Saturday's Critters # 403

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!

On Aug 2-3rd hubby and I managed a getaway to visit Bombay Hook NWR in Delaware and Blackwater NWR in Cambridge Md.  It was time to see some shorebirds before they headed south. 

Click on photos for larger viewing.

1. Some views of Bombay Hook NWR and the wildlife drive, one of ponds, Semipalmated Plovers and Black-necked Stilts.

2. We were happy to see the 4 Roseate Spoonbills that were being seen at Bombay Hook NWR. They were a distance from the wildlife drive and they were spaced too far apart to capture all 4 in one photo. I did mange to catch 3 of the Roseate Spoonbills along with a Mute Swan and some ducks. 

3. Below a popular gathering spot for the birds, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets and a possible Little Egret along with Laughing Gulls, Terns, Canada Geese and ducks. I am guessing tern with the bright orange beak is a Caspian Tern? 

4. Bombay Hook NWR is a great place to see the Black-necked Stilt.

5.  A Great Blue Heron and a Tricolored Heron on the top row and the bottom row is various shorebirds, Egrets, Canada Geese and ducks on the left and on the right are the Roseate Spoonbills with some Mute Swans. 

6. We watched the Canada Geese taking off a few times, they flew by our car. 

7. So far away, in the background are the 4 Rosate Spoonbills, their pink color stands out a little. In the foreground are Mallards, Canada Geese and some Egrets. 

8. I am guessing at all the birds top line below, unknown juvenile Tern, Yellowlegs and 2 Dowitchers. Not the best photo for id's, Lesser or Greater, Short-billed or Long-billed. Bottom row are 2 Semipalmated Plovers and 3 Wood Ducks. 

9. A family of Black-necked Stilts with one Glossy Ibis..

10. One of the many Great Blue Heron's seen along the wildlife drive. 

11. The Tricolored Heron taking a break from it's foraging for food.

12.  A few Wood Ducks seen below. 

The Roseate Spoonbills are showing up all over the place now, there are being seen in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania and some other states. Other birds usually seen in Florida are showing up here too, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, a Wood Stork and a Limpkin in Maryland. Are these birds on the move looking for food?  The reason for their appearance, I do not know. After two loops around the wildlife drive we left Bombay Hook NWR in Delaware and headed to Blackwater NWR in Cambridge Md. We spent the night in a nearby Easton Md hotel, so we could do the Blackwater NWR wildlife drive early in the morning. I will make another post on my sightings at the Blackwater NWR. 

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!

Here is my linky:

YOU are all # 1.

Thanks to all my visitors and for your comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves critters and has linked up their critter post.

Saturday's Critters # 318

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!


 I am sharing more birds and critters from our December Road trip, we were in Florida for 5 of the days.

The Gopher Tortoise likes sandy soil, dunes and coastal grasslands. They dig a burrow and spend most of their lives in the burrow. This Tortoise shares their burrow home with possibly as many as 360 other species including snakes, mice, fox, skunk, frogs, rabbits, armadillo, lizards and burrowing owls. The burrow can be 52 feet long and 23 feet deep.

Down the road some at another beach, we found 2 Gopher Tortoises outside their burrow.

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We stopped to see what birds were at the Matanzas Inlet, Flagler County Florida.  If there was a time for my birding scope ( hubby says I told you to pack the scope)  this was it. The birds were too far away, it looked like  a large flock of various gulls, terns, shorebirds and I assume Black Skimmers.

 A Semipalmated Plover.

 Pretty sure these are Willets. Id update: thanks to Ken and Anni the birds below are Dowitchers.

 









 Thanks to all my visitors and for all the wonderful comments!





Here is a list of my linky parties;

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

Saturday's Critters #250

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!

More photos from Bombay Hook NWR, we saw some wonderful birds. The large white birds with black wings are the American Avocets and the birds in flight maybe Dunlins and Plovers. These images are best enlarged. 

I am pretty sure the birds sitting right in front of the Avocets are the Short-billed Dowitchers. But, they are so far away there could also be the Long-billed Dowitchers.

Below are the American Avocets, Dowitchers, Semipalmated Plovers and maybe more thrown in. 

I think the Egrets were gathering so they could south south together. 

A few gulls and Yellowlegs. 

I admire the birders who can watch one group of birds looking to see if there is a different species mixed in. I did notice with this group there were a few Black-bellied Plovers mixed in with the Avocets and Dowitchers. Can you find them? 

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.

Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

Sunset Beach, Part III

Happy Thankful Thursday!

Today is my son's 25th birthday, Happy Birthday Brian. I am sharing some more images from our weeks visit to Sunset Beach. We walked on the beach every day, seeing birds, dolphins and a beautiful sunset. I hope you enjoy my photos, who doesn't enjoy the beach.


A group of Brown Pelicans flying over the Atlantic Ocean.

The Northern Gannet looks like a gull, they are mostly white and have black wing tips. They dive head first into the ocean for their meals. 

It is not often I see Bald Eagles on the beach but here they are, I think the Mrs is telling the Mr to go after her dinner.

A few Semipalmated Plovers on Sunset Beach.

We were always looking for shells and sand dollars. We found this live Sand Dollar mixed in some sea weed on the beach. We put it back down in the surf after taking a few photos. You can tell it was alive with the dark color and  fuzzy hairs or feet.

Sunset @ Sunset Beach North Carolina. The beach had a lot of Sanderlings  and Plovers.

The sunset on Sunset Beach.. I do not know of many places on the Atlantic Ocean you can see a beautiful sunset, this is the place.

I am thankful for my hubby, son and my family. 
I was thankful to stay a week at my sister's home while she and my BIL went to Bermuda. 
I am always thankful for your visits and your comments. 


Thank you Michelle for hosting. Thankful Thursday

Thank you to the hosts of   Skywatch Friday


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

Saturday's Critters #201

Welcome to Saturday's Critters!

If you love critters 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 some birds and critters I have not shown,  seen during our Washington Trip in May. We stayed overnight in Ocean Shores and walked on a few of the local beaches. We saw some shorebirds like the Semipalmated Plover, Dunlins, lots of gulls and a hummer and possibly other shorebirds mixed in.

I believe these are the Semipalmated Plovers

A flock of Dunlin, see their black bellies.

Is this a Crow or Raven? My field guide says Raven's have thick bills. Do you think this bird's bill is thick?

Semipalmated Plover.

American Pipit seen on the coast, walking along side the sandy road to the beach.

Rufous or Allen's Hummingbird.  I am not an expert on any hummer except for my local Ruby-throated Hummingbird. This bird was seen flying around the nearby flowers and like to perch on this pine tree.

Sorry, for the picture quality, the bird was a distance away and it was a cloudy day.

Neighborhood deer, near the beach. I think this is a Black-tailed Deer.

There are way too many gull species for me to id, my guess a  Western Gull.

I am not sure if this is a big flock of Dunlins or mixed group of shorebirds. What is upsetting is seeing the cars driving on the beach where these birds were resting.

I appreciate and thank everyone who links up their post and for all the wonderful comments! I hope you enjoy my post and photos too!

Here is a list of my linky parties;

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

Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

Saturday's Critters #188

Welcome to Saturday's Critters!

If you love critters 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!


For this week's post I am sharing some birds we saw while visiting Sequim and Port Angeles Washington. This was our second trip to this area of Washington state, the last trip was back in 2015. During our visit we went to a few birding spots like the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge and the Dungeness Spit, Helen Pond at Three Crabs Road and the Ediz Hook in Port Angeles.

The Dungeness Spit located in Sequim at the Dungeness National Wildlife refuge.

At the Dungeness Nat'l Wildlife Refuge we had to wait out a little rain before we hiked the trail down to the Dungeness Spit. Below are photos of the trail thru the woods, a Rough Skinned Newt, a view of the Dungeness Spit on a cloudy day, driftwood, two Black Oystercatchers, a large group of Cormorants and maybe with a few Mergansers. We found another Rough-skinned Newt on the way back up the trail.

There were signs warning hikers about these Rough-skinned Newts that produce a toxin from their skin. The toxin could irritate your eyes or skin if you should happen to pick up or touch one of these Rough-skinned Newts. They could be seen on the trail or crossing the trail as we walked.

I have a lifer from my 2017 Washington trip it is the Western Sandpiper seen below with the Semipalmated Plover.

Semipalmated Plovers and some Western Sandpipers were seen along Three Crabs Road in Sequim.

We spent the night in Port Angeles Washington and we visited the Ediz Hook, another spit of land. Here we saw a big flock of Brant Geese and lots of Rhinoceros Auklets.

Lots of Brant Geese at the Ediz Hook spit in Port Angeles Washington.

I appreciate and thank everyone who links up their post and for all the wonderful comments! I hope you enjoy my post and photos too!



Here is a list of my linky parties;
Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni.

Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

Siesta Key, Florida

Linking up with NF Winged   and  Skywatch Friday

With this post I am taking you back to Florida, a lovely sunset at Siesta Key Beach and some birds from the area.

Above are a Ruddy Turnstone and a Sanderling seen on the Vienna Beach, Florida.

We saw lots of Pelicans flying by at the Vienna Beach.

I like this shot of the pier with the flag and pretty sky.  We also saw a group of dolphins swimming near the pier. They are always a happy sight for me to see.

This pelican was enjoying the Gulf of Mexico beautiful clear water.

Our sunset on the same day was seen at the Siesta Key Beach. A very pretty beach with beautiful sand.

Siesta Key beach is very popular and there were many people out enjoying the beach and sunset.

I really loved the clouds and the reflection in this photo above.

When I looked at the photo above it looks as though there is a hand holding the sun. I see a thumb and fingers? What do you see?

 After the sunset and heading back to our car I saw the last bird seen during our visit to Siesta Key. I believe this is a Semipalmated Plover.

I hope you enjoyed my birds and sunset. Thanks for visiting my post and  blog and I always appreciate your comments.

Happy Skywatching  to everyone!

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.  Also, thank you for stopping by to see my post. I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.