Black-cheeked Woodpecker

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

For this weeks Wild Bird I am sharing the Black-cheeked Woodpecker seen in Belize.  It is not a lifer for me because I first saw this bird in Costa Rica.

The Black-cheeked woodpecker is a resident breeder from southwest Mexico south to Ecuador.

They have  a black patch thru the eyes and on the cheeks and a yellow forehead. The crown is red in the male and black on the female.

These woodpeckers nest in an unlined hole in a dead tree. They feed on insects but will go for the fruit and nectar. Woodpeckers have always been one of my many favorite birds. I love them all.
I hope you enjoyed my post..


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!

Saturday's Critters #29

Saturday's Critters #29

Hello and happy weekend!  It's that time to share your critters. I hope to see you join in with the Saturday Critter Party.

 According to the Baltimore Bird Club there has been some upsetting news about the Yellow-Crowned Night Heron rookery in Baltimore. Heron eggs and 13 chicks are missing and have been lost, there is no way of telling what happened. A storm or a predator or humans, very sad...My last visit was on May 31, when hubby and I made a quick visit to see some of the chicks and herons.. Here are some of my shots from our last visit..

 On May 31, we saw 5 eggs in this one Yellow-crowned Night Heron's nest.

A good momma.

 Momma with chick below..

Possible male adult Yellow-crowned Night Heron..one of the daddies.

 Another good momma on the nest.

Momma and heron chick.. I feel so sad over their loss.

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..


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.

Saturday's Critters #26

Saturday's Critters #26

Hello and happy weekend!  OK, it's time to share your critters. I hope to see you join in on the Critter party.


I am sharing a few of the birds and a lizard seen at the Sleeping Giant Rainforest Lodge in Belize. I saw many new birds just walking around the grounds of our lodge.

Beside the lodge was a farm with free roaming chickens, duck and Guineafowl. I believe are these Guineafowl. During our walks these birds would come close to hubby and I.  It was like they were greeting us..

The Green Kingfisher is the smallest kingfisher and were a common sight to see down at the river.. Sometimes we would see two flying or hanging out together.. I believe my photo is of the female or maybe a juvenile, the male would have a rusty colored band around the chest..The female has two green bands around the chest.  I think there was a nest on the opposite side of the river.

This close up shows that there is a start of the second green belly band of the female..so most likely we saw the juvenile Green Kingfishers.

The Brown Basilisk also known as the Jesus lizard..only because they can be seen running across the top of the water. They were a common sight walking around the grounds of the lodge.

There were many different species of  hummingbirds  around the lodge.. above is the Violet Sabrewing.  It is one of the largest hummingbirds I have ever seen, a beautiful color too. This bird was a lifer for me..

The Blue-grey Tanager could be seen on the tree outside the dining room window..

While eating breakfast I watched a couple of the Blue-grey Tanagers were catching bugs in this tree.  My eyes were following the birds moving around more than on my food. I hope you enjoyed my critter post. Now, I want to see your critters..   I wish everyone a happy weekend.

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..


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.

Belize Vacation

  I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday 

Hubby and I just returned from a week in Belize. We started our trip with 4 nights at the Sleeping Giant Rainforest Resort.  A beautiful resort with lovely landscaped gardens, the rainforest,  a view of the mountains and river.  I will do a review of our stay on Trip Advisor but I wanted to start my post with the first day of our vacation in Belize.

The resort was located in the Belize rainforest.. lovely trees and flowers surrounded the resort and hotel rooms..

The bougainvillea  in Belize is gorgeous, so many pretty colors..

The ducks and turkeys roamed freely around the resort, the flowers attracted all kinds of birds. I will share more of the lifers and new birds I saw while in Belize.

The Flamboyant trees were one of my favorite trees, also known as the Royal Poinciana.

The Social Flycatchers were silly trying to build a nest inside an umbrella near the resorts pool.

A view of the Sleeping Giant and mountains surrounding the rainforest resort..We had a busy week, touring the Mayan ruins, birdwatching, caving and hiking in the rainforest.. I have over a thousand photos to go thru and this is just the start.. 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!

Saturday's Critters #25

Saturday's Critters #25

Happy Memorial Day!!

Hello and happy weekend!  OK, it's time to share your critters. I hope to see you join in on the Critter party. I may still be away from the computer today. I hope you join in and visit some of the participants linking up with the critter party..

Pretty sure these are mostly Yellowlegs..not too sure which Lesser or Greater?

These shorebirds were seen in a local Maryland park.. I hope you enjoyed my birds and post. Have fun with the critter party. 

An InLinkz Link-up

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.

 I hope everyone ( in the USA)  has a wonderful and safe Memorial Day weekend.

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


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.

Saturday's Critters #24

Saturday's Critters #24

I am scheduling this post as I will be away from my computer.. So I am praying that the linky will be working ok.  I will catch up with everyone's post as soon as I can.  I will be turning my comments off... instead of leaving me a comment it would be nice if you could visit a new critter blog and post.

The White-throated Sparrows were seen in a local park in Maryland during one of our outings..

A pretty male American Goldfinch also seen in the park during our walk..

An InLinkz Link-up

Comments turned off for this post, thank you! I will catch up will everyone's post as soon as I can.

Thank you for linking up to the critter party. I appreciate the visits, previous 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.

It was a Rail day

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

For this week's wild bird I am featuring the Virginia Rail..

 Hubby and I were among many of the Maryland birders that went to see the Virginia Rails being seen at the Swan Harbor Farms in Aberdeen, Maryland.. On one day 10-11 Virginia Rails were being seen.  Hubby and I saw 5 Virginia Rails, a Sora,  a Clapper Rail on the same day at the same place.. We sat in a blind and just watched them coming out of the reeds. It was so cool. We thought we also saw the King Rail, but it is not included in any of my photos..

 The Virginia Rail is a small water bird of the Rallidae family. Their breeding habitat is marshlands. They are secretive bird that usually remain hidden in the vegetation. They have a long curved red bill and gray cheeks, rufous throat and breast.

A Virginia Rail and muskrat

Together above were three Virginia Rails and a Sparrow.

 A few Sora's were being seen also.. With this bird their yellow beak is good to help with their id. This bird was able to hide and more shy than the rails..

Another Clapper Rail was seen with the Virginia Rails.. It's beak looks a little darker than the Clapper Rail I saw at Forsythe.  It was Rail weekend for me after seeing the Clapper Rail at Edwin Forsythe only two days earlier.



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!

Saturday's Critters #23

Saturday's Critters #23

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies!  

Hello and happy weekend!  OK, it's time to share your critters. I hope to see you join in on the Critter party.


 For my critter post I am sharing some of my yardbirds.. A couple birds that are migrating thru like the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting and my regular visitor the Northern Cardinal..

Above is the female Rose-Breasted Grosbeak..I bird I look forward to seeing every spring. They are just passing thru onto their breeding grounds.

The Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak..as you can see by his name he has a beautiful rose colored breast.

The Indigo Bunting is one of our summer breeders. I will see this pretty blue bird all summer.

One of my regular daily and year round visitors is the Northern Cardinal.


I hope you enjoyed my critter post. Now, I want to see your critters..   I wish everyone a happy weekend.

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..


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.

Northern Mockingbird

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

For this weeks wild bird I am featuring the Northern Mockingbird. The Mockingbird is best known for mimicking the songs of other birds and insects. They are usually loud and will mimic songs in rapid succession.

Some information on the Northern Mockingbird, they eat both insects and fruits.

 They are medium sized and a long tail. Both males and females look alike. They are mostly grey with some white patches around their wings. They have yellowish eyes and a black beak..

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!

Saturday's Critters #21

Saturday's Critters #21

The Gentle Barn TheGentleBarn on facebook

I was asked if I would do a review on My Gentle Barn. I was not offered money and I am doing this because I want to....no other reason. I would highly recommend reading this book, hubby and I had fun reading the book at the same time. Two different bookmarks kept our place and we enjoyed talking about the book as we read. 

On my post this week I am including a review of Ellie Laks book called My Gentle Barn. A true story begins with Ellie’s life as a child and shares her love of animals. Being an animal lover myself, it was sad reading about some of the animals being abused.  But, this story made me feel good that the rescued animals received necessary medical attention, respect and lots of love. Ellie loves all her animals and in return the animals loved Ellie.  

Ellie takes it a step further in helping at risk teens. Ellie knew from her own experience just how much animals can bring a person comfort.  Ellie’s rescued animals were perfect to teach, heal and share compassion with the special needs of the at risk youth. There were many happy and sad times throughout Ellie’s life.  I think the happiest of times were made at the Gentle Barn. It would be nice if there were Gental Barn rescues across the USA. Thanks to Ellie and her husband Jay who run the Gentle Barn in California. 

Now for my critter part of the post.. I am sharing some various animals you might find on a farm or in a barn.

To see more cute critters, check out the link below. If you get a chance, I hope you read the book My Gentle Barn.

I am looking forward to seeing your critters.

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

An InLinkz Link-up

I am  sharing with Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting.

 Thanks for stopping by and  I wish everyone a happy weekend.

Hashawha Nature Center

Linking up with Skywatch Friday  and Good Fences

Last Saturday, hubby and I went on our  walk at the Hashawha Nature Center. It is usually a good spot to see the birds. Saturday was a gorgeous spring day for a walk. The sky was blue and it was fairly warm for our outing. There are so many places for a birding walk this time of year. Hubby and I have some favorite spots where we will do repeat walks, this is one of those places. 

I heard these American Goldfinches way before I found them in this treetop. The males are sporting their pretty breeding colors.

A scene along our walk..the fence and sky shot.  Perfect for the Good Fences meme . Not sure why the fence around the tree? The tree is too big for the deer to eat.  

 A pretty blue sky and a  partial view of the lake and wetlands at the nature center.

 The boardwalk near the lake and wetlands.. We saw a lot of turtles, either the Snapping Turtle or the Sliders. I will share on my Saturday Critters post.

Pretty sure this squeaky sounding bird was the Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher.. It would not stay still for even a half of second..

 It is a pretty area walking around the lake and the boardwalk.. This shot above also includes a fence for my Good Fences post for Tex's meme..

 

Back at home the sunset was pretty in pinks and blues..

 

The yesterday morning the 21st was close to see the last quarter of the moon called the waning gibbous.

I hope you enjoyed my post and I hope to see you on Saturday sharing your critters..

To see more pretty skies from around the world please visit  Skywatch Friday
and check out Tex's Good Fences


Thanks to Tex @ The Run*A*Round Ranch for hosting Good Fences and to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday!   I wish everyone a safe and happy long weekend.