Viewing nature with Eileen

Hello and Happy Monday. 

Can you believe how fast the days and month are flying by? I am sharing some images from our walk at the local nature center called  Hashawha. I have done various post on our walks at this park you can check out other post listed on the tags and side bar.


There are two Eastern Bluebirds in the photo below, can you find them?



The American Crow below was talking or fussing about something. 


There were some pretty water lilies in one of the three ponds at Hashawha Nature Center.




One spot along the trail was filled with pretty Bee Balm.


Next to the Bee Balm were these pretty purple flowers. Not sure of their id.




One of the three ponds.


Just a guess, this is a Blue Dasher?


Slider turtles were plentiful.  This one was just a baby.


Torn but still pretty Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly on the milkweed?


Just guessing this is a Window Skimmer?



Thanks for your visit today!  I hope you enjoyed my post and photos.

Saturday's Critters #40


Happy weekend and welcome to Saturday's Critters! I am sorry I will not be around the computer today.  I do hope to catch up as soon as possible.. I hope everyone enjoys the critters.



During the month of August, I was seeing the American Crow on my deck.. It has a broken beak, or maybe it was born this way. I am not sure. On this shot, the crow looks like it has a crossbill.


 It has found a way to eat the bird seed I put out along my deck railing..


I took various shots showing how bad the beak looks.. I hope this crow is able to survive..

Lately, I am feeling like this bird somehow broken.. But, each day is a little easier..I appreciate everyone's kind words of sympathy..Goldie Girl was loved...






I hope you enjoyed my birds and critters.. Now its your turn, to share your critters.. I will catch up on everyone posts as soon as possible..

 Thank you for linking up to the critter party. I appreciate the visits, comments and the support of my blogging friends................... Have a happy weekend!


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

Please visit:  I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious host: Anni of I'd Rather-B-birdin. Also, sharing with Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting.

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes


I am diving into my archives for this post which includes the Jays and Kin in the Corvidae family..Some photos of the Blue Jay are from my backyard and other shots are from my travels.



The two shots above are from my backyard. The Blue Jay is a regular year round visitor in  my yard.  It loves peanuts in and out of the shell. They are loud and always announce their presence on my deck. They are able to imitate a hawk sound so well it really fools me and my little birds.



The Stellar Jay was a common sight during our Washington State travels.. It has a sooty black head and crest, blue wings and tail.



Sorry, for the quality of this shot above but it is the only one I could find of the Gray Jay I was while traveling around Wyoming and Montana.  I need to do some checking on my back up files for a better shot of the Gray Jay. It is a beautiful bird, it is dark gray above and pale gray below. This Jay does NOT have a crest.



The Clark's Nutcracker was seen at Bryce National Park. This bird has a long bill, gray body with black wings.

 And the (Corvidae) Corvid family also includes the following



 The Common Raven has a heavy bill, long wings and tail. The Raven seems to be a more common sight in the western part of the USA.


These Ravens were seen in the Bryce Nat'l Park in Utah.







The Black-billed Magpie was a common bird seen in Yellowstone Nat'l Park. They were usually hanging around the parking lots. They have a black head and breast, white belly and an elegant long tail.






 The Corvid family includes a list of Crows. Above is the American Crow seen in my backyard. The American Crow is overall black, also has a heavy bill, broad wings shorter than the Raven. Somewhere I may have a shot of the Fish Crow seen during my travels.. I wish I had labeled my older photos, to save a lot of searching. 

I am missing a few or more Jays for my lifer list.. Some day it will be nice to see some of the other Jays like the: Brown Jay, Pinyon Jay, Mexican Jay and my favorite the Green Jay.  There are also three Scrub Jays: the Western Scrub Jay, Island Scrub Jay and one I have seen the Florida Scrub Jay. Did you know there were so many Jays?

Thanks for stopping by my post and for all the nice comments.

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.  Thanks to our host Michelle our host Stewart.  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

Saturday, September 14, 2013

I am linking up Camera Critters and I'd-Rather-b-birdin   I hope you are joining in and posting your birds and critters.

I have some more recent shots of my yardbirds, these are the usual year round birds that I see in our yard.




It is funny to watch these big birds trying to pick up tiny little seeds I spread out on my deck railing.


American Crows, they seem to come in groups to my yard and deck.


A male House Finch, I've been seeing a group of male and female Houses Finches lately.



There are times when I can see ten or more Mourning Doves around my deck. They are shy birds and tend to fly off if they see me looking at them.


This could be a juvenile male Northern Cardinal or an adult after molting? The colors seem orangy-red.


Looks like the female Cardinal enjoys the berries too. All these shots were taken from my dining room window. So the quality is not the best. Sorry!



I was saving my favorite bird of the week, the Chestnut-sided Warbler. The Chestnut-sided Warbler has a yellowish-green on its back, nape and crown. They have an white eye-ring, underparts are dull white and two broad yellowish wingbars.

The Chestnut-sided was waiting for me to come home from work and it was seen on both Thursday & Friday evenings. These pokeberries are growing just on the other side of our deck, the warblers love these berries. I hope you enjoyed my birds and post!

 Ok, here is my new list for the week of my favorite blogs to visit and if you missed any... look back at all my previous Saturday posts they go as far back as my post title York Rookery on 6/22/13.

Pam @ Whims n Whispers is from Florida. Florida is one of my favorite places, so I really enjoy seeing her wonderful photos of the birds and lovely Florida scenery.

Elaine @ Artic View lives in Alaska.  One thing I love seeing.. is her wonderful photos of the birds that migrate to Alaska.

Reena @ Missing Moments  Lovely photography, if you check out her blog now she is traveling around New Zealand.

Sallie @ A full time life  travels from Florida to Oregon and shares photos from both of her home states.

Grace @ Grammie's Rambling shares her lovely birds and life from her home state of Maine.

I hope you are able to find some time to visit some of my favorite blogs above, they are all wonderful women and bloggers.

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

I have to start by saying this is just my opinion, some birders or people might actually like these bullies birds. But I describe them as my undesirable birds visiting my feeders.  I mainly get upset with them because they are like bully's at the feeders. Scaring away the smaller songbirds that I am trying to attract.

Oh yes, hard to believe my yard is not always filled with beautiful, colorful birds. So here are a few of my undesirable birds. And not everyone will agree and I am half kidding. I love all the birds and wildlife.



The Common Grackle is attractive with its shiny head and iridescent feathers. But, they are big pigs and they scare away my little birds.


Above are two of my undesireables, the Grackle and a Starling. When these two join forces, they can wipe out my feeders. Besides being pigs, they leave a big mess behind. I will not go into what kind of mess they leave behind. But, it is not pretty.

The next undesireable is the Mourning Dove. I know they are cute and sweet looking but, at times I can have 20 or more on my deck railing and feeders. They take over everything and the other poor birds do not stand a chance.  They seem to be over populating, if there is such a thing. Can there be too many Mourning Doves?

And when these large crows coming flying in all loud and crazy, all the other birds leave immediately. They eat all my suet with one large bite. I can not afford to feed these American Crows.


Another one of my undesirables is the Brown-headed Cowbirds. They may not eat as much as the piggies above but their parents skills are lacking when they lay their eggs in other birds nest. They should hang their heads in shame!  I feel sorry for my Cardinal parents that have to raise a baby cowbird along side their own baby cardinals.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my UNDESIRABLE BIRDS post. Thanks for the visit and I always appreciate your comments. Have a great day and week ahead.

To see more beautiful birds please visit Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and for some nature scenes visit   Michelle's  Nature Notes

With my backyard birds I am linking up with World Bird Wednesday and Michelle's Nature Notes

This past weekend we had a few inches of snow and when it snows my yardbirds go into a feeding frenzy. I filled the feeders a few times on Saturday. I did get to see a Townsend's Warbler last Friday . The warbler a new lifer for me, has been visiting a  feeder at a private home. The homeowner has been really nice by inviting  birders into his yard and even let me view the feeders from his deck. I was not able to get a clear photo but was very happy to see a new warbler.

Here are a few of the birds visiting my feeders and deck.


In this mosaic, I have the American Goldfinches, a Redbellied Woodpecker, a male Cardinal and a female Cardinal.


This shot of the female Cardinal is one of my favorite. She looks like she has attitude!


The Cardinals have begun the chase, my nesting pair are constantly chasing off other Cardinals that try visiting my feeders and yard. They are very territorial, the male Cardinal is chasing off other males and the female is chasing away her competition.


Above are two cuties, the American Goldfinch and the Tufted Titmouse


The American Crow one of my bigger yardbirds, it is a piggie too.

American Goldfinches enjoying the variety of seeds I put out on my deck railing.


A couple of Tufted Titmouse perched in my Weeping Cherry tree.



To see more beautiful and wonderful birds please visit Springman's World Bird Wednesday  and 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 post and birds. I hope everyone is having a great week and Happy Birding!