Sunday walk, June 23

  I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday .
It will be nice to see you join in on our fun this week at Mosaic Monday and to have a look into your world.

June 23, 2013

This morning I woke hubby up early to take a walk before it got too hot and humid. We drove around the lake so we could walk on a trail that goes right up to our lake. So these are some shots from our walk and a few shots from an early morning walk around my yard.

 I was awake early enough to see the super moon setting, looked pretty thru the trees, a little pink clouds during the sunrise, and Goldie Girl at the lake.

Along the trail, I could hear the Hooded Warblers and lots of Northern Parulas and Ovenbirds. None of which I could get photos of but, they were still nice to see and hear.

Some more scenes from our walk on the trail and lake.  I believe the Cardinal is a juvenile.

The fireroad or trail, it is lush and green and a beautiful place for a morning walk.

Back in my yard, the spirea, some clematis is mixing in with our blueberry bushes. Another type of clematis is still blooming on my fence, a bluejay with a mouthful of peanuts and a cute Tufted Titmouse.

It is amazing to see how many peanuts the bluejays can stuff into their mouths.

The Tufted  Titmouse are cute birds, I love this closeup.

This clematis vine seems to be mixing in with our blueberry bushes. I have not seen any blueberries ripe enough for picking unless the birds are getting to them before me.

This seem to be a young cardinal, I love that look!

Another clematis vine we have growing on our fence, it seems to keep putting out more blooms.

I hope you enjoyed my walk, post and photos. Thanks for visiting my blog. I always appreciate your 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!

Around the yard_ June 20

I am linking up with NF Winged   and  Skywatch Friday

June 20, 2013

Wow, another week has rolled on by and the days seem to go by faster and faster. I am sharing some scenes from around the yard and one sunset view from our lake. I have both sky shots for Skywatch Friday and some photos of my yardbirds for NF Winged.

This was one of my early morning sunrises on the way to work. The fog was turning colors from the sunrise.

The Gray Catbird is one of my frequent visitors. It likes the meal worms, sunflowers seeds and I think it likes the grape jelly.

One of my favorite visitors is the Downy Woodpeckers. I have a couple that visit my suet feeders.

The Carolina Chickadees are always fun to watch, I believe their babies have fledged. And they are bouncing all around the yard.

I think this Goldfinch has misplaced its comb.

This moon shot was taken on June 14 at 7:14PM , it is called the Waxing Crescent.

The shot above was courtesy of my hubby, a view of our lake at sunset.  Have you enjoyed my walk around the yard, the birds and sky? I hope to see you sharing your skies too.

Thanks for visiting my post and  blog and I always appreciate your comments.

Happy Skywatching  to everyone!
To see more pretty skies from around the world please visit  Skywatch Friday
and to see more of the winged critters check out NF Winged

Thanks to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday! Thanks to Monica the host of NF Winged.   I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

Local Colors

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

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Since we were away last weekend we did not plan much for this weekend. We took a walk on the bike trail looking for some fall colors there and around our lake. When I am home on the weekend I have to check out all my feeder birds. I miss seeing them while I am at work during the week.

Photos in my mosaic are some fall colors from the local bike trail, Goldie Girl, some geese on our lake and my yardbirds.

A mockingbird also seems to like to eat the pokeberries.

Above is a pretty Purple Finch and a Tufted Titmouse.

Some of the brighter colors from our walk on the bike trail yesterday.

 A Great Blue Heron we saw at the river next to the bike trail.

Goldie Girl went to the bike trail for a walk too.

On the way home from the bike trail we rode around the lake look for a bit of color.

There was just a little bit of color around the lake. The leaves on the trees are either still green or just turning brown. Are you seeing lots of fall colors where your live?

A chickadee and the Purple Finch on my feeder.

So these are shots of the local color and a few of my yardbirds.  I hope you enjoyed my post and photos.

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!

Sunset over the lake

I am linking up with Skywatch Friday  and Green Day

I have some various shots of the sunset from my backyard and some from our lake.

These are some of my hubby's favorites the reflection of the sunset on our lake.

Dear hubby also found this lovely wild lily? At least I believe it is a lily growing near the edge of the lake.

 I love this shot of the tree and the forest floor covered in pretty ferns.

 Some pretty ferns and colorful fungi growing off the fireroad.

We stopped along the fireroad to watch this group of tree swallows.

More pretty pink reflections on the lake.

Above is a shot of the sunset from my deck, the sky was colorful behind the trees.


To see more wonderful skies from around the world  Skywatch Friday and lovely greens please visit Green Day.
Thanks to Sylvia and Sandy the host of Skywatch Friday and to Fiona the host of Green Day.  Also, thank you for visiting my blog and post. I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

Walk to the lake

I am linking up  with That's My World  and Watery Wednesday . These are some photos from yesterday's walk with my hubby to the nearby lake and some from my backyard. The lake has a thin layer of ice and is starting to melt quickly now.

These are some shots of Black Vultures and Turkey Vultures flying around my yard and a pretty Pine Warbler and a gorgeous sunset to end the day.

I hope you enjoyed my photos please visit that's My World and Watery Wednesday.  Thanks for stopping by and thanks to the great host of the two memes.

That's my World... this is my neighborhood

That’s My world, this is my neighborhood...pictures clickable... Please check out more great blogs and photos and click on my  THAT'S MY WORLD link.

My house is one of six in the neighborhood that is close to a watershed and just a walk away from the lake. It is like having a park right outside our door. I was born in a city of townhouses (row houses) and I can definitely say I am not a city girl any more. I love my neighborhood. My hubby and I and our dog are always taking walks on the fireroads around the reservoir.

My goldie loves swimming in the lake.

On the lower side of the lake is a dam and the state park.

Another great thing about my house and neighborhood is the birds. I get to see some great birds.
The woodpeckers are one of my favorites, I see the Redbellied woodpeckers, Pileated, Downy, Hairy Woodpecekers, Northern Flickers, and the Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. A few times I have seen Bald Eagles fly over my house and sometimes I see them in the trees near the lake. The deer are always nearby, once in my yard eating birdseed. Hunting season started recently so the hunters are parked up and down the street. We have to be careful walking in the woods now.

Male Downy Woodpecker

Female Redbellied Woodpecker

Hawk on playset..not sure of id

This has been my world for twenty years now and it is the place I call home. Thanks for stopping by my blog, I appreciate all the lovely comments. Also a BIG thanks to our host who put together THAT'S MY WORLD.

Morning walk at the river

Hubby and I went out for an early morning walk, I like to go early to see the early birds. We usually go to the lake on a fireroad which is close to our house. But this morning we decided to go to the river for our walk. First Stop was to see if the Dam was overflowing. We had lots of rain yesterday!



Hubby was happy to see the dam was overflowing, he likes to sit in the rapids further downstream for what he calls a massage. Apparently the water is not as cold for him when it is overflowing than the water that comes from the bottom gates of the dam.



After checking out the dam we drove to the park parking lot close to the river. We walked until we were at the rivers edge where we were able to watch some kayakers practicing their rolls.






We walked on the trail until we got to where the water was on the trail. We had to turn back or try walking in the water. I knew that wasn't going to happen.




At the bridge we watch a kayaker help a couple with their overturned canoe. They seemed alright and were actually laughing about being dumped in the river.














My hubby just enjoys hiking and I enjoy looking for the birds while I am hiking. This mornings walk started off with a very loud Pileated Woodpecker and a Cuckoo. This trail along the river is mostly mountain laurels and in some spots hemlock trees and some wildflowers and a variety of ferns. I have to say I heard more birds than ones I actaully could see. I did see some medium size brown birds moving about the trees, I believe they were some kind of Thrush.

Black and White Warblers were moving quickly in the trees along the rivers edge.






After hiking the rivers trail, hubby and I went separate ways. he took another trail to see the river at another spot and I took a nice flat trail in the woods that crosses under power lines. I was hoping to see some birds in the fields near the power lines. All I could see were some Turkey Vultures soaring above, some Bluejays, Crows, Carolina Chickadees were fussing and I could hear a hawk. I had a nice walk but was a little disappointed with the birding. Oh Well, maybe tomorrow I'll have better luck.