Happy Monday!

Wishing everyone a great day and a happy new week!

Before the year is over, I am sharing the Common Loon! Which was the ABA Bird of the Year for 2025. 

"As the year comes to an end, don't look back on yesterday's disappointments. Look ahead to God's promises yet to unfold." I wish everyone all the best in 2026, a Happy and Healthy New Year!

"We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone."

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Saturday's Critters # 535

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 images are from day two of our getaway to Ocean City, we also stopped at the Indian River Inlet in Delaware and a visit to Assateague Island is always a must.  

1. We started off with a pretty sunrise from our Ocean City hotel, our first stop for the day was at the Indian River Inlet in Delaware. We saw lots of Brant Geese, Sanderlings, Long-tailed Ducks, Great Cormorants and there were some surfers out catching the waves. 

2. Also at the Indian River Inlet were some Red-breasted Mergansers with the pretty Long-tailed Ducks.

3. A wind blown Great Blue Heron near the campground at Indian River Inlet. 

4. On the Delaware beach we saw a big flock of Sanderlings.  

5. At the Indian River Inlet we can always see the Long-tailed Ducks, this flock was flying back and forth at the inlet.  

6.  Loon with a crab, seen at the Indian River Inlet.

7. We stopped at the Ocean City Inlet to look for more sea ducks, we saw the Surf Scoter, more Long-tailed Ducks, Sanderlings, Ruddy Turnstones and some Purple Sandpipers.  

8. We saw a Surf Scoter at the Ocean City Inlet. The male has a colorful with a black, white, red and orange bill. 

9. Next we headed to Assateague Island National Seashore. We walked on the Marsh Trail and the Forest trail. We saw more Great Blue Herons and Sanderlings and a flock of Mergansers.  

10. The beach at Assateague Island National Seashore is always a pretty sight. 

11. The Assateague Ponies are always a favorite sight to see. 

I hope you enjoyed day two of our getaway.

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.

Thank you for sharing your critters and post!

Here is my linky:

Saturday's Critters # 497

 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!

A break from my Ireland photos, I am trying to catch up with my yard birds and flowers, local walks on the fire road and to the lake which is pictured as my header photo. 

The week of June 12th,  I found my hummingbird feeders down on the ground and emptied. I was not sure what was happening, maybe a raccoon or as it turned out our neighbor saw a black bear in our yard on evening of the 14th around 8pm. It has been making the rounds at various neighbor's yards and bird feeders. I wish I was able to see it, now I am looking out my windows in the evening and bringing in my feeders. 

1. A White-eyed Vireo, White-tailed Deer, Prettyboy Reservoir, Eagle's Nest, Common Loon, wild azaleas, more deer and wildflowers.

2. The Common Loon is not often seen at our lake, I was happy to see this one a good distance from the lake shore where I was standing. It was amazing to hear the loon call, a very cool sound. 

3. The Eastern Bluebirds are back again using a different nest box, today I saw the male divebomb a squirrel that was on my deck railing. 

4. Our Rhododendrons, various Clematis, Siberian Iris, Catmint, Columbine, Lantana and a white Waterlily. 

5. A pair of Double-crested Cormorants, Great Blue Herons, Canada Geese and the Belted Kingfishers. 

6. A pair of Great Blue Heron with a group of Canada Geese. 

7. A Belted Kingfisher couple, the male is offering a small fish to the female on the left. 

8. Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, Columbine is still blooming and lots of Clematis, my yard birds are the Great-crested Flycatcher, House Wren, Cardinal, Ruby-throated Hummingbird and a Chipping Sparrow. 

9. This Ovenbird was upset to see us walking on the fire road, he came and started fussing at us just for walking by.  You can see the agitated adult raise their Black-bordered Orange crown. 

10. These birds sing loudly, I can hear them all around my yard. 

11. A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, these birds are small and have a cute sound.  I usually hear them more often than I see them, they move around quickly.

I hope you enjoyed my yard birds and the birds I see around my neighborhood.  

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 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 # 481

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!

Sorry, I will be away from my computer and will catch up with my visits and comments as soon as possible. As always thank you for linking up and for your comments! 

Feb 7-8, 2023. I am sharing more photos from our Delaware shore getaway, we stayed one night in Lewes Delaware, just a short drive away from the Cape Henlopen State Park and the Indian River Inlet Park. 

1.  Cape Henlopen Point is where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean.  We watched at least 3 large groups of Snow Geese fly over our heads heading inland to the corn fields. Out in the ocean we could see the Common Loon, Gulls, on the ground near the parking lot I noticed various species like the Song Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos and a surprise lifer a Lark Sparrow. Eastern Bluebirds were nearby in a bare tree. 

2.  I enjoyed watching wave after wave of Snow Geese fly over our heads.

2A. More Snow Geese, besides the Snow Geese flying  we saw a huge flock just floating on the water. 

3.  I was just snapping away at some birds eating seeds on the ground, little did I know until later I saw the Lark Sparrow ( top right) a lifer # 504 for me.  I wish I knew at the time, I would have tried for a better photo. The Lark Sparrow has a unique head pattern of red, black and white colors. 

4. I snapped some photos of the birds at the Nature Center feeders. Most of the birds were the male and female House Finches, a few male and female Cardinals, White-throated Sparrow on the ground and a Red-breasted Nuthatch was also coming and going to the feeder. 

5. We walked to the end of the fishing pier at the Cape Henlopen State Park.  Here we could see the Cape May/Lewes Ferry, the Great Black-backed Gull, Ringed Billed Gull, Surf Scoter with Horned Grebe, lots of Double-crested Cormorants, Bufflehead duck and the lighthouse.

6. I am guessing a Horned Grebe with the Surf Scoter.

7. I thought the Double Crested Cormorants hanging out on the old pier pilings was a neat scene. 

  

8. The Great Black-backed Gulls look huge, 30 inches in length. We walked past them perched on the fishing pier, they did not move.

9. At the Indian River Inlet we saw Cormorants, Black Scoter, Common Loon, Long-tailed Ducks, Brant Geese, Surf Scoter and another Loon.  We missed seeing just by a short time a group of Razorbills hanging out at the inlet. 

10.  The Long-tailed Ducks are a favorite of mine, I usually can see them in the winter months along the Mid-Atlantic coast. 

I hope you enjoyed the birds I saw on our little visit to the Delaware shore. 

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.

If there are any problems with the linky, you can leave your link in the comment section, I will fix it as soon as I can.

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 #328

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!



Before the lock down in early March, we took trip to Ocean City Maryland. During our getaway we visited the Assateague Island National Seashore and the Assateague Md State Park. Hubby and I both have senior passes for both parks which is nice, we no longer have to make sure we have exact change. 

We walked the beaches, the boardwalk trails and drove around the park looking for birds and the Assateague ponies.  

The Maryland Assateague Island ponies are owned by the national park, they are kept separate from the Chincotegue Island Virginia ponies.  Around 150 ponies are owned by the Chincoteague Island Volunteer Fire Company in Chincoteague Island Virginia. Some of these ponies are auctioned off each year.

Below a few Killdeer, Northern Gannet over the ocean, bottom right are some of the Common Loons.

 The Common Loons seemed to be the most common bird seen from the beach.

 I was able to find a few Northern Gannets far out in the ocean, it is fun to watch them dive.

The Killdeer were seen and heard on the Assateague Island beach.

Traffic back up from the Assateague ponies crossing the street.

Thanks to all my visitors and for all the wonderful comments. I appreciate everyone who loves critters and has linked up their post.


Here is a list of my linky parties;


 





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

Happy Thankful Thursday!

Happy Thankful Thursday!

Welcome Spring! May your days blossom with joy and blessings.

Hello, I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.  It is best to take some precautions than to end up sick. Maryland schools are closed for a few weeks, large gatherings are canceled. I do feel safe taking my walks outdoors and enjoying nature. 

These are some more photos from our recent getaway to Ocean City, Maryland.  We were up early, like the birds to enjoy the sunrise.  

 The boardwalk at Ocean City Maryland.

 March's full moon called the  Worm Moon, rising on the morning of March 9th.

 Ocean City's ferris wheel.

 Below on the top row are the female and male Buffleheads ducks. On the bottom of the mosaic are the Common Loon on the bottom left and Red-throated Loons (longer necks) on the bottom right.

Me and my shadow at Ocean City's Inlet.  I am always thankful for a getaway with my hubby. 

I am always thankful for my local library's ebooks. The latest book I  read is  Harbour Street by  Ann Cleeves it is #6 in the Vera Stanhope series. I  discovered  the Vera series late, I have a few more to go.

I am thankful for good health, I wish the same for everyone! Stay safe, stay well and stay happy peeps! 


I am always thankful for your visit and comments.
Live simple and be happy!  😊 Spread happiness!


Thank you Michelle for hosting Thankful Thursday. 
Thank you to Yogi the host of   Skywatch Friday


Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!

Our World, My World

 Happy Monday,

"Be sure to put your feet in the right place, then stand firm." Abraham Lincoln


☘️ ☘️  Wishing everyone a  Happy St. Patrick's Day!!  ☘️ ☘️

March 8-10th, these are some images from our little getaway to the Delaware shore and Ocean City Md.  we enjoyed walking the beach, watching the surfers and the birds at the Delaware Indian River Seashore Park. Later that day we enjoyed the sunset at Ocean City's inlet and we watched the moon rising over the ocean. 

Below, me and my shadow on the beach in Delaware, Long-tailed Ducks, Common Loon, a view of the beach and surf, jetty, Bufflehead ducks, beach with people with their dog and gulls and some Brant Geese. 

Common Loon? We saw a few that looked young like the Loon below.

 Beach at Indian River Inlet

 A group of Bufflehead ducks.

Me and my shadow at Ocean City, inlet, amusement rides, moon rising March 8th and  Black Scoters.

Sunset at Ocean City's inlet.

 Black Scoter, sunset at Ocean City inlet, almost full moon March 8th, moon reflecting on ocean.

The almost full moon, March 8th, the actual full moon took place on March 9th.

 Moon reflection at Ocean City, Md.

"It's a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness." Lucius Seneca

I am wishing everyone is well, avoiding the nasty virus. Take care and have a great week ahead.

What's happening in your corner of the world? Please check out and visit the following memes and links. I hope to see you there.


Check out My Corner of the World  Thanks to Betty the host. 
 
Thanks to Angie the host of  Mosaic Monday

Thanks to LadyFi  the host of Our World Tuesday!

Thanks for visiting and commenting, have a happy day and a great new week!