More Virginia Beach, Virginia

It's time to link up with Skywatch Friday  and Good Fences and Random 5 Friday and Friday's Hunt . Join in on the fun and share your post with these fun memes.

First, I want to send my prayers to the people of Houston and Ecuador and Japan. The flooding in Houston and earthquakes in Ecuador and Japan are all devastating disasters.

I am sharing some more photos from our Virginia Beach trip. The sunrise, moon rise and moon set were all beautiful sights.

For my Random 5 Friday

1. I am surprised by this information that Virginia Beach is the largest city in Virginia with a population of 425,000.

The sunrise on the March 23rd from our oceanfront room. There are various fences in this shot for Tex's Good Fence meme.

Teresa's Friday"s Hunt
1. Starts with Q
2. Weeks favorite
3. At rest

2. Watching a sunrise is one of my simple pleasures. Below is one of my favorite photos for Teresa's Friday's Hunt.

Can you find the moon, it is setting just in the middle of the photo below. A look at the sunrise reflection on our hotel and a view of some fences too.

3. There are four North American Migration Flyways: the Atlantic, the Mississippi, the Central and the Pacific Flyway.

Above an aircraft carrier and two Northern Gannets seen at Virginia Beach.

3. Did you know gulls are called garbage birds because they eat almost anything.
We  saw a lot of  the Ring-billed Gulls on the beach. For Teresa'a Friday's Hunt here are some gulls "at rest" on the beach.

4. In April the full moon has several names: Grass moon, Frog moon and Egg moon.  They seem like weird names for the moon to me.

Below are some images of the moon rising from the Atlantic Ocean on March 23rd.

I did say I was addicted to taking photos of the moon.

Another favorite photo above the moon rising and the three little lights are from boats out in the ocean.

5. During the full moon and new moon the gravitational forces of the sun and the moon combine to produce the highest tides called the Spring Tides.

If you look hard on the bottom left of the photo, I have included our shadows on the beach. I hope you enjoyed your visit and my post. Thank so much for stopping by and for the nice comments.

To see more pretty skies, fences and fantastic photos from around the world please visit the memes below.   I wish everyone a happy day and weekend ahead..

Thanks to Theresa @ The Run*A*Round Ranch for hosting Good Fences.

Thank you to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday.

Thank you to Nancy the host of Random 5 Friday

Thanks also to Teresa Friday's Hunt  

NCR Bike Trail

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.

Happy Autumn everyone!

Sometimes hubby and I like an easy close by walk so we head to the local NCR bike trail. NCR stand for the North Central Railroad.  The whole trail is 20 miles total from Hunt Valley Maryland to the Maryland-Pennsylvania line. It does continue into Pennsylvania toward York Pa. These are some fence scenes from along the trail and my capture of the moon setting in the morning. I also included hubby's sunset shots at our lake.

The moon setting seen from my deck. Just a reminder another Super Moon and the Lunar Eclipse will begin on the evening of Sept 27th and end on the 28th. I am hoping for clear skies during this time.  In our area the eclipse should be visable at 10:47 PM.  I hope I can stay awake!

We have been seeing some Great Blue Herons fishing in the river near the bike trail. A Red Admiral Butterfly and some wildflowers.

This Great Blue Heron is standing tall in the River next to the trail.

The bike trail near the land of the Gnomes.

More of the NCR trail and there is a home off the trail that has this land of the Gnomes.  Near a cascade section of the river there is a sign warning there could Copperhead snakes hidden in the rocks.

A larger view of the Gnomes, there is a warning sign saying it is the Point of Gnome return. Watch out for those sneaky gnomes.

Sunset leaving a pink water... a pretty reflection.

Another one of hubby's photos, more of the reflection at our lake..
Thanks for stopping by for a visit and for your nice comments. Have a happy day and weekend ahead.

To see more pretty skies from around the world please visit  Skywatch Friday
and check for more fence shots at Tex's Good Fences

Thanks to Theresa @ The Run*A*Round Ranch for hosting Good Fences and thanks to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday.    I wish everyone a happy day and weekend ahead..

Around the yard..Feb 27

Link up with NF Winged   and  Skywatch Friday

This is another series from around my yard. My skywatch is a sunset from a few nights ago and a capture of the moon setting. My entry for NF Winged I have a few birds coming and going from one of my favorite feeders.

 This little ball feeder from the Home Depot has become my favorite feeder. Please excuse the dirty windows, it had just finished raining. It seems the birds love this feeder too. I enjoy watching  all the birds coming and going. On top of the feeder is a Tufted Titmouse and incoming is a Goldfinch.

More Goldfinches, they are small birds so more of them can fit on the feeder.

 Sometimes there are collisions, this time a Titmouse and a Chickadee. No birds were hurt during the filming.

And above is one of my many Chickadees with a Red-Breasted Nuthatch.

On this evening the sky was again mostly cloudy but the sun setting seemed to turn the clouds a pretty orange color.

Another view of my orange sunset.

One morning this week before leaving for work I had to take some time to get some shots of this pretty moon. I hope you enjoyed my post this week. Thanks for stopping by and I always appreciate your nice comments.


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 the host of NF Winged.  Also, thank you for stopping by to see my post. I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

SWF...on the way to Bombay Hook

These shots are from last Sunday when hubby and I took a daytrip to Bombay Hook NWR. We were not too far from home and we were watching the moon setting while we driving. 

Click on the photos for a larger image.


                                    The first shot is the moon from our yard.

Another sighting of a large flock of blackbirds. They could be grackles or starlings? We stopped the car to watch these birds. They just seem to keep coming more and more and  at one point the sky looked black.

As more birds were flying along I got a shot of the moon with the blackbirds.

As more and more birds came along the moon was harder to see.

This had to be the largest flock of birds I have ever seen. There was a long line of of them as they flew along the road we were driving on. You can still barely see the moon in the background.

This shot was taken on the same road just before the birds appeared.  I love these early morning pinks and blues.

The sky with these birds and the moon was an amazing sight to see. To see more beautiful skies check out Skywatch Friday.  Thanks to the host: Sylvia, Wren, Sandy, Fishing Guy and Klaus.

Also thanks for visiting my blog and I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Cute Chickadees, the moon and a cup of coffee

I thought I mentioned in my blog that I had surgery on my thumb this past Tuesday. It appears my thumb does not like to stay in its proper place and dear Arthur set in from a previous thumb surgery. I must have mentioned it on my other blog. It will be in this cast until I go back for a follow up on the 31st.




These are a few shots from yesterday in my yard.   I have been keeping my camera on the tripod at the dining room window. It is easy to snap pic's one handed using the tripod. I'll be happier when my hand is out of this cast. Typing one handed is not fun.  Early in the morning I was able to watch the moon setting. Afterwards I enjoyed watching my yardbirds. These are a few of my favorite things that make me happy. Skywatching and birding...both can be addicting and fun.

I think these colors look good together, the moon and blue sky along with the chickadee with the pine tree background. Pretty nature scenes that make me happy.

My cute Carolina Chickadee

The moon setting

A wake me up happy has been found with using my new Keurig (a Christmas present) coffee maker. I am able to use it one handed. I am loving all the different coffee flavors and that it is so simple to use. The Kona and Hazelnut flavors are two of my favorites coffees.

I am linking up with Mary's Mosaic Monday and That's My World  Thanks to Mary for hosting and to the gang at That's My World.

Also, thanks for stopping by to see my post, I hope you have a great week.