9th Blog Anniversary

Happy Thankful Thursday!

It is not only Thankful Thursday, but my 9th blog anniversary.  I started blogging July 13th 2009.
It has been great meeting bloggers both in person and virtually from around the world. A couple of bloggers  I have been able to meet in person,  Linda in Pennsylvania , her blog is  The Beauty Around Us and Mary in Kentucky and her blog is  Red Shouldered Hawks of Tingsgrove.  I may slow down occasionally but I could never stop blogging. I love  reading other blogs and  seeing photos from around the world. .

I am sharing some of my favorite images, hikes and birds from the past year.

July 2017, I am sharing a Veery off the local fire road near our home. 

Aug 9th 2017, we went on a hike to Maryland Heights overlooking Harper's Ferry. A hard hike but worth the view.

Sept 28th, a trip to Western Pennsylvania and  Erie Pa. We met blogger Linda at the  Kinzua Bridge State Park.

Oct 14th was my 200th  Saturday Critter party and post. A cute Field Sparrow seen at the Big Meadows Shenandoah Nat'l Park. I do not see the Field Sparrows often so this one was a treat.

From Nov 13 2017 a look at the moon from my sister's place in Ocean Isle Beach, NC

On Dec 4th 2017, I posted this cute Carolina Chickadee mid air. 

On Jan 4th I posted one of my favorite winter visitors the Pine Warbler.

Feb 18th, during my Great Backyard Bird Count I had a pair of Bluebirds checking out one of my birdhouses. 

March 2018, we visited Assateague Island National Seashore. Always wonderful to see the wild ponies. 

April 2018, Hubby and I enjoyed an overnight trip to Shenandoah NP. We stayed at the Skyland Resort. It was nice to be the later in the day to see the sunset.

May 2018,  We went on a road trip to Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. I met blogger Mary in Kentucky.

June 2018, I saw a Summer Tanager off the local fire road. 

I am thankful to meet some bloggers in person and all the bloggers from around the world I have met virtually thru the internet. 

I am thankful to go on our getaways and road trips.

I am thankful for all your visits and comments. 

Thank you Michelle for hostingHappy Monday, enjoy your day and new week! 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!

Veery

Hello and happy Monday,

I am sharing the Veery, it is a breeder in the woods near our home in Maryland. They have a weird sound and call, I usually hear them more then see them. But on this day hubby and I were walking on the fire road and there were two calling and we had some great views.

The Veery is a small Thrush species. The adults have a light brown upperpart, underparts are white and the breast has faint brown spots.

It is one of my favorite local breeding birds and is always a treat to see.




My Youtube video




I hope you enjoyed my photos and post.
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 Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

Shenandoah National Park

I am linking up with   Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday   and NF Trees  They are all fun memes to participate in. I hope you can join in with the fun  and check out some of the participating posts.

I am sharing some scenes from a daytrip to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Our outing included some hiking, birding and driving on the Skyline Drive.  We enjoy going in the spring time to see the young bears and the wildflowers and lots of birds of course.

My mosaic top row: all three are of the Chestnut-sided Warbler. The second row from the left is a Veery, deer and another Chestnut-sided Warbler. Bottom row is the Scarlet Tanager, Indigo Bunting and another Scarlet Tanager.

The Scarlet Tanager was a common bird seen and heard on various trails.

Some more of the wildflowers seen on the Limberlost Trail.

The Chestnut-sided Warbler was see often along the Limberlost Trail.

Seeing a Black Bear along the Skyline Drive is always a treat to me. They have made a come back over the years even though the surrounding states all have bear hunts.

The Black Bears seem to be timid around people, I just hope they stay safe crossing the road.

For NF Trees I am sharing a view from the Appalachian trail. Hardwood forest dominate Shenandoah National Park. The haze in the sky is introduced by humans  and has taken over a lot of the views from the park's overlooks. The polluted air can mean the death of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  I hope you enjoyed our daytrip to Shenandoah National Park.  Thanks for visiting and for the nice comments. Have a great day and week ahead!

I use Pic Monkey to create my mosaics, you can use Pic Monkey free or pay for an upgraded version.

I hope you can join in on our fun with Mosaic Monday  and Our World Tuesday and NF Trees and Bushes.

 Thanks to Judith our host of Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy and Jennifer and to Monica for hosting NF Trees.

Shenandoah National Park

  I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday 

Happy Father's Day to all the father out there!

Last weekend, hubby and I went on a daytrip to Shenandoah Nat'l Park. We hiked on my favorite trail  called the Limberlost  trail.  We had awesome weather and saw great birds.. We also saw some deer, turkey and one black bear.. We took a picnic lunch and ate our lunch at the Big Meadows, always a pretty sight..

A view of the Shenandoah valley from the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park.

 

Birds above are the Veery, Chestnut- Sided Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Hooded Warbler, Eastern Towhee and a Cedar Waxwing

Some scenes from our hike on the Limberlost trail, the boardwalk, wildflowers, mushrooms and clovers.

The ferns were gorgeous next to this down tree, it is a pretty scene to me


Scenes from my favorite Limberlost trail in Shenandoah..an easy 1.3 loop trail with gorgeous flowers and greenery..

More from the trail, these low growing bushes seem to attract the warblers, pretty ferns and some wildflowers..

These clovers? grabbed my attention,  the shadows and lighting looked pretty to me.

The only sighting of a Black bear, it had just crossed the Skyline Drive and walked into the woods as we drove by.

Hubby and I had a great day, Shenandoah National Park is a wonderful place to visit..
Thanks for stopping by and for the comments.

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!

At the Lake

I am linking up with NF Winged   and  Skywatch Friday

My post on our walk to our local lake. Some beautiful skies for Skywatch and a couple of yardbirds for NF Winged.

In the  yard a view of the sky and our Crepe Myrtle bush.

 Skywatching during our walk to the lake. I love these pretty fluffy white clouds and blue sky.

 A pretty day for our walk to the lake.

Sometimes we see Bald Eagles fly over this part of the lake but on this day we only saw a GB Heron.

For my NF Winged post I am including a new yard bird..a juvenile Veery.

The Peeping Tom juvie Veery. I caught it looking in our den window.

Another yardbird I was thinking this could be a juvenile Oriole but also looks more like a juvenile male Scarlet Tanager. It's wing looks funny, I hope it is Ok.

This poor bird looks like it has been in a battle. It is flying so I assume it is Ok. It is has been seen in the weeping cherry tree, which is right next to our blueberry bushes. The birds are all having a feast on the blueberries.

  Happy Skywatching everyone!

Thanks for visiting my post and  blog and I always appreciate your comments.

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.   I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

Birding and Hiking Shenandoah Nat'l Park

For Camera Critters  and Scenic Sunday I have a post on some of the wildlife and scenery we saw at Shenandoah Nat'l Park last weekend.

Last Sunday hubby and I went on a daytrip to Shenandoah National Park. I love driving on the Skyline Drive, hiking the trails and looking for birds. It was a birdie day. I heard and saw lots of Redstarts, Scarlet Tanagers, Flycatchers, Phoebes and there were lots of Towhees and a Veery.

We also saw our first wild turkey along the Skyline drive and some deer along the drive and on the trail we hiked.

  A view of the Applachian mountain ranges from the Skyline drive ovelook.

Deer on the Limberlost trail

An unknown butterfly on the trail

 There were many Indigo Buntings singing along the trail and along the Skyline Drive

An overlook of the Shenandoah valley from the Appalachian trail.

I believe this is a Veery seen along a stretch of the Appalachian trail we hiked.

  Some of the wildflowers seen along the Limberlost trail. I think they are wild Columbine?

To see Scenic photos from around the world visit Scenic Sunday   and more wonderful and cute critters please visit Misty Dawn's Camera Critters.  Thanks to the Holleys of Scenic Sunday and to Misty for hosting this fun memes and thanks for stopping by my blog to see my post.