Saturday's Critters # 464

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!

I am still making my way through our Kauai trip photos. One of my favorite birds to see was the Rose-ringed Parakeet. I am a fan of Parrots, Parakeets and Macaws. It is sad that this bird is considered an invasive species in Kauai, they are native to India. They are known to destroy crops, such as corn crops and fruit trees. Kauai residents are not happy with thousands of these birds coming in screeching loudly and leaving behind their droppings. I knew I would never be visiting India so I was a happy birder to see hundreds of these Parakeets fly in at sunset to roost in a large group of palm trees near a Mexican Restaurant called Monico's in Kapa'a. 

Click on photos for better viewing.

1. Sept 27, a mosiac showing the Rose-Ringed parakeets in Kapaa Kauai.

2. I loved seeing all the parakeets, it was a sight to see and hear these birds come in waves and land in the palm trees. 

3. Photos are NOT the greatest, the sun was setting and we were a distance from the palm trees. 

4. With the sunset, the lighting was not the best for taking photos of the birds. I did try to brighten the photos some for better viewing. 

5. This is a view of the palm tree across the street from the restaurant, the birds landed at the very top of these trees. 

6. When I said there were waves of these Rose-ringed Parakeets flying in, this was one of the waves.  You can imagine the sound coming from all these birds, I enjoyed the show. 

7. There were times the Parakeets got lost in the palm leaves, I was able to see some of these pretty birds out in the open. 

8. We enjoyed our dinner at the Monico's Mexican Restaurant in Kapa'a , I loved seeing the Rose-ringed parakeets flying in to roost for the night. 

Coming soon, more scenes and birds from our visit to Kauai. 

Thank you for sharing your critters and 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.

Here is my linky:

I am also linking up to Heidrun's Mosaic Monday . I hope you check out all the Mosaic posts with the hostess Heidrun. 

I am also linking up to Anni's blog party found here I'd Rather B Birding   Anni always has some beautiful birds to be seen on her blog, check it out!

Monk Parakeet

Hello,

I am sharing another Florida lifer, the Monk Parakeet. I planned a  daytrip to see the Burrowing Owls and I happened to see the Monk Parakeet in the same spot along with a Loggerhead Shrike.

The Monk Parakeet is a bright green parrot with a grayish face and breast.

They are native to South America. They have established colonies in the USA.

I watch numerous Monk Parakeets going back and forth to this light pole. They were working on a nest.

Lightpole nest at the ball field.

Thank you for stopping by and as always I appreciate your comments.

My list of memes for today, I hope to see you there. Thanks to both of the host below.

Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes
Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

Nanday Parakeet

Hello,

I have a few more lifers and Florida birds I would like to share. I was able to see the Nanday Parakeet also known as the Black-hooded Parakeet near the Crescent beach area on Florida east coast.

The Nanday Parakeet  is a non-native settler.  They were brought to the US as a pet and started as an escapee. By the 1990's these parakeets have colonies in as many as 19 Florida counties. They can live as long as 25 years.

The Nanday Parakeet is mostly green with the black face mask. They feed on seeds, fruit and berries. The nest in trees with holes.

It is always exciting to see a new bird and lifer. The parakeets are special birds to me even though they are non-native. I hope your enjoy my wild bird sighting. I wish the photos could be better, I took these shots from a parking and the birds on across the street high on the wire.

Thank you for stopping by and as always I appreciate your comments.

My list of memes for today, I hope to see you there. Thanks to both of the host below.

Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes
Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

Another SWF>>Curacao

I am linking up with Skywatch Friday!

 We visited this beach before heading back to our hotel for dinner and the sunset. The weather and sky were just perfect the whole week. When we first arrived at the beach we noticed these cute Parakeets making their way around the tree tops.

I am not sure if these were the Brown-throated Parakeets or if they are called Conures. The yellow head and green back with the blue splash of color on its wings look like the Brown-Throated Parakeets I have seen pictured.

At the beach I watched this Tropical Mockingbird, it did not see to mind posing for me.

While hubby and I were on vacation we watched most of the sunsets from our hotel. We could sit at the outside restaurant for our dinner or have a drink while watching the sky. It was very relaxing.

Back at our hotel we enjoyed watching this colorful sunset.

Above the sunset is sinking into the ocean behind the resorts massage tent.

To see more beautiful skies from around the world please visit: Skywatch Friday.  Thanks to the hosting team of Sylvia, Sandy and Wren.
Also, thank you for stopping by to see my skies. Happy Skywatching and have a great weekend!

More of Curacao

I am linking up with Favorite Fotos thanks to Lydia at Where the Wild Things Were

I used Picasa to create these mosaics with my Curacao vacation photos. If you like, I have more vacation photos on my travel sight Curacao-vacation . I hope you enjoy some of Curacao beautiful scenes. The island and people of Curacao were beautiful and the so were the birds. Hubby and I had a wonderful vacation, I just wish it lasted longer. May 4 was our 22nd wedding anniversary so this was like a anniversary trip for us.

 

In the mosaic above I have the beach in front of our resort, some bougainvillea seen around the resort, bottom larger left shot is of Curacao's capitol Williamstad, a shot of the beach at Cas Abou,  and bottom right is the resort pool and the ocean.

On our second day we used the Marriott's free shuttle into to the city of Williamstad. The buildings are painted beautiful colors. There are many shops and restaurants to explore and we crossed the floating bridge pictured above to check out the local floating market. The floating market is like a farmers market with local merchants selling fruits and  vegetables.

 On one of the days we rented a car and drove around the island sightseeing. The beach called Cas Abou is favored for snorkeling was one of our stops.

Curacao birds above are the Pink Flamingo, Green Parakeets, Bananquit, Yellow Warbler and the bottom right is the National bird the Troupial.

The National  bird of Curaco is the Troupial and was a common bird seen at our resort and all around the island.

These parakeets were also seen around different part of the island.


To see more wonderful mosaics and post please visit Mary's Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday.
Thanks to Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday and thank 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 appreciate the visit and the comments. I hope everyone has a Happy week ahead.

Costa Rica birds..Part three

The Crimson-fronted Parakeet was one of the common birds I saw while in Costa Rica. It is not a common bird for me I thought they were pretty cool. It was neat to see groups of them fly in and make all kind of noises. Their plumage is primarily green but with a red forehead. Their food is fruit, nuts and seeds.

This is also my entry for Outdoor Wednesday and Nature Notes.  Thanks to Susan and Michelle for hosting these fun memes.

Thanks for stopping by my blog and to see more great photos visit Mary's Ruby Tuesday Thanks, Mary.

Costa Rica birds

I just got back from a ten day vacation in Costa Rica. The birds there are are just beautiful and some are so colorful. I'm sure my next few posts will be about the birds I saw in Costa Rica. I will start with the first birds I saw at our San Jose hotel.  They were the Clay colored robin which is the national bird of Costa Rica. Crimson-fronted Parakeet, Palm Tanager, White winged dove, unknown hummingbird, Great tailed grackle, Blue-Gray Tanagers and the Rufous collared sparrow. These are all lifers for me and I need to make a list of my Costa Rica lifers.


                                                                Palm Tanagers

Rufous collared Sparrow

Clay colored robin

Red lored parrot

Blue-gray Tanager

Thanks for stopping by to see my birds, to see more birds and critters visit the Friday Ark

To see more wonderful critters visit Misty Dawn's Camera Critters

Thanks to Misty Dawn for hosting this fun meme.