Thursday, October 6, 2016

Crops & Clips: Flashback to October, 2013

Each month I search my archives for images which match the themes of critters, fences, skies, flowers, macros and reflections. This is a peek through the retroscope at photos taken three years ago, in October, 2013. 

I am reminded of creatures and sights I might expect to see again at this time of year. Let's see how far I need to go into the month to find at least one for each meme. I accomplished this goal rather easily and have won the game twenty-two months in a row since starting in January, 2015. As usual, finding fences was my most difficult task, and for some reason very few of my photos included flowers.  

After watching migration in Illinois, we spent the entire month of October at our home in south Florida. On October 3, storm clouds cut short our morning walk:

Storm HDR 20131003

Fall warblers were passing  through, among them this Northern Waterthrush:

Northern Waterthrush 20131010

Black-and-White Warbler:

Black-and-white Warbler 2-20131017

Prairie Warbler:

Prairie Warbler 3-20131004

Wood Storks were locally decreasing in number still relatively common visitors to our back yard lake. Since then, due to habitat loss and excessive rainfall, nearly all have moved northward to breed:

Wood Stork 20131004

Flock of Cattle Egrets with reflection of neighbor's fence on October 16:

 Cattle Egrets 20131016

My only other reflections this month were cast by a Greater Yellowlegs...

Greater Yellowlegs 20131029

...and, when the wind stopped blowing, that of a Little Blue Heron

Little Blue Heron reflections ORIG 20131020

A Lincoln's Sparrow appeared. An unusual winter visitor, this was the first one of this species ever reported as being seen in our county (Interestingly, I later photographed one again nearby in November, 2014):

Lincoln's Sparrow 20131016

Limpkins nest locally but are also scarce in our birding patch. This was my first photo of one in our neighboring wetlands:

Limpkin 2-20131012

Female Painted Bunting:

Painted Bunting female 07-20131011

Tricolored Heron coming in for a landing:

Tricolored Heron landing 01-20131020

Dark morph of Short-tailed Hawk:

Short-tailed Hawk dark morph 20131023

Brown Thrasher:

Brown Thrasher 20131014

Monarch on Ligustrum blossoms:

Monarch butterfly 2-20131028

Black-throated Blue Warbler:

Black-throated Blue Warbler 2-20131023

Cape May Warbler:

Cape May Warbler 6-20131023

White-tailed Deer -- doe and yearlings:

White-tailed Deer doe and yearlings 20131015

White Peacock in our local wetlands:

White Peacock 20131029

I captured nice views of both the top and undersides of this Cassius Blue butterfly:

 Cassius Blue dorsal view 20131029

Cassius Blue underwing view 20131029

By the end of the month, our local pair of Bald Eagles had begun to refurbish their nest. The female (Joy), on the right, is about 25% larger than her mate (Pride).

Bald Eagle male-female start recognition ritual 093242AM 20131030

On October 31, I closed out the month with one of my favorite photos, that of an Eastern Phoebe watching a male Julia butterfly:

Eastern Phoebe meets male Julia 20131031

Intersecting contrails, in anticipation of the next day's trip to the Texas Panhandle and New Mexico:

Intersecting contrails 20131029

= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

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

Linking to Today's Flowers Friday by Denise

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue
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Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display

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25 comments:

  1. Loved this visit. And wow...your eagle pals. What a shot.

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  2. Your photos are absolutely gorgeous, Kenneth, and what a beautiful variety of birds!!! I also love your header, it is stunning.

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  3. Awesome sky shot and wonderful photography of nature's gems ~ thanks!

    Wishing you a Happy Week ~ ^_^

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  4. beautiful shots throughout. that phoebe / butterfly photo should be on a calendar! loved the black-throated, too.

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  5. Beautiful shots. Very cute birds.

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  6. X marks the spot! A beautiful flashback post. Hoping your property in Florida is safe and sound.

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  7. Ah and I thought that last shot was blowing a kiss to me acros the oceans!! I am so disappointed kenneth but certainly not disappointed with looking at all your beautiful, well stunning really, photographs.

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  8. Hello, Ken! What a gorgeous sky shot. Your bird photos are always beautiful. Great sightings, the eagles are one of my favorites. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

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  9. Beautiful photos! The silhouettes in that first shot are wonderful for the Silhouettes meme:
    http://nixpixmix.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/saturday-silhouettes-68.html

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  10. delightful in every way especially the phoebe and friend

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  11. Amazing variety of wonderful images.

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  12. Your photos are so wunderfull and impressiv,
    the reflection is a great shot!
    Greetings from Germany
    This is My contribution

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  13. I posted an 'x' marks the spot on my personal blog the other day. They're so cool in the sky. Speaking of sky...that first photo is just absolutely breathtaking!! I've never seen a Limpkin yet...probably never will unless the birders share their photos. LOVE the reflections.

    I'm late getting here to visit with you, it's been a most beautiful day here in South Texas I just HAD to be outdoors this morning - birding, of course. Thanks so much for sharing this post with us at I'd Rather B Birdin'!! Always appreciated. Have a great week ahead.

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  14. Hello Ken!:) I'm also late, as I've been outdoors enjoying fresh air, and the lovely warm weather we are having. Your post is like a breath of fresh air too, with all the wealth of your beautiful wildlife images, everyone a delight to see. Thank you so much.

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  15. I think it is a great idea to look back and see what you were shooting years ago. I love the first and last photos.

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  16. wow..... superb photos...love the reflections of the greater yellowlegs and the heron!

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  17. Awesome selections today. That cloud photo was stunning. Enjoyed all the birds, especially the Eagles & the shot of the Phoebe and Butterfly. Nice fence reflection shot as well.

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  18. Trusting your South Florida home escaped damage from the recent hurricane. Your photos are picture perfect. Very creative photography and wonderful shots of nature!

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  19. Loved the photos of the birds and that thundercloud shot is incredible. I also want to thank you for once again linking to Today's Flowers, always very much appreciated.

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  20. More stunning photos of wildlife! Your photo of the cross in the sky made me laugh as I was in the car with my husband a week back and I tried to capture a very similar shot. For some stupid reason I opened the car door instead of the window. A senior moment! No harm done and we both had a good laugh.
    Your images are all beautiful but I especially love the tri coloured heron , the eagles and the oh so cute Phoebe watching a butterfly, amazing!
    Have a wonderful weekend :)

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  21. I love following your game and I wish my archives were organized half as well. The phoebe and butterfly picture is just heart-stoppingly wonderful. Every picture is a winner, separately and together catching all the memes perfectly.

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  22. Love the shot of your stork! my husband and I were in France recently and were in a town with many stork nests on house roofs. Many people had put large decorative blocks on their chimneys to keep the storks from building on the chimneys. Loved seeing your shot

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  23. Fabulous captures of the birds and the butterflies. The eagles are handsome birds.

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