Saturday's Critters # 623

 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!

Click on images for better viewing.

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir

These are my nature walks with hubby and Miney, these images are from various parks we visited. Hubby and I were able to visit some of our Maryland State Parks, Gunpowder State Park, North Point State Park in Baltimore County and the Susquehanna River State Park and Conowingo Dam. 

1. We walked the Black Marsh Trail at North Point State Park.  We saw a few Osprey, Eastern Phoebes and the Belted Kingfisher.  

2. At the end of the Black Marsh trail we had a good view of the Chesapeake Bay.  I had a good view of the Eastern Bluebird and an American Goldfinch. 

3. We walked on the NCR trail which is part of the Gunpowder State Park. 

4. Another day and another walk on the local NCR bike trail. 

On the NCR trail my Merlin app was picking up the sounds of some winter birds like the Golden-crowned Kinglet and the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. 

5. It was too early to see the Eagles migrating, that usually happens later in November.  We did see a few Bald Eagles, Double-crested Cormorants and the Great Blue Herons. 

Near the fishing pier at Conowingo Dam they have a pretty garden with a Bald Eagle sculpture. 

6. The Black Vultures are still plentiful near the Conowingo Dam and the Susquehanna River.

I can usually always see the Great Blue Herons along the Susquehanna River.  

7. Flashback photos are of various Kingfishers, seen here in the USA, Belize and Costa Rica. 

First I am sharing the male and female Belted Kingfishers seen in the USA.

8. The Amazon Kingfisher was seen in Costa Rica. 

The Green Kingfisher was seen in both Costa Rica and Belize. 

The Ringed Kingfisher was seen in both Costa Rica and Belize. 

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! 

Belize Mayan Ruins

  I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday 

More on our Belize vacation

Thanks to Bryan at our  Sleeping Giant Belize on our second day in Belize hubby and I took a tour to the Mayan Ruins.. The tour was with  Caves Branch  to the Mayan Ruins called Xunantunich and Cahal Pech. 

Above are some shots of the Xunantunich Mayan Ruins. At 130 feet high these ruins are the second tallest in Belize and located above the Mopan River . The name Xunantunich means stone woman. This site served as a civic ceremonial center. At the time 200,000 people lived in Belize.

Another view of the Xunantunich Mayan Ruins

A closeup of  the top of  the Xunantunich Mayan Ruins.

A Spider Monkey was seen hanging in one of the trees at the ruins.

The Cahal Pech Mayan Ruins sits above the banks of the Macal River and is located near the town of San Ignacio.  The meaning of the name  Cahal Pech is the Place of the Ticks. It was a hilltop home of an elite Mayan family.  Also included with the ruins photos are the Iguana,  Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher lifer and a Golden-fronted Woodpecker lifer.

To reach the Mayan ruins our tour took us on this ferry ride across the river.

The ferry ride gave me ample time to snap off a few pic's of this Green Kingfisher..

Some critters from around the ruins..the Spider Monkey, a Brown Jay lifer, Green Kingfisher, Swallows, ferry ride. Our tour guide also made a stop at a local restaurant in town for lunch..I had a yummy burrito.

In the far left are some local crafts tents set up for shopping located near the ferry to cross the river. It was a nice tour and we had a great guide and driver.. I would highly recommend Caves Branch Adventure Co for a tour in Belize. 


Thanks for stopping by and for the comments.

Join in on the fun and for more wonderful photos please visit  Mosaic Monday and more
 from  Our World Tuesday

 Thanks to our host: Mary our host of Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy and Jennifer.  I wish everyone a happy week ahead!

Saturday's Critters #26

Saturday's Critters #26

Hello and happy weekend!  OK, it's time to share your critters. I hope to see you join in on the Critter party.


I am sharing a few of the birds and a lizard seen at the Sleeping Giant Rainforest Lodge in Belize. I saw many new birds just walking around the grounds of our lodge.

Beside the lodge was a farm with free roaming chickens, duck and Guineafowl. I believe are these Guineafowl. During our walks these birds would come close to hubby and I.  It was like they were greeting us..

The Green Kingfisher is the smallest kingfisher and were a common sight to see down at the river.. Sometimes we would see two flying or hanging out together.. I believe my photo is of the female or maybe a juvenile, the male would have a rusty colored band around the chest..The female has two green bands around the chest.  I think there was a nest on the opposite side of the river.

This close up shows that there is a start of the second green belly band of the female..so most likely we saw the juvenile Green Kingfishers.

The Brown Basilisk also known as the Jesus lizard..only because they can be seen running across the top of the water. They were a common sight walking around the grounds of the lodge.

There were many different species of  hummingbirds  around the lodge.. above is the Violet Sabrewing.  It is one of the largest hummingbirds I have ever seen, a beautiful color too. This bird was a lifer for me..

The Blue-grey Tanager could be seen on the tree outside the dining room window..

While eating breakfast I watched a couple of the Blue-grey Tanagers were catching bugs in this tree.  My eyes were following the birds moving around more than on my food. I hope you enjoyed my critter post. Now, I want to see your critters..   I wish everyone a happy weekend.

An InLinkz Link-up

Thank you for linking up to the critter party. I appreciate the visits, comments and the support of my blogging friends..


To see more beautiful birds and cute critters, check out these two memes below.

Please visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni of I'd Rather-B-birdin. Also, sharing with Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting.