Saturday's Critters # 183

Welcome to Saturday's Critters!

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads!

If you love critters 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!

Another common bird we saw in Washington State is the Stellar's Jay. I think they are beautiful. These images were on a day we transferred from the Mt Rainier Park area to Anacortes, Washington.

This shop called Recycled Spirits of Iron off on Rt 706 in Ashford Washington. The iron sculptures are huge, there were  horses, a giraffe, rooster and eagle. The sculptures were all very cool. I took these photos from the road and our car. 

A larger image of the iron sculpted giraffe.

On our drive to Anacortes we stopped at the park below called Bay View State Park on the Padilla Bay. I was amazed at how many Great Blue Herons were seen hanging out in the bay. The tide must have been low at this time.  The photo below looks better after you click for a larger image. 

I believe these are Western Grebe's below, if I am wrong please let me know.

For Tom's party ...a barn across the bay.
Tom's The Barn Collective  Thanks to Tom for hosting.

My Linky
I appreciate and thank everyone who links up their post and for all the wonderful comments! I hope you enjoy my post and photos too!

Here is a list of my linky parties;
Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni.

Tom's The Barn Collective  Thanks to Tom for hosting.


Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

Saturday's Critters #182

Welcome to Saturday's Critters!

If you love critters 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 so behind in sharing photos, I have months of Florida photos, some from home and most recently from our Washington state trip. I will be flip-flopping all around with photos. These are from our 1st day in Washington state, we visited Mount Rainer National Park.

A Gray Jay  below was seen at one of the park's overlook parking lots.

The Varied Thrush is one of my favorite Washington birds, I love it's colors and markings.

The Northern Flicker.  In the western states, they are known as the Red-shafted Northern Flicker. The east coast has the Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker.

A Stellar Jay, commonly seen in Washington State.

We stayed at a B&B Mountain Meadows Inn at Ashford Washington. We were only 7miles from the park entrance.  The elk below were seen near a farm along side of the main road.

Sharing a barn for Tom's The Barn Collective  , I saw this while walking a trail behind the barn from a local Ashford park.

My linky

I appreciate and thank everyone who links up their post and for all the wonderful comments! I hope you enjoy my post and photos too!

Here is a list of my linky parties;
Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni.

Tom's The Barn Collective  Thanks to Tom for hosting.


Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!  

Saturday's Critters #107

Saturday's Critters #107

I hope everyone has recovered from their New Year's Celebration. Again I wish everyone all the best in 2016..

Happy Saturday, it's time to share your critters and post. Any kind of critter will do, even a new or old post.. I appreciate everyone who is linking in with this week's critter party.

I am sharing a few of my favorite lifers seen during the 2015 year. My lifer list is now 455. Considering how many birds are in the world 455 is a small number, I can say it was lots of fun looking for these new birds and seeing new places.

The Common Redpoll seen in a local Maryland park in January 2015

The Reddish Egret seen at Merritt Island NW in Florida April 2015

The Florida Scrub Jay seen in various spots in Florida April 2015

The Gull-billed Tern seen at the Edwin Forsythe NWR in New Jersey, July 2015

The Varied Thrush seen at the HOH Rainforest, Washington Oct, 2015

The Black Turnstone seen in Ediz Hook, Port Angeles, Washington Oct 2015.

The next three images are for Teresa's  of Eden Hills and her new meme and information can be found here  Friday Hunt . I hope you can join in and have some fun with her fun photo hunt.

For the 1st week of January.
1. letter "A"
2. week's favorite
3. Celebrate

My first entry for the letter "a" below.

For my "A" I am sharing the Rhinoceros Auklet seen during our whale watching trip out of Port Angeles, Washington. The Rhinoceros Auklet is one of 6 Auklets that can be seen in or around the Pacific Northwest or up to Alaska. Auklets are marine birds with short wings,webbed feet and compact bodies.

2. For my weeks favorite photo below

My favorite photo of the week was of this piggie squirrel on my deck railing. He just looks so cute.

3. Celebrate with my Great-nephew Neill

My family celebrated Christmas at my niece's house, it was the last year our family will be living in the same state. These are my three images for Teresa's new meme Friday's Hunt. Thanks to Teresa for hosting.

Above are my first yard birds seen on the morning of  Jan 1st 2016. Mourning Doves, Tufted Titmouse, White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, House Sparrow, Cardinals, Carolina Chickadee, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Pine Siskin, White-breasted Nuthatch

I am looking forward to seeing new birds at home or during our travels in 2016. I hope you enjoyed my images and my favorite new lifers from 2015..

An InLinkz Link-up

As always thanks for the visits and the nice comments. I also thank everyone who is linking up and sharing their critters.. Happy Saturday, have a great weekend!

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

Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni.  Also check out Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting this fun meme.

Happy Monday

I am linking up with   Mosaic Monday  and Mersad's Through My Lens   and Our World Tuesday    and NF Trees

They are all fun memes listed above to participate in...I hope you can join in with the fun  and check out some of the participating posts.

Hello Monday, have a great week! Think happy! These are images are from around our yard and neighborhood, the lake is only a short walk away and on this day our grandpuppy Nibbles was visiting for a few days.

A few backyard birds, the Redbellied woodpecker, juvenile Cardinal and a Blue Jay.

Fungi seen during our walk, I was told it is called Chicken of the Woods.

Nibbles enjoying a view of the lake, she has not taken a dip in the lake yet.

The view of our lake, a trail thru the woods, ferns, moss and some fungi.

I am not sure if this is a fern or some kind of evergreen plant, it looks pretty on the forest floors and near the downed trees.

For Monica's NF Trees I am sharing our trail to the lake, it is a forest with mainly hardwood trees and some Virginia Pine trees. The forest floor is mostly ferns, it is a very pretty walk. These walks of ours have been done with our old dogs countless times over the 25 years we have lived here.

Grandpuppy Nibbles visited for a few days..I hope you enjoyed my post, Nibbles and our walk to the lake.  Thanks for visiting and for the nice comments. Have a happy new week ahead!

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  and NF Trees 

 Thanks to Judith our  host of Mosaic Monday and to Mersad of Through My Lens and to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy and Jennifer.  Also thanks to Monica for hosting NF Trees.
I wish everyone a happy week ahead!

Daytrip to Gettysburg, Pa

Linking up with Skywatch Friday  and Good Fences  

Hello, another break from vacation photos, I am sharing some Gettysburg Pennsylvania photos. Also time for sharing some Skywatch photos for Skywatch Friday and some fence scenes for Tex's Good Fences memes.

On March 11th, hubby and I visited the Gettsyburg National Battlefield and drove some of the auto tour..We can drive to Gettsyburg Pa under an hour, it is a nice place to spend the day..

LOL, an American Kestrel sky. A Kestrel perched on at statue at Gettysburg Battlefield.

From the Gettysburg tour road, fences are all over, I love the red barn and the big evergreen tree.

It was a cloudy day we when visited Gettysburg and this supposedly haunted covered bridge called Sachs Covered Bridge.

The Blue Jays and Robins, Redbellied Woodpeckers and a Redheaded Woodpecker were seen all around the battlefield auto tour.

Above you can still see the Kestrel perched on top of the Soldier's hat. Some days we just have to put up with the gray skies..At least it was not snowing at the time of our visit..

Above a view of the Pennsylvania countryside, battlefield, trees, fences, snow and mountains in the distance..

According to the legend three Confederate Soldiers convicted of being spies were hung from the beams in the covered bridge. Their bodies were recovered by the Unions soldiers.. It is said their spirits haunt the bridge and sometimes people have said General Lee's pipe smoke can be smelled on the bridge..

There are many barns and old homesteads on the Gettysburg battlefield, some still standing have an old bullet hole in the house or barn.

The belly band is a tip to iding the Red-tailed hawk.  Even though this is not a great photo I wanted to include photo of the birds I saw while touring the battlefield..

The statues of the soldiers are one of my favorite parts of touring the Gettysburg Battlefield..This soldier looks to be riding into my scene...

I hope you enjoyed some of our auto tour and thanks for stopping by and for the nice comments..

To see more pretty skies from around the world please visit  Skywatch Friday
and check for more fence shots at Tex's Good Fences

Thanks to Theresa @ The Run*A*Round Ranch for hosting Good Fences and thanks to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday.    I wish everyone a happy day and weekend ahead..

Florida Scrub Jay

Linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

For this week's wild bird I am sharing my lifer #448..the Florida Scrub Jay..

The Florida Scrub Jay was on my list of want to see birds while visiting Florida. I read that there is a nesting pair of Florida Scrub Jays near rangers station and not far from the visitor center. This was one of my must see stops while visiting the wildlife refuge..

He or she posed nicely for me, these two shots look the same..This bird is restricted to the oak-scrub community of Florida. The habitat is threatened with development and this Florida Scrub Jay is listed as threatened in the endangered species act.

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So, I was pleased to see the Florida Scrub Jay in various spots during my Florida travels.. I hope you enjoyed my wild bird post.. Till next week's wild bird post.. I wish you happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird and nature photos please visit:

 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes

Thanks to all of our hosts... Michelle for Nature Notes and Stewart of Wild Bird Wednesday.

  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

Saturday's Critters #27

Saturday's Critters #27

Hello and happy weekend!  It's that time to share your critters. I hope to see you join in with the Saturday Critter Party.

Wow, I just read that this is my 800th post.. I can not believe I have made 800 post..

I am sharing some more birds and critters I saw while vacationing in Belize..

 Some of these birds were included in a previous post but a smaller photo in a mosaic. I thought it would be nice to see the birds in a larger photo..  Above is the Brown Jay one of my Belize lifers.

The Social Flycatchers seem to be a common bird seen all around Belize. Many were seen at our Sleeping Giant Rainforest Lodge.

 Another lifer is the Yellow-Green Vireo..was seen while eating breakfast every morning in a nearby tree. I was not kidding before when I said it was difficult to eat while my eyes were following birds around and seeing new life birds.

The iguanas were seen in several places. Some of these critters can be very large in size.

Another Belize lifer the Yellow-faced Grassquit..also seen at our rainforest lodge. 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.

Jays,Crows & Kin

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes


I am diving into my archives for this post which includes the Jays and Kin in the Corvidae family..Some photos of the Blue Jay are from my backyard and other shots are from my travels.

The two shots above are from my backyard. The Blue Jay is a regular year round visitor in  my yard.  It loves peanuts in and out of the shell. They are loud and always announce their presence on my deck. They are able to imitate a hawk sound so well it really fools me and my little birds.

The Stellar Jay was a common sight during our Washington State travels.. It has a sooty black head and crest, blue wings and tail.

Sorry, for the quality of this shot above but it is the only one I could find of the Gray Jay I was while traveling around Wyoming and Montana.  I need to do some checking on my back up files for a better shot of the Gray Jay. It is a beautiful bird, it is dark gray above and pale gray below. This Jay does NOT have a crest.

The Clark's Nutcracker was seen at Bryce National Park. This bird has a long bill, gray body with black wings.

 And the (Corvidae) Corvid family also includes the following

 The Common Raven has a heavy bill, long wings and tail. The Raven seems to be a more common sight in the western part of the USA.

These Ravens were seen in the Bryce Nat'l Park in Utah.

The Black-billed Magpie was a common bird seen in Yellowstone Nat'l Park. They were usually hanging around the parking lots. They have a black head and breast, white belly and an elegant long tail.

 The Corvid family includes a list of Crows. Above is the American Crow seen in my backyard. The American Crow is overall black, also has a heavy bill, broad wings shorter than the Raven. Somewhere I may have a shot of the Fish Crow seen during my travels.. I wish I had labeled my older photos, to save a lot of searching. 

I am missing a few or more Jays for my lifer list.. Some day it will be nice to see some of the other Jays like the: Brown Jay, Pinyon Jay, Mexican Jay and my favorite the Green Jay.  There are also three Scrub Jays: the Western Scrub Jay, Island Scrub Jay and one I have seen the Florida Scrub Jay. Did you know there were so many Jays?

Thanks for stopping by my post and for all the nice comments.

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.  Thanks to our host Michelle our host Stewart.  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!