Saturday's Critters # 643

   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

Click on images for better viewing.

1. Hubby and I went out for a walk, we decided to drive by the Friendly Farms Ponds to see if there were some ducks.  I saw a few Bufflehead and there were more Ring-necked Ducks seen below in the mosaic. 

2. Below are a few Bufflehead, they have white below and a white patch on their heads with black on the back. 

3. Below are some Ring-necked Ducks with a male Bufflehead. 

These ducks are the Ring-necked Ducks. They have white ring on the bill. 

4. These images are from our 2 miles roundtrip hike to the Prettyboy lake. I  could hear the Canada Geese soon after we started walking. I was surprised to see a large flock of Tundra Swans, various ducks and a Horned Grebe. 

My Merlin App captured birds along the fire road to the lake. 

5.There was a layer of fog hanging right above the water.  

6. The largest count of birds were the Canada Geese, they were spread out all around the lake shore and on the lake.  

7. The fog was not the greatest for taking photos of the lake, the geese and swans. 

8. A pair of Bald Eagles were sitting in their usual tree above the water.  

Below are large groups of Canada Geese and Tundra Swans. 

 

On the lake I found a Horned Grebe.

We drove around the lake stopping at the dam and I found a small group of Common Mergansers.  The Males are a pretty white bottom with a green head. 

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.

Check out  Catblogosphere.com

Here is my linky:

Thank you for sharing your critters and post! 

Saturday's Critters # 525

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!

These images are from our visit and walk at the Loch Raven Reservoir, Baltimore County. It is nice to take a walk in a different location than our neighborhood. Usually we can see a variety of winter ducks at this reservoir. There are usually lots of Gulls and Mallards hanging around the parking area.  When we got out of our car, the ducks came running. They are used to people and being fed. Sorry ducks, we did not bring any food.  

1. Our first stop was near the secondary dam, here we saw a large group of male and female Hooded Mergansers, Canada Geese, Ring-billed Gull and some Mallard ducks. 

2. The Hooded Mergansers are one of my favorite ducks. The males have a fan shaped crest that can collapse. The females have a cinnamon colored crest.

This group of Canada Geese and Mallards were resting on the top of the secondary dam. 

3. This large group of Mallards and Gulls were just fed, a couple in a car pulled up with some kind of food. Hopefully it was not bread.  

4. The large group of Mallards are resting after just being fed.  

5. I know the bottom gull is a the Ring-billed Gull, I am not sure about the top gull. It does look like a juvenile?

6. We saw a large group of the Ring-necked Ducks. 

7.  I tried for a closer look at the Ring-necked Ducks. The male is black, gray and white with a prominent white ring on the bill. The females are brown with a white patch near the bill.

A closer look at the Ring-billed Gull. They have a heavy bill with a distinct ring.

8. On the way home we rode past the Friendly Farm ponds, there were 5 Bald Eagles on the ground. Three adult Bald Eagles next to one pond and there were 2 juvenile Eagles across the driveway and near the second pond. 

"Let us give nature a chance, she knows her business better than we do."

I wanted to ask if anyone could help me to create a new badge for the Saturday's Critters party. A new year and time for a change. Thanks in advance!

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. Also, if you like you can add the badge below on your Saturday's Critter post.  Thank you to Shiju for making the new badge. 

Here is my linky:

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.

Saturday's Critters # 482

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 trying to stay some what caught up with reports on my outings and posts. Most of my photos are from my neighborhood, our walks on the fire roads and to the lake.  

1. Feb 12th, our walk on the fire road looking down at the reservoir we saw a group of Canada Geese and a Mute Swan.  The Mute Swans are not native to Maryland but they are seen around the state. The Mute Swans are easy to identify with their reddish-orange bill. 

2. A larger look at the Mute Swan, I really had to zoom in for this photo. The fire road I was walking on is on the top of a hill and there are lots of trees in between the fire road and the lake. 

3. Feb 13th, hubby and I took our walk on the fire road that leads to the lake and to a view of the Bald Eagle's nest.  Along the way I found a couple of Brown Creepers, we saw the usual Common Mergansers and Canada Geese. We spotted the first Bald Eagle on the nest as soon as we got to the lake, the second eagle was sitting off in a tree across the lake. Soon both Bald Eagles were sitting in the same tree. 

4. Feb 13th, the Prettyboy Bald Eagles, this pair have been nesting nearby in a tree next to the lake. I like that they have been returning to the nest for years now. 

5. Feb 15th, hubby and I took a ride to where we saw the Golden Eagle . Usually there are ducks near the boat ramp parking lot.  I think the Golden Eagle has left this spot but we saw various ducks and geese.  Below are the Canada Geese, American Wigeons, Redhead Ducks, Ring-necked Ducks and Bufflehead ducks. I was happy to see this group of ducks some what closer for photos.  Maybe someone was there and threw some corn into the water for the ducks to eat. 

6. Below you can see a closer look at the Redhead ducks, the American Wigeon with the green eye patch and the Ring-necked ducks with the white band on their bill.

7. Feb 19th, our walk was on the fire road closer to home. We are seeing the Common Mergansers and Canada Geese and the Ring-necked Ducks during each visit to the lake. The Brown Creepers have been sighted each time too. The Downy Woodpeckers are seen pecking away and we saw a few of the Golden-crowned Kinglets were bouncing around all over the place. 

8. A Brown Creeper seen making it's way up the tree. These birds are brown with white underparts and have a slender decurved bill. 

9. Feb 20th,  another walk on the fire road close to home. We saw and heard the White-breasted Nuthatch, Downy Woodpeckers, Canada Geese and Ring-necked Ducks and a Bald Eagle some what hidden behind some branches. 

10. Feb 20th, I watched this hawk chasing a Mourning Dove away from my yard. It came right back and sat in a tree in our side yard. It was a small hawk, so I will guess a Sharp-shinned Hawk

Update: David who really knows his birds, says this is a Cooper's Hawk.

11. Feb 21st and Feb 24th, Red-shouldered Hawk perched on a dead tree in our yard. The photos look the same but they were taken on different days.

12.  Feb 24th, we watched our grandson Mason while Wyatt went for his check-up. We are always happy to spend time with our grandsons and the grand-dogs Nibbles and Winnie. They all love their Pop-Pop.

I hope you enjoyed my birds and post, I am looking forward to visiting your blog. 

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 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! Also, I am also linking up to Heidrun's Mosaic Monday  I hope you can stop by and visit Heidrun and check out the Mosaic Monday post. 

Saturday's Critters # 479

 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!

These photos are all from my neighborhood which backs up to the Prettyboy Reservoir Watershed. Hubby and I made repeated visits to try and see the Golden Eagle. Just a short drive minutes from our house, we could visit early in the morning and go back later after lunch. You will see below, my persistence finally paid off.

1. Jan 29th,   These are all images from my repeated visits to where the Golden Eagle was being seen at our lake, the Prettyboy Reservoir.  

Click on images for better viewing!

2. The Ring-necked Ducks joined the party with the Common Mergansers and the Canada Geese near the boat dock. 

3. We know of at least 2 Bald Eagle nests in this area, so seeing a Bald Eagle in our neighborhood is a common sight. Below are a Bald Eagle and a juvenile Bald Eagle posed in the same tree on the same day. 

4. This Bald Eagle below was seen in the same area where we finally saw the Golden Eagle.  

5. Various birders posted on Ebird that there were 150 or more Ring-necked Ducks being seen near the boat dock. We saw a big group but I did not count them and I could not fit them all in one photo. 

6. Jan 30th, I feel like i should have drum roll happening here. After so many tries, I finally saw the Golden Eagle. The Golden Eagle is a lifer for me,  number 503 on my life list. Thankfully some photographers were there and showed us exactly where the Golden Eagle was perched high in a tree top. 

7. The Golden Eagle is dark brown with a golden brown plumage on their nape. You can see the golden plumage in my photos above, the head and back of the neck area. Their tails also have some white, you can see the white tail feathers above in the middle of the bottom row. 

8. The Golden Eagle stayed in this spot during the time of our visit. It walked along the branch and stopped to scratch.  

9. Feb 6th I have some of my back yard birds, they enjoy coming to the deck for some peanuts. Male and female Downy Woodpeckers, American Robin, Blue Jay, Red-bellied Woodpecker with a male Cardinal and a Tufted Titmouse. 

10. Hubby and I took a walk on the Mary Ann Furnace trail at Codorus State Park near Hanover Pa. As soon as I parked the car we saw a Belted Kingfisher from the car window, others birds we saw and heard were the Carolina Chickadees, Cardinals, Gulls, Killdeer, Robins and the Titmouse. 

I am a happy birder being able to see the Golden Eagle, a nice way to end the month of January.  

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 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! Also, I am also linking up to Heidrun's Mosaic Monday  I hope you can stop by and visit Heidrun and check out the Mosaic Monday post.