Best of 2011: Western Trip--Part I

As I continue my Best of 2011 posts,   I got to relive our wonderful three week trip this past June to visit several of our western states.  Wow--what an incredible trip!!!!!  It is much too hard to pick out my favorites in only one blog post---so I'll divide them into two different posts.  (And even that was hard since that trip was the highlight of our entire year!)

Today,  I will share six of my favorite pictures with you.  Above is a picture from the PAINTED DESERT.   That was our first major stop on this trip ---and we were just blown away by the colors of the desert.   Unbelievably gorgeous!  If you would like to see my blog from the Painted Desert,  click HERE.

Be sure to click on all of the photos in order to see them larger.

After leaving the Painted Desert,  we visited the PETRIFIED FOREST.   This is another fabulous place!!!! Above is just one picture of the petrified wood.  For more explanations of  petrified wood,  click on my blog post HERE.

All of my life,  I had heard about the GRAND CANYON, but had never seen it in person until June 14, 2011.  I wish you could have seen my face when I saw this beautiful place for the first time.  I got teary with JOY,  and was overcome by God's glory when we first got there.  Oh My Heart!!!!  This place is truly awesome in every respect.   The picture above was taken at the Grand Canyon and shows the Colorado River below. For more pictures from the Grand Canyon,  click on my blog post HERE.

Another first for us was seeing the sunset from the GRAND CANYON.  This picture will show you a sample of what we saw.  Is this not breath-taking?  For more sunset pictures from the Grand Canyon,  click on my blog post HERE.

Zion was not one of our favorite places on this trip ---so we hope to go back during another season (when there aren't so many people),  so that we can stay longer and do some hiking (which I think would be the highlight of that area).  Here's one picture from ZION NATIONAL PARK.   For more pictures of the Scenic Byway 9 near Zion,  click HERE.

Finally,  here is a picture of another gorgeous place we visited,  the CEDAR BREAKS  NATIONAL MONUMENT.  That is snow you see in this picture.  Cedar Breaks is high in elevation ---so we encountered quite a bit of snow while there.  If you want to see some of my blog post from Cedar Breaks,  click HERE.

As I said I will publish another post from this wonderful trip to the western states this past June.  It was an incredible trip--and we hope to go back sometime!!!!!

Have a great weekend and I'll see you on Monday.
Hugs,
Betsy

More Backyard Birds in our Yard

On January 23rd,  I shared pictures of 7 different varieties of birds in our backyard.  Today,  I will share 7 different ones.   I love my backyard birds and am so thankful that I can feed them --especially in winter.   Here are today's photos.  Above is my all-time favorite bird (besides the Bluebirds of course).  This big guy is a PILEATED WOODPECKER.  These are very large birds ---but they do a good job of getting to the suet feeder several times a day.  (Enlarge for larger pictures.)

Here is one of our MOURNING DOVES  eating in the plate feeder.   Luckily,  we don't have any nearby hawks around here... (I've only seen them in my yard ONE TIME since we moved here.)  Hawks love to eat  those bigger birds, like Doves...  The Crows (and their squawking) protect our birds from hawks around here I think...

Here is another favorite bird of mine,  a NORTHERN YELLOW-SHAFTED FLICKER.   This is not the best picture I have of our Flickers ---but since I am showing 2012 photos,  this one will have to do for today... They are such beautiful birds,  and are in the woodpecker family.

The birds that come to the feeders in huge groups this winter are our FINCHES.....  Sometimes they are at all 5 feeders PLUS the plate feeder PLUS a bunch below on the deck... I haven't counted the total,  but we may have up to 75-100 of them at one time... Talk about eating us out of house and home!!!!  Those little guys can EAT....  We have mostly GOLDFINCHES this year,  with some House Finches mixed in.... I haven't seen any Pine Siskins here this year,  but there was a year when we had this many Pine Siskins around...  As I said,  LOTS of finches!!!!!   Above,  you can see just a few of them in the plate.

Another favorite woodpecker who is with us year-round (like the Pileateds and Downys) is our RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER.   Pictured above is one of them --and you can actually see a little of his red belly!!!

You might not think that ROBINS come to the bird feeders ---but they certainly do during the winter... Here's one of those beauties on the plate...  They will eat suet and  the 'Nuts and Fruits Blend' which I put in the plate.

Here's a great picture of a female HOUSE FINCH.  The males are much prettier (with their red coloring) ---but this little gal is gorgeous too, don't you think???

Finally,  I can't do a bird post without showing you another picture of my favorite bird in the world,  the EASTERN BLUEBIRD...  SO--here's one more for you!!!!!  Isn't he just precious????

Hope you enjoyed seeing more of our January Backyard birds...   I have been taking alot of pictures this month ---so there will be more to come!!!!!

Have a wonderful day.  Can you believe that it is February ALREADY???  Where did January go?????

We have been out-of-town for two days ---so I haven't been able to make any comments this week.  Will try to catch up soon!!!!! 

Hugs,
Betsy