Saturday's Critters # 523

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!

Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday weekend! 

Nov 7th, I arranged for a birding tour in Turks and Caicos with a local birding guide. We were picked up at our resort 7am and we drove to the Wheeland Pond not too far away. It was a short outing, in 1 hour and 20 minutes we saw 41 species and 291 individuals, most of the birds I was able to take a photo of and a few I missed the shot. These are some of the birds we saw, I did see a few lifers. One lifer was the Mangrove Cuckoo, I saw it through my binocs but I could not get a good photo. 

1. On the way to the main pond, we stopped along the road to see the juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Gray Kingbird and the Royal Terns. 

Click on photos for larger viewing. 

A Spotted Sandpiper was seen at the beginning of the pond.

2. Below are the Black-necked Stilts and shorebird friends.

White-cheeked Pintail with American Avocet and another photo of the Black-necked Stilts.

3. Plovers, Sanderlings, Ruddy Turnstone and the 4th bird in front is another lifer the Wilson's Phalarope. 

4. Another lifer is the Thick-billed Vireo. 

5. A lifer, the White-cheeked Pintails. They are very cute, I like their colorful bill.

6. A closeup of the White-cheeked Pintails, it is a lifer for me. The White-cheeked Pintails are sitting close to a Ruddy Turnstone and a Killdeer. 

7. More of the same, the Black-necked Stilts, Plovers, Killdeer and the White-cheeked Pintails. 

8. Plovers, Killdeer, Ruddy Turnstone and more.

9. Black-bellied Plovers and an American Golden Plover. 

10. A view of the pond, mangroves and native plants. 

I hope you enjoyed all the birds I saw in Turks and Caicos, it was a short and fun trip. 

Thank you for sharing your critters and post!

Thanks to all my visitors and for your past and present comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves and respects wildlife. Thank you for linking up a critter post.

Here is my linky:

I am linking up to Heidrun's Mosaic Monday  I hope you can stop by and visit Heidrun and check out the Mosaic Monday post.

Saturday's Critters # 516

Welcome to Saturday 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!

I am sharing a variety of photos, some from our yard, our neighborhood walk on the fire roads and to our local Prettyboy Reservoir.  There are some photos from our outing to Conowingo Dam and the Susquehanna River State Park and more from the local NCR bike trail. BTW, my header photo now shows a view of neighborhood Prettyboy reservoir and the Prettyboy watershed. 

1. Sept 17th, usually I see various species of Warblers in September they love to eat the berries from the Devil's Walking Stick plants in our yard.   This year I am not see as many different species as in previous years,  that can not be a good thing. I did see the male and female Black-throated Blue Warblers but I was not able to get their photos. The Cape May Warblers and a few Tennessee Warbler pictured in the mosaic below. 

Click on images for larger viewing. 

2. Sept 19th, more images of the Tennessee Warbler and the Cape May Warblers. 

3. Sept 19th, another walk to the local reservoir. Again I am seeing the same Great Blue Herons, Belted Kingfishers, Solitary Sandpipers, unknown raptor standing in the mud, more images of the Sandpipers, Great Blue Heron and the Green Heron.

4. Sept 30th,  in my yard is a Northern Mockingbird enjoying the Devils Walking Stick berries.  

On the same day as above, these our the birds seen during our walk to the lake. Below are the Canada Geese, Solitary Sandpipers, Belted Kingfisher, Double-crested Cormorant and the Great Blue Heron.

5. Oct 1st, the Blue Jays are sitting in our rhododendron bush outside the den window.  Some times they are attacking the window or just sitting there fussing loudly. 

On the same day as above our walk was at the NCR Bike trail, we saw some fall flowers looking beautiful and some colorful leaves and berries.  I heard more birds than I actually saw, the birds were hiding from me.  

6. Oct 3rd, we drove to the Conowingo Dam and the Susquehanna River State Park.  Below are the Bald Eagles seen around the dam and on the towers. We also saw lots of Great Blue Herons, some Double-crested Cormorants, Vultures and Pigeons.

We drove a little further, and took a walk at the Susquehanna River State Park trail.  Views of the river and bridge, mushrooms, the Rock Run Gristmill, Great Blue Heron and more Cormorants. 

We enjoyed our lunch at the picnic area and then tried to walk (the little trail was overgrown with weeds) around the nearby pond.  Here I was able to see some Eastern Bluebirds, Mallards and some Wood Ducks. 

7. Oct 4th, another walk to our local Prettyboy reservoir. The lake water level is still very low. We need more rain.  In the mosaic below are views of the reservoir, fungi, a Great Blue Heron and the Solitary Sandpipers are still hanging around and we saw a small group of Killdeer. 

It looks like I am staying behind sharing my photos, almost a month behind and I have one more day from our Ireland trip to share.  

I will be away from my computer for a few days after Saturday, just a heads up I will be late commenting.

Thank you for sharing your critters and post!

Thanks to all my visitors and for your past and present comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves and respects wildlife. Thank you for linking up a critter post.

Here is my linky:

I am linking up to Heidrun's Mosaic Monday  I hope you can stop by and visit Heidrun and check out the Mosaic Monday post.

Happy Thankful Thursday!

 Hello everyone,

Hubby and I decided once again to get out for a long car ride. A good part of our getaway was just being in the car, we were not around people at all. So we felt safe.  Our snacks and drinking water in the car, we had a nice time. 

 "Happiness is nature's beauty and tranquility."



It was a beautiful sky day, puffy white clouds here and there. We drove on the wildlife drive at Bombay Hook NWR, checking out the views and birds.

 The American Avocets are common birds seen at Bombay Hook NWR in the summer.

Three GB Herons,  actually there was a 4th Great Blue Heron standing off to the side.  A family of herons.

 The Great Egrets are a pretty sight to see. 

Three Mute Swans floating by.  

 The larger tern is the Caspian Tern, I am not sure about the smaller Tern. Maybe the Common Terns?

 The Killdeers are so cute, I love their big eyes. 

"Spending time in nature is healing energy." 

  You can almost always see the Egrets in the trees along the wildlife drive. 

"Life is full of give and take. Give thanks and take nothing for granted."

 It is great to see the Purple Martins doing so well..

"There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy."

I am thankful to get out and enjoy nature and the great weather.

My reading has slowed down some, here are my latest books:

To Die But Once by Jacqueline Winspear is # 14 in the Maisie Dobbs series.

Currently reading, Little Girl Gone by Gerry Schmitt. It is the first in the Afton Tangler series who also writes the Tea Shop series in the name of Laura Childs.




I hope everyone is safe, happy and healthy! I am always thankful hubby and I are both well!



 
Live simple and be happy!  😊 Take care, keep smiling!


Thank you Michelle for hosting Thankful Thursday. 
Thank you to Yogi the host of   Skywatch Friday


Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!

Saturday's Critters #328

Welcome to Saturday's Critters!


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!



Before the lock down in early March, we took trip to Ocean City Maryland. During our getaway we visited the Assateague Island National Seashore and the Assateague Md State Park. Hubby and I both have senior passes for both parks which is nice, we no longer have to make sure we have exact change. 

We walked the beaches, the boardwalk trails and drove around the park looking for birds and the Assateague ponies.  

The Maryland Assateague Island ponies are owned by the national park, they are kept separate from the Chincotegue Island Virginia ponies.  Around 150 ponies are owned by the Chincoteague Island Volunteer Fire Company in Chincoteague Island Virginia. Some of these ponies are auctioned off each year.

Below a few Killdeer, Northern Gannet over the ocean, bottom right are some of the Common Loons.

 The Common Loons seemed to be the most common bird seen from the beach.

 I was able to find a few Northern Gannets far out in the ocean, it is fun to watch them dive.

The Killdeer were seen and heard on the Assateague Island beach.

Traffic back up from the Assateague ponies crossing the street.

Thanks to all my visitors and for all the wonderful comments. I appreciate everyone who loves critters and has linked up their post.


Here is a list of my linky parties;


 





Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the host Anni.

Killdeer

Happy Monday everyone!


I am sharing the cute Killdeer for this week's wild bird post. It is a medium sized plover. They are considered shore birds but can live far from the water. It is named after it's shrill wailing call.

The Killdeer have a brown back and wings with a white belly. Their bill is short, black and thick.
They have a round head and flesh colored legs. They forage for food in fields and mudflats, they eat insects.

They can nest on dry gravel with little or no vegetation around.

The Plovers are some of my favorite birds, these Killdeer's have the sweetest faces. You just have to love them, lol.   I hope you enjoyed my photos and post.


As always I thank you for stopping by and as always I appreciate your comments.

My list of memes for today, I hope to see you there. Thanks to both of the host below.


Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes

Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

Saturday's Critters #122

Saturday's Critters #122

Happy Saturday, it's time to share your critters and post. Any kind of critter will do, even a new or old post.. I appreciate everyone who is linking in with this week's critter party.

I am sharing larger images and critters or birds  from the mosaics in my previous post. These birds were seen at the Great Dismal Swamp NWR in Virginia.

The Belted Kingfisher was seen along the wildlife drive in the refuge.

The Killdeer was seen right on the wildlife drive. They moved off as we drove closer.

It was a warm afternoon the the turtles were sunning themselves.

More turtles..we saw more as the day went on.

Turtles and their reflections were everywhere.

Not the best shot, but across the lake was a nest far right and I believe it an eagle on the far left tree.

Back on the hotel parking area the local pool swimming Mallard couple were out for a walk and a dip in the puddle. I hope you enjoyed my post. As always thanks for the visits and the nice comments. I also thank everyone who is linking up and sharing their critters.. Happy Saturday, have a great weekend!

An InLinkz Link-up

To see more beautiful birds and cute critters, check out these two memes below.

Also visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni.  Also check out Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting this fun meme.