Black Bellied Whistling Ducks visit Baltimore

With my most recent lifer the Black-Bellied Whistling ducks I am linking up with World Bird Wednesday and Watery Wednesday and Nature Notes . The Black Bellied Whistling duck is common resident of the Gulf coast states. Their habitat is freshwater marshes, swamps and ponds. They nest in tree cavities near the water. I have seen a lot of ducks like the Harlequin and the Long Tailed and they really are beautiful ducks but there is just something about these Black-Bellied Whistling ducks that is just darn cute.

I am not sure if anyone checks on the website Birding on the net but if you are a birder it is an easy way to see what birds are where. I check my state list called Maryland Osprey daily on my emails. But the website Birdingonthenet has an archive list for just about all the states. It might be worth checking the list for your state. You never know when a new bird might show up and one that is not too far away for you to see. Especially if it is a life bird!

The Black-Bellied Whistling ducks showed up in a Baltimore City park days before was able to see them. I was happy they stuck around till the weekend so I could see them. I think these are just the cutest ducks and as far as I know they do not visit Maryland often. There were a total of five of these cute ducks. These three below and two more hidden in the reeds.

The park lake held mostly Mallards and Canada Geese.  I guess you never know what might turn up in a city park. The lake has a nice walking trail around it and some of the trail was a boardwalk. As we walk around the lake we saw a Black Crowned Night heron standing in a tree.

Black Crowned Night Heron,  the tree was on an island in the middle of the lake. 

The lake also had a lot of white waterlilies. Very pretty!

The ducks were still a distance away but my camera was able to zoom up on them some, I was happy with this photo.

I think I got there during their nap time.

To see more wonderful birds and post please visit World Bird Wednesday and Watery Wednesday and Nature Notes.  Thanks to Springman of Pine River Review and 2Sweetnsaxy of Watery Wednesday and Michelle of Nature Notes  for hosting these fun and great memes. Thanks also for stopping by to see my birds and post. I hope the rest of your week is birdie and wonderful.

Birding the Hemlock Gorge

On Sunday, hubby and I took a hike around the Hemlock Gorge. This area is known for its large beautiful hemlock trees. The river that flows thru the Hemlock Gorge ends up in the top part of our reservoir. During our loop drive back to our house we stop and took a look over the bridge that is when I spotted the Hooded Merganser couple. It was a quiet day for the birds. These Hooded Mergansers were the easiest birds for me to spot. Usually I see a kingfisher in this area but it was not there on Sunday.

  The Hemlock Gorge loop trail take us past an an old cemetary where the Hoffman family are buried. The Hoffmans were the first paper makers in the state of Maryland. Mr Hoffman died in 1811. I was told the small maker stones in front are actually makers for the servants.

             The trail takes us along the river and the pretty hemlock trees.

I am linking up with 2sweetnsaxy's Watery Wednesday and Susan's Outdoor Wednesday. Thanks to these wonderful host and thanks for stopping by to see my post.

Our neighborhood reservoir

This is the reservoir that is within walking distance from my house. On Sunday, hubby and I and the dog took a walk on the fireroad and came back along the lakeshore. The reservoir is low so we are able to walk along the shore. It not good that the reservoir is low but I do love to walk along the shore. When the water is at normal levels the water is right next to the tree line. During our walk I saw along the waters edge all these feathers. There is a line of white feathers all along the waters edge. I can only assume they are from the Canada Geese that frequently visit the lake. If anyone can id the feathers, in case I am wrong I would appreciate the help


If you click on this shot you get  a better view of the white feathers along the shore.

Feathers along the shore mostly small white feathers

As you can see the water level is low, we have had a dry summer.

A little bit of Autumn colors

My Goldie Girl just had a bath so no swimming allowed.

Some more pretty colors along the fireroad

I am linking up with 2sweetnsaxy's Watery Wednesday and

Susan's Outdoor Wednesday  Click on the links to visit these fun memes.

Thanks to these great hosts and thanks for stopping by my post and blog.

Birding Ocean City, Md

These shots are from Sept 18 and a quick visit to Ocean City, Md. Birding at the beach and Ocean City's inlet is usually good. On this day the most common bird I saw was the Ruddy Turnstone and a lot of gulls. The inlet and the rock jetty is the place I head to for birding in Ocean City. It was a crowded weekend for Ocean City it was biker week. I have never seen so many motorcycles, they were on the crowded road  and every parking lot.

The weather was perfect for spending the day at the beach.

Ruddy Turnstones

They can be id by the necklace they wear around their necks and their orange legs.

Cute seagull

I love the shadow this gull has created, it looks like he is leading an orchestra

Fishing boats coming back in

I am linking up with 2sweetnsaxy's Watery Wednesday and Susan's Outdoor Wednesday Click on the link to visit these fun memes.

Thanks for stopping by to see my post, have a great week.

Green Heron...Wordless Wednesday

Click here to to view more of Wordless Wednesday  and Watery Wednesday

Thanks to the host of Wordless Wednesday and to 2sweetnsaxy the host of Watery Wednesday

Happy WW and thanks for stopping by to see my Green Heron.

Egret pond for Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday

From my archives for Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday are shot of Egrets at the wildlife refuge. During the summer months it is cool to see so many Egrets in one place. They are beautiful birds.

I like this shot for the reflections of the trees and the egrets.

To see more go and visit 2Sweetnsaxy at  http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/

To see more Outdoor photos go and visit Susan at Outdoor Wednesday

Thanks to 2Sweetnsaxy and Susan and thanks for stopping by to see my Watery Wednesday.

Ricketts Glen State Park...they have a lot of water..no I mean waterfalls!

I feel like I have been enjoying the outdoor world and nature all my life and even more so all my married life. My hubby loves hiking, especially to the highest mountain top if he can and all the waterfalls he can see. So I guess this is our world.

Ricketts Glen State Park is located in Pennslyvania. The closest BIG town I know is Wilkes Barre.

This park is the only park I have been to that has a loop trail that passes 22 named waterfalls. Now that is a lot of water, especially after a rainy season.
I actually think we saw more than 22 if you go off the loop trail for a little bit.
The highest water fall named Ganoga Falls is 94 ft. This info from the PA DCNR "to see most of the waterfalls, a 3.2-mile loop can be taken by going on Highland Trail and the Glen Leigh and Ganoga Glen sides of the trail". I felt like I did 5 miles roundtrip which included the separate side trail to the last waterfall.





The loop trail consists of a lot of steps and they are uneven steps. Sometimes they can be wet steps, most of the waterfalls are close to the steps. So I would say it is some what of a difficult trail. Maybe not for the experience hiker. The rock walls, moss and ferns are out of this world beautiful. You got to go there and see them for yourself and while you are there check out the waterfalls.

I can not go anywhere without checking out the birds. On this hike I heard some Vireo's and I believe there were some Scarlet Tanagers. Being a birder, I have to stop and listen to every bird I hear. So I have to say it takes me awhile to do this whole loop trail. What’s the hurry, anyway! I have been twice with my family and most likely will go back again.


To see more of the That's My World photos and on Wednesday visit the Watery Wednesday photos please click on my links. Thanks for visiting my blog and pictures.
And a big thanks to all the guys and girls who put these memes together.