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.  

Nags Head, North Carolina

I am linking up with   Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday 

A mixed post our trip photos and today a Happy Birthday to my son!

I am sharing more birds and scenery from the Outer Banks and our stay at Nags Head, North Carolina..  The sunrises and sunsets were beautiful and we had some warm 70 degree days.. The birding was awesome..ducks, swans and pelicans were everywhere.

Above a series of the first evening's sunset and the moon...

The Willet and sunrise above was seen on the  beach in front of our hotel..

Above is the Bodie Island lighthouse and some birds we saw at the Pea Island NWR.  Seen above are the American Avocet, Tundra Swans, American Wigeon, possibly an American Pipit and Song Sparrow?

The Ruddy Duck population seems to be doing very well, we must have seen thousands of them.. I like their cute upturned tail...

We heard a Rail twice near or under this boardwalk...a pretty view of the Bodie Island Lighthouse. This was a wonderful spot to see the birds..

A mosaic of various photos of Brian over the years.. Today happens to be my son's 22nd birthday.. Happy Birthday Brian!

 I hope you can join in on our fun at  Mosaic Monday and   Our World Tuesday

 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.  I wish everyone a happy week ahead!

Bombay Hook NWR

I am linking up with   Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday 

For this week's post I am sharing more scenery and birds from our Oct 12th visit to Bombay Hood wildlife refuge in Delaware..  I know I have been flip-flopping with different post from this getaway weekend.  We saw some beautiful fall colors, lots of birds and some flowers were still blooming.

Above are some of the birds we saw at Bombay Hook NWR were the Snowy Egret, Savannah Sparrows, Lesser Yellowlegs, American Avocets, Peregrine Falcon, Pintail Ducks, Snow Geese, Ruddy Ducks and the Belted Kingfisher.

 The fall colors seen at Bombay Hook, the red were gorgeous...

A Great Egret flies away, in the distance some red leaves poking out and on the top of the trees.

I thought these yellow flowers were pretty, nice to still see some blooms in October. I hope you enjoyed seeing more of Bombay Hook wildlife refuge..


As always I thank you in advance for stopping by and for the nice comments.

I hope you can join in on our at  Mosaic Monday and   Our World Tuesday

 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.  I wish everyone a happy week ahead!

Birding Delaware

December 5, 2013


I am linking up with NF Winged   and  Skywatch Friday 

I am sharing some birds and sky shots from last weekend and my birding in Delaware.  It was a cold two days but the skies were mostly blue and the birds were everywhere. I was happy!!

Indian River Inlet in Delaware, it was across the river on a sand dune where the two Snowy Owls were sighted.  I had a lot of places to stop and look for birds, so we spent just a few minutes looking at the Snowy Owl. At the inlet jetty, we did see a few Surf Scoters, various Gulls,  lots of Common Loons and some Black Ducks and DB Cormorants were seen flying by.

Canada Geese, Silver Lake in  Rehobeth Beach, Delaware. At Silver Lake, we saw the Canada Geese, Mallard Ducks,  a high count of DB Cormorants, Common Loon, American Black Ducks, a few Canvasbacks and an American Wigeon.

The Common Loon looks like a different bird straight on then the usual side view I see of them.

A Ruddy Duck with the white cheek and long tail and a Canvasback has the chestnut red head and a white body. Both of these ducks were seen at the Silver Lake in Rehobeth Beach, Delaware.

After leaving Silver Lake we headed to Gordon's Pond State Park, Delaware.

At Gordon's Pond we saw lots of Great Blue Herons, a couple of Great Egret and Mallard Ducks were seen at the Gordon's Pond, Delaware. We did have a great view of a Belted Kingfisher, I only wished it would have stayed still for a second or two.

Sunset at Dewey Beach, Delaware. There were not many clouds in the sky, so the colors were not spectacular.  It was still a pretty sky. We spent the night at the Best Western in Dewey Beach close to all the birdie action.

I hope everyone enjoyed this series of birding in Delaware and my sunset shots. Thanks for visiting my post and  blog and I always appreciate your comments.


I am starting a new MEME called Saturday Critters..Saturday Morning 8am EST...join in on the party and post your cute critters.


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 Monica the host of NF Winged.   I wish everyone a safe and happy long weekend.

Bombay Hook NWR part II

I am linking up Camera Critters and I'd-Rather-b-birdin   I hope you are joining in and posting your birds and critters.

August 10, 2013

 Hubby and I saw a lot of birds during our visit to Bombay Hook NWR in Delaware. It is a great wildlife refuge to visit in the summer. Just some of the birds we saw are the American Avocets, Glossy Ibis, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Canada Geese, Green Heron, Blue Grosbeak and  Indigo Bunting.

I posted a lot of photos.. so click on  them  to view a larger size.

Glossy Ibis

American Avocets

Juvie Terns and a Sanderling, I am not sure which species of Tern.

Great Egret

Great Blue Heron

Ruddy Duck

Blue Grosbeak

Eastern Kingbird

Indigo Bunting

I hope you enjoyed the birds of Bombay Hook NWR..if you are ever in the area you should plan a visit.

 Ok, here is my new list for the week of my favorite blogs to visit and if you missed any... look back at all my previous Saturday posts they go as far back as my post on 6/22/13.

Misty Dawn our host for Camera Critters can also be found @ Mistys musings where she shares her wonderful wildlife photos.

Andrew @ Rambles with a camera shares his birds and pretty natures scenes from the UK.

Denise @ An English girl rambles is one of the host of Today's Flowers and shares her life and outings around the Virginia suburbs close to DC.

Liz @ The Greatest of These is Love  shares her birds and the beautiful scenery of Australia.

Tina @ East Gwillimbury Camera Girl from Toronto shares some amazing nature photos.

I hope you are able to find some time to visit some of my favorite blogs above, they are all wonderful bloggers.

 I wish everyone a happy weekend.

 To see more beautiful photos and cute critters

 please visit:  Camera Critters and I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious hosts Misty Dawn of Camera Critters and to Anni of I'd Rather-B-birdin.