Oregon birds & critters.

I am linking up with Camera Critters  and Scenic Sunday

Sorry, I have not even started sharing all my Oregon coast photos and you are probably sick of seeing my trip pic's. I only shared the first three days and we went to the coast for 4 more days. So many photos to go thru.


In this mosaic I have the osprey in flight, Canada Geese near the river, windsailing, squirrel, Lewis's dog Seaman , another Swainson's Thrush, goats on the trail and Little Crater lake.

These are some more shots from the Columbia River and our hikes to Timothy lake and to the Little Crater lake.

I love these sculptures of Sacagawea and Lewis's dog Seaman. While visiting Oregon we saw many references to the famous explorers Lewis & Clark. Seaman the Newfoundland was acquired by Lewis for $20.

Another one of the Swainson's Thrushes I was hearing a lot of them everywhere.

Neat shot of the sailing club?

This is the first time we came across people walking their goats on the trail. It seems Oregon is very dog friendly too. I thought of my lonely Goldie Girl at home, when we saw dogs everywhere we went. Restaurants and hotels had water bowls set up outside their entrances.

 

I had another incentive to visit Little Crater lake, I was told at the visitor center that there was a Sandhill Crane family seen in the marshy area. I would have loved to see the crane chicks. The grasses were tall and if the cranes were there they were hidden well.

Hubby and I loved this Little Crater lake, the water is SO BLUE. There was a sign saying the water was very cold, while we were there a young man dove in on a bet with his friends.


To see more cute and beautiful critters please visit: Camera Critters
and to see more Scenic shots check out Scenic Sunday.

Thanks to Misty Dawn the host of Camera Critters and thanks to Aisha the host of Scenic Sunday.


I hope you enjoyed my post, thanks for stopping by I appreciate the visit and the comments. I wish everyone a safe and HAPPY weekend.

Taking the Back Roads

YEA!  Another weekend is here and I am linking up with Camera Critters   and  Sunday Bridges  and Scenic Sunday  .  I hope everyone is safe from the horrible storms that happened overnight and yesterday, my thoughts and prayers go out to the storm victims.

These are some shots of a large flock of Blackbirds seen while driving on the back roads here in Maryland. It was the weekend hubby and I were on the way to see the eagles at Conowingo and to see if any ducks were at HavredeGrace.  And while we are in the area we always enjoy a crab cake dinner at McGregors in Havrede Grace.

I like this photo with the tree, the large flock of blackbirds and the rolls of hay

You can see the Red-winged Blackbirds mixed in with this large group. Maybe some Grackles too?

I saw this hawk in a bush low to the ground, so I was able to snap a few photos right from my car.

Male Mallard duck with a female laying right behind him, seen from the boardwalk at HavredeGrace.

This dude is doing his stretching exercises.

Headless gulls and their wacky reflections.

A few Coots were also seen near the boardwalk.

A scenic view of HavredeGrace's waterfront and boardwalk.

A bridge for my Sunday bridges. This is a bridge going over the Susquehanna river and is used by the Amtrak train that travels from Baltimore-Washington to Philadelphia and New York.

We can watch the Amtrak trains going over the bridge from the restaurant, they do have a lovely view of the river. I hope you enjoyed my post and birds. Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone has a Happy weekend.


To see more cute and beautiful critters please visit Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty Dawn for hosting.

And to see more bridge shots please visit Sunday Bridges and for more beautiful scenery please visit  Scenic Sunday

Birding the Irvine Nature Center

With my nature center post I am linking up with Scenic Sunday and Today's Flowers
and Mosaic Monday

During the month of October, I was able to visit the Irvine Nature Center twice. Once with my bird club and last weekend I went with my hubby. Of course the nature center trails were great for birding. But it was also nice to see some of the trees looking beautiful with their fall foilage.

 I was amazed at the amount of wildflowers we saw growing on the field. It was the third weekend in October and these flowers were looking gorgeous and still attracting the Fritallary and Buckeye butterflies and Sulfurs. 

Can you find the Fritillary above, the butterfly almost blends in witht he flowers and background.

The fields are great for attracting sparrows and this is a great time of year to see new and to compare different sparrows. They are one of the hardest birds for me to id, so many of them resemble other sparrows. My lifer seen at the nature center with the bird club was the Lincoln Sparrow. I tried hard to get photos of these sparrows but they seemed very camera shy.

Talking about camera shy, can you find the sparrow hidden in the bush above?  Sparrows seen both days were the Lincoln, White Throated, White Crowned, Swamp, Chipping, Field and Song Sparrows.  I was hoping for a sighting of a Vespar or Grasshopper Sparrow. But, I was still happy with my Lincoln Sparrow lifer.

Above the mosaic, shows a sparrow, trails coming out of the woods onto the field, some fall foilage, the field of wildflowers and tons of sparrows. I was amazed at the amount of sparrow we saw here. Other birds seen were the Eastern Phoebe, woodpeckers, Hawks, Kestrel, Palm Warblers, Towhees, Canada Geese and we flushed a Snipe twice.

 It is hard to believe that this field today is most likely covered in snow. I was so happy that I was able to visit this Nature Center while these beautiful flowers were still blooming.

I hope you enjoyed my visit to the Irvine Nature Center and I hope you are able to
visit with Today's Flowers and Scenic Sunday and Mosaic Monday.  Thanks to all the wonderful hosts and thank you for stopping by to see my post.  I hope everyone has a Happy Sunday and a wonderful week ahead.

Hiking and Birding at the Reservoir

A post for Scenic Sunday 

Hubby and I enjoy hiking around the reservoir near our house. For this post I was inspired by Rainfield's blog My Journey.  Rainfield's macro shots are awesome and I love his nature photos and hikes. So during my walk I checked out all the mushrooms and I was looking for all kinds of bugs, birds and critters. My photos below are the nature scenes I saw while on my hike.

I found some colorful mushrooms along the trail, I am sure they all have names but I would need some help on their id's. Some mushrooms were orange in color and some were purple. The birds were peeping out at me while we hiked.  

Below, this mushroom reminds me of a minature birdbath. Maybe a little critterbath.

Maybe it is a bath for this tiny dragonfly.

I am not sure if these fuzzy critters take baths.

This Tufted Titmouse wanted to take it's bath in private.

We ended our walk at a spot near the lake, where we had a view of a small island in the middle. This was the first time hiking in this spot and the views were all new for us. Not a bad spot considering it is only a short drive from our home.

I hope you enjoyed my scenic nature hike. And to see more beautiful scenes please visit Scenic Sunday.  Thanks to the Holley's for hosting Scenic Sunday and thank you for visiting my blog. Have a safe and wonderful Labor Day weekend.

Birding Poplar Island, Md

I am linking my post  up with  Scenic Sunday and   Mosaic Monday and That's My World

I read on Dina's blog about the loss of Klaus, he was a great bird and nature photographer and very much respected. Klaus will be dearly missed.. I was always amazed at his photos.

My prayers go out to Klaus's family and friends.

On Friday my bird club had an outing to Poplar Island, Maryland an island located in the Chesapeake Bay. Tours of Poplar Island are given by MES ( Maryland Environmenal Services) reservations have to be made in advance by our bird club or by any group that would like to tour the island. We were met at the Tilghman Island dock by the MES boat and staff. After a 20 minute boat ride a staff person also drove our tour bus around Poplar island, stopping at various places so we could see the birds. I want to say KUDOS to the MES gals and guys that run these trips and to all the organizations are are helping to rebuild Poplar Island.

In earlier days the island once supported a small town, post office, cattle, sawmill and a school. Two US Presidents Roosevelt and Truman used the island as a hunting and a vacation retreat. By 1990 erosion had cut Poplar Island into three sections each around 10 acres. Today, Poplar Island is growing from a group effort and combined efforts of the Port of Baltimore, Army Corps of Engineers and the MES. Their reconstruction and restoration project is using dredged material from Maryland and Baltimore shipping channels. Construction started in 1998 and is suppose to continue thru 2020. During our tour we could see the bulldozers hard at work at the various wetland cells and the upland cells. When the island is completed it will be divided between tidal marsh and upland and will provide habitat for migratory and the resident wildlife. There is an ongoing school Terrapin Connection project for the nesting Diamondback Terrapins. I was able to see the baby terrapins that will soon be going to various schools where school children will be collecting data and taking care of the hatchlings until their release back on the Poplar Island beaches in May or June.  

Wildlife is already claiming Poplar Island as their home, we saw numerous Osprey, Eagles, Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Terns, GB Herons,  Avocets, Black Necked Stilts, Black Bellied Plover, various species of Sandpipers, Yellowlegs, Killdeer, various species of Seagulls, many DC Cormorants, Barn and Bank Swallows and lots of Mallard ducks, Redwing Blackbirds, Cowbirds and some Black Ducks. The Diamondback Terrapins are already successfully nesting on the island.

I was able to see two new lifers, one was a Virginia rail and its chicks and the other was the Hudsonian Godwit. The Godwit was too far away but I did get a couple of rail photos. The chicks were too fast but they were cute.

The finished island project is suppose to include boat docking facilities, information kiosks, self guided nature trails and boardwalks, avain observation areas, picnic area and other resting and viewing areas. It sounds great and I am already hoping to go on another one of my bird club's outings to Poplar Island. 

While we were on the island, it looked like a sailboat race was happening on the Chespaeake Bay.

To see more wonderful mosaics and photos please visit The Holley's at Scenic Sunday and Mary's Mosaic Monday and That's My World.  Thanks to the Holleys of Scenic Sunday, Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday and thanks to the hosting group of That's My World: Sylvia, Wren, Sandy.

 

Thank you for visiting my post this week, I hope you enjoyed my visit to Poplar Island. I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Happy Birding!!!!

Birding and Hiking Shenandoah Nat'l Park

For Camera Critters  and Scenic Sunday I have a post on some of the wildlife and scenery we saw at Shenandoah Nat'l Park last weekend.

Last Sunday hubby and I went on a daytrip to Shenandoah National Park. I love driving on the Skyline Drive, hiking the trails and looking for birds. It was a birdie day. I heard and saw lots of Redstarts, Scarlet Tanagers, Flycatchers, Phoebes and there were lots of Towhees and a Veery.

We also saw our first wild turkey along the Skyline drive and some deer along the drive and on the trail we hiked.

  A view of the Applachian mountain ranges from the Skyline drive ovelook.

Deer on the Limberlost trail

An unknown butterfly on the trail

 There were many Indigo Buntings singing along the trail and along the Skyline Drive

An overlook of the Shenandoah valley from the Appalachian trail.

I believe this is a Veery seen along a stretch of the Appalachian trail we hiked.

  Some of the wildflowers seen along the Limberlost trail. I think they are wild Columbine?

To see Scenic photos from around the world visit Scenic Sunday   and more wonderful and cute critters please visit Misty Dawn's Camera Critters.  Thanks to the Holleys of Scenic Sunday and to Misty for hosting this fun memes and thanks for stopping by my blog to see my post.