North Point State Park

Hello and happy Thursday!

These are some images from our walk at the North Point State Park in Baltimore County, Maryland. It is great seeing the Little Blue Herons at this park, usually we can see  the juveniles Little Blues too. The Ospreys and Swallows were plentiful on this day and we had pretty views of the Chesapeake Bay.

One of the first Little Blue Herons was on the hunt for food.

A lunapic landscape edit of the Rose Mallow or Wild Hibiscus.

A tree full of swallows.

Another Little Blue Heron.

Osprey, we saw 3-4 Ospreys at the park. Some must be juveniles.

A juvenile Little Blue Heron.

A view of the pretty sky and Chesapeake Bay.

A dead tree and a few osprey high in sky. In case you did not see the Osprey, one is on each side of the tree high in the sky.

This is a Lunapic Landscape edit, I like the reflections of the sky on the marsh water. 

My thankful list for today:
I am thankful for the simple things, like a pretty sky and beautiful views.
I am thankful for the beautiful birds and wildlife I see all around me.
I am thankful for your visits and your comments.


I hope you enjoy my photos and the pretty birds and sky. Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments. Have a happy day!



Thank you Michelle for hosting. Thankful Thursday

Thank you to the hosts of   Skywatch Friday

Various Swallows

Hello,


I am sharing various swallows we saw while visiting Washington State and some other Swallows seen while on other trips. I have a mix of Tree Swallows, Barn Swallows, Northern Rough-winged Swallows, an awful photo of the Violet-green Swallow, a distant look at Cave Swallows.  I am always working on getting what I think is a great shot of any bird I see. When it comes to a new bird, I will keep what I think is an awful photo just to record the time I actually saw my life bird.


Barn Swallows on their nest under the pier. The Barn Swallows have a steel blue upperpart and a rufous forehead, chin and throat.

Barn Swallow collecting mud for their nest. The building a cup nest from mud pellets.

Two Northern Rough-winged Swallows. These swallows are brown above and white underparts. Their throat is white with a brownish gray wash.

They usually nest near streams, we saw these birds next to the Hoh River in the Olympic National Park.

This swallow photo below  is not my best, I will still have to work on getting a better shot of the Violet-green Swallow. I was able to get an id confirmation with this photo and that is why I am keeping it for now.  This swallow has long pointed wings, has a glossy green color on top of it's head and white cheeks.

Below, a Tree Swallow sky. Swallows are fast flyers and it is very hard for me to get a clear shot and closeup of a moving swallow.

Tree swallow talk. These swallows have a iridescent blueish-green upper part and white underparts.

Below are the Cave Swallows seen as they excited the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. They nest in natural caves. They have grey-blue upperparts and brown-tangerine forefront. It is hard to see their colors in my photo.

Other swallows seen in my area are the Bank Swallow and the Cliff Swallows.

Thank you for stopping by and as always I appreciate your comments.

My list of memes for today, I hope to see you there. Thanks to both of the host below.


Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes
Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

Saturday's Critters #36

Saturday's Critters #36


Happy weekend and welcome to Saturday's Critters!  I hope you love critters as much as I do. I have been animal lover since I was a child.. Ok, it's time to share your critters. I am sharing some of my yardbirds, some swallows down the street from me and my Goldie Girl.

My Poppa Bluebird taking a worm to his babies..

One of my cute American Goldfinches.. The male is so bright and pretty in the summer.

Another shot of Poppa Blue looking so serious.

Swallows on a wire..I believe these are barn swallows that hang out by the horse farm down the road.

Goldie Girl has slowed down a lot, it is kind of sad to see her this way..But, she is still our beautiful Goldie Girl..

An InLinkz Link-up

 Thank you for linking up to the critter party. I appreciate the visits, comments and the support of my blogging friends................... Have a happy weekend!


To see more beautiful birds and cute critters, check out these two memes below.

Please visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni of I'd Rather-B-birdin. Also, sharing with Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting.

SWF>>>Oregon

I am linking up my Oregon skies with Nature Notes and Skywatch Friday

These are some shots during our visit to the Columbia River, the Gorge and another waterfall at the Gorge. We stopped at various overlooks along the Columbia Gorge. At one of the overlooks we saw the sun shining beautifully on the Vista House.

 

Above is a pretty view of the sky, river and the Columbia Gorge Vista House.

Above, hubby made this trip up the Oneonta Gorge to see another waterfalls. The trail to the waterfalls was a watery one. To see the Oneonta Falls, hubby had to first climb over a big log jam and then walk up the stream thru this narrow gorge. He said at times the water was up to his waste and he was holding my spare camera over his head in a backpack.

 

Above is the Oneonta Waterfalls. Hubby took this hike alone and I stayed  near the parking lot looking for birds. Let just say I tried to get some bird photos, luckily I saw them enough to id some before they took off.

I tried so hard to catch some of the swallows  flying above me at the Gorge trailhead. I am not sure if they were Cliff Swallows or another species of swallows or maybe they were swifts. At times I thought they landed on the cliff walls. They flew fast, I did have fun watching them zoom all around me.

This was my attempt at trying to get a photo of the Stellar's Jay. You can see a blue flash.

 

LOL,  seriously I really tried getting some good Oregon bird shots. This was a Cedar Waxwing showing off his pretty backside and tailfeathers. 

The sky looked threatening but it did not rain. 

The sun tried to shine and had a small opening before setting behind the clouds for the evening. We stayed near the Columbia River for three days before heading to the Oregon Coast. During our week stay in Oregon I took over 1600 photos and that does not include photos I took at my SIL's wedding in Washington state.

To see more pretty Nature Scenes and skies please visit : Nature Notes  and Skywatch Friday

Thanks to Michelle the host of Nature Notes and to host of Skywatch: Sylvia and Sandy.  Thanks for stopping by to see my post. I hope the rest of the week and weekend is a safe and happy one for everyone.

Rural birds and scenes

I am linking up with Mosaic Monday  and Our World Tuesday

My post and mosaic includes some rural scenes near my neighborhood and scenes I see on my way to work.

 I am able to see the sun rising above this field on most of the clear mornings.  Most of early morning's I am seeing fog over the fields. I usually get to this same spot everyday at the same time and the sun is in the same place each day.  Must be my timing is right on for seeing the sun rise.

 A Song Sparrow is a commonly heard bird , a resident of Maryland.

My sunrise on the way to work,  Eastern Meadowlark,  local produce stand, red barn, rolls of hay, Song Sparrow.

This is one of the fields I pass on the way to work everyday. A rural scene with the corn fields and rolls of hay.

Sunflowers, Eastern Bluebird, Tree Swallow, a local white barn. The Bluebirds and Swallows are common birds I see perched on the wires about the roads. Once in awhile I will see the Eastern Meadowlark.

Sometimes I catch a bluebird sitting on top of a birdhouse. It is nice to see homeowners and farmers putting up the bluebird houses.

Everyone likes to stop here for their produce, veggies and flowers.



To see more wonderful mosaics and photos check out : Mary's Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday.  Thanks to our host Mary and to the group at Our World: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sandy and Sylvia.
I wish everyone a safe and happy week ahead.