North Point State Park

Happy Monday,

On Nov 16th hubby and I went on a wild goose chase, really it was a chance to see the Snow Buntings in Baltimore County at the North Point State Park.  We have been to this park often  here is my link to some  previous visits to North Point State Park.  I dipped on seeing the Snow Buntings, they must have left over night.  At least I did not travel far and we were able to take a nice walk in the park. Here are some birds and scenery we saw during our park visit.

A pretty Song Sparrow

 Common Mergansers in the Chesapeake Bay

A reflection of the sky on the marsh!

I think this is a Black Rat Snake, we saw a few snakes out on this day.

The Black Marsh Trail

A large ship out in the Chesapeake Bay,  in the background you can see the twin spans of the Chesapeake Bay Bridges.

The Snow Bunting were seen  on the rocks along this pier. The only birds we saw were the Song Sparrows, Common Mergansers and some gulls way out in the bay.

A view of the picnic tables and park and the bay.

As always I 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 the hosting team of Our World Tuesday!

Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

Lettuce Lake Park

Hello,

Is January flying by or what? I wish there was a way to slow down time, it is going by much too quickly. These are images are from Nov 14-16th. I never got around to showing my photos of November's Supermoon and a sunset. Also, our visit to Lettuce Lake Park just outside of Tampa Florida.

Sunset from our neighborhood.

Some clouds over the Supermoon.

November's supermoon reflection on our local lake.

The boardwalk at Lettuce Lake Park, it is a beautiful park. We saw pretty views of the water, trees and boardwalk.

White Ibis on the tree top.

Common Moorhen  with a group of turtles.

A twisted Great Egret across the lake.

A small alligator and a turtle.

Here is my list of thankful things:
Not having to set an alarm.
A Good night sleep.
Being outside in the fresh air and sunshine.
All my life's experiences, good and the bad.



I hope you enjoyed my post and photos. Thank you for your visit and comments on my post. Enjoy your day and the weekend ahead!

Thanks to Michelle for the meme Thankful Thursday

I am also linking up to Skywatch Friday, I hope to see you there.
Thank you to Sylvia, Yogi and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday.

Saturday's Critters #153

Saturday's Critters #153

Happy Saturday, it's time to share your critters and post. Any kind of critter will do, even a new or old post.. I appreciate everyone who is linking in with this week's critter party.

I want to wish everyone in the USA a Happy Thanksgiving, I am sure we all have many reasons for giving thanks. 

My post and photos are from another visit to the Circle B Bar Reserve. As I mentioned previously Circle B is one of my favorite spots for walking and birding.  We have been going there at least once a week if not more.

Great Blue Heron with a soft shelled turtle.

Osprey

Green Heron

Red Shouldered Hawk

Turtles

Common Yellowthroat Warbler

Great Blue Heron

Black Crowned Night Heron

An InLinkz Link-up

As always thanks for the visits and the nice comments. I also thank everyone who is linking up and sharing their critters.. Happy Saturday, have a great weekend!

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

Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni.  Also check out Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting this fun meme.

Saturday's Critters #149

Saturday's Critters #149

Happy Saturday, it's time to share your critters and post. Any kind of critter will do, even a new or old post.. I appreciate everyone who is linking in with this week's critter party.

I am sharing some more birds and critters seen at the Cordorus Reservoir. Below a female wood duck with a couple of turtles.

Great Egret

Mallards in flight.

I hope you enjoyed my post and have a chance to visit some of the Saturday's Critters participants. As always thanks for the visits and the nice comments. I also thank everyone who is linking up and sharing their critters.. Happy Saturday, have a great weekend!

An InLinkz Link-up

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

Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni.  Also check out Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting this fun meme.

Great Dismal Swamp NWR

It's time to link up with Skywatch Friday  and Good Fences and Random 5 Friday and Friday's Hunt ...I hope you can join in on the fun and share your post with these fun memes.

My post is more on our Virginia Beach trip. On our first day in Virginia we stopped for a visit at the Great Dismal Swamp NWR near Suffolk Va. We drove the wildlife autotour, walked on a few of the trails enjoyed the scenery and wildlife.  The Great Dismal Swamp wildlife refuge was created in 1974 from a combined land purchased and with land donated to the government from the Nature Conservancy. The refuge encompasses over 112,000 acres. It is also considered one of the (IBA) Important Bird Areas.

For Friday's Hunt.  Thanks to Teresa for hosting Friday's Hunt.
1. Starts with P
2. Week's favorite
3.  In Motion

For Nancy's Random 5 Friday, my randoms are listed above the images.

1. Viewing wildlife and anything nature related is one of my simple Pleasures.

On the wildlife drive we saw many turtles out sunning themselves, a swallowtail butterfly, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Coots, Common Grackles, Killdeer, Belted Kingfisher.


2. Visiting and touring the national wildlife refuges is one of my favorite things to do. The scenery is usually pretty and we always see some kind of birds or wildlife.

A favorite photo...Pretty blue sky and lake, a fence and sky shot at the Lake Drummond at the Great Dismal Swamp NWR.

3. Lake Drummond is a freshwater lake located in the middle of the Great Dismal Swamp.

The photo below of the Coots "in motion" for Teresa's Friday Hunt prompt. The Coots have neat looking red eyes and white bills.

4. Hubby and I try to get our exercise walking outside and enjoying nature. This shot below has some fences for Tex's Good Fences meme.

We walked on some of this trail shown above, you can walk all the way to the same lake that we drove to on the autotour. Along the trail we saw and heard a lot of Yellow-rump Warblers, Pine Warblers and Woodpeckers.

A nice boardwalk thru the Great Dismal Swamp.

5. My addiction continues with taking photos of the moon.

Another Favorite photo, this was the moon as we left for Virginia on the morning of March 22nd.

Thank you so much for stopping by and for the nice comments.
To see more pretty skies, fences and fantastic photos from around the world please visit the memes below.   I wish everyone a happy day and weekend ahead..

Thanks to Theresa @ The Run*A*Round Ranch for hosting Good Fences.
Thank you to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday.
Thank you to Nancy the host of Random 5 Friday
Thanks also to Teresa Friday's Hunt  

Saturday's Critters #73

Saturday's Critters #73

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms!!

Happy weekend, everyone!  It's Saturday and it's time to share your critters.. Any kind of critter will do, even a new or old post.. I appreciate everyone who has linked up in the past and for those who are linking in on this week's critter party. And of course I always appreciate my blogging friends stopping by just for a visit.

I am sharing some birds and critters from a local park called Hashawha Nature Center..This park has some great trails and we always seem to see some kind of wildlife during our walks. On this day we saw birds, deer and lots of turtles..

A pretty Eastern Bluebird

A White-tailed Deer

White-throated Sparrows and a Goldfinch bathing in the puddles.

These turtles could be the Red-eared Slider. It has a red stripe on each side of its head.. Their name comes from their ability to slide off rock and logs easily.

A Canada Goose popped it's head up out of the grass as we walked by..

Not sure if these are more Red-eared Sliders or are they the Painted Turtle?

The Redwing Blackbirds are common for this park, especially near the marsh land. I hope you enjoyed my birds and critters. I am looking forward to your critters..Thank you for the visits and for all the nice comments.. As always I appreciate your participating with my critter party..Have a happy weekend!

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks to Tex Theresa aka Tex, I was able to add this link up button and thanks to  Jennifer for creating my photo badge.
<a href="http://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/"><img src=" https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3915/15299083201_9709303697_m.jpg" width="185" height="240"></a>

To see more nature scenes, beautiful birds and cute critters, check out these three memes below.

Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni.  Also check out Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting this fun meme. And thanks to Jutta's Eden Thursday

A walk along the Potomac River

I am linking  up with   Mosaic Monday  and Our World Tuesday

Please ignore all the capital letters in my post. It does not show up this way in my draft and I can not figure out how to correct the problem.

 Hubby and I have our favorite spots along the Potomac River and the C&O Canal trail to walk. On this day we stopped in a couple different areas along the Potomac. One of our favorite trails is the river trail at the Great Falls National Park. The trail follows along the river and then cuts back up to the C&O canal trail to make a loop. My header shows a small section of the Potomac River from the river loop trail.

For birding the river trail is great, we can see all kinds of birds, there is a Great Blue Heron rookery and there is also a nesting colony of Double-crested Cormorants. Above I have the nest of some DC Cormorants,  a Prothonotary Warbler, some pretty irises, a  Great Egret and a Black Crowned Night Heron.

 

 The river loop trail and the edges of the canal were great places to see some wildflowers.

The Prothonotary Warbler is one of the breeding birds that can be seen along the C&O Canal. These birds nest in cavities or use boxes that are along the water edge. The males have a bright yellow head, green back ,a gray rump and a yellow breast and belly. Not the greatest picture but I was happy to see the Prothonotary Warbler.

 

 Besides the lovely wild irises and roses we saw different species of birds, turtles, cool looking lizards, I am guessing a black rat snake and a family of geese. 

In the 19th and 20th century the C&O canal provided jobs and oportunities for people throughout the Potomac River Valley, from the tidal basin in Washington DC to Western Maryland. The canal trail is 184.5 miles long. Hubby and I have hiked various parts of this trail. The C&O Historical Park consists of 19,236 acres from Washington Dc to Cumberland, Maryland. It 22years to build the canal using 35,000 workers. Most of the workforce were immigrants from Ireland and Western Europe.

 This Geese family is enjoying the walk along the C&O canal with hubby and I.

I hope you enjoyed my post, I always appreciate your visit and comments. To see more wonderful mosaics and photos check out 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.  

I hope everyone has a lovely week ahead.