Great Falls National Park

I am linking up with Skywatch Friday  and Good Fences
I hope you can join in on the fun and share your fence scenes and pretty skies.

One weekend hubby and I took a day trip to see the Great Falls NP, the water levels were up high due to all the snow melt and the rain storms we had recently.

For Teresa's Friday's Hunt...
1. the letter M
2. week's favorite
3. Bird or wings

A favorite photo,  the sky and the reflections are pretty. We had a nice sunny day but a little chill still in the air as we walked on the C&O Canal Trail at the Great Falls NP.

I like this curvy trail the Great Falls NP.

The Great Falls overlook, a pretty sky and the Potomac River was looking pretty forceful.

The birds I saw at the park were the Tufted Titmouse, Canada Geese in flight, Great Blue Heron, Mallard ducks and more Canada Geese.



My YOUtube video taken at the Great Falls NP in Maryland.

For Friday's Hunt and my week's favorite I have a red sky sunset capture.

As always I hope you liked my photos. Thank so much for stopping by and for the nice comments.


To see more pretty skies, fences, barns and fantastic photos from around the world please visit the memes below.

Thanks to Theresa @ The Run*A*Round Ranch for hosting Good Fences. Also, thank you to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for doing such a great job at hosting Skywatch Friday.  Thanks also to Teresa Friday's Hunt  
  I wish everyone a happy day and weekend ahead..

Vulture Sky

It's time for some of my favorites memes Skywatch Friday and  NF Winged.

As I am typing this post, I am listening to the weather for the evening. They have called for this Northeaster storm to come up the coast and bring lots more rain, wind and possibly snow. After storm Sandy, I believe the East coast has had enough rain, wind and snow. I have a feeling I will wake up tomorrow with a dusting of snow on the ground.  Gee, winter is not even here yet and I am wishing for Spring.

Another sign winter is here, the vultures are returning every evening to roost in the trees next to my house. For my skywatch, I am sharing some of the shots of the vultures flying toward and over my yard.

 Above there is a long line of vultures, just about as far as you can see above the pergola. They seem to just keep coming. Probably the biggest group of vultures I have seen in flight, except my sighting in Panama.

 If you look at the very tops of the trees, you can see the black shapes of the vultures that had already landed in the roost for the night.

The sunset was actually the evening before my vulture photos. I love how the clouds look and how they turned a pretty color

To me the clouds above , resembles a bird the beak facing toward the right side of the photo and the wing stretched far out. What do you think it look like? I hope you have enjoyed my skies.


To see more beautiful photos and pretty skies please visit Skywatch Friday
and to see more of the winged critters check out NF Winged

Thanks to Sylvia 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.

Backyard birds &Skywatch

I am linking up with NF Winged and Skywatch Friday

These are shots of my backyard birds and the pretty sky over my yard.

This sky looked promising to be a beautiful sunset later in the evening.

A couple of my pretty American Goldfinches.

Another one of my cuties the Carolina Chickadee.

Finally one of the chickadees decided to sit still for a second.

This bird decided he would be much more comfy inside the feeder, than having to leaning over and reach in. No birds were hurt during the filming. He jumped out after his belly was full.

The Rose-breasted Grosbeaks stop in my yard for a few meals during their spring and fall  migration.

This is the same sky as above just a little later in the evening.

The clouds turned a pretty yellowish orange color. A colorful sky is always a treat for me, definitely one of my simple pleasures.



To see more beautiful skies from around the world please visit: Skywatch Friday  and NF Winged

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

SWF>>>Backyard sunset

I am linking my skies  up with Skywatch Friday

Above is my neighborhood heron, it flew to the trees across from my house. I watched from my living room window as it broke off branches to take back to the nest. Along with the heron near my house, hubby and I noticed at least two other Great Blue Herons moving in the treetops off of the fireroad during one of our walks. There could be more herons that we have not seen. So, I guess I can consider my neighborhood is now a heron rookery.

I thought these clouds would make a beautiful sunset. Tell me what you think of my clouds below.

It is amazing how the sky changes and can light up the whole sky with beautiful colors.

My youtube video of a skywatch sunset, birds sounds and some very loud frog sounds. One of the loudest bird sounds in my video is the Cardinal. They do dine late at the feeders.



I hope you enjoyed my skies and video. Skywatching has become one of my favorite things to do, besides birding. It is wonderful when I can do both skywatching and birding at the same time.

To see more beautiful skies from around the world check out Skywatch Friday.  Thanks to the host of Skywatch: Sylvia, Sandy and Wren.  Thanks, also for stopping by to see my  post and I hope everyone has a Happy weekend. 

SWF>>>>>Another Backyard Sunset

I am showing off my skies for Skywatch Friday 

These shots were actually from last month and I never got around to posting them on skywatch. This backyard sunset was one of my favorites. I love the colors of the clouds and the cloud formations.

This shot is a little dark but the White Throat Sparrows usually show up early in the morning and come back in the evening just like my Cardinals. They are sweet looking birds. And one of my favorite winter birds.

I hope you enjoyed my backyard sunset and to see more beautiful skies please visit Skywatch Friday.

Thanks to the hosting group of Sylvia, Sandy and Wren. I hope everyone is having a great week and I wish all a very happy weekend.  Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate the visits.

SWF>>>Backyard & the reservoir

Happy Weekend!!!

For my Skywatch Friday  I have some sunset shots from my backyard and some pic's from our walk to the lake.

 

I like the sky reflecting in the shot above, you can see the white clouds in the water. When we walked closer to the lakeshore we spooked off a few Common Mergansers. They flew to the far side of the lake and much too far for a photo. When I scanned the lake with my binocs I noticed there were pairs and groups of Common Mergansers all over the lake. I like seeing the usual Canada Geese at the lake but the mergansers were a treat.

The photo above is not from my lake but, I wanted to show the Common Merganser.

I did not catch them in this photo, but the Turkey and Black vultures always make their way back to my woods to roost for the night. Sometimes, there are as many as fifty flying toward my yard. What a sight!

Above are a  few of the sunset photos taken from my backyard on Sunday. I love how the sun turned the edges of the clouds a pinkish color. The clouds reminded me of charcoal burning in a grill during a summer cookout.

I'll end my post with a pretty Mourning Dove shot from my birdcam. Looks like she is enjoying a feast.

I am wishing you all a great weekend and Happy Birding. Thanks to the host of Skywatch Friday  : Sylvia, Sandy and Wren. Also, thank you for stopping by to see my skies and post.

SWF>>>>Backyard sunset

With my backyard sunset I am linking up with Skywatch Friday

While watching the sunset from my deck, I could hear the Cardinals. Cardinal sounds were coming from all directions.

Zooming in, the colors of the sunset looked more orangy than the pink in the previous photos. My photos were all taken within minutes of each other.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my pretty sunset and skies. Skywatch Friday is one of my favorite memes, I lov seeing beautiful skies from around the world.  Happy Skywatching!

Thanks to the hosting group of Sylvia, Wren, Sandy and Fishing Guy. And I always appreciate and enjoy your visits and comments on my post.  Have a safe and happy weekend!!

Skywatching with the vultures

For my Skywatch Friday


A video of my skywatch and the vultures flying in and out of the woods next to my house.

These are sunset photos from the 14th, I was on my deck watching the sky and these vultures flying in and out the woods. They are cool birds to watch soaring the sky. I read they have a keen sense of smell. Since hunting season has started on the reservoir property the vulture count has increased.

As the time passed the clouds turned a pretty pink and orange color.  And I watched the vultures fly into the woods and land on the nearby trees. Once in a while I could hear them flapping them wings.

To see more beautiful skies from around the world click here Skywatch Friday.  Thanks to the hosting gang at Skywatch : Sylvia, Sandy, Wren and Fishing Guy!  Thanks for stopping by to see my skies, I hope you enjoyed. Have a great weekend and happy birding.