Saturday's Critters # 639

 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 recent back yard birds and critters and some critters seen in various national parks are from my archives.

Click on images for better viewing.

1. The Eastern Blue Bird has always been a favorite of mine, I love to see them visiting my yard.  It would be great to see them using my birdhouses for their nest. 

2. Below are two frequent visitors, the White-throated Sparrow and a Gray Squirrel. 

3. Blue Jays are another common bird visiting my yard, sorry about the photo quality, it was taken through a kitchen window. 

4. From my archives I am sharing some critters from our visits to various national parks. Below are some Elk seen in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 

5. Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons are two of my favorite parks.  There were always critters to be seen. Below is a bull moose, seen off the Heron Pond and Swan Lake loop. The moose below was wearing a tracking collar, there was also a female moose and an elk standing nearby. 

The Buffalo at Yellowstone were plentiful.  It was nice to see the cute calves.  

We watched this Grizzly Bear not far from the Jackson Lake Lodge in the Grand Tetons National Park. 

6. Seen in the Rocky Mountain National Park we watched a mama moose with a calf.  

7. Everglades National Park, a great park to see critters and lots of birds.  

Near the Flamingo marina, Everglades National Park we saw the Crocodile. It is the only place were the Crocodiles and Alligators coexist. The American Crocodile has a v-shaped snout and the Alligators seen in the photo above have a u-shaped snout.  

The Manatees were also seen at the Everglades National Park Flamingo marina area.  

8. Shenandoah National Park, Skyline Drive.  It was always a treat to see a Black Bear during our visits to Shenandoah National Park. The mosaic below and next few photos are all from Shenandoah National Park. 

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.

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Here is my linky:

Thank you for sharing your critters and post! 

Happy Monday!

Wishing everyone a great day and a happy new week!

"Add a national park to your bucket list, I promise you won't regret it."

Great Falls National Park, Potomac Maryland

"One of the great things about national parks is that they belong to everybody."

"We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone."

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday!

Wishing everyone a great day and a happy new week! 

I am sorry I did not label some of my older travel photos, I believe this is Two Medicine Lake, Glacier National Park.

America's National Parks,  the wonder of nature must be preserved for generations to come. 

People forget years and remember moments.

"We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone."

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Our World, My World

 Happy Monday!

I am continuing with some of my favorite National Park visits and archived photos.  Hubby and I are not traveling as of yet, we are waiting for the vaccine and to feel safe.  I feel like a LONG road trip is in our future, post Covid times of course! Mean time I have some virtual visits and memories of our country's beautiful National Parks. 

1. Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, hubby taking a break at the lake, I stayed behind and watched hubby climb the steps to the top, one of the many elk we saw in the park, a Grouse was seen next to the road.

2. Moose seen from the trail, a young moose was taking a drink from the river. 

3. This is a view of Alberta Falls, one of the most prominent waterfalls in Rocky Mtn NP.

4.  A herd of Elk in the Rocky National Park not far from the town of Estes Park Colorado. 

5.  Some of the Rocky Mountain NP birds seen during our visit, the Black-billed Magpie, Lincoln Sparrow, Pygmy Nuthatch, Barn Swallows, Mountain Bluebird and  Dusky Grouse. 

6.  Great Smoky Mtn NP Tennessee: Grotto Falls, Dark-eyed Junco, Autumn colors, Cades Cove horses, Wild Turkey, behind Grotto Falls, Autumn colors, deer, view of Cades Cove.

7.  Elk herd, Great Smoky Mtn NP

8.  Laurel Falls, Great Smoky Mtn NP Tennessee

9.   Black Bears were plentiful along the Roaring Fork Motor Trail in the Great Smokies. 

10.  Autumn colors in the Great Smokies, a beautiful sight. 

I think to myself, what a wonderful and beautiful world!  It is hard trying to pick out a few photos to share on this post, I have so many photos.  These are just a few favorites images from happy times traveling with my hubby.  

 Please keep wearing your mask and keep your distance!  Be safe, stay safe!

 

What's happening in your corner of the world? Please check out and visit the following memes and links. I hope to see you there. 

 
Thanks to Angie the host of  Mosaic Monday

Thanks to LadyFi  the host of Our World Tuesday! 

Thanks for visiting and commenting, have a happy day and a great new week!

Our World, My World

Happy Monday, 

Our world and my world has not been normal for over a year now. It would be nice to have everything feel normal again.  This week, I am looking forward to having President Biden in office. I am hoping and praying for peaceful times in our country. We may not agree on politics, but we can be respectful and kind to everyone. My post this week is on some of my favorite national parks, since we have not traveled due to COVID these images are from my archives. 

One of my favorite parks is Yellowstone, the scenery and wildlife is just amazing.  The scenic drives in these parks, both Yellowstone and the Tetons in Wyoming are beautiful. 

Grand Prismatic, largest hot spring in Yellowstone. It is the third largest hot spring in the world.  

Various birds seen in the Yellowstone and Tetons National Parks.

Unidentified Hummingbird, Cinnamon Teal, Magpie,
Trumpeter Swan, Cedar Waxwing, Dusky Grouse,
female Mountain Bluebird, Osprey, White Pelican.

Yellowstone's Canyon...  "The best thing about memories is making them."

Glacier National Park in Montana, I am guessing the top left is the Swiftcurrent Lake, we stayed nearby, the Running Eagle Falls or also nicknamed Trick Falls. Lower left the Beargrass looked pretty and bottom right is near Logan Pass Visitor Center. 

Going to the Sun, a very scenic drive in Glacier National Park.   This park road was a hair-raising drive for me.  We saw some Mountain Goats crossing this road, definitely keep your eyes on the road while driving.  

A view of Glacier National Park in Montana. 

Scenic view of  the Grand Canyon National Park.  

"A good life is a collection of happy memories."

Grand Canyon and Colorado River

Arches National Park, the various rock formations all had names, if only I could remember them all.  The top left could be the Balance Rock.  I do remember the bottom left are the Three Sisters and the bottom right is the Landscape Arch. 

Arches NP, Landscape Arch is the longest stone span. It stretches 306 feet and is only 11 feet thick at it's center.

"Take nothing but memories, leave nothing but footprints."

Arches NP, Balance Rock.  "We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone."

"Never let your memories be greater than your dreams."

We are looking forward to the days when we feel safe to travel and take some road trips. My dream is to visit all of our National Parks.  Our world is beautiful and our country has some of the greatest National Parks to visit.  These are just of few of the National Parks that hubby and I have visited. Some parks we visited twice, my favorites are Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Grand Canyon, Bryce and  Zion. 

Hubby and I continue to be happy and healthy, I hope everyone is doing well too. 

Wear your mask and keep your distance!   

What's happening in your corner of the world? Please check out and visit the following memes and links. I hope to see you there. 

 
Thanks to Angie the host of  Mosaic Monday

Thanks to LadyFi  the host of Our World Tuesday! 

Thanks for visiting and commenting, have a happy day and a great new week!

Our World, My World

Happy Monday,  

In early October hubby and I were able to getaway to Chincoteague Island  Virginia.  We were still wearing our mask and keeping our distance and trying to stay safe and healthy.  A great deal of time we were either in our car or enjoying the outdoors.   We enjoyed the change of scenery with walks on the beach, seeing the wild ponies, lots of shore birds, fresh air and the sounds of the ocean. 

 1. Photos below of our walk on the beach, near Tom's Cove, there was a huge flock of terns mixed with gulls, cormorants and the Sanderlings were seen on the beach. 

 

2. Me and my shadow, walking on the beach at Chincoteague.

 

3.  The Chincoteague ponies were a distance away, some were seen in the corral. The wild ponies were being rounded up for a fall health check up. 

 

4. Some ponies were already in the corral, waiting for their health check up. 

 

5. Snowy Egrets, DC Cormorants, Great Egrets and White Ibis were plentiful, seen all around the Chincoteague NWR.

 

 

6. Lots of Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Tricolored Herons and White Ibis.
 

 7.  Social distancing at the Chincoteague Island beach, also known as Assateaugue Island National Seashore. 

I'll have more to share on our visit to Chincoteague Island and the National Wildlife Refuge and National Seashore.

We are still hanging in there, happy and healthy.   I hope everyone is safe, happy and healthy. 


What's happening in your corner of the world? Please check out and visit the following memes and links. I hope to see you there.


 
Thanks to Angie the host of  Mosaic Monday

Thanks to LadyFi  the host of Our World Tuesday!

Thanks for visiting and commenting, have a happy day and a great new week!

 

 

 

Happy Thankful Thursday

 Hello, Happy Thursday!

Hubby and I look forward to the nice weather for our walks and outings.  It seems like the weather people can not always predict the weather lately. We wanted to get away for a night or two but the weather was not cooperating.  

 

1. So we go on, taking our daily walks. On this day we were able to drive an 1 1/2 hour away to the Great Falls National Park in Potomac Maryland. We walked a total of 5.3 miles at the C&O Canal Trail earlier and at Great Falls.  

 

 

2. Great Falls National Park visitor center. It was a pretty blue sky day...My kind of weather, cool, sunny and clear skies.

3. The C& O Canal Trail at Great Falls, not a cloud in the sky.

4. The Canal Boat and canal was being worked on while we were there.

5. Me and my shadow are seen below in the white water without a raft and paddle.

 

 

 

 

 

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6. Below are a few Warblers and friends, top row Northern Parula. Bottom row is the Black & White Warbler, Blue-headed Vireo and a Black-throated Green Warbler.  These were all seen in one spot along the trail to the Great Falls Overlook.

 

 

 

7. Below is the view from the Great Falls overlook, the Potomac River.

 

 

8. From the Maryland overlook you can across the river and see the Virginia Overlook.

 

 

 

 

9. These are some of the birds I saw during our visit to Great Falls NP.

Below top row are the Black Vulture, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Great Blue Heron. Middle Row are the Northern Parula, Black-throated Green Warbler, Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Bottom row are the Canada Geese, Double-crested Cormorants, Mallard Ducks. 

 

 10.  A Yellow-billed Cuckoo seen right off the trail. I do not usually see these birds on the ground, they are usually found in the tree tops. This Cuckoo was seen flying and landing on the ground.

 

 

 

11. Pretty blue sky and the Potomac River.  The Great Falls National Park is split between the states of Maryland and Virginia by the Potomac River. 

 

 

 

I am thankful for correct weather predictions.

I am thankful for planned outings.

I am always thankful to survive driving on the DC 495 Beltway and on the I-95, there are some crazy drivers out there.  

I am thankful for long walks with nature.

Take care and stay safe! 


Live simple and be happy!  😊 Keep smiling!



Thank you Michelle for hosting Thankful Thursday. 
Thank you to Yogi the host of   Skywatch Friday


Thank you for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!!  😊