Thursday, January 29, 2015

Crops & Clips: Eagles. butterflies and unsettled skies

My weekly potpourri gathered from the archives features the themes of critters, fences, skies and reflections. 

CRITTERS:

Our local Bald Eagle male (Pride) lost his mate (Joy) in late October. He set out to find a new one, and may have settled on this four year old sweetheart. She retains some of the dark streaks on her bill, head and tail characteristic of early fifth year (fully adult) plumage. They appear to still be in the process of establishing a pair bond and it may be too late in the season for them to start a family. Here in south Florida, most Bald Eagles lay their eggs by early December. Pride spends much time in the nest, hoping she will join him, which she did, if only briefly.

Bald Eagles Pride and Female 20150111

Birding has been a bit slow, so my attention turns to subjects which are more easily seen and photographed, such as this Monarch on Ixora blossoms...

Monarch butterfly on Ixora 20150106

...a male Julia heliconian...


Julia heliconian male 2-20150105

... a Gulf Fritillary...


Gulf Fritillary 20141228

...a Zebra heliconian...


Zebra Heliconian 20141216

...a male Queen (not a contradiction in terms)...


Queen butterfly 2-20141124

...and a White Peacock:

White Peacock 20141227

Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

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FENCE:

This Great Blue Heron posed at the lake shore in front of our neighbor's fence. By edict of the homeowners association, all the fences must look the same as this. I must stray far from home to find any variety.

Great Blue Heron 2-20150111

Linking to GOOD FENCES by Tex (Theresa). 

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SKYWATCH: 

An unsettled sky at sunrise over our local wetlands:

Sunrise Clouds HDR COREL 20150111

Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy

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REFLECTION:

Looking to the north at dawn we see the approaching storm clouds: 

Harbour Lakes to North HDR COREL 20150111

Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James

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

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22 comments:

  1. Beautiful collection of butterflies.. And the last sky shot is gorgeous. Have a happy day!

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  2. gosh, just gorgeous shots no matter what you post. 'sameness' is okay in a neighborhood to a degree. :)

    thanks, in advance, for linking in!

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  3. Love the heron next to that fence and all your photos!

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  4. I'm enjoying those bright-colored butterflies as I look out at my snow. The eagles steal the show, though. We were in Denver for a day trip this week and my husband saw a large male Bald Eagle. I wasn't so lucky! You have quite a photographic talent.

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  5. The butterflies are exquisite, the skies with their reflections are amazing and I do hope the Eagles will breed if not this year,next year.Lovely Heron beside the fence.

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  6. Such lovely skies. The heron by the fence was quite handsome. I'd hate to live in a place though where everyone had to have the same fencing. Wow all those gorgeous butterflies, I'm envious.

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  7. All beautiful. The butterflies are stunning.

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  8. Love your butterflies...as for the fence, any old fence looks great with the right critter in front of it!
    ~

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  9. Oh my that one Eagle has quite the expression doesn't he. Great capture. All of your photos are beautiful!

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  10. Beautiful shots and that last sky photo is so dramatic and gorgeous.

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  11. Oh my goodness! Those last two shots particularly are fantastic Kenneth. Thank you for sharing the views and your talent.

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  12. that is a stunning shot for weekend reflections...

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  13. Beautiful birds and lovely butterflies.

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  14. Hi Ken, just stopping back to say thank you for linking up and sharing your post.. Have a happy weekend!

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  15. Love the butterflies!
    Have a great week-end!
    Lea

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  16. That's a nice shot of the Eagle pair in the nest. I love the colorful butterflies and gorgeous skies.

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  17. Your Sky Watch and Reflections photos are spectacular. I like how you composed them, getting the light just so. The butterflies are gorgeous. We don't have as many as we did when I was a kid, which is too bad. I had no idea that bald eagles lived in Florida. Cool!
    The View from the Top of the Ladder

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  18. Fabulous series of photos! I love all the butterflies.

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  19. Stunning shots. I love the bald eagles and the butterflies are gorgeous, but my favourite is that last sky shot. Just stunning!

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  20. Back again...I do like the honeybee in the pic together with the Monarch.
    ~

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