Saturday's Critters # 577

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!

For me 2024 just flew by, we are now in our first full week of 2025.  I hope to see you all in 2025 with your critter posts.  Thank you for your participating with Saturday's Critters in 2024 and for all the nice comments.

Wishing you all a bright, healthy and peaceful New Year!

 

A look back at 2024 photos. These are a just a few of my favorite birds and lifers seen in 2024. Arizona locations were the Madera Canyon, Green Valley and the Paton Center. 

Click on images for better viewing.

1. In Arizona, at the Madera Canyon I was happy to see the Black-headed Grosbeak for the first time. 

2. Also at the Madera Canyon we saw lots of the Acorn Woodpeckers. 

3. Another Madera Canyon bird is the Bridled Titmouse. 

4. At the Paton Center, I was happy to see the beautiful Lazuli Buntings. 

5. This is another Madera Canyon bird, the Mexican Jay. 

6. The Costa's Hummingbird was photographed at the Green Valley. 

7. In Alaska, one lifer I was able to get photos of is the Willow Ptarmigan.  

The past year was a joyful one, with the highlight being the arrival of our 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! Your visits and comments are very much appreciated.

Saturday's Critters # 565

 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!

Prayers for Florida, I hope everyone is safe!

These photos are from Aug 3rd, our second full day visiting Denali National Park and Preserve. We decided to drive as far as we were allowed to mile 15 on the park road. 

1. We had a nice breakfast at the nearby Rosie's cafe and then we headed to the park which was just 13 miles away from our hotel.  Our first critter sighting on the road to the park, was this mama Moose and her young was standing off the road in Healy.  

2. On this day I was happy to see so many moose. Moose are one of my favorite critters.

3. This bear was seen from the parking lot at the Savage River trail head. The Grizzly Bears attract a lot of attention from visitors and park rangers. 

4. This bear stayed in the same spot for awhile, it must have found something good to eat. 

5. Another moose on the loose, something upset this moose it started jumping up and ran for a short time.

Moose on the run!

6. The Willow Ptarmigan was a lifer for me, they were seen all along the park road. Groups of 4-5 were seen eating something off the ground. 

7. The Willow Ptarmigan are heavy bodied ground feeding birds. These birds are similar to the Grouse, they are brown in the summer time and turn white in the winter. They live in Denali year round. 

They were not shy birds, they just seemed busy foraging for food. 

8. The Black-billed Magpie are seen all over the park, a common bird in Alaska. They do look pretty in flight. 

9. These birds are the Dark-eyed Juncos. They were seen along a trail, we took a short walk and a break from driving. 

10. Our dinner was close to our hotel, it was at the 49th State Brewery. The scene below is from their parking lot. 

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 # 563

 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!

Denali National Park limits private vehicles on the park road, visitors are only allowed to drive to mile 15 on the park road which is at the Savage River. They offer shuttle buses to the trail heads and you need reservations for the shuttle. We signed up the the Tundra Wilderness tour, so I could learn more about the park and enjoy the views of the park without worrying about driving. 

These photos were taken out the bus window, which at times were blurry due to the raindrops. Our driver told us to yell stop if we saw any wildlife, so we had lots of eyes looking for the critters.  Clicking on the image for larger views does help some. 

1. I had to book this tour back in December 2023, the tour dates fill up fast and you are given your tour time and told to be at the bus depot in the park.  The Tundra Wilderness Tour is a 5 hour tour with a certified driver-naturalist. The bus goes as far as mile 43 on the park road. The road closes at mile 43 due to a rock slide further on. 

2. Arctic Ground Squirrel was seen on the side of the road.  

3. We were able to see the Dall Sheep, the little white dots seen below lol. I had to zoom a good distance just to get this shot. The Dall Sheep live in high mountain areas. 

4. One lone Caribou sighted from the bus. 

5. Another Caribou sighting, this time 5-6 were running toward the road and in front of our tour bus. 

6. The Willow Ptarmigan were seen all along the park road. I'll have some better photos of this bird from another day and visit to the park. There are three Ptarmigans in the photo below. They are heavy bodied ground feeding birds. They are similar to the Grouse, the are brown in the summer time and turn white in the winter. They live in Denali year round. 

8. I like these windows in the bus depot, they show the Denali wildlife, the Dall Sheep, Golden Eagle, Moose, Wolves, Caribou and the Grizzly Bear. 

The next day August 3rd in Denali National Park, hubby and I drove the road to the Savage River and mile 15 of the Park Road. I will share the wildlife and birds we saw on this day on another post. 

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!