Thursday, June 4, 2015

Crops & Clips: June, 2012 Meme Mashup

This month's photo potpourri is gathered from the June, 2012 archives, and features the themes of critters, fences, skies, macros and reflections. Can I find images that properly portray these memes? Whether or not I can do justice to the protocol, this brings back great memories of days past. I started the month in Illinois and returned to Florida a few days later, only to return north at the end of June in time to share some exciting moments with our granddaughters. 

CRITTER:

A fitting symbol of the Midwestern plains is this American Goldfinch on thistle, June 1, 2012 in Batavia, Illinois:

American Goldfinch on thistle 20120601

Back in Florida, I shot through the window as I watched this Great Blue Heron tackle the job of swallowing an exotic Plecostoma (common aquarium fish) in the back yard (June 6, 2012):

Great Blue Heron with Plecostomas sp 20120606

Almost ready to swallow:

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) with Plecostomas sp 5-20120606

Down the hatch!

Great Blue Heron with Plecostomas sp 8-20120606

Another back yard subject was this Wood Stork, shading the water as it foraged (June 6, 2012):

Wood Stork 20120606

It is always a treat to see a deer, especially this nice 8-point White-tailed buck, in our local wetlands (Miramar, Florida, June 10, 2012):

White-tailed Deer buck 2-0120610

A Common Basilisk, one of the hordes of exotic species that have found homes in Florida (June 11, 2012):


Common Basilisk-  Basiliscus vittatus detail 20120611

Black Swallowtail butterfly laying eggs on our parsley:

Black Swallowtail laying eggs 20120606

MACRO: Black Swallowtail egg:

Black Swallowtail butterfly egg 20120606

A Black Swallowtail caterpillar spinning the silk tether for its chrysalis (June 13 in the back yard):

Black Swallowtail caterpillar spinning silk 20120613

The finished product of its labors, which we then carried in our luggage on our flight to Illinois:

Black Swallowtail chrysalis 20120613


Linking to I Heart Macro by Laura

Back in Illinois, on June 26, our granddaughters ponder the mystery of the butterfly's emergence:

Cari and Graci with butterfly focal 20120626

Graci with butterfly focal 20120626

Graci with butterfly focal 2-20120626

Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

________________________________________________


FENCE:

Ready to release the butterfly in their back yard:

Graci con mariposa 2-20120622



Linking to GOOD FENCES by Tex (Theresa). 

________________________________________________


SKY:

Shelf cloud over our second home in North Aurora, Illinois on June 29, 2012

 Storm cloud 20120629

Unsettled sunrise from our back patio, June 11, 2012, our 52nd Wedding Anniversary!:

Sunrise HDR 20120611

Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy

________________________________________________


REFLECTION:

Not many reflections this month, but here is a stork with reflections of our neighbors' homes (June 9, 2012)

Back yard Wood Stork 20120609



Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James

________________________________________________


Also:

Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart

________________________________________________

31 comments:

  1. Wonderful series of shots, Ken! Your grandchildren with the butterflies are awesome images. Nice memories. And the bird shots are all great, love the basilisk. Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  2. awesome array, again! sweet grandgirls. :) that gbh swallowing that aquarium fish!!! sure hope that fish wasn't yours! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lovely that you live in such a wonderful position overlooking that lake. Your grands' are gorgeous as are all the bird images.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What amazing and precious shots.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautiful photos all around! Those shelf clouds are so dramatic. I find them a bit scary when I've seen them here at home from time to time. Funny enough I don't ever remember seeing any as a child. Love to see children exploring the awesome world around them too!

    ReplyDelete
  6. very nice photos - I like the one of the bird eating the fish :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. wow, amazing photos! i admire your paticence, and your attention for details of nature. thanks for sharing - have a beautiful sky week~

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ken, I am just stopping back again to say thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great collection of photos - especially the heron in action.
    Lovely young ladies too.

    ReplyDelete
  10. What stunning photographs! Delighted to have found your blog :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wonderful collection. Really neat shots of the birds in action. I also love the shots of your granddaughters with the butterfly.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Truly spectacular photography with a variety of subjects; and that sunset shot is "smashing good!!"

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ooops - I guess it was a "Sunrise" shot! :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wow - quite an eventful June! I hope this year proves as exciting! Thanks for sharing these!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Amazing photos! Really impressive! Beautiful images of the animals, birds and sky! The kids are so cute enjoying the butterflies as well.

    ReplyDelete
  16. That Goldfinch is a wonderful looking bird - and the fish is very strange looking!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne (airport)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Great shots of your daughters.

    And I must say, the shots of a Great Blue Heron eating a fish are spectacular...but even rarer, the fish is a Plecostomus!

    I got my first aquarium for getting good grades in 1st grade. I knew what a Plecostomus was long before I'd heard of a Great Blue Heron.
    ~

    ReplyDelete
  18. Where to begin....
    The bird photos....actually in my opinion, that very first image is like a work of art!!! The finch is absolutely perfect in every way. Also, the wood stork....that is the most 'action' I've ever seen in a stork...'round here all they do is stand. lol
    Then, your granddaughters....so precious, the photos of them with the butterflies are priceless!!
    The sky...phenomenal. The deer is so beautiful.

    My goodness...a post filled with beauty all the way 'round!!!

    Oh, and Ken....thanks for the input on the siren salamander. I saw those near the head/mouth and wondered myself...knowing that an eel doesn't have feet...I assumed 'fins'. But then again, eels only have the one long dorsal fin I believe. Thanks again for setting me straight. I appreciate your knowledge! I'm gonna go correct it right now.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Fantastic series on the butterfly!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Amazing photos...really very impresive...The girls are very cute...

    ReplyDelete
  21. Great collection of photos once again! I love the deer and the basilisk.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Everything is beautiful (in its own way, thinking of the basilisk) ... But the pictures of your grand girls contemplating the butterfly that you brought to them still wrapped up have to be my all time favorites (and yours too I should imagine). Could there be a better gift from Florida!!! Wow.

    ReplyDelete
  23. So many wonderful animals and creatures. Love the butterfly stage of life you captured and showed.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I don't even know where to begin there are so many wonderful shots. That Basilisk is a pretty cool creature. Love that your granddaughters are learning about nature with you.

    ReplyDelete
  25. You've got some really amazing wildlife over there. I bet that Heron felt quite full for a while.

    ReplyDelete
  26. My goodness that fish the Heron is trying to eat is huge.

    ReplyDelete
  27. What a fancy fish he is swallowing! The long trip for the Swallowtail and photos with the grandkids are amazing. That is such a gorgeous sunset with all the streaks and colors!

    ReplyDelete
  28. its a great post and a lovely idea to go back into your archives and produce a montage of images from a certain month, I think I may well pinch your idea in the future. Some really wonderful images too

    Regards
    Dave

    ReplyDelete
  29. What a fabulous series Kenneth from top to bottom, so enjoyable to see the beautiful birds, the progress of catching a fish and swallowing it WHOLE, the butterflies, eggs, pupa and your granddaughters in their delight. And wow that sky and water reflection, fantastic!!! Thanks for sharing the love up-close with I Heart Macro ♥

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting Rosyfinch Ramblings! I will enjoy a visit to your page just as soon as possible. Some anonymous comments and some containing active links may not be accepted.