Saturday's Critters # 631

     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

I am sharing a mish-mash of photos, from our walks and my back yard and some from my archives and travels.  

Click on images for better viewing.

1. Two of my common back yard birds, the Dark-eyed Junco and the Carolina Wren.  

2. Mid-day on a Sunday, I had a cold and windy walk to the lake with Miney and hubby.  I rarely see the little birds on windy days, they stay hunkered down somewhere. I did hear an Eagle calling and a loud Red-bellied Woodpecker.  I could hear Crows calling loudly in the distance. 

3. NCR bike trail, I saw three Northern Flickers pecking at the ground, Miney and Hubby on the trail.

4. In the our back yard the Blue Jays wait for me to put out some bird food for them.  

5. Our first snow storm with 4-6 inches of snow. Miney looks at the shovel and says when are you going to get this done?  

From my archives, various trips we took to Costa Rica, Panama and Belize I was thrilled to see various toucans. 

6. Collared Aracari Toucan, seen in Costa Rica and Belize. 

The photo below was taken from the resort balcony, there were 3 Collared Aracari toucans perched in a distant tree. 

7.   Keel-billed Toucan, seen in Costa Rica and Panama.

Below is another Keel-billed Toucan seen during a boat ride in Panama. 

8.  The Yellow-throated Toucan or is it the Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, seen in Costa Rica. 

I hope you enjoyed these birds, they were a treat to see. The Toucans are one of my many favorite birds, seen during our travels to Costa Rica, Panama 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! 

Back in time

Linking up with Camera Critters  and I'd-rather-b-birdin

I hope all my blogging friends up in the north are warm and  safe from the storm Nemo.

I am going back in time with these photos. Between working all week and the weather I have not been anywhere to take new photos. The blizzard has missed Maryland, only seeing some heavy wind gusts here.
So, off we go to Costa Rica to see my favorite birds and an iguana tree.
 Sorry, if you have seen these photos, I hope you do not mind seeing them again. I do not think I have shown the Iguana tree though so that might be new. They are some of the highlights we saw in Costa Rica, the wildlife sightings were just amazing.

We passed this iguana tree while touring with our group. This tree was filled with iguanas of all sizes. 

 There were so many iguanas on the tree, I could not fit them all in on one photo. It was amazing sight to see. How many iguanas can you find in the shot above. You could times that by 20 and that would be how many we saw on this tree.

Rhinceros beetle was a cool sighting in Costa Rica. It was one of the biggest beetles I have ever seen.

The Collared Aracari was seen quite a bit at our  Tortuguero resort.

The Keel Billed Toucan is one of my favorite toucan. The Toucan species are just awesome looking birds.

The Blue-gold Macaws were seen on the parking lot of the Swinging bridges. They were most likely escapees but still very cool to see the pair of them.


The wildlife of Costa Rica is awesome, if you ever have a chance of visiting Costa Rica I would say go for it. I hope you enjoyed my critters and birds.
To see more cute and wonderful critters please visit Misty Dawn's Camera Critters  and more beautiful birds seen at Anni's blog I'd-rather-b-birdin
Thanks to both Misty Dawn and to Anni for hosting these fun memes. I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

Toucan and Monkey Island

I am linking up with World Bird Wednesday  and Nature Notes

During our trip to Panama, our tour group took a boat ride out to Monkey Island. This tour reminded me of the boat rides we took on our Costa Rica vacation. Very cool! The guys driving the three boats were pretty experienced at finding the Capuchin monkeys. Plus, I think it helped they had some spare grapes on board.

This is the second three toed sloth we saw during our time in Panama. The boat drivers were quick to spot this cool looking critter. It is actually the first time I was able to see a face on the sloth. Usually, it is hidden.

We were warned not to laugh at the monkeys because it could make them agressive. But, as soon as the drivers spotted the monkeys, the monkeys immediately came closer to the boats. I think they knew where the spare grapes were kept. Some of the ladies in our tour group started screaming when the monkeys jumped on the boat. At that point I was laughing hysterically and trying to take some shots of the monkeys at the same time.

These are the white faced Capuchin Monkeys.

We were told if they were NOT fed by the drivers they could get agressive. There is only so much food on this little island and they are use to being fed.

The Capuchin monkey trying to make a get away with the grapes.

One of the Capuchin monkeys walking on top of the other boat.

More of the Capuchin Monkeys

My favorite sighting... the Keel Billed Toucan

One of the main highlights of Monkey Island for me was seeing the Keel Billed Toucan. I just love these birds.

To see more wonderful birds click on my link World Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes.

Thanks to Springman for hosting World Bird Wednesday and to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes. Also, I appreciate your visits and comments. I hope everyone has a great week and a Happy Thanksgiving.

Keel Billed Toucan

Keel Billed Toucan seen at the at the National Zoo in DC this past weekend.

The Keel Billed Toucan I saw in the wilds of Costa Rica last year.

I love seeing birds anywhere but seeing them in the wild is so much nicer.

To see more wonderful birds please click on my link for World Bird Wednesday and more fun post at Wordless Wednesday

Thanks to the hosts of both World Bird Wednesday and Wordless Wednesday. Also, thanks for stopping by my post. I hope the rest of your week is great.

Toucan mosaic.

While vacationing in Costa Rica I was able to see three different kinds of Toucans. I thought it would be fun to make a mosaic with their photos. They are the Collared  Aracari, Keel billed Toucan and the Chestnut Mandibled Toucan. Seeing the toucans was a real treat for me and I think they are really cool cartoonish looking birds. Below I have separate post on the Keel billed Toucan and the Collard Aracari but this is my first time for adding the Chestnut mandibled Toucan to a post. The red and yellow colors on the toucans are so bright and pretty.

Chestnut mandibled Toucan

Keel Billed Toucan

Collard Aracari

Thanks for stopping by my blog, and thanks to Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday

and

since you seen the yellow on my Toucans you can visit Mellow Yellow Monday

Costa Rica Bird...Part 4

My entry for Bird Photography Weekly #85 Please click on my link ot see more.
I was lucky to see three different toucans while in Costa Rica. This Keel Billed Toucan showed up in a tree while I was looking at a red Summer Tanager. The Keel Billed Toucan ranges in length from 17-22 inches. Their colorful bill averages 5-6 inches of its length. Wikipedia states that the bill is large and cumbersome but is actually spongy hollow bone covered in a keratin a very light and hard protein. They mainly eat fruit, but will also take insects, small eggs and reptiles. I think they are cool cartoonish looking birds.

One the photo below You can compare the Collared Aracari to the Keel Billed Toucan

The main difference between the aracaris and the toucans are the tails. The Collared Aracaris have a sharp and pointed tail. The beaks are about 4 inches long.

Thanks for stopping by my blog and to check out more bird and critters visit the Friday Ark

also

this also my entry for Camera Critters visit Misty dawn's Camera Critters for some cute critters.