Thursday, June 4, 2020

Crops & Clips: Flashback to June, 2017

At the beginning of each month I enjoy looking back at photos from three years previously, to refresh old memories and perhaps anticipate what beauty awaits this year. Especially, I look for favorite dreams, memes and themes-- critters of all kinds (especially birds and butterflies), flowers, clouds, skies, reflections, fences... and images which speak for themselves.

It was a busy month, in which I processed almost 900 photos, beginning at our (then) second home in NE Illinois, returning to Florida for three weeks before going back to Illinois. 

My first subject was a rather common bird at Lippold Park in Kane County, a European Starling. It is a male, indicated by the depth of iridescent color and the blue at the base of his bill:

European Starling 01-20170601

A Baltimore Oriole provided a last flash of color before we returned to Florida:

Baltimore Oriole male 20170601

Lippold Park had undergone some improvements, including a pavilion overlooking a boardwalk which traversed the wetlands:

Lippold Park pavillion 20170601

View from Lippold Park pavillion 20170601

We returned to Florida on a rainy June 3. The next morning a Snowy Egret posed on our back lawn:

Snowy Egret 01-201705604

At the local rookery, a Green Heron gazed inquisitively:

Green Heron adult 20170605

Green Heron adult 2-20170605

At the Bald Eagle nest, the two eaglets, now about 120 days (17 weeks) old, had fledged in late April and early May. They continued to return to the nest to be fed as they gained hunting skills. We have observed this behavior to be common when there is more than one eaglet, as it is a more efficient way for the parents to feed and protect their brood. 

The younger (male) eaglet was resting on the nest on June 8...

Bald Eagle juvenile1 2-20170608

...as his sister flew low over the area:

Bald Eagle juvenile2 3-20170608

In our back yard, a White-winged  Dove roosted on a metal pole: 

White-winged Dove 02-20170609

A Loggerhead Shrike replaced the dove on the perch:

Loggerhead Shrike 02-20170615

In nearby Weston, the Wood Stork colony was a busy place. Most of the birds were juveniles (distinguished by their feathered heads and light beaks) waiting for parents to bring in food:

 Wood Stork fledglings and nestlings 01-20170612

Wood Stork immature landing 3-20170612

Wood Stork immature chased by  BTGRs 02-20170612

Tricolored Herons had successfully raised many young, which clamored to be fed:

Tricolored Heron demands feeding 092-20170612

Tricolored Heron demands feeding 02-20170612

Tricolored Heron demands feeding 08-20170612

An adult rebuked an over-demanding fledgling:

Tricolored Heron imm chases adult 098-20170612

A White-tailed Doe waded across the wet prairie in our neighborhood patch:

White-tailed Deer doe 05-20170620

A Swamp Lily casts a nice reflection:

Swamp Lily 2-20170613

Then back in Illinois to finish the month, we visited Nelson Lake prairie:

Nelson Lake north entry area 20170626

We caught up with the Dickcissels, which had not arrived until early June. They are hard to pin down, but so photogenic:

Dickcissel 09-20170626

Dickcissel 095-20170626

Dickcissel on twig 04-20170626

Other prairie birds included the Grasshopper Sparrow...

Grasshopper Sparrow 01-20170629

...Savannah Sparrow...

Savannah Sparrow 02-20170629

... American Goldfinch female...

American Goldfinch 03-20170630

...and male:

American Goldfinch 02-20170626

Along the wooded border we saw an Indigo Bunting...

Indigo Bunting 04-20170629

...and a Rose-breasted Grosbeak:

Rose-breasted Grosbeak 091-20170627

Common Buckeye:

Common Buckeye 20170629

= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

Linking to:

Fences Around the World

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Camera Critters

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Our World Tuesday


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Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
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28 comments:

  1. so much beauty in feathers, love all the photos but I deeply love snowy egrets

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  2. As always, fantastic bird shots! That tricolored heron is amazing!

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  3. Mr. Kenneth, your fantastic photos, leave me wondering, if the humanity that destroys everything, deserves to share the beauty that nature offers us.
    Thank you for sharing your photos with us.

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  4. So many beautiful birds. A great serie of shots. I like the reflection too.

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  5. Hello, Ken

    Beautiful variety of birds and photos. Some birds are all time favorites like the Green Heron and Eagles. The Dickcissel is so pretty, I like their colors. Love the Tricolored Heron action shots. The wood Stork coming in for a landing is great. Love the deer and butterfly too. Lovely sky and scenic photos. They really are all beautiful images, well done. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Enjoy your day, wishing you a great weekend. PS, thanks for the visit and comment.

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  6. You've really outdone yourself today with beautiful bird photos. And I love your banner with the bright yellow goldfinch and yellow flowers! It really stands out! Happy weekend!

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  7. Beautiful birds — your photos are great. The Illinois birds are almost all the same as the ones we see here in eastern lower Michigan.

    be well... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  8. Somehow, you managed to make even a starling look beautiful. Great photos! Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

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  9. Each and every one is captured beautifully!

    You sharing this post with us at I'd Rather B Birdin this week is much appreciated!

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  10. Wow! So many good looking birds here. Great post.

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  11. Ken, loved the comment of the child about the grandmother:):)
    Please, you forgot to link up your thumbnail, since I just referred your blog to the 13 year old daughter of "daily Bread" (on All Seasons) who has a bird blog:)
    Thanks so much for this wonderful posts for All Seasons. Am glad eagles grow up, much more distinct and beautiful than the juveniles:)

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  12. Great pictures. Starlings are considered a pest here and are generally unloved - but they still look good!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  13. Fantastic photos, as always! Love that green heron. I've only seen one once.
    Thanks for sharing at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2020/06/48-years-with-this-guy.html

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  14. You captured so many wonderful close up photos of the birds in your area! We don't see quite as many here on the front range of Colorado. The flying herons always look very poetic to me

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  15. Terrific "continental" collection, Ken!
    I love that starling photograph. Too often, I overlook the "common" birds and they can really be beautiful in the right light.

    Soon as this rain lets up, hope to get out for awhile.

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  16. So interesting to view the birds we share in common -- and some so different!

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  17. Beautiful birds. I love the photo of the water lily reflected on water.

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  18. Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed reading. Great captures for The Corner of the World.

    Stay healthy.

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  19. Hello Kenneth! I looove these photos! I really took time to view every specie and kind you shared this week because they are all very different from each other like the egrets and doves. Oh and yes that white winged dove is something very interesting to me! There are doves here in our country but never that type with beautiful colors and a white wing detail.

    I saw your comment on my blog redirect page and I thank you so much for the visit Kenneth. I was impersonated on facebook and the perpetrator took my photos and my name and created a fake account that looks very legitimate and it scared all the cells out of me. It happened to so many Filipinos at the same time. It took 30 hours since I found out before it was taken down so while it was not yet, I secured all possible personal data I have, one of which is my blog so I had to take it down for the mean time :( But I'm just waiting for things to be stable again and will be back ASAP. I feel super heavy while I was redirecting my domain to another blog because I sure will miss my blog friends like you. But hope all will be well again and will be back :)

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  20. I'm visiting from My Corner of the World link-up. Beautiful variety of bird and other photos. Thank you for sharing them. #MCoW

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  21. ature is a wonderful place for heart and soul and so is your animal world. Fantastic bird photos!
    Have a good week, Elke

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  22. Your variety of birds that you share are always fantastic to see, as many are new to me each time I visit :)

    I am excited to see your corner at 'My Corner of the World' this week! Thanks for linking up.

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  23. It's like the birds know you want to take their photos so they give you their best pose and side. :-)

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  24. Oh my, my ..... whats beautiful winged friends! You have photographed them so well Kenneth

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