Celebrating the New Year by mining the archives for some memories of 2016 January-- Sky: Stormy sunrise Critters: Pride and Jewel: February-- The boardwalk at Wellington Preserve: Loggerhead Shrike and budding Red Maple: March-- Eastern Towhee singing a spring song: April-- Green Heron tending to newly hatched chick: Two-dimensional Black-necked Stilts: May-- Bounding White-tailed Deer: White-eyed Vireo: Tricolored Heron: June-- 56th Wedding Anniversary family reunion in Colorado Final approach into Chicago Midway Airport: July-- Leaping White-tail buck: Common Nighthawk: August-- Juvenile Bald Eagle "Spirit:" Northern Mockingbird on lakeside natural wreath: Marsh Rabbit: September-- Merlin: Adult Green Heron: October-- Chipmunk on fence: A brace of Mallards: November-- Bald Eagles getting ready for a new breeding season: December-- White Peacock: Blue Jay:
Sending you all Best Wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2017. Thanks so much for visiting! = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Linking to Misty's CAMERA CRITTERS,
Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jeannette ________________________________________________ Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display
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:
The blanket of fog blurred the background and muted the colors in my images of the egret, imparting a two-dimensional effect:
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:
Slowly, the fog lifted and the pine bank on the opposite shore gradually emerged into view:
A bedraggled dew-soaked Prairie Warbler eyed me curiously:
Nearby, an unruffled Northern Cardinal:
The sky brightened up, and a male Soldier basked in the light. This butterfly is often difficult to find in our patch:
The Lantana flowers attracted newly emerged male and female Julias:
A male American Kestrel, perched 100 yards away, had returned for the winter:
He suddenly flew right towards me-- was it something I said?
He kept watching me as he flew off:
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:
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Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jeannette ________________________________________________ Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display
Gray skies can sometimes be a blessing for bird photographers, as they produce less glare and fewer shadows:
On a foggy morning just after sunrise, two white herons foraged in our local wetlands:
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:
The other, an immature Little Blue Heron, lifted off gracefully:
In better light, another Great Egret posed at the edge of the wet prairie:
A female Julia heliconian sipped nectar from a Lantana flower:
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:
It sighted something interesting:
It lunged, but came up empty...
...and ruffled its feathers:
It then strolled away, paying us no mind:
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Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jeannette ________________________________________________ Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display
