11. Views of the Kilauea Point Wildlife Refuge and lighthouse. 

I hope you enjoyed the Kauai birds and posts. Now, maybe I can catch up with more recent outings and trips.

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! Also, I am also linking up to Heidrun's Mosaic Monday  I hope you can stop by and visit Heidrun and check out the Mosaic Monday post. 

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.