Hallo Tillycat, welcome to the forum
If you've submitted photos to one of the moderated galleries, it could take 24 hours or so for them to be approved, depending on the mods' workload.
If you just want to post photos for identification or discussion, then you're best off posting them to the "unidentified" or "forum" galleries. These galleries aren't moderated, and image links can be posted in thread straight away.
HTH
T2