New Germany State Park

On Friday I left work a half day early, hubby and I wanted to beat the heat so we  headed to the mountains of western Maryland. Our main objective was to go canoeing on the New Germany lake and do some hiking and birding. Friday afternoon we made a quick stop near Frostburg at nature reserve owned by the Nature Conservancy called Finzel Swamp. The birding at Finzel Swamp at times can be great. We did not see anything special but a juvenile Bald Eagle was a great sighting. There was also a nice flock of Cedar Waxwings. Below are some of the wildflowers and there is a lot of Queens Anne's Lace that line the trail at Finzel.

We spent the night at a nearby hotel so we would close by to the New Germany Park.  We got to the park early enough to take a hike on what they called their pink trail a loop trail that starts off next to the lake. The wildflowers along the trail were beautiul. We saw wild Tiger Lilies, Cardinal flowers and a lot of what I call Bee Balm and some other white and yellow wildflowers that I am not sure of their name. The Black Capped Chickadees were teasing me with their sounds but never showing themselves, I only see the Carolina Chickadee in my yard. We finished our hike in time for the park office to open and rent our canoe.

We were a  little disappointed that the park didn't rent canoes but they had kayaks, rowboats and paddleboats. So we chose the paddle boat and spent an hour paddling around the lake. It was fun and the scenery around the lake was beautiful and the bird of the day was a Great Blue Heron fishing on the edge of the lake.

After doing our paddlle boat on the lake we went on another hike on one was called the green trail which connected to the yellow trail and looped back to the parking lot. The green trail  and yellow trails went mostly thru the forest.  All their trails have colors as their names and were easy to follow. The trees were beautiful, a nice stream followed the trail, a pretty gazebo and the birds were singing along the way. These trails are all used for cross country sking in the winter months. There are cabins and campsites available in this pretty park.

Heading to the mountains for a short getaway was perfect, the weather was cooler and we had a great time enjoying nature.

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Thanks to Mary of Little Red house for hosting Mosaic Monday

and

Thanks to Drowsey Monkey our host for Mellow Yellow Monday

also

Thanks to Mary of Work of the Poet for hosting Ruby Tuesday

Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope you can stopped by again. Have a great week!  :)

A more current birding walk

Wow, I just noticed that this is my 100th post. I was thinking my blog visitors might be tired of seeing my Costa Rica vacation photos so I am posting a mosaic my more recent birding walk. On Saturday, hubby and I took a quick walk to a local park where the birding is usually good. This time of year I can usually find some warblers moving thru. No luck though with the warbler sightings. We did see a few Red Eyed Vireos and a lot of Blue Gray Gnatcatchers. A large flock of Bluejays flew over and different species of woodpeckers were heard during our walk. The best sighting was of a Barred Owl. Two weeks ago we saw a pair of owls in the same spot, I believe they are nesting nearby. This is a pretty park with a stream and  lots of pretty yellow wildflowers growing along the trail.

This is my entry and to see more visit Mary at Mosaic Monday  Thanks to Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday.

Barred owl

This is one of the two owls we saw two weeks ago.

Closeup of some of the wildflowers along the trail. To see more yellow click here Mellow Yellow Monday and a thanks to Drowsey Monkey for hosting Mellow Yellow Monday.

After this past winter I love to see all the green and the reflections of the trees.

 Thanks for stopping by to see my post.