Birding in dawn's early light

Although the song reminds us that "April showers bring May flowers, " we have enjoyed clear skies most of past month. I got up early to watch the partial eclipse of the Moon on the morning of April 4. If video does not display, try this link.

Eclipsed moon setting over our local wetlands on the morning of April 4:



Many mornings the sun rose into a cloudless sky, and the "dawn came up like thunder," with skies already bright and blue a half hour before official sunrise. However, on April 13 the combination of a line of thunderstorms far off in the Atlantic Ocean and a layer of high clouds produced a particularly vivid panorama from our back patio:



The warm morning light softened many  of my photos of common critters, such as this Prairie Warbler...



...a singing Red-winged Blackbird...



...a White-winged Dove roosting in a Castor Oil bean (Ricin) tree...



...a Brown Thrasher on the path ahead...



...a nearsighted Opossum ambling towards me...



...a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron alone in the remains of the herbicide-ravaged rookery...



...a Common Grackle whose iridescent coat is enhanced by the morning light...



...and a female Northern Cardinal, ready to flee upon my arrival.



As I approached the lake, a Common Yellowthroat was perched near the shore:



A Double-crested Cormorant dried its wings:



Remarkably, I almost missed seeing this Green Heron before it moved to the top of a small Red Maple:



Alarmed at my presence, the heron moved to another tree, raised its crown and tried to get a better look at me...



...allowing one of my favorite compositions...



...before flying off:





Just after sunrise on April 14 an immature Great Blue Heron permitted me to approach rather closely:







On my way back home I encountered another Opossum at the entrance gate:



It's only an invasive exotic  weed alongside the wet prairie, but sepals of the flower of this Peruvian Water Primrose form a perfect Easter cross:





I could not pass up another macro shot, this time of a little (2.4 cm) Monk Skipper on an Ixora blossom:



As I arrived home, a young squirrel watched me from the trunk of a palm tree in our front yard:





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Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to GOOD FENCES by Tex (Theresa). 

Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy

Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James

Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart

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Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display

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