My Favorite Birds of 2012

Hello, I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday.

Since the year  is almost over and I do not think I will be doing much birding in the next two or three weeks I believe it is safe to post my favorite birds of 2012.

Above are some of my favorite birds seen while traveling this past year. Some of my favorite birds seen in on the island of Curacao are the Troupial, Saffron Finch and the Bananaquit. And seen in Oregon this year, I loved the cute Pigeon Guillemot. 

 The beautiful Saffron Finches seen in Curacao.

 The Bananaquits above were also a lifer a favorite of mine. They seem so tame and such a pretty bird.

The pretty Pigeon Guillemot was a common bird seen on the Oregon coast, it was a lifer for me.

At home in Maryland, some of my favorite birds and sightings are the Le Conte's Sparrow, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, Snow Buntings and the Evening Grosbeak.

 As a birder some of my sightings were exciting and rare, at least for me they were awesome. The Evening Grosbeaks in my yard was a real treat for me and a few other birders that showed up at my yard to see my Grosbeaks. The Snow Bunting and the Grosbeak appear on my post below and I considered them my Top Ten Birds to see.

Some of the birds are regular breeders in my area and some are birds that pass thru every year but still a thrill to see. The warblers are a spring, summer and fall treat to see and I was thrilled so many showed up in my yard this year.

The Le Conte's Sparrow is a "rare" sighting in Maryland as is the Evening Grosbeak that showed up in my yard.

  Above the beautiful Scarlet Tanager is a breeder in the woods next to my house, I think they are beautiful birds to see and are always a treat to see.

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The Rose-breasted Grosbeak has been a long time favorite. I only see it passing thru in the Spring and Fall but they grab my attention when they do show up in my yard.

I was so happy that this summer was a year for new yardbirds for me, it was cool to see so many warblers eating the berries in my yard.

Above are some my favorite warblers of 2012 the:  Northern Parula and the Tennessee Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler and the Tennessee on the bottom right.

The Nashville Warbler was only one of the many warblers that showed up in my yard.

Again in seen my yard  the Tennessee Warbler along side a local breeder the Northern Parula. The Northern Parula is also a breeder in the woods next to my house.

The Hooded Warbler is a gorgeous bird, this is a pretty male.

Another new Warbler sighting and lifer for me is the Kentucky Warbler.

The Black-Throated Green Warbler was another great new yardbird for me.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my favorite birds of 2012. I am hoping that 2013 is another great year and I will have a lot more favorite birdsand sightings.

To see more wonderful photos and mosaics please visit Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday
 Thanks to Mary of Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia and Sandy .  Thanks also for stopping by to see my post.  I wish everyone a happy week!

Another Skywatch Curacao

I am linking up my Curacao sunset with Skywatch Friday.

Every morning during our vacation, I would jump out of bed and head for the balcony to check the weather and look for any of the birds in the trees near our balcony.

A couple of Tropical Mockingbirds working on their nest. I watched these two everyday from our balcony.

 On this day we arranged an open air jeep tour of the Christoffel National Park . We stopped at various parts of the island. Turbines are found everywhere even in Curacao.

A view of Mt Christoffel, the highest point on the island of Curacao. There are various trails around the mountain and one that takes you to the top for a view of the island.

Can you find the hummingbird at the plant? Not sure what this plant is called but it had a tall stalk and at the top were these yellow blooms.

 After our day of sightseeing by the open air jeep we went back to our room and sitting on our balcony was one of the Troupial Orioles.

Time for dinner and another gorgeous sunset at our resort.

I loved seeing the sun looking so big setting into the ocean.


To see more beautiful skies from around the world please visit: Skywatch Friday.
Thanks to the hosts: Sylvia and Sandy.  Also, thanks for stopping by to see my skies. I hope everyone has a safe and happy weekend.

I LOVE JAANCHIES

I am linking up with Mosaic Monday   and Our World Tuesday

Happy Mother's Day, I hope everyone had a great day!!!

I hope you are not tired of hearing about my Curacao trip. But, this is post will be like a restaurant review and a bird trip report.

Jaanchies is a local island restaurant located in Westpunt, Curacao. I had read reviews on Trip Advisor before leaving home on this restaurant, so I knew exactly what to expect. I was going there to see Jaanchies birds. Boy, was I pleased, it is a quaint place with bird feeders hanging right outside the open air restaurant.

 The bird feeders are right next to the tables, it was hard taking my eyes off the birds to eat.


Jaanchie, the sweet owner came over and sat down at our table to tell us what is being served that day. There are no written menus.  Jaanchie took our order, hubby and I both ordered the shrimp and rice dish. Our meal also came with fries and salad. I was so busy watching the birds it was hard for me to eat but I did and it all tasted delicious. Jaanchie did give me a scolding for not finishing my plate of food, but that is what my hubby loves to do. Our service was great ...there was no long wait and we were very pleased our meal.

Birds were on every feeder and once in a while a bird would fly thru the open air restaurant.

There were so many Bananaquits, this is just one of the many feeders that was overflowing with birds.

 Above are the Bare-eyed Pigeons and a Bananaquit, they are common birds in Curacao.

I do not think I have ever had Orioles and the other birds come so close to me, these birds were also being fed sugar. They must all be addicted to sugar, kind of like my hubby who has the sweet tooth.

Above, you can see the Troupial Orioles with sugar all over their beaks. I knew the hummingbirds and the orioles love the sugar water but this is raw sugar and they love it.

This is Yellow Oriole is the Trupial Kacho.

After finishing our meal Jaanchie came over to tell us he had a special treat for us, it was ice cream (kind of like an ice sandwich) with a sauce. I was happy because it gave me more time to watch the birds. Before leaving the restaurant, Jaanchie gave me a colorful carved parrot. A souvenir to remember our visit to Jaanchies. Jaanchies was a fun dining experience, if you are ever in Curacao I highly recommend this restaurant.

So a list the birds we saw at Jaanchies were: lots of Troupials, lots of Trupical Kacho, Bare-eyed pigeons and many more Bananaquits. Outside of the restaurant were chickens and we saw some more green parakeets.

To see more wonderful post and mosaics please visit Mosaic Monday  and more great post
can be seen at Our World Tuesday.

Thanks to Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group at Our World Tuesday. Also thanks, I appreciate all the visits and comments. I wish everyone a safe and happy week ahead.

More of Curacao

I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday

I used Picasa to create these mosaics with my Curacao vacation photos. If you like, I have more vacation photos on my travel sight Curacao-vacation . I hope you enjoy some of Curacao beautiful scenes. The island and people of Curacao were beautiful and the so were the birds. Hubby and I had a wonderful vacation, I just wish it lasted longer. May 4 was our 22nd wedding anniversary so this was like a anniversary trip for us.

In the mosaic above I have the beach in front of our resort, some bougainvillea seen around the resort, bottom larger left shot is of Curacao's capitol Williamstad, a shot of the beach at Cas Abou,  and bottom right is the resort pool and the ocean.

On our second day we used the Marriott's free shuttle into to the city of Williamstad. The buildings are painted beautiful colors. There are many shops and restaurants to explore and we crossed the floating bridge pictured above to check out the local floating market. The floating market is like a farmers market with local merchants selling fruits and  vegetables.

 On one of the days we rented a car and drove around the island sightseeing. The beach called Cas Abou is favored for snorkeling was one of our stops.

Curacao birds above are the Pink Flamingo, Green Parakeets, Bananquit, Yellow Warbler and the bottom right is the National bird the Troupial.

The National  bird of Curaco is the Troupial and was a common bird seen at our resort and all around the island.

These parakeets were also seen around different part of the island.


To see more wonderful mosaics and post please visit Mary's Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday.
Thanks to Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday and thank to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia and Sandy.

Thanks also for stopping by to see my post, I appreciate the visit and the comments. I hope everyone has a Happy week ahead.

Curacao birds and critters

For my Camera Critters I have some birds and lizards seen around our Curacao hotel.

Sometimes while hubby was snorkeling right off the beach at our resort, I was walking around the hotels grounds checking out all the birds and the lizards. During our vacation I picked up a few new life birds and saw some new critters.

One of the many iguanas seen around the hotel.

Above is a Tropical Mockingbird.

These Bare-eyed Pigeons were always hanging around the outside restaurant tables. I guess looking for leftovers. The Bare-eyes look like a bulls-eye to me.

Above is a Whiptail Lizard, they were quick to move out of your way. I love the colorful tail.

The Troupial above were also hanging around the outside tables. Sometimes landing on the tables and stealing a sugar packet and flying off with it. I think all of birds in Curacao love Sugar.

 I hope you enjoyed my post and to see more cute and wonderful critters please visit: Camera Critters
Thanks to Misty Dawn for hosting and thank you for stopping by to see my post. I hope everyone has a Happy weekend!

Troupial, Curacao's National Bird

I am linking up with World Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

I am back from my week long vacation in Curacao, Dutch Antilles. We had a great time and saw some beautiful birds.  The Troupial is one of 25 or so of the New World Orioles. The Troupial or "Turpial" the Spanish name is the National Bird of Curacao and can also be found on Bonaire, Aruba and in South America.

The Troupial is large in size, has a long tail and a bulky bill. The feathers on the upper neck and upper breast stick out and make an uneven boundary between the orange on the bottom lower breast. The wings are mostly black except for a white streak the run the length of the wing. The eyes are yellow and surrounding each eye is a bright blue area of naked skin.

I am showing various angles and shots of different Troupials we saw during our week long visit to Curacao.

Above, you can see the size of the Troupial compared to the smaller Bananaquit sitting on the feeder.

I think the eyes and colors on the Troupial are gorgeous on this beautiful bird.  I wanted to show the difference between the Troupial and our own State Bird of Maryland below. As you can see there are many differences. The blue around the eye and the black on the head nd neck area are some of the differences  I have noticed.

I hope you enjoyed my Troupial from Curacao and to see more beautiful birds
check out Springman's World Bird Wednesday  and for more nature photos and post
please visit  Michelle's Nature Notes.   Thanks to Springman and to Michelle for hosting these fun memes. And I always appreciate the comments. :)))