Thursday, January 9, 2020

Crops & Clips: Flashback to January, 2017

I enjoy browsing through my photo archives from three years ago, to remember how it was and anticipate how it may be this January. As usual, we are looking for favorite subjects: critters (especially birds and butterflies), flowers, skies, reflections, fences... and scenes which need no captions and speak for themselves. 

We spent the entire month in South Florida, getting out into the local Wounded Wetlands early on the first day  of January. Winter sparrows were late arrivals, missing 2016 altogether, but a Savannah Sparrow was there to welcome in the new year:

 Savannah Sparrow 02-20170101 

Savannah Sparrow 03-20170101

Egyptian Geese first appeared in 2011, but their numbers quickly increased. A pair flew overhead, the female trumpeted loudly and the male uttered a coarse hissing sound:

Egyptian Geese 01-20170101

On January 1 we saw the first Loggerhead Shrike of the year, and other early sightings included...

Loggerhead Shrike 01-20170101

...a Long-tailed Skipper on Lantana blossoms,

Long-tailed Skipper 02-20170101

...a female Soldier butterfly on Bidens alba (Florida's most productive native source of nectar),

Soldier female 20170101

,,,a White Peacock butterfly,

White Peacock 20170102

...a perky Gray Squirrel,

Gray Squirrel 20170101

...a Sharp-shinned Hawk,

Sharp-shinned Hawk 03-20170101

...and a sedate Great Blue Heron in early light:

Great Blue Heron before sunrise 20170103

Ligustrum blossoms attracted a Zebra heliconian:

Zebra heliconian on Ligustrum 20170103

Forgive me for emphasizing the butterflies, but I was to find few to none during the following January, thanks to Hurricane Irma which struck in October, 2017 and decimated their adults, eggs and caterpillars. The heavy use of insecticides to curb the Zika outbreak which followed Irma certainly contributed to their plight. This is a female Julia longwing, a species which was probably Irma's worst casualty:

Julia longwing male 20170102

The Ruby-throated hummingbird is a welcome winter visitor. This is a female:

Ruby-throated Hummingbird 01-20170109

A Great Egret comes in for a landing:

Great Egret 03-20170123

White-tailed Deer at the far end of the road:

White-tailed Deer 01-20170127

Glossy and White Ibises:

Glossy and White Ibises 20170127

Backyard Tricolored Heron:

Tricolored Heron 03-20170105

On January 15, rain threatens...

South shore 20170115

...but not a drop falls. Walking home, sunbeams bathe the entrance to the wetlands:

Sunbeam at entrance gate 20170115

A few doors from our home, the entrance gate, from inside the preserve:

Entrance gate2 20170121

The next morning, the end of a rainbow seems to be only steps away:

Rainbow over lake 20170116

Parallel high clouds appear to converge to the north:

Parallel high clouds 20170128

A motorized parachute frightens the wildlife, but I could not miss the photo opportunity as I anticipated a near collision--"Fly me to the Moon:"

Fly me to the Moon 20170121

On a sad note, our next door neighbor, a young energetic and athletic man with a fine wife and two great sons, developed pancreatic cancer and passed away within a few months of the diagnosis. His younger son paddles in our lake with his sweet Labradoodle:

Doggy Paddle 20170106

= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

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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19 comments:

  1. That's so sad.
    We lost 93 Canadians this week. We just have to look forward and live in the present moment.
    Your critters are beautiful.

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  2. HAPPY NEW YEAR Kenneth. yes it always seems sadder when a young person gets struck down in life. All the butterflies are wonderful to see and your photographs are fabulous. The sky shots are and reflections are stunning.

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  3. What a spectacular look back, Ken! We are truly blessed to be able to enjoy nature with all its diversity.

    Our prayers for your neighbor's and their crushing loss.

    A New Year has begun! We hope it will be filled with Peace and Joy for you and your family!

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  4. Sorry to hear about your neighbor. Your butterfly shots helped cheer me up!

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  5. "Fly me to the Moon:" is fantastic shot!

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  6. Hello,

    So sorry for the loss of your neighbor, sending prayers for his family. Your butterflies are just gorgeous. Wonderful captures of all the birds. Beautiful skies, love the rainbow. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend. PS, thanks so much for the visit and comment on my blog.

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  7. Hello. Wonderful photos. The photo "Fly me to the moon" is great!

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  8. Such beautiful clicks on your camera of so many stunning butterflies and birds. Sorry to read your neighbor passed. My mother died of pancreatic cancer at age 74. It is such a beast!

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  9. We haven't seen any deer in awhile...hope they are still out there and ok! Love the Loggerhead Shrike and all the birds you see!

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  10. My favorites are the skipper on the lantana & the heron in the early morning light.

    I appreciate you stopping by to share your link with us at I'd Rather B Birdin...thanks Ken

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  11. Great reflections and amazing sky photos!

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  12. Your photo report of the nature is stunning, the butterflies are my fafourites. All the best.

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  13. The Egyptian Goose seems to do well Out of Africa - I have seen them in the UK too.

    Cheers - Stewart M - (finally back in) Melbourne

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  14. Happy you persevered with the linky! Sorry you had to deal with it; since we live at 3000 feet, it's probably more the internet connection than the linky. The butterflies are gorgeous! And love the stellar Egyptian geese. So hard for kids in their teens to have a parent die! Hope the times in his boat with his dog are healing. Many thanks for this lovely post for All Seasons!

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  15. The Egyptian geese are quite striking, but I'm always leery of migrant species for fear they will become predatory or have no checks on their increase. We shall see...
    Thanks for linking up at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2020/01/from-archives.html

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  16. January is a great time to be in South Florida, and your photos show that. I enjoyed them all, but my favorite is of the Egyptian geese. Excellent picture.

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  17. Pancreatic cancer is tough to beat. My niece lost her battle leaving behind 3 small children a few years ago.


    Worth a Thousand Words

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  18. So sorry for the loss of your neighbour.

    Your photos are gorgeous!

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  19. I enjoyed all the photos but I think my favourite one is the Egyptian geese. How sad to hear of the death of one so young and the child growing up without a father.

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