Our World, My World

 Happy Monday and Happy month of June!



Some times hubby and I are lucky to be able to take a hike on a day like this one. The weather was nice and the wildflowers were just beautiful.  These wildflowers were all along the river, most shades of purple but some were white.  

 A view of the Gunpowder River at an area called the Hemlock Gorge. Someone named Tom left their name on the Gorge sign. 

Just a few of the birds I saw and a Swallowtail Butterfly at the river. A Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher and the Louisiana Waterthrush are  summer residents.

 I watched a pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers across the river.  They have a cute sound. 

 I am guessing at the flower id, I believe these are the Dames Rocket, bloom in the late spring or early summer.

Pretty purple blooms by the river.  

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail landed on a rock in the middle of the river. 

These were tiny little blooms..

A view looking down the river and some pretty tall hemlock trees. 

 This is one of our local places to walk and part of our reservoir's watershed. I hope everyone is doing well, take care and stay well.


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.


 
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!

Hemlock Gorge

I am linking up with   Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday 

I like that I can take my walks any time I want now, instead of waiting for the weekend..weather permitting of course.. These are some scenes from our walk to a local area called Hemlock Gorge.. The river is called the Gunpowder River and runs into the lake near our home..

I like the reflections captured in the photo on the left and the Hermit Thrush is seen in our area only in the winter months..

More river scenery and the sunlight coming thru the hemlock trees and some icicles..

Above the icy river and a cute Winter Wren we watch for a while hopping along the river's edge. It was a chilly and brisk walk, great exercise too. I hope you enjoyed my walk. I thank your for visiting and all the wonderful comments..

I use Pic Monkey to create my mosaics, you can use Pic Monkey free or pay for an upgraded version.
I hope you can join in on our fun at  Mosaic Monday and   Our World Tuesday

 Thanks to Judith 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!

Hemlock Gorge Walk

Hello, I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday.


These are some of the scenes from our walk at the Hemlock Gorge yesterday.Such a calm day before the big storm SANDY. I am hoping our electric stays on, they are already announcing school closings. If I am not around visiting your blogs the next couple of days, it will be because I will not have the internet access. I hope everyone in the path of SANDY ..Take care  and be careful and I hope no one has any serious damage.

Above we saw a few falls colors, hemlock trees and a cute Carolina Wren. I also saw the YC Kinglets in the same area as the Carolina Wren.

Our walk on the trail next to the river and goes into a Hemlock forest. We saw various hemlock trees that look like they are dying most likely from the insect called Hemlock Wooly Adelgid. It was sad to see that these same beautiful hemlock trees in the Smoky Mountains are also dying from this insect.

Above are some photos from around my yard: top right is our red maple tree, Clematis is blooming again, more of the red maple, our colorful weeping cherry tree and one of the many Pine Siskins I have been seeing at my feeders.

I love the colors on our Weeping Cherry tree.

More of the blooming Clematis.

Here are just of few of the Pine Siskins in my yard today. You can see their pretty yellow stripe on their sides. At the same time they were also on other feeders and in the weeping cherry tree. My biggest flock of Siskins so far this season.

They are a fun groups of birds to watch, sometimes getting a feisty with each other. I hope you enjoyed my walk and my Pine Siskins.

To see more wonderful photos and mosaics please visit Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday
 Thanks to Mary of Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia and Sandy .  Thanks also for stopping by to see my post.  I wish everyone a happy week!

Local Critters

I love weekends and Camera Critters and Scenic Sunday

I am posting early since I will be a little busy on Saturday. For this weeks critter post I have a bird seen locally at the Hemlock Gorge. A local place hubby and I like to hike around. The bird is the Louisiana Waterthrush.

They nest in woodlands close to fast moving streams. The stream is actually the Gunpowder River which is at the top of our reservoir.

Not the best photo, I had to zoom in and it is cropped which make it even more fuzzy. But you can see the supercilium. I call it the eyebrow. They have pink legs and the stripes on its breast.

The Waterthrush's bill is large which enables it to take larger prey like crayfish, frogs and fish.

Goldie Girl loves the river too, she is pleading PLEASE do not leave yet. She wants to play more in the water.

I like how the hemlock trees across the river are growing out of the the boulders.

I believe this is the Eastern Phoebe it was another one of the birds I saw near the river.

 It is a nice trail with pretty wildflowers growing on the river bank. Not sure what it is called, it reminds me of the tall phlox?

 

We passed by many of these tiger lilies along the trail. 

I hope you enjoyed my birds and critter post and the pretty scenery. To see more cute and wonderful critters please visit Misty Dawn's  Camera Critters  and the Holleys's Scenic Sunday.  Thanks to both of the host and thank you for stopping by and for your comments. I wish everyone a safe and HAPPY weekend.

Birding the Hemlock Gorge

For this weeks World Bird Wednesday   and  Nature Notes I am showing the pretty White Eyed Vireo I saw on a walk we took this past weekend. Hubby and I will take to hiking the local trails that are close by if we do not have much time. Just like my post on birding the Gunpowder River trail below, these trails are all just minutes away from our house. The Hemlock Gorge trail which is above the dam starts off near the road and runs along the Gunpowder River has mixed forest until you hike further back into the Hemlock forest.

The White Eyed Vireo like deciduous forest such as stand of oaks near the water. This is exactly where we found these birds on the trail near the river. The male has yellow on its head and breast and has a heavybill. The juvies are often compared with the duller Pine Warbler.  I was lucky to see three or four of these White Eyed Vireo hopping around the trees. I believe it was a family and they were in the process of foraging for their food. They did get a little fussy when we stopped to look at them. Maybe the nest was nearby?

The habitat  mixed forest along the Gunpowder River

To see more great birds and photos please visit Springman's World Bird Wednesday  and Michelle's Nature Notes  Thanks to Springman and Michelle for hosting this memes. Thanks also for stopping by to see my post. I hope the rest of your week is wonderful.

Birding the Hemlock Gorge

On Sunday, hubby and I took a hike around the Hemlock Gorge. This area is known for its large beautiful hemlock trees. The river that flows thru the Hemlock Gorge ends up in the top part of our reservoir. During our loop drive back to our house we stop and took a look over the bridge that is when I spotted the Hooded Merganser couple. It was a quiet day for the birds. These Hooded Mergansers were the easiest birds for me to spot. Usually I see a kingfisher in this area but it was not there on Sunday.

  The Hemlock Gorge loop trail take us past an an old cemetary where the Hoffman family are buried. The Hoffmans were the first paper makers in the state of Maryland. Mr Hoffman died in 1811. I was told the small maker stones in front are actually makers for the servants.

             The trail takes us along the river and the pretty hemlock trees.

I am linking up with 2sweetnsaxy's Watery Wednesday and Susan's Outdoor Wednesday. Thanks to these wonderful host and thanks for stopping by to see my post.