Saturday's Critters # 662

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

As usual, I am sharing my dog Miney and our walks on the trails, birds from my yard and the local watershed fire roads. 

Click on images for better viewing.

1. I am addicted to the Merlin App, I have it on during everyone of my walks with Miney.  I included one of my Goldfinch photos with the Merlin app screenshot.

Below one of my Cardinal photos is added to the Merlin Screenshot.

2. July 8, walk with Miney on our local Prettyboy fire road. This local fire road trail is mostly covered with pine needles, which makes walking so much easier. The weeds and grasses are taking over some of our other local trails. They need to come and cut the grass on the trails, I am sure the ticks and bugs love the long grass. 

" A walk in nature walks the soul back home."

 

Above I included the Chipping Sparrow image and below is the House Finch image.

3. I am sticking to the same trail for walking Miney, we walk till we come to the downed tree and then turn around and go back home. 

"An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day."

The  Scarlet Tanager is a breeder in the Prettyboy Watershed, I can recognize their calls while I am out walking Miney.

The Pine Warbler is another breeder in our local Prettyboy Watershed, I hear them calling off the trail and they sometimes visit my deck for some food. 

4. Miney loves her walk on the fire road! 

You can see the reservoir is still low, the water usually is up to the trees. The Killdeer are enjoying the muddy area and the geese love the grasses that are growing.

5. A zoomed in look at a Killdeer, I saw 8-10 Killdeer running around the muddy area. 

Killdeer

A Bald Eagle spooked the Killdeer flying in and making the Killdeer take off and fly around. The Eagle landed in a tree and the Killdeer went back to their spot on the mud.

Prettyboy Merlin birds, from our walk to the reservoir.

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 # 561

  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 still so far behind with my photos, this post is on our last day in Arizona, we visited the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix. These are mostly images of birds we saw while walking around the gardens. 

1. The Curve-billed Thrasher, their bill is the perfect tool for hunting insects. They are grayish brown in color and have a long body. 

2. Male House Finch

3. Mourning Dove

4. Gambel's Quail, has a cute forward facing crest.

5. The Cactus Wren is a speckled brown bird with a bright white eyebrow and a little cinnamon color on it's sides. 

6. Another Curved-billed Thrasher next to a barrel cactus.

7. I found a Hummingbird among these flowers. The bird blends in well. 

8. The Queen Butterfly, is orange with black borders and white spots on it's forewings.

9. A lifer for me the Gilded Flicker, has a black bib and black spots on it's belly. Just at a glance I thought this bird was another Gila Woodpecker. The black spots on the belly are helpful with the id. 

10. This bird below is the female Lesser Goldfinch, it is a pretty bird.  

11. I was surprised to see this White Egret almost at the exit of the gardens. I did not see any water nearby? 

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!

Saturday's Critters # 543

 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!

Happy Mother's Day to all Moms, have a great weekend!  🌹🌹🌹

On April 20 hubby and I flew from Baltimore-Washington Airport to Phoenix Arizona, it was a fly-drive trip. Arriving in Phoenix we picked up our rental car and drove 6 hours to Page Arizona for the start of our vacation. Thinking back on this it was a mistake to fly for 5 plus hours and then drive for another 6 hours with little to eat.  On our first full day in Page, we had reservations for the Upper Antelope Canyon tour. Hubby had a low blood sugar episode before he could eat breakfast. He was fine after the EMT's, hotel worker Suzie and a guest who was a nurse checked him over and the orange juice was very helpful. So, I ended going on the tour and hubby stayed back at the hotel resting. 

1. We reserved a Navajo guided tour through the slot canyon called Upper Antelope Canyon 

It was nice they refunded my hubby's ticket price since he could not make the tour.  It was upsetting since it was a highlight of the vacation for me and hubby. Below are some photos from the tour, the tour was only a total of 3/4 mile walk.

2. Supposedly there are 28 reptile species, we saw lots of lizards on this trip. 

3. The White-faced Ibis look similar to the Glossy Ibis. I took this photo from the tour guide vehicle. The birds were on the grounds of a high school. 

4. I tried to crop this photo for a closer look at the White-faced Ibis.

5. The Carl Hayden Visitor Center, Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam

6. Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam, we missed seeing the wildlife in this canyon area. I would have loved to see the Bighorn Sheep. The visitor sign says there are hundreds of plants and animals living in this wild place.

7. A male House Finch, one of the few birds I saw by the Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam. I did see a few swallows possibly Cliff Swallows flying around the bridge. 

8. The cactus blooms were beautiful, I like these pretty pink flowers.

Our trip  and hubby's health improved for the rest of our trip. The weather was very hot at times, 103° on the day we headed south to Phoenix from Page. 

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!

Saturday's Critters # 418

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 archived photos, pairs of various bird species. Are they mates for life? 

1. The Bald Eagle is one of bird species that is known to mate for life. The Bald Eagle mating season starts the month of  October in Maryland. 1-3 eggs are usually laid in February.  Both sexes help to build the nest, bringing materials to the nest.  The female is known to do the placement,  then together they weave the materials. They can take up to 3 months to complete a nest and the nest could be re-used year after year. 

2. Cardinals are monogamous and will typically mate for life. The Cardinal couple will work together building the nest and they can take 8-9 days to build their nest. Breeding season can last from March to September. the female will lay 2-5 eggs.  The male Cardinal will help feed it's mate and their young. 

3. A male and female House Finch. I read the House Finch will have one mate for life. The male will feed the female and guard their mate from other males.  They build a nest shaped like a cup. Their nest is made with fine twigs and stems, two inches deep. 

4. Below are the male and female Purple Finch. The Purple Finch is closely related to the House Finch seen above. During he nesting season, the male will sing and hop around puffing out it's feathers to attract the female.  The female does most of the work building the nest, taking about 3 to 8 days to complete. They have 2-7 eggs and their nesting period is 13-16 days. 

5. One of my all time favorites are the Eastern Bluebirds. Some years they like to use my nesting boxes, either to keep warm or  during the nesting period.  They have been known to mate for life, unless a mate should disappear. The male bluebird will help supply building material and then the female will construct the nest. The bluebird can lay 2-7 eggs and nesting period is 17-21 days. They can have 1-3 broods during a season. 

6. A pair of Wood Ducks, they form seasonal bonds or monogamy.  The use nest cavities in trees, 2-60 feet high and not far from water. Sometimes they use an old woodpecker's nesting cavity or a nesting box is provided. They can have 6-16 eggs, taking 56-70 days for their nesting period. 

7. The male and female Hooded Merganser. I was surprised when I read that the Hooded Merganser is known to egg-dump. They dump their eggs into a nesting cavity of their own species and other duck species like the Wood Duck. Apparently the other mommy does not mind taking care of all the extra chicks. The young chick can leave the nest in 24 hours. 

8. The male and female Downy Woodpecker. It is said most woodpeckers will mate for life. They often return to the same nest cavity each season. They can lay 3-8 eggs and their nesting period is 18-21 days. 

9. Below are a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers. These woodpeckers will excavate a nest in a dead tree, usually takes 3-6 weeks to construct a nest. Sometimes they will re-use a nesting cavity.  The female can lay 3-5 eggs, nesting period is usually 24-31 days. 

10.  Barred Owls, I saw this pair close together often during our walks at Circle B preserve in Lakeland Florida.  The Barred Owl male is known to be territorial, therefore could possibly mate for it's life time. 

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 sharing your critters and 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!