Saturday's Critters # 552

 Welcome to Saturday's Critters! Hello and Happy Saturday!

 If you love all God's creatures like I do and also like to blog about them and take critter photos this is where you can share your critter post. Link up your post and share your critters, join in with my critter party ! You can share any kind of critters the real ones, pretend ones, statues and paintings, a new or old post!

Update, this is also my 15th Blog Anniversary.

I am taking you back to Arizona, on April 26th we were up early to do some birdwatching at the Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson. Sweetwater is a water treatment facility and an urban wildlife habitat. It is also a birding hotspot, it is said over 320 bird species have been found at this spot. It is an easy walk on the trails around several ponds, marshes, native trees and shrubs. We saw lots of lizards, a cute turtle and a rabbit.

Below are some of the waterfowl we saw while birdwatching at Sweetwater Wetlands; the Common Moorhen, American Coots, Pied-billed Grebe, Cinnamon Teal, more American Coots and a few Cormorants.

Common Gallinule or known as the Common Moorhen until July 2011, it has a bright red shield on it's head and a red bill with a tip of yellow. 

The adult Cinnamon Teal has a red head and body and has a brown back.

Below are the Verdin, Yellow Warbler, Abert's Towhee, Common Yellowthroat Warbler, Lesser Goldfinches and a second Yellow Warbler. 

The male Lesser Goldfinch, has a dark head and back and bright yellow underparts. 

The male Yellow Warbler is a  brilliant yellow and has rusty red streaks on the breast.

Below are the Vermilion Flycatcher male and female, White-crowned Sparrow, Gambel's Quail, Red-winged Blackbird and am I guessing a Broad-billed Hummingbird. 

The Abert's Towhee, reminds me of the female Cardinal. They have a long tail, a dark face and brown plumage.

The White-crowned Sparrow has gray face and black and white streaks on it's head. 

 The Vermilion Flycatcher is one of my favorite birds. It is not a lifer on this trip, I first saw this bird in Belize. The male is a brilliant red with Brown-black back and wings. 

Not critter related but here is my beautiful granddaughter Sophie. 

I am linking up to Heidrun's Mosaic Monday  I hope you can stop by and visit Heidrun and check out the Mosaic Monday post.

Thanks to all my visitors and for your past and present comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves and respects wildlife. Thank you for linking up a critter post.

Here is my linky:

Thank you for sharing your critters and post!

Saturday's Critters # 549

 Welcome to Saturday's Critters! Hello and Happy Saturday!

 If you love all God's creatures like I do and also like to blog about them and take critter photos this is where you can share your critter post. Link up your post and share your critters, join in with my critter party ! You can share any kind of critters the real ones, pretend ones, statues and paintings, a new or old post!

On the morning of April 24th, we stopped at the nearby Meadow Garden Park in Green Valley.  We were just here the evening before, it was so nice it deserved a second visit before we left the area. 

1. One of my Arizona lifers below is the Costa's Hummingbird, it has a lovely purple gorget, looking like a necklace on it's neck. The flowers are beautiful, such a wonderful variety of blooms and colors. 

2. A larger image of the Costa's Hummingbird.

3. Below the lifers the Abert's Towhee and possibly the  Verdin in the top row. In the bottom row I have the Vermilion Flycatcher and the Gila Woodpecker. 

4. The Vermilion Flycatcher is a beauty, I was seeing this bird often during our Arizona travels.

5. More beautiful flowers seen in the gardens.

6. I like this poem "HOPE" by Eileen Valentino Flaxman, the words speak to me.  The Gambel's Quail perched on the back of the bench, saving you a seat. The Curve-bill Thrasher had a nest nearby, I watched it fly in and out of a bush.

7. Have a seat and enjoy all the flowers and birds in the gardens.

8. Another shot of the Costa's Hummingbird and some more pretty flowers.

A Desert Spiny Lizard

I have a few more days of our Arizona trip to share, I hope you enjoyed this post, the birds, flowers and the lizard.

I am linking up to Heidrun's Mosaic Monday  I hope you can stop by and visit Heidrun and check out the Mosaic Monday post.

Thanks to all my visitors and for your past and present comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves and respects wildlife. Thank you for linking up a critter post.

Here is my linky:

Thank you for sharing your critters and post!

Vermilion Flycatcher

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes


For this week's wild bird I am sharing the Vermilion Flycatcher. One of my favorite sightings in Belize..  This was not my first sighting of this bird, they are my first photos of the pretty Vermilion Flycatcher. I actually saw it during our one day visit to Belize while we were on a April 2006 Western Caribbean cruise and a cave-tubing excursion.
This bird was seen during my birding tour near the Sittee River in Hopkins Belize.  Part of our tour included some birding along the road on the way to the river.. Whenever we spotted a bird we would stop to view the bird up close and take photo if we wanted.

The Vermilion Flycatcher is a stunning color unlike other drab flycatchers..The males are bright red and have dark brown plumage. They prefer open areas but usually near water. They eat insects such as flies, grasshoppers and beetles.

 

A different angle of the Vermilion Flycatcher showing dark brown plumage on it's back and wings. It Is a gorgeous bird and one of my many favorites.

 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!