Flycatcher, Tanager & a walk

I am linking up with my favorite  Camera Critters

Misty Dawn is the host Camera Critters happening every Saturday. If you are an animal lover like me, you will be happy to check out all the Camera Critter blogs and all the cute critters. Our weatherman is called for 103 on Saturday, I hope everyone stays cool.

My critters are from a walk I took with my hubby along the nearby fireroad. One of the common birds heard in the woods near my house is the Acadian Flycatcher.

 I am sure this bird above is the Acadian Flycatcher. I can that say I am positive (maybe positive)  about the id because I heard its sound. It is one sound I am very familiar with after hearing it often on my fireroad walks and listening to my birdpod.

Flycatchers, Wood Pewees and the Phoebe are kind of like sparrows to me. They all look alike.

This bird above was in my yard and perched on my weeping cherry tree for awhile.  The Acadian Flycatcher has a green back which is hard to see in strong light. It has a uniformed white eye-ring and white wingbars and a wide bill. Question is: is the bird in the woods the same bird I saw in my yard?

The Scarlet Tanager above is another bird I see along our fireroads. The male above was calling and making sounds constantly even while it seem to have a bug in its mouth. I wonder if it was calling to the baby birds. They are beautiful birds and I was lucky to see two males chasing each other around a tree in my backyard this week.

I love the colorful birds and the Scarlet Tanager is one of my favorites. I am hoping to see the male Western Tanager on my upcoming trip to Oregon.

Just to throw on another critter for my Camera Critter post I have some shots of the hogs we see on our way to or from town. I jokingly call the area we live the boonies, it is a 15 minute drive over to the closest town for shopping and to do our Walmart shop. Besides the lake and the woods near my house there are farms. There have been numerous times I have seen cows and horses running down my street.

On our way back from town we ride by this farm that has hogs and goats. They are kind of close to the road so I was able to take a few shots from my car. Do you think the saying  is true couldn't be happier than a pig in mud? I guess that goes for hogs too.

I  felt sorry for this Momma and the others, it was a hot day. They do have a shady area where they like to lay. I think they cute, but then I love all the animals.

So, thanks for stopping by to see my critters and thanks to Misty Dawn the host of Camera Critters.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy weekend. Stay COOL and Happy Birding!!

SWF>>>>Cape May, New Jersey

I am linking up my Cape May skies with Skywatch Friday.  I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July holiday.

You can click on the individual photos for a larger image. 

These are from our most recent Cape May and the Jersey shore trip. It was a beautiful day with a gorgeous sky and weather. One of our favorite spots in Cape May is the Cape May Lighthouse beach.

 
There is a boardwalk that meanders thru the Cape May park.  Cape May is a great place for birding. There are always great birds to see in Cape May. The sky was a beautiful blue and not a cloud in the sky.

 Not sure what this plant is, it looks very similar to the Queen Anne's Lace. I liked this shot with the pretty white flower against the very blue sky.

Looking into the sun, I found a juvie Oriole along the boardwalk trail.

Right next to the juvie Oriole, we saw this Common Yellowthroat Warbler.

At one of the viewing sections of the boardwalk we were able to watch this Green Heron hunting for food.

The Lighthouse Beach Park looked mostly empty but there were some other people there.

 

 One of my favorite views of the Cape May Lighthouse.

I hope you enjoyed my Cape May Skywatch. To see more beautiful skies from
around the world please visit: Skywatch Friday.  Thanks to Sylvia and Sandy for hosting Skywatch and thanks for visiting and commenting on my post. I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

Birds & Blooms

I am linking up with Today's Flowers  and  Our World Tuesday


I have been so happy with the Clematis this season. There have been so many blooms. I have three species and each one is gorgeous. These are some shots of my pretty Clematis blooms and of course I have to throw in some of my pretty yard birds. 

Other favorites in my yard are the irises and the Stella D'oro daylilies. The rhododendrons looked gorgeous filled with purple blooms. I guess you can tell purple is my favorite color for flowers.

Above, I watched a juvenile Tufted Titmouse. It was sitting on a branch waiting for the parent to come back with food. Also included above are the irises and clematis that I love.

I hope you enjoy my birds and blooms, they are definitely some of my favorites.
To see more beautiful flowers and photos please visit Today's Flowers  and Our World Tuesday.
Thanks to the host of Today's Flowers and to the hosting groups of Our World Tuesday. Also, thanks for the visit to my blog. I hope everyone has a great week ahead.

Taking the back roads

I am linking up with World Bird Wednesday  and  Nature Notes

I wish all my USA readers a safe and very HAPPY 4th of JULY!!

 The weekends seem to be flying by, just like the birds. Just a  few weeks ago hubby and I decided to take a Sunday drive on the back roads of Carroll County, Maryland.  Following the lead of many Maryland birders before me... I headed out to see my first Dickcissel.

From the backside one would think this is your usual little brown bird. The adult male has a gray crown and nape contrast with yellow washed supercilium ( I still call them yellow eyebrows). It also has a black throat stripe and a yellow breast which is actually beautiful. Of course when he turned around my camera wasn't ready for a shot. But, I did get to see the front of this beautiful Dickcissel. He was posing nicely... right were he was suppose to be, at least the last reported sighting. You should really check out Wikipedia's Dickcissel so you can see how pretty he really is.

He would repeatedly fly down to the ground I guess to catch a bug and then fly back to sign for awhile. I watch for a few minutes until a truck drove down the road behind me. So, I drove to the end of the road so I could turn around to go back to see the Dickcissel. Another bird caught my attention on another sign at the other end of the road. I thought maybe I was looking at a female Dickcissel so I took a few photos before driving back to the original Dickcissel.

I posted my bird or what I thought was my female Dickcissel on my facebook page so members of my bird club could see.. when they informed my second bird was a Grasshopper Sparrow. The Grasshopper Sparrow has a pale white central crown stripe, yellow lores, white eye ring, heavy bill and a chunky body.  Cool..lifer number two..I was happy with my sightings, my next back road bird will be a Bobolink maybe during the fall migration?

 And here is the street where they live...


 So, to my delight I got two lifers on one street. The Dickcissel and the Grasshopper Sparrow. So believe me when I say it pays to ride the back roads. You never know what you might see...Happy Birding!!!



To see more beautiful birds check out Springman's World Bird Wednesday  and for more nature scenes please visit Michelle's Nature Notes.   Thanks to Springman for hosting World Bird Wednesday  and to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes. I also thank you for stopping by to see my world birds. Happy Birding and have Happy 4th of July!!

Backyard Birds and Blooms

I can not believe how fast the weeks are rolling around. Time for linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday

I wish everyone in the US a very HAPPY 4th of July. And to my Canada friends a very Happy Canada Day!

We have some beautiful plants growing in our yard thanks to my hubby's green thumb. A big part of my world is the birds I love and watching my backyard birds. My mosiacs show both the lovely flowers in my yard and my backyard birds.

In this mosaic I have top left a House Wren at the birdhouse, hibiscus, chipmunk, Mockingbird and more of the hibiscus on my deck.

I love to have a big hisbiscus plant on my deck, hubby planted this one and it seem to be blooming beautifully.

The Hummingbirds are sweet to have around, the male is always zoom zooming around the feeders.

Above are my favorite Purple Coneflowers, Hummingbird at the feeder, one of the many Chipping Sparrows I have in my yard, daylily, coneflower.

I love the Purple Coneflowers, one of my favorite summer plants.

This Mockingbird posed nicely for me on the weeping cherry tree. Now it is time to see what is happening in your world.


To see more beautiful mosaics and photos please visit Mary's Mosaic Monday  and Our World Tuesday.

Thanks to Mary the host of Mosaic Monday and thank you to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sandy and Sylvia.  Also, thank you for stopping by to see my post. I appreciate the visits and the comments.

I wish everyone a safe and happy week ahead.