Thursday, April 30, 2015

Florida skies

Linking up with Skywatch Friday  and Good Fences  

For this week's Good Fence and Skywatch Friday memes I am sharing more birds, skies and fences from Florida's east coast..Most of the photos were taken at the Cape Canaveral Seashore..



The Moon on the morning of March 17th during our Florida trip.


A pelican sky on Florida east coast..


Fences at the beach, a beautiful day on Florida's east coast..


A Red Shouldered Hawk and a Cormorant with another pretty Florida sky.


A Florida sky with any angry Bald Eagle and mate..


A Florida Osprey sky...


A Florida sky with some airplanes..


Don't you just love the pretty blues? The water and sky just a lovely sight..I wish I could enjoy this sight everyday.... I hope you enjoyed this series of skies, fences and birds...I just can not do a post without my birds, lol!

Thanks for stopping by and for the nice comments..

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..

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Purple Finch

Linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

For this week's wild bird I am sharing the Purple Finch..It is not often I see the pretty Purple Finches on my deck..It is during the migrating season they stop by my feeders to fill up..

Edit: I just wanted to say I am very sad about what is happening in my hometown of Baltimore. I wish  peace for all... especially the Policemen and Firemen who put their lives in danger..I do have to say I wish parents were more in control of their children..


The Male Purple Finch is a pretty raspberry color and you can his white eye brow..






Seeing the white-eye brow is a great id mark..and tell tale sign for the female Purple Finch.. they can be confused with the House Finch..

 I hope you enjoyed my wild bird post.. Till next week's wild bird post.. I wish you happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird and nature photos please visit:

 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes

Thanks to all of our hosts... Michelle for Nature Notes and Stewart of Wild Bird Wednesday.


  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Viera Wetlands, Florida

I am linking up with   Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday   They are both fun memes to participate in...I hope you can join in with the fun  and check out some of the participating posts.

On March 17th we visited the Viera Wetlands, nearest city is Viera in Brevard County, Florida.   We drove down from our hotel near Merritt Island. This is another birding hotspot to visit while in Florida. Before leaving home I checked out the Florida Birding Trail  map for all the great birding spots around the areas we were visiting..It is a great source of information..  I was really happy with the birds we saw, below is a mosaic with just some of the birds we saw during our visit.


Top row starting from the left is a Sora, American Bittern and a Pied-bill Grebe.
Middle row is the American Bittern again, an alligator, Sandhill Crane.
Bottom row, a Tricolored Heron,  Limpkin and a White Ibis.


A look at one of the pond areas at the Viera Wetlands..You can bird by car, foot or bicycle. Birding by car can be great, because the car acts as a blind. All my photos were taken from the car except for the American Bittern shot. We climbed the observation tower and looked down at the American Bittern right below us..



I made a slideshow of the American Bittern, we were able to watch it walk right below were we stood on the observation tower.. It was a great sighting, to see this somewhat shy bird..



Some more images of a Sandhill Crane.


The American Coots were seen all over the place, every birding spot we visited the Coots were plentiful.


The Moorhen was another common bird we saw every place we visited.. If you are ever in the area I highly recommend visiting the Viera Wetlands.. A great spot for awesome birding.. I hope you enjoyed my post and photos.. Thank you for visiting and for all the nice comments.. Have a great day and week ahead!

I use Pic Monkey to create my mosaics, you can use Pic Monkey free or pay for an upgraded version.
I hope you can join in on our fun with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday

 Thanks to Judith our host of Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy and Jennifer.  I wish everyone a happy week ahead!

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Saturday's Critters #71


Saturday's Critters #71

Happy weekend, everyone!  It's Saturday and it's time to share your critters.. Any kind of critter will do, even a new or old post.. I appreciate everyone who has linked up in the past and for those who are linking in on this week's critter party. And of course I always appreciate my blogging friends stopping by just for a visit.

I am at the end of sharing our visit and photos from the Merritt Island NWR, here are some more birds and a dolphin seen on the bay side at the Canaveral National Seashore..Do not be disappointed though I still have lots more Florida photos to share, lol!


An American Kestrel seen at the Merritt Island NWR.


A male Belted Kingfisher, sorry the branches were hanging down.. It still looks cute!



We walked to the bayside at the Canaveral National Seashore and just in time to see this dolphin swimming close to the shore..




A Willet on the beach at the Canaveral National Seashore..I hope you enjoyed this series of birds and the dolphin.. Now, I am looking forward to seeing your critters.





Thanks to Tex Theresa aka Tex, I was able to add this link up button and thanks to  Jennifer for creating my photo badge.



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

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

Thank you for the visits and for all the nice comments.. As always I appreciate your participating with my critter party..Have a happy weekend!



Thursday, April 23, 2015

York, PA Rookery

Linking up with Skywatch Friday  and Good Fences  

For this week's Good Fence and Skywatch Friday memes I am sharing our visit to the York, Pennsylvania Heron and Egret rookery.. This may have been our earliest visit to the rookery. It was on April 1st, still a little chill in the early morning. But, the sky was a pretty blue with some white puffy clouds..a nice day to be outdoors. We only saw two of the Black Crowned Night Herons, a couple Great Egrets on their nest and lots of ducks.


Above the pretty sky.. We walked the loop around the lake, checking for the heron and egret nests along the way. The ducks and geese are used to being fed, they ran up to us as we walked toward the lake.



Above is the Black Crowned Night Heron at the York Pa rookery.



A view of the lake and the tallest trees in the distance hold the Night Heron and Egret rookery..A distant view of the fence on the right and a pretty sky.


A couple of Great Egrets on their nest..


A pretty view of the sky and lake..and a fence scene for Tex's Good Fences..

 I hope you enjoyed our walk, sky and rookery visit..Thanks for stopping by and for the nice comments..

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..

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Pine Warbler

Linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

For this week's wild bird I am sharing my backyard Pine Warbler.  Some times I see these warblers year round and lately these two....a male and female or maybe it is a 1st yr male..it has more yellow than I thought the females. They have been showing up at my suet feeders.. They love the little peanut suet balls..






It took a while to see both the male and female ( or could it be a juvie) close to each other..


I captured both the male and female taking flight at the same time. The cardinal does not have a clue, the warblers are behind him..

.. I hope you enjoyed my wild bird post.. Till next week's wild bird post.. I wish you happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird and nature photos please visit:

 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes

Thanks to all of our hosts... Michelle for Nature Notes and Stewart of Wild Bird Wednesday.




  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

Sunday, April 19, 2015

More from Merritt Island NWR


I am linking up with   Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday   They are both fun memes to participate in...I hope you can join in with the fun  and check out some of the participating posts.

I am sharing more from our Florida trip and our visit to the Merritt Island NWR..We had great timing while visiting the wildlife refuge. Amazing numbers of White Pelcians, Roseate Spoonbills and all the Egrets..


More birds from Merritt Island NWR..the Wood Stork, Osprey, Glossy Ibis, Little Blue Heron and the Blue-winged Teal ducks..


I could not get over seeing all these White Pelicans, Roseate Spoonbills, Ibis and Egrets in this one spot.. There was a feeding frenzy, small little fish were being gobbled up.


Above Yellowlegs (possibly the Lesser) Green Heron, I think this is the Boat-tailed Grackle and the American Coot.


I love the Rosette Spoonbill on the left middle..giving the Egret a nice hard time.


Brown Pelican, DC Cormorant, White Pelicans, Spoonbills, Ibis & Egrets.



My Youtube video of the large flock of White Pelicans and friends seen along the Biolab Rd at the Merritt Island NWR.

I hope you enjoyed my post. Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit. I appreciate the nice comments..

I use Pic Monkey to create my mosaics, you can use Pic Monkey free or pay for an upgraded version.
I hope you can join in on our fun at  Mosaic Monday and   Our World Tuesday

 Thanks to Judith our  host of Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy and Jennifer.  I wish everyone a happy week ahead!

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Saturday's Critters #70

Saturday's Critters #70

Happy weekend, everyone!  It's Saturday and it's time to share your critters.. Any kind of critter will do, even a new or old post.. I appreciate everyone who has linked up in the past and for those who are linking in on this week's critter party. And of course I always appreciate my blogging friends stopping by just for a visit.

Merritt island National Wildlife Refuge was one of my favorite places to visit during our Florida trip..We saw so many birds and critters..I am still overwhelmed with all the photos I took..


I love the cute Grebes! This is the Pied-bill Grebe.


I am sure someone could come up with a cute caption for this Green Heron shot.


I see whiskers..do you?  The Manatee is known as a Sea Cow. This canal is a busy place but still part of the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge.
The Manatees seemed at peace with some fishermen and  boats.


Above you can see the Manatees swimming in the Haulover Canal near the overlook. We saw twenty or more Manatees hanging around the viewing area at the Haulover Canal. The Manatees were an awesome sight to see..


A hug me shot... cute Manatee.


A Manatee hug.. you see them hugging with their paddle like flippers? There are about 4 Manatees in  the shot above..We went back to this spot the next day and the Manatees were not there. So, we lucked out with this sighting..


Hubby and I enjoyed watching this Common Moorhen with their chicks..


The chicks are an ugly cute...I enjoyed seeing them swimming along with their parents.. I have so much more from Merritt Island I will be saving them for another post.. Thanks for stopping by and I always appreciate the nice comments.. I am looking forward to seeing your critters now..HAPPY WEEKEND!



Thanks to Tex Theresa aka Tex, I was able to add this link up button and thanks to  Jennifer for creating my photo badge.



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

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



I can not say enough thank you's for the visits and for the nice comments.. As always I appreciate your participating with my critter party..Have a happy weekend!

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Easter & more

Linking up with Skywatch Friday  and Good Fences  


I am so happy it is Spring, though I wish it would not fly by too quickly. I am sharing some sky shots and fences on this post..These are various shots from a few days before Easter and on Easter Sunday.  Hubby and I visited another birdie spot called Oxbow Lake in Laurel, Maryland.



Riding down my street I noticed we have a new baby in the neighborhood..Foal is resting...So cute! A fence shot for my Good Fence entry..


Speaking of babies, Baby Neill is growing so quickly.  Neill will be two in October.. He is not a baby any more..Above he is being pushed on his new bike..a gift from his granny..my sister. Am I bad, I love calling my sister granny.. Just teasing, my sister loves being a granny and we all love Baby Neill. A great fence shot, right?


Easter dinner was at my sister's place, it was a nice day for Neill to play outside..


Our birdie spot..Oxbow Lake in Laurel Maryland..It was another pretty day and sky..I was on a Snipe hunt on this day.. I read some Wilson's Snipes were reported being seen at this spot..


A couple of Tundra Swans were making their way around the lake..


Above a male and female Mallard and an American Wigeon.



Before leaving home,  hubby asked me if I wanted to take my scope..I knew the trail could be difficult in places did not want to have to worry about carrying (hubby carries) the scope. Little did we know, this was the place for the Snipes.. A couple days before our visit 155 or more Snipes were sighted.. I did not notice till much later my photo includes some snipes that my binocs did not pick up.. Oh well, lesson learned... take the scope! I can see Snipes all along one spot in the photo above..find the arrows pointing out some of the Snipes. They just look like brown blobs in my photo though.


Above an overlook at the sky and the lake..Lovely day..to be outdoors I only wish the Snipes were closer to the trail.  


This shot of the moon was taken on April 1st..

 I hope you enjoyed our bird outing, sky and Easter and the moon..Thanks for stopping by and for the nice comments..

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..

Happy Monday!

Wishing everyone a great day and a ha ppy new week! "One small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day." "T...