Saturday's Critters # 543

 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!

Happy Mother's Day to all Moms, have a great weekend!  🌹🌹🌹

On April 20 hubby and I flew from Baltimore-Washington Airport to Phoenix Arizona, it was a fly-drive trip. Arriving in Phoenix we picked up our rental car and drove 6 hours to Page Arizona for the start of our vacation. Thinking back on this it was a mistake to fly for 5 plus hours and then drive for another 6 hours with little to eat.  On our first full day in Page, we had reservations for the Upper Antelope Canyon tour. Hubby had a low blood sugar episode before he could eat breakfast. He was fine after the EMT's, hotel worker Suzie and a guest who was a nurse checked him over and the orange juice was very helpful. So, I ended going on the tour and hubby stayed back at the hotel resting. 

1. We reserved a Navajo guided tour through the slot canyon called Upper Antelope Canyon 

It was nice they refunded my hubby's ticket price since he could not make the tour.  It was upsetting since it was a highlight of the vacation for me and hubby. Below are some photos from the tour, the tour was only a total of 3/4 mile walk.

2. Supposedly there are 28 reptile species, we saw lots of lizards on this trip. 

3. The White-faced Ibis look similar to the Glossy Ibis. I took this photo from the tour guide vehicle. The birds were on the grounds of a high school. 

4. I tried to crop this photo for a closer look at the White-faced Ibis.

5. The Carl Hayden Visitor Center, Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam

6. Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam, we missed seeing the wildlife in this canyon area. I would have loved to see the Bighorn Sheep. The visitor sign says there are hundreds of plants and animals living in this wild place.

7. A male House Finch, one of the few birds I saw by the Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam. I did see a few swallows possibly Cliff Swallows flying around the bridge. 

8. The cactus blooms were beautiful, I like these pretty pink flowers.

Our trip  and hubby's health improved for the rest of our trip. The weather was very hot at times, 103° on the day we headed south to Phoenix from Page. 

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!

Throwback visit Bear Lake Wildlife Refuge

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.

My post is on Bear Lake Refuge but in the latest news the Oregon Malheur Wildlife Refuge  (Malheur was established in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt) was taken over or held hostage by some local ranchers. I did not follow the whole ordeal, but I heard it ended in a gun battle with the government. I am glad the take over has ended, just a shame one person died. I feel these wildlife refuges and the national parks are for all Americans not just for a select few. Malheur has 320 bird species and is a mecca for birdwatchers. I hope Malheur will soon be safe for the bird watchers to return.

Going back in time with this post is a throwback visit to the Bear Lake Wildlife Refuge located in Utah. On the way to Yellowstone National Park we stopped at this wildlife refuge. The view of Bear Lake, the lake borders Utah and Idaho.  I am posting only a few photos I took from that visit, only so I can document our stop there. To check out more of my wildlife refuge visits just click on the NWR label on my side bar.

This wildlife refuge was where I saw my lifer the White-faced Ibis. There are 160 bird species seen at Bear Lake Wildlife Refuge.

Some of the refuge birds seen where the Black-necked Stilt, Tree Swallows, Mountain Bluebird, White-faced Ibis, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Western Meadowlark.

The water color is so pretty, a gorgeous blue.  I think often of all my visits to various wildlife refuges to see the birds and animals. These wildlife refuges were created to protect and manage wildlife habitat for the waterfowl and migratory birds. Have you visited one of our nation's National Wildlife Refuge system? If not I hope you find a wildlife refuge close by where you live and check it out. You can find one near you on the link above, just click on your state.

January has just flown by, wishing everyone a happy month of February!
Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate your visits and nice comments. Have a happy day and new week ahead!


As always thanks to the wonderful group of hosts listed below.

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

Glossy, White & White-faced

 I am linking up my  post with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

 I decided to post on the various Ibis... a wading bird I have seen over the years. The photos are from my archives but I am pretty sure I have never shown them together so you can see the differences in the Ibis. Thanks to Wikipedia, I was amazed at just how many Ibis there really are around the world. 28 species and 2 are extinct.

During my trip to Panama I was able to see a group of White Ibis on the shores of the Panama Canal.

Not the best photo but we were on the boat going thru the canal. They are easy to id with their long red bills, red legs and white bodies.

The Glossy Ibis is more commonly seen here on the East Coast in the summer months. This shot above was taken at the Edwin Forsythe NWR.

More of the Glossy Ibis seen at the wildlife refuge in New Jersey.

Above the White-faced Ibis has a white border next to the red facial skin and they have red eyes. Adults also show reddish legs. This White-faced Ibis was seen at the Bear Lake NWR in Idaho. They look very similar to the Glossy Ibis

After checking out Wikipedia's Ibis photos, I would really love to see the Scarlet Ibis, what a beautiful bird. The Scarlet Ibis can be seen in South America and the Caribbean. I hope you enjoyed my wild bird post.

To see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.
Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday and thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes.
I wish everyone a happy week ahead and Happy Birding!