Happy Monday!

Wishing everyone a great day and a happy new week!

"Find joy in the small things"

"Search for something beautiful in every day."

"We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone."

Comments off, enjoy your day!

Saturday's Critters # 512

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!

I am sharing photos from our overnight getaway to Winchester, Virginia to see the Nature Connects exhibit by Sean Kenney at the Museum of Shenandaoh Valley. We went on Aug 30th, the exhibit was ending on Sept 4th.  I first heard about this exhibit on Linda's blog The View from Squirrel Ridge  also on Denise's blog An English Girl Rambles2016.blogspot.com/

The outdoor exhibit features Lego Sculptures which were all nature related. Life size critters made from Legos. We walked around the museum's Glen Burnie Gardens to view each one of the Lego Sculptures. 

1. Sean Kenney is the artist, who created all these wonderful critters made with Legos. 

2. The Polar Bear with cubs was one of my favorites, the cubs are just adorable. The sign along with stating how many Legos were used to created this sculpture it also mentions how these beautiful animals are losing their habitat in the Arctic.

3. Below I am missing the sign but I have photos of both the front and back of the Monarch Butterfly Lego sculpture.  Isn't it a beauty! 

4. The Dodo Bird, this bird has been extinct for a long time. Last known to be seen in 1690 on the island of Mauritius.

5. The Chameleon was so pretty and colorful. These lizards are well known for their distinct range of colors and their tail is used  for stability on the tree branches.  It is another critter that is endangered due to humans and habitat loss. 

6.  The Whooping Crane, the tallest North American bird and it is on the endangered list. Primary reasons are habitat loss and unregulated hunting for the meat and feathers. They depend on a healthy wetland ecosystem. These birds winter on the gulf coast of Texas. 

7. Below is the Sea Turtle hatchling, it is said that just 1 in a 1,000 hatchlings will survive into adulthood. The temperature of the sand determines the gender of the baby sea turtle, the warmer the sand will produce more females. Will climate change and warmer temperature have an effect on genetic diversity?

8. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird sculpture is beautiful, this tiny bird is seen in many gardens including my own.  They migrate south for the winter to Central America and Southern Mexico. These tiny birds will remember where they find shelter and nectar and will return each year.  I am happy to see these Hummingbirds return to my yard each year.  

9. The Zebra travels across the Serengeti with giant herds of Wildebeest and Antelope. The Zebra and Wildebeest will protect and graze together in harmony. The Zebra's  stripes are as distinctive as fingerprints. 

10. The Wildebeest, are native to Eastern and Southern Africa. They are also known as Gnu, also called wild cattle and they are in the antelope family. 

11. The Snow Leopard is found in the Himalayas. They are also in decline, due to threats  from humans and habitat loss. These animals are poached for their skin and their bones are used for traditional medicine. 

12. The Rhinoceros, is also said to be disappearing, due to illegal hunting and there is a loss of habitat. These animals are found in Africa and Asia. 

13. The Coral Reef sculpture was lovely and another favorite.  The Coral Reefs are a diverse and valuable ecosystem on earth. They provide shelter to many species of marine life. Pollution, overfishing mining for coral and the warmer ocean temperatures are damaging the reefs. The recent heat wave in Florida is causing the bleaching of the Florida Coral Reef. The marine life depends on healthy coral reefs. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the largest coral reef. 

14. The Lego Bats were located inside the actual Museum building. The North American Bat is endangered due to a loss of habitat and disease. The bats are very important for insect control and for maintaining a healthy ecosystem. Bats are known to gobble up insects that harm the farmer's crops and reduces pesticide use. 

Sean Kenney is a New York based artist and has been creating Lego Sculptures for 15 years.  His award winning exhibit has been traveling globally since 2012. He is also the author of 9 children's books. 

Thank you for sharing your critters and 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:

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.