Happy Monday!

Wishing everyone a great day and a happy new week!

Hillsborough River State Park. Located in Hillsborough County, Florida near Zephyrhills

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

Comments off, enjoy your day!

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 # 599

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!

Again I am sharing a mish-mash of photos dating back to late April. The photos are from our walks to the lake, on the local fire road and from my back yard. 

Click on images for better viewing.

1. April 22nd, another day and another walk with Miney to the lake.  We saw a few Double-crested Cormorants and the turtles were out sunning on the rock and logs. 

"Bird songs, nature's sweet melodies."

2. April 22nd, I use the Merlin app to id the birds I heard on our walk to the lake. It seems we have a mix of year round birds, winter birds and the new arrivals for the summer season. 

The Pine Warbler is a breeder in my area, I often seen and hear them on my deck and in our yard. The male is a bright yellow color with some streaks on it's chest. 

3. April  22nd, my metal moose is being surrounded by the creeping phlox.

4. April 23rd,  this is my first sighting of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird this spring.  I am always happy to see them return to my yard and feeder. The background is our Redbud tree which looked beautiful this Spring.

5. April 23rd, my back yard birds are the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, I saw and heard the Great-crested Flycatcher and a Tufted Titmouse.

I am including an older photo of the Great-crested Flycatcher, it is  pretty bird. 

6. April 24th, our walk with Miney on the local fire road and a Carolina Chickadee on top of  a pine tree. 

I am sharing an older photo of mine which shows the pretty Northern Parula.

7. April 26th, in between rain drops I stood on my deck and listened to the birds that are around my yard.  It was nice to hear the Wood Thrush back for the summer season. 

Here is an older collage of the Ovenbird, it is another bird that breeds in my area.  We hear them often on our walk now, they have a loud call. 

8. Flashback to some of my Florida birds, the Limpkin was seen in various parks during our visits.  I included one of my videos where the Limpkin is calling, they make a strange sound. Limpkins are large wading birds, they have long curved bill which is yellow with a dark tip. They eat mainly apple snails. 

Flashback Florida various sightings of the Limpkin:

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 # 591

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 various images, the first photo my new header is a view of the Gunpowder River below the Prettyboy Dam, other images are from my walks and our backyard, the birds, critters and our dog Miney.

Click on images for better viewing.

1. March 2nd,  my mosaic has photos of the sunrise, a view of the reservoir from our local fire road, Miney the dog, a squirrel eating the bird food and a Carolina Chickadee on the birdbath ends with the sunset. 

2. March 2nd, the Gray Squirrels are regular visitors to our deck railing they manage to eat a lot of the suet nuggets I put out for the birds. 

3. March 2nd, one of my yard birds the Carolina Chickadee. 

4. March 5th, our morning walk with Miney on the local fire road. I heard the usual birds on this walk. I did see two Pileated Woodpeckers, flying away.  I missed getting their photo.

5. March 6th, we were back walking on the NCR rail to trail. It is one of our favorite spots for walking, easy flat walking we can go further and it is next to the river.

6. March 6th, on the way home from the bike trail we road past the Friendly Farms pond, I notice a flock of Ring-necked Ducks. 

7.  Flashback, since April 10th was Gopher Tortoise day. I am sharing some of Gopher Tortoise photos from our Florida trips. These are from Dec 2020, a St Augustine park. 

8. A Florida 2015 flashback, I am sharing another photo of the Gopher Tortoise hubby and saw at one of our many Florida park visits.

Another Florida flashback from April 2015, one of my favorite Florida birds seen was the Sora at the Viera Wetlands, Melbourne Florida, The Sora is a small bird in the rail family. The Sora has a yellow bill and walks through the wetlands similar to a chicken.

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!

Happy Monday!

Wishing everyone a great day and a happy new week!

"Happiness comes in waves."

Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse, Ponce Inlet Florida.

"The ocean stirs the heart, inspires the imagination."

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

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Happy Monday!

Wishing everyone a great day and a happy new week!

"Nothing soothes the soul like a day by the ocean."

"Sky above, sand below, peace within."

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

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Happy Monday!

 Wishing everyone a great day and a happy new week!

Hope and Peace can be found in the glory of a sunset.

Farewell sun, it was nice meeting you today.

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

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Saturday's Critters # 531

 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!

My latest trip has been to my archives. I usually prepare several post in advance so I will always be a month or so behind.  At this time, Hubby and I have not been anywhere special due to the super cold weather or the rain/snow days. So I went back and visited previous posts, taking photos from the past 5 years during the month of February. Photos are of some of my favorite places, birds and critters. 

From a February 2019 post, I was reporting on our Florida trip and visit to the Green Cay Preserve. In the mosaic are the Painted Buntings, Swamphen, a Tricolored Heron, Little Blue Heron, Palm Tree, Purple Gallinule, Green Heron, Glossy Ibis and a Pied billed Grebe. Florida is one of my favorite places for birdwatching. 

Also a few more photos from our Green Cay Nature Center are the American Bittern and below is the Green Heron.

Also from Green Cay are my favorite Florida Bird, the Painted Bunting, seen below with a female Painted Bunting. 

Another bird seen at the Green Cay Nature Center are the Wood Storks, their nest were right next to the boardwalk.

From my February 2020 post, I am sharing some of my favorite back yard birds: the Eastern Bluebirds, Downy Woodpecker, American Goldfinch, more Goldfinches with a House Finch, another Male Bluebird, a Dark-eyed Junco, a White-throated Sparrow, male Downy Woodpecker and a Carolina Wren.

From Feb 2020, one of my all time favorite birds is the Eastern Bluebird. I feel lucky when they choose one of my birdhouses for their nest. 

From a February 2021 post, I have one of my favorite woodpeckers, in my yard is the Pileated Woodpecker. 

From my post in February 2022,  we were dog sitting for our son while his house was being built. 8 months of watching our grand-dogs Nibbles and Winnie at our house. They enjoyed their walks to the lake and on the fire roads. Also in the mosaic are Eastern Bluebirds and the lake. 

From February 2023, we were excited to see my lifer the Golden Eagle in our area at the Prettyboy reservoir. It hung around for a few weeks.  

Here is a larger view of the Golden Eagle. This Eagle is a dark brown with golden brown plumage on the nape.  The Golden Eagle is a beautiful raptor. 

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.