Good Fences

Linking up with Skywatch Friday  and Good Fences

Another week is rolling along and Easter is next weekend on the 20th. April is flying by, even though my days at work are going slow.. This is my first time linking up with Tex's Good Fences. I hope to see you there along with Skywatch Friday.

The photos for today's post were from last Saturday, the Alpacas were seen at the Smithsonian National Zoo. I saw the fence and knew I had to link up with Tex's linky party called "Good Fences".

 I love the alpacas they have the cute faces, just adorable animals..

On the same day, I took this moon shot. On April 5, 2014 it is the Waxing Crescent with 33% visible.

I just have to include some birds on my post, so here is a couple of House Finches at my feeder.

The sun is setting, seen from our backyard!

 Love the pretty colors looking down the street from the mailbox..

 Also on Saturday I was able to watch this colorful sunset.. The sunset shots are from our backyard and the other is our front street. So this completes our day.... a visit to the zoo in Washington, DC and back home in plenty of time for the sunset.. I hope you enjoyed my post. 

 I hope to see you on Saturday sharing your critters..

To see more pretty skies from around the world please visit  Skywatch Friday
and Tex's Good Fences


Thanks to Tex @ The Run*A*Round Ranch for hosting Good Fences and to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday!   I wish everyone a safe and happy long weekend.

World Birds, Smithsonian National Zoo

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

I am sure it would not take much to guess that the Bird House at the Smithsonian Zoo was one of my favorite sights to see at the zoo.

Somewhere in the world, these birds seen below are considered wild birds and can be seen while out birding.. I see a few are on my list of most want to see. It may take some traveling to see them and some may take winning the lottery to go around the world, HAHA. I am listing these birds below and where they can be seen. 

In the top row first two photos on the left are the White-faced Whistling Duck. This duck can be seen the Caribbean and Central and South America. The third from left top row  is the Southern Masked Weaver seen in Southern Africa. My friend Jo @ Memorable Meanders might have seen this bird. Last photo in the top row is the Red-fan Parrot can be found in the Amazon River region of South America. Now that would be a cool place to go birding..

Second row from the top is the Red-billed Hornbill, I would love to see any species of Hornbills..This one is found in the Sub-Saharan Africa, the next bird is the Guira Cuckoo, this bird can be seen in South America mostly Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and northern Argentina. The next bird is the cool looking Micronesian Kingfisher, it can be found in Palau and Guam. The last bird in the second row is the Crested Oropendola and can be seen in Costa Rica, Panama and South America. I have seen the  my Montezuma Oropendola a very cool bird also seen in Costa Rica

In the third row from the left is the Mountain Bamboo Partridge, this bird can be found in Laos, China, India, Thailand and Vietnam. Second from left is the pretty Blue Crowned Motmot can be found in Mexico and Central America..The third is a lovely colored Asian Fairy Bluebird and can be found in Asia, India and Sri Lanka.  The last bird in the row is the Golden Bellied Grosbeak, this bird can be found in Columbia, Peru, Ecuador, Trinidad and Venezuela.

Red-crested Cardinal

From the left is one of my favorites the Red-Crested Cardinal, it can be found in South America and has been introduced to Hawaii..what do you think.... a good reason to go to Kauai? Second from the right is the colorful Scarlet Macaw, seen from Mexico to South America. Many of these beautiful birds are being captured for the parrot trade. The third bird over Blue-gray Tanager here is my Blue-gray Tanager, I have seen this bird in Costa Rica and Panama. The last bird is the Sunbittern, can be seen from Mexico to Peru..The Sunbittern is another on my list of most want to see. I was very happy with the Smithsonian's Zoo's Bird House.

Sunbittern

Maybe you will see a familiar bird or one bird you really want to see.  Do you have a wish list of MOST want to see birds? I have three birds listed above on my want to see list they are the Blue-Crowned Motmot, Scarlet Macaw, Sunbittern and I would love another trip to Hawaii to see the Red-Crested Cardinal..

Thanks for stopping by my post and for all the nice comments.

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.  Thanks to our host Michelle our host Stewart.  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

Smithsonian National Zoo

  I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday 

I am sharing some of the scenes and animals we saw while visiting the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC on Saturday.. The highlight of the trip was seeing the Giant Panda cub.. Bao Bao .

 One the top line is the male Giant Panda Tian Tian ( t-Yen t-Yen) his name means "more and more". He was born 1997. On the bottom left is the momma Mei Xiang (may-Shong) she was born 1998. Bottom right is the new Panda cub named Bao Bao, born on Aug 23 2013.

To me Bao Bao is growing fast, she looks almost as big as her Mom to me..But, I think the photo is deceiving, in person Bao Bao was not that big.

Daddy Tian Tian was outside when we arrived at the Giant Panda exhibit..The Giant Pandas are rare and endangered, only 1600  survive in the mountain forests of China. The Smithsonian Zoo has a research and breeding  agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association. This agreement and Giant Panda program is thru 2015.  Mei Xhang and Tian Tian are the focus of research, conservation and a breeding program to preserved these endangered animals.

  The O-line is a transportation system for the Orangutans..It give the Orangutans the freedom of movement and an expanded living area and location.  The O-line goes from the Tower 1 at the Great Ape house to the tower 8 at the Think Tank. The O-line crosses the Olmsted Walk to the thrill of zoo visitors..

An Orangutan he/she looks deep in thought.

It was a nice day with temps in the 60's, we saw flowers blooming and turtles sunning themselves.. The Smithsonian Zoo also has a wonderful Bird House. I will be sharing some of the exotic birds seen from around the world on another post. I hope you can stop back to see the birds of the National Zoo.


Join in on the fun and for more wonderful photos please visit  Mosaic Monday and more
 from  Our World Tuesday

 Thanks to our host: Mary 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!
I hope you enjoyed our quick visit to the shore and seeing the birds. 

Pink Flamingos

For this weeks Mosaic Monday and That's My World I have Flamingo photos from my recent visit to the Smithsonian National Zoo in DC.

This past Saturday, hubby and his cousin and I visited the Smithsonian Zoo in DC. It was a treat to see a juvenile Pink Flamingo along side the adults. I usually like to post wild birds on my blog but this was the first time I have seen a flamingo chick and it was a neat sighting. Look at that bill and those legs and feet.

I learned something new about the Flamingos there are actually six different species: the Greater Flamingo is found in Africa and Asia, the Lesser Flamingo found in Africa and India, the Chilean Flamingo found in South America, James's Flamingo found in high Andes Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina, the Andean Flamingo also found in Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina and the last one is the American Flamingo found in the Caribbean and Galapagos islands.

Flamingos eat brine shrimp and brine flies which give them their pink color. Flamingo pairs make mud mound nests and incubate one egg for about thirty days. Chicks leave the nest after ten days and join other chicks and watched by the adults.

Flamingos are 42 inches tall from the tip of their head to the tip of their tail. And can stand as tall as 5 feet. They weigh 5 or 6 pounds. Doesn't seem like much does it?  And their wing span is 55 inches.

And to show the Pink Flamingos moving around with the chick I am linking up my youtube video.'

I hope you enjoyed my Flamingo post and to see more wonderful mosaics please visit Mary's Mosaic Monday  and visit That's My World for photos from around the world. Thanks to Mary and to the hosting gang of That's My World.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping by for a visit.