Saturday's Critters # 398

 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!

Hubby and I have recently visited the Great Falls National Park near Potomac Md. We make it a day trip, stopping at a local French bakery for a sandwich for our little picnic. We also stop at Riley's Lock and walk along the C&O Canal trail.  

1. Below are photos of the Potomac River @ Great Falls NP, the C&O Canal trail @ Great Falls, Great Blue Heron, Canal Lock, Canal, Mallard, Black Vultures and Turkey Vultures. 

2. A view of the C&O Canal and the trail.  

3. There is a Great Blue Heron rookery or is it called a heronry, so there are plenty of Herons to see at the Great Falls @ Potomac River. 

4. A mix of Black Vulture are seen with their Black Head and the Turkeys Vultures have the red heads. 

5. I always enjoy seeing the Great Blue Herons, they pose so nicely for me and my camera.  

6. Below are some of the scenes and wildlife we saw along the C&O Canal trail at Riley's Lock.  A group of Wood Ducks, a Common Whitetail Skimmer, more Wood Ducks, Great Blue Heron, Zebra Swallowtail butterfly, Prothonotary Warbler, Black-crowned Night Heron, Slider Turtles, Black-crowned Night Heron. 

7.  A few Slider Turtles hanging out with the Wood Ducks. 

8.  The Red-eared Slider Turtles are non-native but the Eastern Painted Turtle is a native turtle seen in Maryland.  Below the photo could be a mix of both of the native and non-native turtles. 

9. I usually see a Green Heron in this area, but on this day I saw the Black-crowned Night Herons. 

10. A Common Whitetail Skimmer above the pond and duck weed.

11. A closer look at the Wood Ducks. 

12. A Great Blue Heron was seen on the canal side hunting for food.

I hope you enjoyed our walk at the park and on the canal trail, the birds and wildlife are always great to see.  

I want to share my cute grandson, he is growing quickly almost 6months old. He has two bottom teeth now. I think this is the first time he tried a teething biscuit. 

I am also linking up to Anni's blog party found here I'd Rather B Birding   Anni always has some beautiful birds to be seen on her blog, check it out!

Here is my linky:

YOU are all # 1.

Thanks to all my visitors and for your comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves critters and has linked up their critter post. 

Birding the Great Falls

Linking up with NF Winged   and  Skywatch Friday

 Last weekend, hubby and I decided to take our walk at the Great Falls National Park in Maryland.

It was a beautiful day, the sky was blue with pretty white clouds. It was a pretty sky for my skywatch post. And the birds and Zebra Swallowtail are perfect for NF Winged.

I love this scene with the clouds reflecting on the Potomac River.

Above is some of the wildlife we saw along the river loop trail. The Goslings, Zebra Swallowtail butterfly, Hairy Woodpecker and a Bald Eagle. Also, seen was a white-tailed deer and the Prothonotary and Yellow-rump Warblers were teasing me. They would pop up in front of me and as soon as I lifted my camera they hopped away. I heard many Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers and Great Crested Flycatchers.

A pretty sky with a Great Blue heron flying by. There is a heron/cormorant rookery on the other side of the river.

A view of the river and sky from the Great Falls overlook.

Great Blue Heron at the Potomac Rookery.

Above a pretty Zebra Swallowtail seen along the river loop trail in Great Falls. I hope you enjoyed my post and walk along the river.

Thanks for visiting my blog and I always appreciate your comments.

Happy Skywatching  to everyone!

To see more pretty skies from around the world please visit  Skywatch Friday
and to see more of the winged critters check out NF Winged

Thanks to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday! Thanks to Monica the host of NF Winged.  Also, thank you for stopping by to see my post. I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.