Thursday, February 7, 2019

Crops & Clips: Flashback to February, 2016

This week I am refreshing memories of events three years ago, looking for favorite memes: critters of all kinds (especially birds), skies, reflections, fences, butterflies and flowers... and tranquil scenes which speak for themselves.

We began the month with a rather unusual sighting in our local south Florida Wounded Wetlands. An American White Pelican startled me as it flew in directly overhead:

American White Pelican HDR  20160202

This species usually travels in fairly large flocks, as they are cooperative feeders. Typically they swim in a line and circle in on schools of fish, herding them together in shallow water for a feast. This one settled on the lake, alone. It was present for one day only, on February 2:

American White Pelican HDR 03-20160202

That same morning, a roadside American Kestrel was grasping a prey item as it perched on the top shoot of a Royal Palm: 

American Kestrel 4-20160202

I tried out my pocket camera, a Canon PowerShot SX700 HS, on a rather distant Merlin which was eating a little bird. With the optical zoom fully extended to 30X it produced a fairly decent image of the small falcon:

Merlin Canon PowerShot SX700 HS 30x plus 2.0 20160208

As if to help me round out my falcon images for the month, a Peregrine showed up:

Peregrine close HDR 20160219

Wispy pink clouds appeared over the wetlands:

Wispy pink clouds HDR 20160204

I liked the glow of sunrise on the sheltered still water. Its reflection illuminated the Great Blue Heron against the lake, its surface stirred by waves which picked up the blue sky:

Great Blue Heron2 HDR 20160218

A male Northern Cardinal stood out against a gray sky:

Northern Cardinal 20160228

A visit to Peaceful Waters Park wetlands in Wellington, Palm Beach County provided intimate views of Purple Gallinules...

Purple Gallinule 02-20160221

Purple Gallinule 07-20160221

...a Sandhill Crane at its nest...

Sandhill Crane at nest 20160221

...a Little Blue Heron on the prowl...

Little Blue Heron HDR 20160221

...and a Loggerhead Shrike:

Loggerhead Shrike 20160221

At Wellington Environmental Preserve, Mary Lou walked along the marvelous boardwalk...

Wellington boardwalk HDR 20160221

...with an American Alligator in open view...

American Alligator 2-20160221

...a well-hidden Limpkin...

Limpkin 2-20160221

...and a cluster of American Coots:

American Coot gathering 20160221

More images from the wild lands back home in south Florida; a light morph Short-tailed Hawk soared :

Short-tailed hawk 2-20160222

A female Anhinga showed off her "turkey tail:"

Anhinga reflection crop 20160226

This male Anhinga developed a fancy "hairdo" as breeding season approached:

Anhinga male portrait 20160210

A male Ruby-throated Hummingbird sipped nectar from a Ligustrum flower:

Ruby-throated hummingbird XLIGHT 02-20160214

Northern Flicker female:

Northern Flicker female 20160204

Female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker on our back yard Mahogany tree:

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker thru window 2-20160204

Most winters we are lucky to see even a single American Robin. This one appeared on February 11:

American Robin HDR 4-20160211

View from the lakeside marsh on a foggy February morning as the sun touched the Pine Bank:

Sun reaching Pine Bank 20160208

Back yard sunrise on February 11:

Sunrise HDR 20160211

Zebra heliconian on Balsam Pear:

Zebra heliconian 20160203

Female Julia heliconian on Bidens alba (Shepherd's Nettle):

Julia heliconian female 2-20160203

A "weed" with tiny yellow composite flowers:

Weed with tiny yellow  flowers 20160204


= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy

Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James

Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni

Linking to Our World Tuesday by Lady Fi

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue

Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jesh

 Linking to Fences Around the World by Gosia

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

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23 comments:

  1. Your flashbacks are better than my today-shots

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  2. What a great set of photos and I am so jealous of the peregrine. I have always said if I return to this world I want to be a Peregrine 😉 Enjoy your day, Diane

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  3. Beautiful birds and equally beautiful sunrise.

    WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

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  4. Wonderful photos. Very impressive backyard sunrise, and I love the anhinga hairdo!

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  5. Lovely pink clouds and beautiful birds. Stunning back yard sunrise and black & white butterfly!

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  6. Wonderful photography Kenneth as usual. The Sunrises are to die for and also the fabulous reflection on the first one. Love seeing both shots of the Anhinga. I hope you have a lovely weekend.

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  7. All your photos are beautiful - my favorite is the reflected sunset next to the Great Blue Heron - fabulous!

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  8. I take off my hat to you! Wonderful photographs!

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  9. Hello Ken, beautiful sky captures. I love the butterflies, they are beautiful. Awesome bird photos, the Pelican and Kestrel are awesome. The GB Heron shot is lovely. The Gallinule is a beautiful bird. Great post. Thank you so much for linking up your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your day and weekend. PS, thanks for visiting my blog and for leaving a comment.

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  10. Wonderful photos! We are seeing the Sandhill Cranes migrating this week. It's been exciting! Enjoy your weekend!

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  11. Amazing photos! I really enjoyed seeing all the different birds and other wildlife. Beautiful place.

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  12. Really like that low angle shot of the GB heron - I was watching a White-faced Heron this morning, but the light was rather dull and the bird rather distant!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  13. A lovely collection of photos

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  14. I am in total awe! The anhinga photos are so special to me 'cause they have left our area by the time breeding season begins. The pink wispy clouds are astounding!

    Thanks for sharing with us at I'd Rather B Birdin this week and for the birthday wishes. (Also, many thanks for correcting my tanager/flycatcher ID)

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  15. Love my fine feathered friends. I had never seen a Purple Gallinules before. You are quite the bird watcher!

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  16. The Peregrine is a beautiful bird, and so is the Limpkin. the Purple Gallinules, but seems to have big feet:) Ah here's the Anhinga of your comment - the male has a striking hair do! Beautiful butterflies. It is strange to see a black butterfly with white stripes - ultra modern:):) Many thanks Ken for sharing all these critters with All Seasons! Have a great week!

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  17. Great photos. Difficult to pick a favourite.

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  18. I haven't been here for a while but so glad to catch up today. Great sightings! Seeing the rookery would be an amazing sight for me, as seeing the Green Iguana. Enjoyed the other photos too, thank you!

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