Saturday's Critters # 519

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 sharing a mish mash of photos, birds from my back yard and my Prettyboy neighborhood and the lake. 

1. Oct 15th, another walk to the lake, we were seeing more fall colors, the usual Great Blue Herons hanging out in the favorite spots and the same with Belted Kingfishers. What I thought were Solitary Sandpipers could be the Lesser Yellowlegs. 

Click on photos for better viewing!

2. Same day as above, there were at least 3 Great Blue Herons, each having their favorite spots to fish. 

3. Oct 16th,  a Bald Eagle perched on a small stick was which in the middle of the lake, the Great Blue Heron and Belted Kingfisher hanging out in the same area as the day before. 

4. Oct 18th , our walk on a Parkton section of the NCR Bike trail, I saw the Yellow-belled Sapsucker, Eastern Bluebird, a White-tailed Deer, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and a Downy Woodpecker. 

5. I was seeing some great birds in one spot on the bike trail, the two Ruby-crowned Kinglets were chasing each other around the trees. 

6. On the same day, back at home the Cardinal takes a turn knocking on our front window. 

7. Oct 19th , our walk was to the back section of our lake. I saw at least 4 of the Lesser Yellowlegs. Also high in a tree were two American Goldfinches. 

8. I was able to catch the 4 Lesser Yellowlegs in one shot, foraging along the lakeshore.

9. This photo is a little better with two of the Lesser Yellowlegs. 

10. With the lake level down so low now, we are able to walk along the lake shore, a fishing boat was seen across the lake from where we walked. 

At this time in our neighborhood, the fall colors and trees were looking beautiful.  

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 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 # 471

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!

Merry Christmas everyone! Happy Holidays to all! 

It's Christmas Eve, I am not sure who will have time to create a critter post. Just in case you have  a post ready for linking up the linky is here.  I tend to do my post in advance, not sure if I will ever be up to date sharing my photos. This post is a mish-mash, various birds from various times in late November and into December. 

Click on photos for better viewing!

1. I often can hear the Pileated Woodpecker right outside my house. They are so loud, on this day there were 2 of the Pileated Woodpeckers moving around a tree next to my yard. 

2. Hashawha Nature Park is one of my favorite local parks for hiking and birding.  On this day we saw the Northern Mockingbird, Eastern Bluebirds, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Carolina Chickadee, Song Sparrows and Starlings. 

3. A male Eastern Bluebird, one of many seen at the Hashawha Nature Park. 

4. During one of our walks on the local NCR bike trail I noticed this Bald Eagle sitting in a tree. 

5. Along the NCR bike trail, the berries added a bit of color, the Bald Eagle perched in a near by tree, a late sighting of a Fritillary Butterfly. 

5. Looking out my kitchen window I noticed this Northern Flicker on the top of our swing in the back yard. The Flicker found some berries to eat. 

6. The Northern Flicker has a call I recognize, it is also loud but not as loud as the Pileated Woodpecker. 

7. Some wild life from my back and front yards, the black cat has been seen a few times, hanging out around our little pond and wood pile. The crazy male Cardinal is back doing it's thing knocking on our den window which faces the front yard. 

8.  I often hear the Carolina Wrens in and around our yard. They can be loud, so loud I hear them while I am inside the house.

9. From my archives, a chubby looking Cardinal wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas.  

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 # 465

 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!

Taking a break from the Kauai vacation photos, I have images from our daily outings. Hubby and I are still trying to take our walks, sometimes just locally on the fire roads and to the lake, we have visited Conowingo Dam and Susquehanna River State Park and another local park called Irvine Nature Center.  

Click on photos for better viewing.

1. Oct 6th, our walk was local to the lake. We usually always see some Canada Geese, a Northern Flicker was calling out from high in the tree and a Double-crested Cormorant was on the lake. 

2. Oct 7th, another walk on our local fire road. We are seeing lots of berries, looking very colorful. A Hermit Thrush was seen and we have been seeing lots of American Robins.  

3. The Hermit Thrush is a pretty bird, posing nicely for my photo.

4. Oct 9th, I saw this Ruby-crowned Kinglet hopping around on the ground right in front of me.  

On this day we walked to the lake, the fall colors are looking pretty. Two Double-crested Cormorants were hanging out at the lake. 

5. Oct 15th, hubby and I drive to the Conowingo Dam and the Susquehanna River State Park. We saw a few Bald Eagles, lots of Black Vultures, Great Blue Herons, Canada Geese, Gulls and Cormorants. 

This Bald Eagle looks like it is holding on tight to a fish.  

6. I liked watching these gulls, sometimes diving in the Susquehanna river hoping to catch a fish. 

7. Oct 20th, hubby and I took our walk at a local county park called the Irvine Nature Center. We saw the Northern Flicker, Mockingbirds, Eastern Bluebirds, lots of camera shy birds, White-throated Sparrows and a few unknown raptors. 

8. A larger look at the raptor, we watched 4-5 of these raptors chasing each other. They seemed very vocal. 

9. A closer look at one of the Eastern Bluebirds, one of my all time favorite birds. 

A bonus photo from Halloween, my two cute grandsons, Wyatt the Baby Yoda and Mason the pumpkin. 

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!

Our World, My World

Hello Happy Monday!

October 29th, these are some images from one of our walks on the local bike trail. I have always called it the NCR trail named after the Northern Central Railroad trail. The name was changed to Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail. It is 20 miles long from Cockeysville Md to the Pennsylvania line. From there the trail continues into Pennsylvania and the name changes again to the York Country Heritage Rail Trail. 

My favorite section of the bike trail close to home, this is the Bentley Springs parking lot and the view of the trail. 

The land next to the bike trail is private, this is an old barn that is being taken over by the trees and plants. 

 The Bee Tree Preserve parking area is just across the bridge.

 Below the Downy Woodpecker, Belted Kingfisher and the Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  On the bottom right is a blurry photo of the Golden-crowned Kinglet. You can see the yellow-crown in the middle of the photo between the two red berries.

I believe these are the bittersweet berries. I read the American Bittersweet are vines that can kill trees and are hard to eradicate. The birds eat the berries but I read they are not a favorite berry for the birds. I think they are pretty berries, I like the yellow and red colors. 

 A female Downy Woodpecker, was busy pecking away at this tree.

 I liked the reflections and colors seen at this spot of the bike trail.

Hubby and I can do some brisk walking on this trail. It is mostly flat and an easy walk  you just need to avoid the bike riders. 

On the drive home, we passed two deer, one on the road and the other was in the field on the other side of the fence.  The deer were not shy and hung around, I wish they would stay away from the road.  

"Happiness is simple, when you keep it simple." Be Happy!

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!

Saturday's Critters #308

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!



Lately I have been hearing and seeing the Ruby-crowned Kinglets in my yard. On this day I found one bouncing around a vine wrapped around our wooden swing. They are quick movers and very small. 

These birds have an eye ring but the ring is broken at the top and bottom. 

I found it hard to get a clear shot of this bird, it was moving around too fast. Never staying still.  I think you can see a tiny red dot on the bird's head on the photo below.

This shot shows more of the tail and wing feathers.

This is not the best White-throated Sparrow photo and not my first sighting this year.  It was a rainy morning and the photo was taken from my dining room window. It is just a record of one of my winter yard birds seen recently. 

I do not often keep a list of my yard birds but David and his blog, made me think of keeping a list one day of my yard birds seen in an hour or so. 

Here is my list of 14 bird sightings and 4 birds heard:
Blue Jay
Northern Cardinal
Mourning Doves
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Wren
Turkey Vultures
Tufted Titmouse
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Downy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
White-throated Sparrow
House Finch
American Goldfinch


If I count birds heard and not seen, I would include the:
Pine Warbler
Pileated Woodpecker
American Crow
Canada Geese in flight.


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.

Shenandoah Nat'l Park Part II

Happy Thankful Thursday! Wishing everyone a great day!


These are some more images from our overnight trip to Shenandoah Nat'l Park.  We were able to get to the park just in time to see the sun rise.The Falls colors were just not there, we were told maybe the first week of November. That seems pretty late to me. 

Sunrise from an overlook on the Skyline Drive.

Me and hubby's shadows.

White-tailed deer on the Skyline Drive.

We took a few hikes on the Bearfence Mountain trail and our favorite Limberlost trail. 

We head up and away from the Appalachian trail on the Bearfence mountain trail to the overlook.

The overlook view from Bearfence Mountain.

 We saw some deer and lots of birds along the Limberlost trail. 

A white-tailed deer.

A female Purple Finch with a seed in it's mouth.

This is the Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

I think this bird below is the Hermit Thrush, they are known to has a reddish tail.

I am thankful for my wildlife sightings, always a treat to see birds and critters.
I am thankful for our overnight getaways.
I am always thankful for all your visits and comments. 


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


Happy Thursday, enjoy your day!

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