Saturday's Critters # 581

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!

Click on images for better viewing.

On Dec 30th hubby and I enjoyed a good weather day and a walk at the North Point State Park. This park is on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Edgemere Maryland, Baltimore County Maryland. It is a great park for birdwatching, we walked on the fishing pier and on the Black Marsh trail.

1.  Various ducks can be seen on the bay, we saw a large group of Ruddy Ducks, a female Long-tailed Duck, the Snow Bunting and a few Song Sparrows. 

2. The male Ruddy Duck retains it's white cheek in the winter months. They have a stiff tail that is often raised.

3. I am pretty sure this is a female Long-tailed Duck. These ducks have a white head, tan face with a brown neck patch, a white body with dark wings. The juvenile can look similar to the winter female.

4.  A larger photo of the Long-tailed Duck.

5. In the winter months,  Snow Buntings have become annual visitors and can be seen on the long pier that goes out into the bay. 

6. Below the Snow Bunting was hanging out with a Song Sparrow.

The non-breeding male looks similar to the female. The male has more white on the wings. 

A view of the fishing pier that juts out into the Chesapeake Bay. The Snow Buntings are found at the very end of the pier.

7. We walked on the Black Marsh trail, looking for birds and any kind of wildlife.  I think we were the only people that were not walking a dog. Below images of the trail and wetlands, Gadwall, Northern Mockingbird, Slider Turtles, Mallards and a few Bald Eagles. 

8. It was one of our warmer December days, the Slider Turtles came out to sun themselves on the log. 

Bald Eagle in flight over the parking lot.

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.

Here is my linky:

Thank you for sharing your critters and post!

Saturday's Critters # 480

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!

Hubby and I enjoyed a short getaway just one night in Lewes Delaware. We stopped first at the Bombay Hook NWR, Prime Hook NWR and Silver Lake in Rehobeth Beach Delaware. The images on this post are from Bombay Hook wildlife refuge and at the Silver Lake in Rehobeth Beach Delaware. 

1. Feb 7th, the Snow Geese, a huge flock was seen on the road leading into the Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge.  

Click on photos for better viewing!

2. These large flocks of Snow Geese are too hard to fit into one photo. This is distant shot is trying to show there were at least a few hundred Snow Geese on this field. 

3. A closer look at these cute Snow Geese, they are all white with black wingtips. 

4. Winter months can be a great time on the Delaware shore to see various ducks species. Below are some of the birds we saw at Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge. The Great Blue Heron, Ruddy Duck, Northern Shoveler, Tundra Swans, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Yellowlegs, female Hooded Mergansers and the  Northern Pintail. 

5. A group of Ruddy Ducks, they are cute with their long stiff tail and the scoop shaped bill. 

6. The Northern Pintail is an elegant duck with a long neck and a long pointed tail. 

7. The Tundra Swans are a common sight in the winter months, all white with a black bill that slopes away from the head. 

8. Silver Lake, Rehobeth Beach Delaware we saw a few Gulls, one Great Blue Heron and a big flock of Canvasback Ducks. 

9. A distant shot of the Canvasback Ducks and there is a Great Blue Heron on the shore. 

10.  A closer look at the Canvasback Duck,  the male has a pretty Chestnut colored head and neck, a white body with a black rear. Females are a pale brown head and neck with a grayish body. 

Bombay Hook NWR is one of my favorite places to visit, there is always something to see there. 

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 #329

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 photos from our early March getaway to Delaware and Ocean City Maryland. I am so happy we took this trip before all the requests to stay safe at home and the park closures.  On the last morning,we left early in the morning, so we could visit a few parks on the way home. 


Two birding spots were new to me and right off the highway we were taking to go home. Below a quickie stop at the Ocean City inlet before slowly heading home.  Top row is the Red-breasted Merganser, Common Loon. Middle row more Common Loons.  Bottom row is from W. Ocean City pond Gadwall and female Ring-necked Duck.  

Click on images for a larger view.

 

Ocean City inlet, there were a lot of Gulls and Cormorants.

More ducks from the West Ocean City pond, a male Ring-necked Duck, 2 Tundra Swans, Gadwall, a Northern Shoveler. Bottom row are the Tundra Swans, Bufflehead Ducks and a pair of Ring-necked Ducks.

Tundra Swans, Northern Shoveler and guessing a Gadwall.

Below is another new spot for me was at the Berlin, Maryland @ Heron Park.  We saw a lot of ducks, of course they were all floating on the opposite side of the pond and lighting was not the best in the morning. Plenty of Ring-necked Ducks, Northern Shovelers, Redhead Duck and Ruddy Ducks.

A large group of Northern Shovelers seen in Berlin Maryland at the Heron Park.

Thanks to all my visitors and for all the wonderful comments. I appreciate everyone who loves critters and has linked up their post.


Here is a list of my linky parties;




 

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

Saturday's Critters #158

Saturday's Critters #158

Wishing a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah or Happy Kwanzaa to all my blog friends. 

Happy Saturday, it's time to share your critters and post. Any kind of critter will do, even a new or old post.. I appreciate everyone who is linking in with this week's critter party. I am not sure what happened with Mister Linky, just add your name at the bottom of the list. 


These are from Nov, 19th another one of our visits to Lake Morton in downtown Lakeland. There are always lots of birds to see, a nice variety of swans, ducks and waders. I have tons of photos from this lake, it is hard to choose which to share. I hope you enjoy.

A pair of Wood Storks.

Three American White Pelicans.

A variety of egret, geese and White Ibis.

American White Pelican

Black Swans

A Ruddy Duck.

The Black-necked Swans.

Mute Swan front center has the orange bill, but the swan in the back right has the dark black bill is a different swan species.

A Wood Duck couple.

As always thanks for the visits and the nice comments. I also thank everyone who is linking up and sharing their critters.. Happy Saturday, have a great weekend!

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

Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni.  Also check out Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting this fun meme.

Prime Hook NWR

I have a list below of memes I am joining for this week, and to save time I am doing one post for all. They are all fun memes to participate in...I hope you can join in with the fun  and check out some of the participating posts. Special thanks to all the wonderful host and their memes, I hope you have some time to check them out.

After leaving Bombay Hook NWR (my previous post) we drove further down the coast of Delaware to the Prime Hook NWR. BTW, the coast of Delaware has awesome birding hotspots and  beaches. You can check out these birding spots on the Delaware Birding Trail.

 The start of the trail and walk at Prime Hook, a Mockingbird, our shadow shot.

With my photo above I am joining Cath @ Cath @ Home  and her
Word for Sunday which is Grateful. Stop by Cat's blog and say hello. You can check out her blog for more info and join in with her word challenge. Thanks Cath for hosting.

The sun reflecting on the water, a Great Blue Heron and some Ruddy Ducks.

The Great Blue Herons were a common sighting at Prime Hook NWR.

The herons were even in the trees.

We were surprised while watching a Common Merganser to see this Red-tailed Hawk fly in and grab it. The Hawk is standing on and holding the Merganser down into the icy muddy water.

For Tom's Barn Collective I found a barn not too far from Bombay Hook as we were leaving. Thanks Tom for hosting.

So far we were having a great day at Prime Hook and Bombay Hook wildlife refuges. Next post, we headed further along the coast to the Indian River Inlet where the river meets the Atlantic Ocean.

As always I appreciate your visits and nice comments. Thank you! Have a happy day and new week ahead!

Thanks for visiting my post and as always I appreciate your comments.

Thanks to Cath for hosting Word for Sunday
Thanks to Tom for hosting The Barn Collective

Thanks to Judith our  host of Mosaic Monday 

Thanks to Monica for hosting NF Trees

Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes

Thanks to the hosting team of Our World Tuesday!

Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

Bombay Hook NWR

I am linking up with   Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday   and NC Sue WordlessThey are all fun memes to participate in...I hope you can join in with the fun  and check out some of the participating posts.

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

We have been so many different places since our Florida trip, a lot of day trips. This post is on a day trip when I took my older brother for his first time to Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware.  Hubby stayed home and my brother (another amateur photographer like me) and I enjoyed checking out the birds and the wildlife.

The Tree Swallows had returned and there were numerous swallows flying over our heads.  My brother was enjoying taking shots of the swallows, he must have taken over a thousand photos during our visit to Bombay Hook NWR.

The boardwalk trail scene.

There were many Egrets, both Snowy and Great Egrets, Yellowlegs, Northern Shovelers and two Great Blue Herons.

The shorebirds were returning to the Delaware shore and the wildlife refuge. I believe this is a large group of Dunlin but there could be other species mixed in this group. I think there are some Egrets mixed in the group above.

This daytrip was late April so the trees were just starting to blush, some Ruddy Ducks and some American Coots.

Above are a few Glossy Ibis, Egrets, a Screech Owl in her nest and an adult Bald Eagle with two juvenile eagles. I had fun showing my brother one of my favorite wildlife refuges. I can assume by how many photos he was taking he had fun too.
Thank you for visiting and for all the nice comments.. Have a great day and week ahead!

I use Pic Monkey to create my mosaics, you can use Pic Monkey free or pay for an upgraded version.

I hope you can join in on our fun with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday and NC Sue's Wordless.

 Thanks to Judith our host of Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy and Jennifer and to Sue for Wordless Wednesday on Tuesdays.