Saturday's Critters # 624

  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.

My walks with nature in October were on the NCR bike trail and our local fire roads

1. Oct 3rd, our walk with nature was on the fire road with Miney. We were finding some mushrooms along the trail.

2. Oct 14, another walk with Miney. We were enjoying the pretty fall colors. A deer was standing on the fire road, we turned around rather than spook the deer.

3. Oct 17th our walk with nature was on the NCR trail in Parkton. Another deer in a near by field, a Robin sitting high in a tree, the view of bike trail with Miney and the stream.

4. Another fire road walk to the lake and then a drive around the lake to the Prettyboy Dam. There was a big flock of Canada Geese, I had to hold Miney back or she would have chased them away. 

5. I am sharing some of the winter birds I am hearing on our walks.  It is nice to hear and see the winter birds. Some of these are archived photos, it is hard to hold Miney's leash and take bird photos. 

Below is the Golden-crowned Kinglet.

Below are two Ruby-crowned Kinglets.

6. My Merlin App is picking up the sounds of the Brown Creeper now, another winter bird in my area. 

7. In my yard, a winter bird is the White-throated Sparrow. 

8. Another bird I see in the winter is the Purple Finch. Below is the male and female.

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.

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Here is my linky:

Thank you for sharing your critters and post! 

Saturday's Critters # 482

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 trying to stay some what caught up with reports on my outings and posts. Most of my photos are from my neighborhood, our walks on the fire roads and to the lake.  

1. Feb 12th, our walk on the fire road looking down at the reservoir we saw a group of Canada Geese and a Mute Swan.  The Mute Swans are not native to Maryland but they are seen around the state. The Mute Swans are easy to identify with their reddish-orange bill. 

2. A larger look at the Mute Swan, I really had to zoom in for this photo. The fire road I was walking on is on the top of a hill and there are lots of trees in between the fire road and the lake. 

3. Feb 13th, hubby and I took our walk on the fire road that leads to the lake and to a view of the Bald Eagle's nest.  Along the way I found a couple of Brown Creepers, we saw the usual Common Mergansers and Canada Geese. We spotted the first Bald Eagle on the nest as soon as we got to the lake, the second eagle was sitting off in a tree across the lake. Soon both Bald Eagles were sitting in the same tree. 

4. Feb 13th, the Prettyboy Bald Eagles, this pair have been nesting nearby in a tree next to the lake. I like that they have been returning to the nest for years now. 

5. Feb 15th, hubby and I took a ride to where we saw the Golden Eagle . Usually there are ducks near the boat ramp parking lot.  I think the Golden Eagle has left this spot but we saw various ducks and geese.  Below are the Canada Geese, American Wigeons, Redhead Ducks, Ring-necked Ducks and Bufflehead ducks. I was happy to see this group of ducks some what closer for photos.  Maybe someone was there and threw some corn into the water for the ducks to eat. 

6. Below you can see a closer look at the Redhead ducks, the American Wigeon with the green eye patch and the Ring-necked ducks with the white band on their bill.

7. Feb 19th, our walk was on the fire road closer to home. We are seeing the Common Mergansers and Canada Geese and the Ring-necked Ducks during each visit to the lake. The Brown Creepers have been sighted each time too. The Downy Woodpeckers are seen pecking away and we saw a few of the Golden-crowned Kinglets were bouncing around all over the place. 

8. A Brown Creeper seen making it's way up the tree. These birds are brown with white underparts and have a slender decurved bill. 

9. Feb 20th,  another walk on the fire road close to home. We saw and heard the White-breasted Nuthatch, Downy Woodpeckers, Canada Geese and Ring-necked Ducks and a Bald Eagle some what hidden behind some branches. 

10. Feb 20th, I watched this hawk chasing a Mourning Dove away from my yard. It came right back and sat in a tree in our side yard. It was a small hawk, so I will guess a Sharp-shinned Hawk

Update: David who really knows his birds, says this is a Cooper's Hawk.

11. Feb 21st and Feb 24th, Red-shouldered Hawk perched on a dead tree in our yard. The photos look the same but they were taken on different days.

12.  Feb 24th, we watched our grandson Mason while Wyatt went for his check-up. We are always happy to spend time with our grandsons and the grand-dogs Nibbles and Winnie. They all love their Pop-Pop.

I hope you enjoyed my birds and post, I am looking forward to visiting your blog. 

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 # 473

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 birding outings slow down in the winter months, I am a wimp when it comes to the cold weather.  I am sharing some birds from my back yard, from our neighborhood and some birds from our Maryland State Parks. 

Click on photos for best viewing!

1. A neighborhood walk, we always enjoy walking our local fire road trails. This trail to the Prettyboy Reservoir has been one of my favorites. On this day we saw a juvenile Bald Eagle sitting on a downed tree on the lake, the Canada Geese are here year round. 

2. When the back yard birds are not eating the peanuts I put out, they are finding some berries to eat. They kind of get lost in the vines where the berries are growing. Below are the Downy Woodpecker, White-throated Sparrow, Carolina Chickadee, Northern Flicker and a squirrel. Can you find the birds?  

3. North Point State Park, located in Baltimore County, Maryland. Here we can see birds in the forest, male and female Bufflehead ducks, various ducks out on the Chesapeake Bay, we saw a group of Tundra Swans and a couple of Belted Kingfishers. I missed the Snow Buntings that were being seen at the end of the fishing pier. 

4. We were watching two Belted Kingfishers, chasing each other along the shore. 

5. I saw a few Song Sparrows on the fishing pier, I was hoping to see the Snow Buntings in this spot. But, they must have moved on. 

6. Back in my yard, a Northern Mockingbird posing on a old dead tree that we left for the woodpeckers. 

Dec 30th, coming back from our walk to the lake I found two Golden-crowned Kinglets bouncing around the trees in our front yard. 

These images are all from December, I am slowing catching up sharing outings and photos. 

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 # 435

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 wish everyone a Blessed and Happy Easter and Passover! 🙏

I have a mish mash of photos from our walks on the fire road, the grand dogs Nibbles and Winnie and a bonus image. 🐰  🐤  🌼 

1. March 26th,  hubby and I took a walk on the NCR bike trail without the dogs. We passed a few other dog walkers and I saw and heard many birds. I could only catch one photo of a Sparrow in the brush along the trail. 

2.  A closer look at the Sparrow, is it a female White-throated Sparrow or a Song Sparrow.  I need to see the front of this bird, I did hear some WT SParrows during our walk. 

3.  March 26th, back at home I see a grab and go  Tufted Titmouse grabbing a peanut and taking off quickly. 

4.  March 30th, our walk to the lake with the grand-dogs. 

5. April 2nd, taking the grand dogs for a walk to the lake.  Looks like someone else likes our favorite spot at the lake. 

6.  As we walked the fire road to the lake, I noticed some Golden-crowned Kinglets moving around high in the tree tops. 

7. We wanted to see the Bald Eagles nest near the lake, images below are from our walk. Top left, Golden-crowned Kinglet, pine trees, Bald Eagle. Middle row, the female Bald Eagle on the nest, Prettyboy Reservoir, the male Bald Eagle in flight. Bottom row are the Canada Geese on the lake,  male and female Bald Eagle both at the nest and more Canada Geese. 

8. The male Bald Eagle is sitting above the nest, the female looks as if she is leaning over an eaglet. 

Bonus plus critters, we met up with our son and his family for lunch in Waynesboro Pa. Across the street from the restaurant was a dairy farm, I always love seeing the cows. 

"Take time to do what makes your soul happy."

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 # 414

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!

Hubby and I took a short day trip to the Conowingo Dam and the Susquehanna River State Park to see the Bald Eagles. In November the Bald Eagles gather at the river just below the dam. Previous years the Eagle count was close to 200. I think we went a little too early, we will make another trip soon.  We saw numerous Double-crested Cormorants, various Gull species, Turkey Vultures and the Black Vultures and the local resident Great Blue Herons. The Ring Billed Gulls dominate but the Herring Gull and the Great Black-backed Gulls can be seen too. 

1. Below on the dam walls, are a few immature Bald Eagles, Double-crested Cormorants with a line of Gulls, 2 Great Blue Herons with a Bald Eagle, immature Bald Eagle with a few Black Vultures. 

2. There was 3 immature  Bald Eagles perched on the dam wall. 

3. One of the many Bald Eagles seen at the Susquehanna River and Conowingo Dam. 

4.   A Bald Eagle, Black Vultures and an immature Bald Eagle with a fish perched on the tower.

5. A line up of Gulls and a group of the Double-crested Cormorants.

6. Below mixed in with the rocks are an immature Bald Eagle, adult Bald Eagle and the Great Blue Heron. 

7.  Some views of the Susquehanna River State Park.

8.  Below images are the Golden-crowned Kinglet on the left and the Downy Woodpecker on the right.  

Thank you for visiting, for linking up and for the nice comments.

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!

Here is my linky:

Thank you for sharing your critters!

Thanks to all my visitors and for your comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves critters and has linked up their critter post.

Our World, My World

Hello Happy Monday!

October 29th, these are some images from one of our walks on the local bike trail. I have always called it the NCR trail named after the Northern Central Railroad trail. The name was changed to Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail. It is 20 miles long from Cockeysville Md to the Pennsylvania line. From there the trail continues into Pennsylvania and the name changes again to the York Country Heritage Rail Trail. 

My favorite section of the bike trail close to home, this is the Bentley Springs parking lot and the view of the trail. 

The land next to the bike trail is private, this is an old barn that is being taken over by the trees and plants. 

 The Bee Tree Preserve parking area is just across the bridge.

 Below the Downy Woodpecker, Belted Kingfisher and the Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  On the bottom right is a blurry photo of the Golden-crowned Kinglet. You can see the yellow-crown in the middle of the photo between the two red berries.

I believe these are the bittersweet berries. I read the American Bittersweet are vines that can kill trees and are hard to eradicate. The birds eat the berries but I read they are not a favorite berry for the birds. I think they are pretty berries, I like the yellow and red colors. 

 A female Downy Woodpecker, was busy pecking away at this tree.

 I liked the reflections and colors seen at this spot of the bike trail.

Hubby and I can do some brisk walking on this trail. It is mostly flat and an easy walk  you just need to avoid the bike riders. 

On the drive home, we passed two deer, one on the road and the other was in the field on the other side of the fence.  The deer were not shy and hung around, I wish they would stay away from the road.  

"Happiness is simple, when you keep it simple." Be Happy!

Please check out and visit the following memes and links. I hope to see you there. 

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!