Year-end review 2013

  I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday 

December 29, 2013...

I wish everyone all the best in 2014..a very happy, healthy New Year.

On this post, I am finishing up with my favorite birds, photos, sunrises and sunsets..All simple pleasures I have enjoyed over the past year.. 

July...my favorite time to enjoy the beautiful flowers and butterflies.. And I love my Ruby-throated Hummingbirds..Goldie Girl is always a favorite of mine.

August..a sunset on our lake, a cool Green Heron, Bambi and a Great Crested Flyctcher in the backyard..

September was also an awesome month to see the warblers in my backyard.

More from September... favorite sightings..are the Shenandoah Black bear and some great backyard birds.  Like the Scarlet Tanager, Black-throated Green Warbler and the Chestnut-sided Warbler.

October....Pretty sky shots taken during our New Mexico Vacation.

October....I added 13 lifers to my list during our New Mexico vacation. It is always fun to find new birds.

November..the Snowy owls started being seen along the east coast. Like the one above seen at the Indian River inlet in Delaware....a cool backyard Red-shouldered Hawk, Bald Eagle and some cute Brown-headed Nuthatches..

December was another awesome month for viewing Snowy Owls in Maryland..I love my Canon SX40...I can take cool moon shots..like the moon shot above was taken hand held and SOOC.

A special time in December was spending time with my great-nephew on Christmas day, along with a pretty sunset...bottom left is a scene from our walk on the nearby fireroad..

May each day of the New Year
bring happiness, good cheer
and sweet surprises
to you and all your dear ones!
Happy New Year!


As always, I hope you enjoy seeing of  my  favorites and post! 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 ahead!

Half Year Review 2013

  I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday 

December 22, 2013...Merry Christmas everyone!!

I still can not believe Christmas is only days away, I still have my wrapping to do and a pie to bake.I guess I better get with it, time is running out. I know a lot of my blogging friends are taking breaks for the holiday, which was probably a good idea.
I have a lot of favorite photos from 2013, I would like to share just the first half of the year.  There were so many favorites, favorite sunrise and sunset, favorite bird and feeder and favorite photos. So here is just a quick review...

JANUARY....A beautiful Maryland sunrise and from my favorite birding place in Delaware..Hooded Merganser couple seen at Bombay Hook.

FEBRUARY...A favorite feeder with the birds..seen above a few of my favorites birds...the female Northern Cardinal, Pine Siskins, Carolina Chickadee and a Red-Breasted Nuthatch...

MARCH...Ocean City sunrise...Common Loons @ OC inlet, Snow Buntings one of my favorite birds, our resident nesting Great Blue Heron and a cool Belted Kingfisher..

APRIL....Florida vacation...Burrowing Owl lifer..Wood Stork lifer..Roseate Spoonbill, juvenile Anhinga and a Key West sunset.

MAY...migration has started and summer birds are returning..these are some of my favorite birds and sightings...Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Baltimore Oriole, Orchard Oriole, Least Bittern lifer, juvenile Brown Thrashers and a Indigo Bunting.

JUNE....Sunset over our lake and some of my favorite yardbirds: the singing Pine Warbler, two Redbellied Woodpeckers, Ruby-throated Hummingbird and a pretty local breeder the Northern Parula seen in my yard.

I will do a later post on the second half of 2013 sharing more of my favorites...I hope you enjoyed this post and my favorite photos..For some reason or another they are special to me..

I wish a very Merry Christmas to everyone and their families... a Happy & Healthy 2014...

As always, I hope you enjoy my post and 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 ahead!

New Mexico lifers

  I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday 

November 24, 2013

First, just in case I do not "see" you before Thursday.... Happy Thanksgiving everyone. 

Today my post for November is up at BIRDING IS FUN   I would love if you could visit me there. Just click on the link above. I have posted a New Mexico trip report.

Today was the first time I did two posts in one day. The 24th of each month is my scheduled post for Birding is fun and it just worked out on a day I also do my Mosaic Monday post. So I tried to associate my Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday post with my Birding is Fun entry. So here I am just sharing my New Mexico lifers. I was able to see 14 new birds during my vacation to New Mexico and they are included in the mosaics below. These two posts will be my final posts on my New Mexico vacation. I hope I did not make everyone tired of seeing my vacation photos.

The Sage Thrasher, Pyrrhuloxia, Lark Bunting, Greater Roadrunner, Canyon Towhee and the pretty Gambel's Quail. I know I have shown some of these birds on previous post but there are a couple of new birds. The top middle shot was another bird I was looking forward to seeing on my trip the Pyrrhuloxia, I believe it is the female, well known for its crest and yellow beak. This bird is similar to our Cardinals.

Above are the Lesser Goldfinch, Western Grebe, Cave Swallows, Say's Phoebe, Ladder-backed Woodpecker and Least Sandpiper. The middle right photo is the Ladder-backed Woodpecker with its Zebra like stripes across the back and it is similar to the Downy Woodpecker.

I realized I left out my lifer the Red-Naped Sapsucker....So I am sharing a separate photo. It is a cutie and deserves the special attention.  Sorry for so many repeats, I promise this is the end.


On my Birding is fun post, I listed my lifers along with a lot of my other bird sightings and the places they were seen. I did a lot of research on the internet and on EBIRD as to where I could find new birds and places that are known to be birding hotspots.


My New Mexico Lifers:
Black Phoebe
Canyon Towhee
Cave Swallow
Gambel's Quail
Greater Roadrunner
Ladder-Backed Woodpecker
Lark Bunting
Least Sandpiper
Lesser Goldfinch
Pyrrhuloxia
Red-Naped Sapsucker
Sage Thrasher
Say's Phoebe
Western Grebe

Now that this trip has ended, I am now researching where our next vacation spot may be and what birds I can see on my next vacation. 
As always, I hope you enjoy my post and 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!

Truth or Consequences

  I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday 

November 10, 2013

Happy Veteran's Day..I am thankful for the brave Veterans and our present Military service men and women.

 I am still sharing some New Mexico trip photos, I hope you are not tired of seeing them. After leaving Carlsbad we headed to our next stop on our loop around southern New Mexico.  Hubby and I enjoyed a one night stay in the spa city of Truth or Consequences. There are several local hot springs and the first bath was built in the 1800's.

Our hotel was the Sierra Grande Lodge and Spa, the stay included the private hot springs soaks.

There is a story behind the name Truth or Consequences, originally called Hot Springs. The city changed its name to Truth or Consequences to the title of a 1950 radio show hosted by Ralph Edwards. Ralph announced that he would air the program from the first town that would rename itself after the show. Hot Springs won the honor. Ralph Edwards visited the town during the first weekend of May for the next fifty years. This weekend became an event with a beauty contest, parade and a stage show.

Above two of my trip lifers..the Say's Phoebe and the Black Phoebe.  When planning the night stay at Truth or Consequences I noticed that there were two state parks nearby that are considered hotspots for birding. I knew both parks were a must for some birding. We stopped at Caballo State Park before checking in to the hotel and we visited the Elephant Butte State Park the next morning . It was at the Caballo State Park where I saw my first Roadrunner, another lifer for the trip. It ran into some brush on the side of the road so fast, no Roadrunner picture of my first sighting.

Say's Phoebe lifer.

Pictured above a Townsend's Solitaire, Junco and Chipping Sparrow, top right is the Red-naped Sapsucker..bottom left is a House Wren and bottom right my lifer the Say's Phoebe.

The water line is just amazing to me...how low can it go?

 In the mosaic above is the Elephant Butte lake, New Mexico's largest body of water. It is amazing see the water line and just how low the water is now. It is reported to be the lowest since the 1970's. The Rio Grande River delivers water to the Elephant Butte reservoir.  The water level is at 3% of the reservoir's capacity. Another one of my lifers is the top right photo of a Western Grebe.

Our one night stay in T or C rewarded me with 4 lifers. The Black Phoebe, Say's Phoebe, the Roadrunner and the Western Grebe.

As always, I hope you enjoy my post and 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!

New Mexico Birds

November 2, 2013

Linking up Camera Critters and I'd-Rather-b-birdin  
I hope you are joining in and posting your birds and critters.

Congrats to Misty Dawn on her new baby girl! I wish the family all the best!

I am sharing more birds and critters from New Mexico and our visit to Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

A Carlsbad Caverns National Park lifer.. the Lark Bunting

On the road into the park.. I looked over at a cliff and saw this Big Horn Sheep, Barbary Sheep or Aoudad in a little cave. At first I thought they were Bighorn sheep but the long hair and horns seemed different. I decided to do more research on the net.

Another Carlsbad lifer ...the Canyon Towhee

This is the Rock Wren also seen during our visit to the Carlsbad Caverns.

Barbary Sheep or also known as Aoudad were introduced into Texas and the Guadalupe Mountains.  They are reddish to sandy brown in color. These goats are native to North Africa and are vulnerable due to loss of habitat or hunting. Their habitats are steep rocky mountains, they have been introduced into Texas, New Mexico and California.

As we looked up to the top of the cliff, more  Barbary Sheep walked up to the edge as if to check us out too. On the photo above you can see the shaggy hair at the throat. They graze on grasses, bushes and lichen.

I hope you enjoyed my New Mexico birds and the cool looking sheep.

Thanks for stopping by and  I wish everyone a happy weekend.

 To see more beautiful photos and cute critters

 please visit:  Camera Critters and I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious hosts Misty Dawn of Camera Critters and to Anni of I'd Rather-B-birdin.

Chincoteague NWR lifers

 I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

For this weeks featured bird, I am sharing my Chincoteague NWR lifers.



September 24, 2013

We arrived in Chincoteague NWR around 9:30am and stayed for a day and a half. Awesome birds were seen and of course I was able to add a couple of lifers to my list.

 I am always excited to see the Black Skimmers, they are cool looking birds with their distinctive red and black bill. Pictured above are the Skimmers, Willets, Forster's Terns, Marbled Godwits and possibly my lifer the Bar-tailed Godwit. In this photo, I believe my Godwit lifer is in the top right hand corner standing next to a few Willets.  The Bar-tailed has a two toned bill..pink with a dark edge. The female Bar-tailed Godwit was found in Chincoteague back on August 3rd. I was happy that a Virginia birder pointed out the Bar-tailed Godwit, it is a very cool lifer for me.

The Marbled Godwit above seem to have a longer bill, also pink with the dark tip.

Not the best shot, but another image of the Bar-tailed Godwit located on the far left of the photo.

Above the Bar-tailed has it's wing stretched out.

Another one of my Chincoteague lifers is the Sandwich Tern.  This bird is easily id with the yellow tip on its black bill.

I hope you enjoyed birding with me at the Chincoteague NWR. If you are ever in the area I would highly suggest a visit.

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 Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday and thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes.

Thanks for stopping by and for leaving your nice comments. I always appreciate your visits.
I wish everyone a happy week ahead and Happy Birding!

SWF>>Oregon Coast

I am linking up Skywatch Friday  and  Green Day with some shots of  our days and nights on the Oregon coast at Yachats and at Cannon Beach.

We only had one evening in Yachats where we saw a clear sky and sunset. The view of the sunset from our hotel was the BEST. The rest of our nights on the coast were of the Oregon fog and clouds. We still enjoyed the coast and I think some of the foggy scenes were neat. I also had to include some more of the Oregon birds, mostly gulls. The gulls are hard for me to id, I believe some were Western Gulls which was a lifer for me.

We saw lots of gulls on the coast. I was surprised that there were not more shorebirds. I guess I am use to birding the Jersey and Delaware shore where the thousands of shorebirds are more of a common sight.  Another lifer for me on the Oregon coast was a Black Oystercatcher. I could not get a photo of it but I was able to positively id the Oystercatcher as it flew by me.

Sunset from our Yachats Fireside Hotel.

The next morning, some of the fog was neat looking and on this beach we had fun watching the surfers while checking out the tidal pools. In the far distance you can just barely make out a surfer carrying their surfboard to the water.

This is a good "WHAT" Gull? The juveniles make id-ing for me even harder than trying to id the adult gulls. I am taking a wild guess and say this is a juvie Western Gull.

The Bald Eagles were also around with a cloudy sky for a background. Not a pretty shot but the Eagles are always cool to see.

We did have some blue skies during the day at Cape Kiwanda. This beach was extremely popular and not a good place to see birds. I believe the crowds of people and the vehicles on the beach would keep the birds away. The beach was pretty and the sky was a beautiful blue.

Another beach along the Three Capes Scenic drive. The three capes are Cape Kiwanda, Cape Lookout and Cape Meares. Another beach that was missing the shorebirds. Where are they hiding?

A view from Gammon Launch at Cape Lookout. Looks like a popular spot for the paragliding. I am saving my photos of the Cape Meares lookout,  lighthouse and another Oregon lifer for another post. There were so many beautiful scenic overlooks along the Oregon coast. There are lots of great birds to be seen on the Three Capes Scenic Drive such as the seabirds, shorebirds gulls and woodland birds.

On one of the trails I saw these two Red Shafted Flickers. They were a treat to see, different than the Yellow Shafted Flickers I see at home in Maryland. I could not count the Flicker as a lifer as I had seen them on a previous trip to Washington state.

I hope you enjoyed my mish-mash of  foggy days and sky shots.
To see more beautiful skies from around the world please visit: Skywatch Friday.
And to see more of the pretty Green Day please visit Fiona's Green Day. Thanks to Fiona for hosting Green Day. Alos, thanks to Sylvia and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday!.

Of course I thank you for stopping by to see my post. I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

Oregon Lifers

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

These are just two of the lifers I saw while on vacation in Oregon.  The Swainson's Thrush seem to be pretty common and everywhere I went. To me part of their song is similar to the Veery, but it is only a small part of its song. So it did confuse me, I was thinking I was hearing the Veery.

This bird was seen at the trailhead of the Oneonta Gorge. I think there were a few of them in the bushes but I was only able to get this shot.

The two shots above are the Swainson's Thrush. At least I think they are, LOL. This bird above was seen on the trail to the overlook at Cape Perpetua.

Another lifer, I believe this is the Rufous Hummingbird, maybe a juvie?It looks like it has the start of the coloring on the neck.  But, looking at the Allen's Hummingbird it seems to look a lot like the Rufous. The Allen's has a green back and the Rufous has a rufous back.

The Hummingbirds were flying around me and going to the feeders outside the gift store at the Multnomah Falls and visitor center. I have a lot of fun watching these gorgeous little birds.

 I want to thank Theresa of The Run*a*Round Ranch. I won this beautiful eagle drawing from her blog's giveaways. I love it, Theresa. Thanks again.



To see more beautiful birds please visit Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday. Thanks Stewart for hosting this fun meme. And to see more amazing nature scenes check out Michelle's Nature Notes