Saturday's Critters #242

Welcome to Saturday's Critters!

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!

These are my critters for today's critter post. On the way home from our local bike trail we road past this farm with two donkeys and two horses.  I had to stop and take some photos, I love donkeys.

My hubby met and talked with an older local man while hiking on our local fire road trail, the man  told hubby about another eagle's nest nearby that we did not know about.  So July 18th we hiked this fire road to find the eagle nest. It was too late to see the eagles but now we know where the nest is for next year. We have lived here almost 29 years and we still have not hiked all the local fire roads.

While checking out the Eagle nest, I noticed  a duck far away floating in the lake just under the nest, it turned out to be a Red-breasted Merganser.  This bird is rare to be seen in Maryland this time of the year. Are the winter birds already on the move?

I appreciate and thank everyone who links up their post and for all the wonderful comments !

Here is a list of my linky parties;

Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni.

Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday, wishing everyone a great day! 

Slowly making my way back into blogland. 

I am sharing our trip to the Delaware and Maryland beaches on Feb 13-15. I have some photos of the beach and bridge at the Indian River Inlet State Park in Delaware. 

A distant photo with a  few Common Loons hanging around the beach and inlet.

A Loon and a female Merganser.

I hope you enjoyed my sky photos and the birds seen at the shore.

I am thankful for having our power turned back on after a windstorm. It was out from the morning of March 2nd to the evening of March 6th.

Thanks to all the linemen and power company workers. 

I am thankful for all your visits and comments. 

Thank you Michelle for hosting. Thankful Thursday

Thank you to the hosts of   Skywatch Friday

Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!

Saturday's Critters #17

Saturday's Critters #17


Hello, can you believe it is almost the end of March. We are expecting a rainy Saturday and more rain into Sunday.. I do hope it is rain and not snow. On Monday, March 31 it is the opening day game for my hometown team, the Baltimore Orioles.. I hope they do well.

 Ok, it is time for Saturday's Critter party.  Link up your post and have some fun seeing all the different critters.   It is fun to visit with some new bloggers and catch up with some old blogging friends.  Either way, I hope everyone enjoys the critters.

My photos and birds are from our trip to the shore last weekend.. Above is a Great Blue Heron looking pretty..seen at the Prime Hook NWR in Delaware.

At Ocean City's inlet a few Black Scoters and the gulls in mid-air.. I love the gulls, I think it is a funny shot. Not sure of the the id on the gulls.. There are were too many variations of gull species, I have not even tried to id the gulls.

 I missed seeing the Purple Sandpipers at the inlet, usually they would be seen along the inlet wall but all I saw there were these gulls..

I like this shot of the Black Scoters, it shows the orange knob on their bill.

The Red-Breasted Merganser was also seen at the Ocean City inlet during our trip.. The Male has a green head, rusty breast and a shaggy crest..

An InLinkz Link-up

Thank you for linking up to the critter party. I appreciate the visits, comments and the support of my blogging friends..

To see more beautiful birds and cute critters, check out these two memes

Please visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni of I'd Rather-B-birdin. Also, sharing with Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting.

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

Red-Breasted Merganser

01/28/14

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

I am sharing the Red-breasted and Common Mergansers.  The Red-Breasted Mergansers were seen at Barnegat Lighthouse and they can be found all along the Atlantic coast. Sorry for the lighting, it was a gray day.

I am pretty sure these are female Red-breasted Mergansers with their shaggy crest.

Above are the Red-Breasted Mergansers. The male has a rusty breast, white neck and a shaggy crest.

 Common Mergansers have been seen on our lake in the winter. They are rarely found in salt water.

Above for comparison the male Common Merganser in the front left has a brilliant white bottom and a green head. The females have  a rufous head with a neat crest.  I think both Mergansers females have weird looking do's.




Thanks for stopping by my post and for all the nice comments.

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 our host Michelle our host Stewart.  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

Saturday's Critters #8

Saturday's Critters #8

Good Morning, everyone..So happy to see you here on Saturday's Critters..If your blog post has a critter post..please join in and link up to my Saturday Critter party.

Here are a few of my favorite ducks..seen at Edwin Forsythe NWR. Above is the pretty Northern Pintail.

Another one of my favorites is the Hooded Merganser. I hope your enjoy my ducks and I hope you enjoy the critter party.

The Common Loon were plentiful at the Barnegat Beach.

The Red-breasted Merganser, they have a shaggy crest..

An InLinkz Link-up

 To see more beautiful birds and cute critters

Also please visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni of I'd Rather-B-birdin. Also, sharing with Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting.

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

Skywatch Ocean City

Linking up with NF Winged   and  Skywatch Friday


I took a lot of photos this past weekend during our getaway to Ocean City, Maryland. 

This is  a Cormorant sky. I had to edit this post after I found out one of my Cormorants is a lifer "The Great Cormorant". It is the one with white feathers around it face and head. Some of my facebook friends noticed the difference on my Cormorants. Thanks to Linda and Arlene!

The bridge at the Indian River inlet and some cool cloud formations.

I am pretty sure this is a Red-breasted Merganser. The lighting was not the greatest and with the tide changing and the waves it was hard focusing on this bird.

Surfers catching the waves. Love all the blues, the water and the pretty blue sky. It was a great weekend.

After dinner at the Crabcake Factory which was delicious by the way, we watched the sunset over the bay.

The sunset and a few ducks hanging out on the bay. Zooming in I saw that the ducks were Buffleheads.

I love the colors and the pretty reflection on the water. I hope you enjoyed my Ocean City skies and birds.
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 the host of NF Winged.  Also, thank you for stopping by to see my post. I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

Ocean City weekend

 I am linking up with   Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday

This weekend hubby and I took a quick trip to Ocean City, Maryland. The weather was in the 50's which is warm for us, the sky was blue and the sun was shining. Hubby got to see his big waves and I was able to see some great birds.

One of the many Common Loon's we saw during a stop at the Ocean City Inlet.

A view of Ocean City's inlet.

Ocean City fishing pier, still damaged from the storm Sandy, part of the newer boardwalk replaced after the storm. The Ocean Gallery has been on the boardwalk since I was a child.

I always love the cute Sanderlings running up and down the beach. What a great weekend, I am sorry to see the weekend coming to an end. I hope everyone had a great weekend, thanks for stopping by and of course 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.  Thanks also for stopping by to see my post.  I wish everyone a happy week!

Just Mergansers

I am linking up with World Bird Wednesday  and Nature Notes


During our trip to the Jersey Shores last weekend we stopped at the Edwin Forsythe NWR. If you have a chance the Edwin Forsythe NWR it is an awesome place to visit and see birds.  This time of year, there are tons of ducks and amazing numbers of  Snow Geese and American Black Ducks. The Common Merganser was one that caught my eye so I decided I would make the Merganser my bird of the week.

I thought it was wild to see this one male with his group of what I assume are females. What does he have a harem or maybe they are groupies? Or they could be his kids, following around behind him.  I can almost hear the kiddies saying are we there yet? You can not miss the male, he has the brilliant white below and a green head with a narrow red bill.

The female has a rufous head with a neat crest.

On the shot above you can make out a white chin on the two females behind the male. 

Above on the left is the male Hooded  Merganser, in the middle is the female Hoodie and on the right a female Common Merganser.

I believe this is the female Hooded Merganser, she has a gray body and a brown crest with a narrow bill.

A pair of Hooded Mergansers. The male Hooded Merganser has a crest that is bordered in black. Which can be raised. The sides are rufous and there are two black bars at the side of the breast.

In this shot the right front is the Red-breasted Merganser.  The male has the shaggy crest and a rusty breast. In the back on the left I am pretty sure it is the Northern Shoveler.

Click on my links to check out more wonderful birds and nature photos World Bird Wednesday  and Nature Notes.  Thanks to Springman of World Bird Wednesday and to Michelle of Nature Notes for hosting these fun memes.


  I hope you enjoyed my post, I appreciate the visits and the comments. I hope everyone has a great week , what is left of it and HAPPY BIRDING!!!!!

SWF>>>>Dewey, Delaware

I am linking up with Nature Notes  and NF Winged   and Skywatch Friday


Last Thrusday and Friday hubby and I took a quick trip to the Delaware shores for some relaxation and birding of course. Thursday we enjoyed a pretty sunset on the bayside of Dewey Beach, Delaware. Whibackyard sunset, Bay, birding, Buffleheads,le enjoying the sunset we watched a few Red-Breasted Mergansers and a group of Bufflehead ducks.

Walking up to the water we spooked these three Red-Breasted Mergansers.

Further out a larger group of Bufflehead ducks. I can make out the white dots on their heads.

Looks like the Mergansers were sailing away into the sunset.

We were happy to watch this pretty sky and beautiful reflection on the water.

Please visit Michelle's Nature Notes to see more beautiful nature photos and posts and to
 see more beautiful birds or winged critters check out NF Winged
and for beautiful skies from around the world please visit Skywatch Friday.

Thanks to all these wonderful hosts for providing these fun memes thoughout the year. Thank YOu for visiting my blog in 2011, I have had a great year birding and look forward to seeing more beautiful beautiful in 2012. Happy Birding!

 I wish everyone a very Happy and Healthy New Year. And I look forward to seeing more wonderful photos and post in 2012.