Our World, My World

Happy Monday, 

I wanted to share some more photos from our getaway to Shenandoah Nat'l Park. We saw a Black Bear along the drive and took a short walk on Big Meadows and my favorite trail called the Limberlost Trail.  

The view from the Range View overlook on the Skyline Drive.

A Shenandoah Nat'l park bird mosaic: Top row are the Red-eyed Vireo, Scarlet Tanager, Hooded Warbler. Middle Row is the Indigo Bunting. Bottom Row is a female American Redstart, not sure maybe a Veery and last a Great-crested Flycatcher. 

Pink Trillium, a pretty wildflower found in the park. 

Some of the Shenandoah Nat'l Park wildflowers. 

A Black Bear seen along the side of the Skyline Drive.  

A view of the Limberlost Trail.  We watched a couple of Eastern Phoebe in this area. 

Not sure what this moth/butterfly is?  

The Indigo Bunting was a common bird seen in the park, they were everywhere we went in the park. 

Thanks for your visit today!  I hope you enjoyed my post and photos.


Thanks to Angie the host of  Mosaic Monday

Thanks to LadyFi  the host of Our World Tuesday!

Thanks for Yogi for hosting Skywatch Friday! 


Check out the links above, I hope to see you there. Thanks to the hosts today. Enjoy your day and new week.


As always I thank you for stopping by and as always I appreciate your comments.

Happy Thankful Thursday!

Happy Thankful Thursday!

A few days late celebrating, but hubby and I went on a quick overnight trip to Shenandoah National Park. We seem to arrange a trip every anniversary. On May 4th it was our 29th anniversary. We spent the night in Harrisonburg Virginia, which is about a half hour drive to the Skyline Drive and Shenandoah National Park.  

These are some images from the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah Nat'l Park. We start off in Front Royal Virginia, the northern section of the drive.

We drove south on the drive to the Doyle River Waterfall trail at the 81.1 mile marker on the Skyline Drive. 

Appalachian Mountain views from one of the Skyline Drive overlooks.

A view of the sky around the parking lot at the waterfall trail.  Bird sounds were coming from every direction.  

The next two photos are the American Redstart, the male is pretty with his black and orange colors. 

I am not positive but I think this is the Red-eyed Vireo. We saw and heard a lot of birds in the area around the trail. 

The trail to the waterfalls, there is an Upper Doyle River falls and a lower Doyle River Falls. Round trip to the falls, it is 3.3 miles. Hiking back was hard on the legs, all up hill and steep in places. 

Our first view of the Upper Doyle River Falls, here it looks like there is two sections of the falls. 

Unknown wildflower seen along the trail.  Any help with the id is appreciated. UPDATE: thanks to my friend Donna on facebook, I have the id on this flower. It is called Galearis Spectabilis or commonly known as Showy Orchis. A native plant found in the Eastern USA.

A view of the Upper Doyle River falls, this was a view further down the trail. It showed three sections of the falls. 

The male Scarlet Tanager is a beautiful bird and I believe they breed in the park. 

I am thankful I am able to go a hike, to enjoy nature. 
I am thankful for my hubby!
I am thankful for all your visits and comments. 


Thank you Michelle for hosting Thankful Thursday. 
Thank you to Yogi the host of   Skywatch Friday



Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!

Back Bay NWR Virginia

I have a list below of memes I am joining for this week, and to save time I am doing one post for all. 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. Special thanks to all the wonderful host and their memes, I hope you have some time to check them out.


Teresa's Friday's Hunt
1. Start's with S
2. Weeks Favorite
3.  Smile

1. I am sharing more of our trip to Virginia Beach and a visit to the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It is a gorgeous refuge and reminded me of Chincoteague NWR. There is more walking and they do not have the wildlife drive.

Above the Cardinal, Redwing Blackbird, Yellow-rump warbler, Eastern Phoebe, Horned Grebe, Gull, Northern Gannet, Brown Pelican, Cormorants.

2. One of my simple pleasures... watching the Sunrise. 
For Teresa's Friday's Hunt.. also my Favorite photo for the week.  My photo with the letter "S" the last Sunrise of our trip to Virginia.

3. Another simple pleasure are walks on the beach.
I am not positive but I think the gull above is the Great Black-backed Gull. It looks like it has misapplied the lipstick, LOL.

4. Walking is cheap, fun and safe acceptable exercise.

For Tex's Good Fence meme.....There is also a trail that takes you up to the beach. Check out the Shadows from the fences.

There are five or more trails, some were the boardwalk trails with pretty views of the bay.

5. An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.

 I love this deserted beach, not many people around. Pretty blue skies during our whole trip.

 We had fun watching the dolphins swimming back and forth while we were on the beach. I hope you enjoyed our visit the wildlife refuge. We were able to see two refuges during our Virginia trip, this Back Bay NWR and the Great Dismal NWR. I recommend visiting both if you are ever in the area.  As always, thank you for visiting and for the nice comments. Have a happy new week ahead!

To see more pretty skies, fences and fantastic photos from around the world please visit the memes below.  Thanks for visiting and for all the nice comments. 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  

More Virginia Beach, Virginia

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

First, I want to send my prayers to the people of Houston and Ecuador and Japan. The flooding in Houston and earthquakes in Ecuador and Japan are all devastating disasters.

I am sharing some more photos from our Virginia Beach trip. The sunrise, moon rise and moon set were all beautiful sights.

For my Random 5 Friday

1. I am surprised by this information that Virginia Beach is the largest city in Virginia with a population of 425,000.

The sunrise on the March 23rd from our oceanfront room. There are various fences in this shot for Tex's Good Fence meme.

Teresa's Friday"s Hunt
1. Starts with Q
2. Weeks favorite
3. At rest

2. Watching a sunrise is one of my simple pleasures. Below is one of my favorite photos for Teresa's Friday's Hunt.

Can you find the moon, it is setting just in the middle of the photo below. A look at the sunrise reflection on our hotel and a view of some fences too.

3. There are four North American Migration Flyways: the Atlantic, the Mississippi, the Central and the Pacific Flyway.

Above an aircraft carrier and two Northern Gannets seen at Virginia Beach.

3. Did you know gulls are called garbage birds because they eat almost anything.
We  saw a lot of  the Ring-billed Gulls on the beach. For Teresa'a Friday's Hunt here are some gulls "at rest" on the beach.

4. In April the full moon has several names: Grass moon, Frog moon and Egg moon.  They seem like weird names for the moon to me.

Below are some images of the moon rising from the Atlantic Ocean on March 23rd.

I did say I was addicted to taking photos of the moon.

Another favorite photo above the moon rising and the three little lights are from boats out in the ocean.

5. During the full moon and new moon the gravitational forces of the sun and the moon combine to produce the highest tides called the Spring Tides.

If you look hard on the bottom left of the photo, I have included our shadows on the beach. I hope you enjoyed your visit and my post. Thank 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  

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  

Virginia Beach, Virginia

Below is a list of memes I am joining for this week, and to save time I am doing one post for all. 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. Special thanks to all the wonderful host and their memes, I hope you have some time to check them out.

I am sharing our most recent trip March 22-24. A two night, three day road trip to Virginia Beach, Virginia. Side excursions were stops at the Great Dismal Swamp NWR, Back Bay NWR, Chincoteague Island National Seashore. We saw some beautiful sunrises, sunsets and the moon rising over the Atlantic Ocean. Lots of birds, turtles and even some butterflies.

My first time visiting Virginia Beach,Virginia, sharing our shadows.

Above the boardwalk, turtle sculptures, gulls on the beach and the surfer sculpture. I am always having fun taking our shadow shots. I think we missed the Spring Breakers, it was not crowded at all. Just the way we like to spend time at the beach.

A Ring-billed gull on the beach.

Not many people but plenty of gulls on the beach..I love the beachy colors of the sand, ocean and the sky.

The hotel pool was closed for the winter season, but the Mallard ducks claimed the pool for themselves.

Our first sunrise at Virginia Beach!




Sharing a map of our road trip to Virginia Beach, Great Dismal Swamp NWR, Back Bay NWR and Chincoteague Island National Seashore. It was a great trip, it is always great to visit new places.

As always, I appreciate the visits and your nice comments.  Have a happy new week ahead!

As always thanks to the wonderful group of hosts listed below.
Thanks to Jesh our host for Seasons

Thanks to Judith our  host of Mosaic Monday
Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes

Thanks to the hosting team of Our World Tuesday!

Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

Saturday's Critters #78

Saturday's Critters #78

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 more images from our overnight getaway to Chincoteague Island NWR in Virginia.

An American Oystercatcher near the dune nesting site.

This Osprey had it's very own little island for a nest. Beyond the nest you can see a fishing boat that is surrounded by gulls.

One of the Chincoteague wild ponies we came across during our hike.  It looks like it has a big belly. Maybe another little one on the way..any day.

A closeup of one of Chincoteague's wild pones.

We watched this Green Heron stalking a big Black Rat Snake, it was joined by a Snowy Egret and a Tri-colored Heron.

The Tricolored heron standing nearby the Green Heron inching closer.

The Snowy Egret wanted to be closer and also attracted to the big snake.

Not a clear shot but this was the snake that was attracting so much attention. I am assuming it was a Rat Snake.  I believe it got away, it could have been dinner for one of the birds. I hope you enjoyed my post on Chincoteague birds and 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 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.