Thursday, December 29, 2016

Birds and beauty of 2016

Celebrating the New Year by mining the archives for some memories of 2016

January--

Sky: Stormy sunrise

Reflections in flooded prairie HDR 20160131

Critters: Pride and Jewel:

Bald Eagles Powershot SX700 HS 30x plus 1.3 digital 20160129

February--

The boardwalk at Wellington Preserve:

Wellington boardwalk HDR 20160221

Loggerhead Shrike and budding Red Maple:

Loggerhead Shrike 5-20160221

March--

Eastern Towhee singing a spring song:

Eastern Towhee 05-20160305

April--

Green Heron tending to newly hatched chick:

Green Heron 17-5 with hatchlings HDR 02-20160413


Two-dimensional Black-necked Stilts:

Black-necked Stilts 5-20160412

May--

Bounding White-tailed Deer:

White-tailed Deer running 2-20160530

White-eyed Vireo:

White-eyed Vireo portrait 20160526

Tricolored Heron:

Tricolored Heron 03-20160519

June--

56th Wedding Anniversary family reunion in Colorado

Family reunion HDR 01-20160615

Final approach into Chicago Midway Airport:

Chicago approach 20160604

July--

Leaping White-tail buck:

White-tail buck HDR 20160730

Common Nighthawk:

Common Nighthawk 91-20160720

August--

Juvenile Bald Eagle "Spirit:"

Bald Eaglet HDR 02-20160717

Northern Mockingbird on lakeside natural wreath:

Northern Mockingbird juvenile 20160717

Marsh Rabbit:

Marsh Rabbit 01-20160830

September--

Merlin:

Merlin HDR 20160918

Adult Green Heron:

Green Heron HDR 20160916

October--

Chipmunk on fence:

Chipmunk 3-20161017

A brace of Mallards:

Mallards HDR 20161014

November--

Bald Eagles getting ready for a new breeding season:

Bald Eagles 09093  touching beaks 20161128

December--

White Peacock:

White Peacock 20161219

Blue Jay:

Blue Jay 20161216


Sending you all Best Wishes for a happy, healthy  and prosperous 2017. Thanks so much for visiting!

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Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to GOOD FENCES by Gosia

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

Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jeannette
 ________________________________________________

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


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Thursday, December 22, 2016

Rice-paper egrets on a foggy morning

It was a morning when you could truly "see what you were breathing." Fog shrouded the local wetlands. Dew coated my camera and binoculars, and weighed down the high blades of grass. A great Egret was barely visible through the murk:

North shore before sunrise 20161213

The blanket of fog blurred the background and muted the colors in my images of the egret, imparting a two-dimensional effect:

Great Egret 02-20161213

Great Egret 01-20161213

Great Egret 03-20161213

Expecting that my photos had been ruined, I was surprised to see them on the computer screen back home. The egret's black legs stood out as if etched on rice paper:

 Great Egret 04-20161213

Great Egret 05-20161213

Great Egret 06-20161213

Slowly, the fog lifted and the pine bank on the opposite shore gradually emerged into view:

South shore before sunrise 20161213

Lakeside marsh 20161213

Pine Bank in fog 20161213

Sun reaching Pine Bank 20161213

A bedraggled dew-soaked Prairie Warbler eyed me curiously:

Prairie Warbler all wet 2-20161213

Prairie Warbler all wet 20161213

Nearby, an unruffled Northern Cardinal:

Northern Cardinal 20151212

The sky brightened up, and a male Soldier basked in the light. This butterfly is often difficult to find in our patch:

Soldier butterfly top 20161206

The Lantana flowers attracted newly emerged male and female Julias:

Julia female and male 20161206

A male American Kestrel, perched 100 yards away, had returned for the winter:

American Kestrel 03-20161212

He suddenly flew right towards me-- was it something I said?

American Kestrel in flight 20161212


He kept watching me as he flew off:

American Kestrel in flight 05-20161212

 American Kestrel in flight 
04-20161212


Our friend Scott has ready access to the lake through a private gate, halfway into the wetlands preserve. We must walk 15-20 minutes to get this far:



Back Gate 20161216


= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to GOOD FENCES by Gosia

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

 Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jeannette
________________________________________________

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

________________________________________________

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Long-legged bird beauties

Gray skies can sometimes be a blessing for bird photographers, as they produce less glare and fewer shadows:

Wet prairie on foggy morning 20161208

On a foggy morning just after sunrise, two white herons foraged in our local wetlands:

Fog on wetlands 20161208

One was a Great Egret, almost too far away and too dimly lit for a decent photo. I enhanced this image by layering three different exposures of the original RAW file to increase the dynamic range:

Great Egret HDR 20161208

The other, an immature Little Blue Heron, lifted off gracefully:

Little Blue Heron HDR 20161208

In better light, another Great Egret posed at the edge of the wet prairie:

Great Egret 3-20161205

A female Julia heliconian sipped nectar from a Lantana flower:

Julia heliconian female 20161206

The weather forecast discouraged us from venturing out one morning, and light rain began to fall. Mary Lou caught sight of a  "bonus bird" that made up for our missing walk in the wild. A Great Blue Heron foraged along our back lawn at the edge of the lake:

Great Blue Heron backyard 08-20161210

It sighted something interesting:

Great Blue Heron backyard 091-20161210

It lunged, but came up empty...

Great Blue Heron backyard 02-20161210

...and ruffled its feathers:

Great Blue Heron backyard 04-20161210

Great Blue Heron backyard 05-20161210

Great Blue Heron backyard 06-20161210

It then strolled away, paying us no mind:



Great Blue Heron backyard 09-20161210


= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to GOOD FENCES by Gosia

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

Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jeannette
________________________________________________

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

________________________________________________