Saturday Critters #594

 Silver Lake in Belmar is a really pretty lake at the Jersey shore.

A little further from home, 

so I don't visit here as often, but it was a beautiful day and I wasn't ready to go home.

We had a great time, and there was plenty of wildlife to be discovered.

Images from April 20th

Rock Pigeon

According to my book, it is the most familiar pigeon especially in towns and cities.

A fearless bird that typically depends on handouts or feeding off the ground.

Mute Swan

This mute swan appeared to be sitting on a nest, it is their nesting season. 

I believe this is the female, the bills nasal knob appeared smaller than the companion watching over her.

I was quite close to them, both were very dosil and did not seem to mind having their picture taken.

The mate or companion - I think this is the male.

There were so many Red-Winged Blackbirds but they were difficult to photograph,

it will be a lot harder when the leaves are on the trees.

I took a picture of this with my phone and it identified this bird as a Red-Winged Blackbird.

This was a beautiful, natural birdhouse...

I watched the birds flying in and out but could not get an action shot.

Sharing today's images with Eileen at 

Viewing Nature With Eileen 

for Saturday Critters

Have You Gotten Your Hands Dirty Yet?

The days here at the shore have been beautiful, it's the perfect time for getting the hands dirty.

I don't garden nearly as much as I use to, but I still enjoy my time outside, planting.

More than that, I enjoy seeing the perennials we've planted in previous years come to life.

- home -

- all of my azaleas are in full bloom and I have a lot, 10 or more -

- a lilac bush on the right, I have many, and a hydrangea on the left, I have 6 in total -

- roses -

-endless summer on the left, roses on the right -

- butterfly bush, I have 3 in total - 

- yesterday, the hubs helped me prune, trim and enhanced the overall shape of the butterfly bush. -

- I have a wall of these viburnum by the pool that provide us with privacy -

- these were planted more than 30 years ago -

The hubs fine tuned the garden in front of the deck pictured above.

He added all new topsoil and planted the wildflower seeds pictured below!

I have big dreams about this garden...I would like to have fresh cut flowers in the house

for the entire summer.

- all of these seeds have been planted in the wildflower garden except for the dill-

- I have this seperate garden trug to grow dill for my butterflies & whatever vegetables I choose to grow - 

- my green onions survived the winter and are huge right now -

- anyone need green onions -

- these 2 were planted a few weeks ago -

I am so excited to see everything popping up from the earth!