October already?

Hello,

October has arrived quickly for me, the days are just flying by. We are dog sitting for our grand-doggie Nibbles the first week of October. Our son and his friends are going on a cruise. I hope he has a great weather for his cruise. Their cruise ship returns to Miami tomorrow, please say a prayer for all in Florida and the path of Hurricane Matthew!

 These are some photos from our daytrip to Shenandoah National Park. When we first arrived in the park we saw some fog and low lying clouds over the mountains. We still had some nice views of the valley and river. We took our favorite walk on the Limberlost trail and we saw a Black Bear in a tree near the Big Meadows campstore parking lot. I will share the bear on my Saturday's Critter post.

The mountain tops are hidden with these clouds.

Looking down at some house and barns from the Skyline Drive.

Some scenes from our walk on the Limberlost trail.

Isn't this a cute place, I could zoom in from one of the park's overlooks. I love the farm house and there is a nice red barn.

My last two books were Magic by Danielle Steel and the #10 Anniversary from the Women's Murder Club series by James Patterson. I recommend and enjoyed both books by Steel and Patterson. They are two of my favorite authors. I am now starting a new series by Lauren Carr, the first book is called Kill and Run.


Thank you for visiting and as always thank you for the nice comments.  Have a great day and new week ahead!

Here is my list of memes for the week, I hope you can check one or some of these fun memes and the participants post.

Thanks to Tom the host of The Barn Collective 
Thanks to Jesh for hosting Seasons
Thanks to Maggie of Normandy Life  the new host of Mosaic Monday

Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes

Thanks to the hosting team of Our World Tuesday!

Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

Walking the trail

Hello,

We have been on the NCR bike trail at least once a week lately. There are still some wildflowers blooming, we saw and heard a few birds and a snake crossing the trail. The weather is still summer like, officially Fall starts on Sept 22. As I type this post we could use some rain we are in a mini drought.

One of my only bird photos from our walk. A blurry Chickadee, it was moving quickly around the tree and fussing at us.

Are these called cairns, people must have stood in the river stacking up these rocks.

Even with the mini drought, the flowers were still blooming mid September.

I believe this is a harmless garter snake, later on we just missed a Copperhead on the trail. Some brave people moved the Copperhead off the trail right before we got there.

Back at home two Cardinals in our backyard.

For Tom's Barn Collective, I have another local barn from our neighborhood.

This is an update on my reading, I have now read up to # 9 in the Women's Murder Club mysteries by James Patterson.  They are usually page turners for me and I like the main characters in these stories. The stories take place in San Francisco. For some reason, these books remind me of old TV show called the Streets of San Francisco. I guess I am showing my age, it was cop show from back in 1972 with Karl Malden and Michael Douglas.

Thank you for visiting and as always thank you for the nice comments.  Have a great day and new week ahead!

Here is my list of memes for the week, I hope you can check one or some of these fun memes and the participants post.

Thanks to Tom the host of The Barn Collective 
Thanks to Jesh for hosting Seasons
Thanks to Maggie of Normandy Life  the new host of Mosaic Monday

Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes

Thanks to the hosting team of Our World Tuesday!

Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

Hashawha Nature Center Part II

Hello,

I took a lot of photos during our walk and visit to the Hashawha Nature Center. I saw so many butterflies, this summer seemed to be the year of the butterfly for me.

The Swallowtail butterflies were everywhere.

The waterlilies were beautiful in the smaller pond.

Waterlilies, Slider turtle, Chickadee and some Black Eyed Susans.

A Monarch Butterfly landed on the boardwalk in front of us.

Carroll County, Md is mostly farm land so we see lots of barns during our outings.

Thanks for coming along on my walk, I hope you enjoyed these photos.
I thank you for visiting and as always thank you for the nice comments.  Have a great day and new week ahead!

Here is my list of memes for the week, I hope you can check one or some of these fun memes and the participants post.

Thanks to Tom the host of The Barn Collective 
Thanks to Jesh for hosting Seasons
Thanks to Maggie of Normandy Life  the new host of Mosaic Monday

Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes

Thanks to the hosting team of Our World Tuesday!

Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

Around the yard

Hello,

I will never forget Sept 11, 2001. God Bless us all!

Lately our walks have been closer to home, on the fire roads and to the lake. Here are some views of our lake, some shots from  my yard sharing more butterflies and birds.

One of my Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. They can be pretty feisty, I watched this hummer chasing other birds and even butterflies away from it's feeder.

A walk to the lake, we saw and heard a lot of birds and it was a lovely day for a walk. Top right is a Cormorant flying away,  Bottom row possibly a Common Yellowthroat Warbler and an unknown Flycatcher.

A view of our lake.

Below, the female (top) and the male (bottom) Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies.

The Chipping Sparrows are one of my common yardbirds this summer.

I wanted to share the giveaway gift I won on Jemma's blog I love the pretty towel set, spatula and the gorgeous sunflower print. Thanks Jemma! I hope you can visit her blog, Jemma shares many decorating tips, recipes and crafting ideas.

Here is another local barn in nearby Carroll County, A drive by shot during one of our outings.

More on what I have been reading, I enjoyed and actually laughed out loud at Jana DeLeon's "Ghost in Law" series. I read all 6 books in the humorous fun Mudbug series. Helena the MIL ghost was just hysterical.



As always, I thank you for visiting and as always thank you for the nice comments.  Have a great day and new week ahead!

Here is my list of memes for the week, I hope you can check one or some of these fun memes and the participants post.

Thanks to Tom the host of The Barn Collective 
Thanks to Jesh for hosting Seasons
Thanks to Maggie of Normandy Life  the new host of Mosaic Monday

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

Hello,

Wishing everyone a Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Wow, it is September 4th already. Time is going way too fast for me. I would like to rewind to Spring time. I am sharing some photos from our day trip to Bombay Hook wildlife refuge in Delaware. The birds are on the move and heading south for winter.

I am sharing more birds and photos from our visit to Bombay Hook wildlife refuge. We saw large groups of Egrets along the wildlife drive. I believe they are mostly the Great Egret and some Snowy Egrets.

Sorry about the photo quality, they were all taken thru my car window with the windows closed and the AC blasting. It was way too buggy to open the window and too hot to turn the car and air conditioning off.   :(

Below are some shorebirds, the American Avocets, Semipalmated Plover and a Yellow Warbler.

Various shorebirds, gulls and terns foraging for food.

A Bald Eagle, a juvie almost with a white head.

On the drive to Delaware I managed to find a barn and farm scene for Tom's Barn Collective.

I hope you enjoyed our visit to the wildlife refuge, it is one of my favorite places to visit.

When we do not go on daytrips I can be found home reading. The weather does not always cooperate for walks or birding. Here is another book I enjoyed and can recommend "Undercover" by Danielle Steele. I am a fan of Danielle Steele and have read many of her books. As always, I thank you for visiting and as always thank you for the nice comments.  Have a great day and new week ahead!

Here is my list of memes for the week, I hope you can check one or some of these fun memes and the participants post.

Thanks to Tom the host of The Barn Collective 
Thanks to Jesh for hosting Seasons
Thanks to Maggie of Normandy Life  the new host of Mosaic Monday

Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes

Thanks to the hosting team of Our World Tuesday!

Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

Birds, Butterflies and blooms

Hello,

It is almost the end of August, where did summer go? I hope you are not tired of seeing Butterflies. I have been enjoying all the butterflies in my yard this summer. The buddleia bushes are filled with various species like the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, the Great Spangled Fritillary, Red Admiral, Cabbage Whites and the beautiful Monarch.

A few Black-eyed Susan's have survived the bunnies and deer that roam our yard and neighborhood.

A cute Skipper was also seen on the buddleia bush.

These are some barn scenes we pass by on our way to our favorite local ice cream place. We did enjoy some ice cream this summer, surprisingly we did not get to our favorite snowball stand.

A female Cardinal, looks like a juvie.

As I mentioned on a previous post I have been reading a lot more this summer, another book I enjoyed was called The Life List by Lori Nelson Spielman. The title caught my eye being a birder "a life list" is a list of all the birds you see in your lifetime. The list in this book is more like a bucket list. Do you have a bucket list of things you would like to accomplish or places you want to see before you die? I can not count how many places are on my bucket list, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and some of South America are on the top of the list.


I hope you enjoyed my birds, butterflies and blooms. As always, I thank you for visiting and as always thank you for the nice comments.  Have a great day and new week ahead!

Here is my list of memes for the week, I hope you can check one or some of these fun memes and the participants post.

Thanks to Tom for hosting the The Barn Collective
Thanks to Jesh for hosting Seasons
Thanks to Maggie of Normandy Life  the new host of Mosaic Monday

Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes

Thanks to the hosting team of Our World Tuesday!

Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

NCR Trail

Hello

I have been jumping around with my posts lately these are images are from June. On this day back in late June, hubby and I took a walk on our local NCR bike trail. I am sharing some of the scenes from our walk, the trail, a Common Yellowthroat Warbler, daylilies and a fish.

A Common Yellowthroat Warbler is seen all summer along this trail. It is a cute bird wear his black mask and quite the singer.

The NCR bike trail.

This stream follows along side the NCR trail. Looking over the side of the bridge we saw this big fish, not sure what kind it is?

NCR trail are the initials for the North Central Railway. This walking and biking trail was an old railway that went from Northern Baltimore County into Baltimore City.

Along the bike trail we tasted some wild berries, a rose bush on private property and some daylilies along the river bank.

On the way home a farm and barn scene. I tried to zoom in on the barn and silo but it sits down low on the hill.

Also, sharing some local barns for Tom's Barn Collective. The barn below is a little hidden behind the tree, the brick silo is cool.

 I have not been out on many birding trips lately, I have been reading a lot more. My most recent book was called The Shell Seekers. It is a 1987 novel by Rosamunde Pilcher, a great story by a wonderful author. I highly recommend this book. Back to the birding, I hope to go to the Delaware shore soon to seen the migrating shorebirds.


Thanks for visiting and as always thank you for the nice comments.  Have a great day and new week ahead!

Here is my list of memes for the week, I hope you can check one or some of these fun memes and the participants post.

Thanks to Tom for hosting the The Barn Collective
Thanks to Jesh for hosting Seasons
Thanks to Maggie of Normandy Life  the new host of Mosaic Monday

Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes

Thanks to the hosting team of Our World Tuesday!

Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

Around the yard

Hello,

It is hard to believe it the middle of August, time is just flying by. It has been hot and humid here in Maryland...feels like FLORIDA... I am sharing some scenes from my backyard, at the lake and the neighborhood. The weather is still summer like, hot and humid.


The Buddleia bushes in our yard are attracting a lot of butterflies. The Tiger Swallowtail is one of the most common butterflies I have been seeing.

The Great Spangled Fritillary is another common butterfly I see in our yard.

One morning, I took a walk to the lake, I saw a couple people kayaking and a few damselflies.

During my walk to the lake and I was seeing and hearing numerous Scarlet Tanagers.

A line up of the damselflies.

A few drive-by neighborhood barns. I am used to see some goats around the flag barn but lately I have not been seeing them. :(

Thanks for visiting and as always thank you for the nice comments.  Have a great day and new week ahead!

Here is my list of memes for the week, I hope you can check one or some of these fun memes and the participants post.

Thanks to Tom for hosting the The Barn Collective
Thanks to Jesh for hosting Seasons
Thanks to Maggie of Normandy Life  the new host of Mosaic Monday

Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes

Thanks to the hosting team of Our World Tuesday!

Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday