Crops & Clips: Flashback to August, 2017

I had only 419 images in my archives for the month of August, 2017. Yet, in retrospect, it was a very active month for us, including  5 flights and lots of family, fun, and  photos. As usual, I peered through the retrospectoscope and searched for images which depicted favorite memes-- Critters (especially birds), skyscapes, reflections, fences, flowers and scenes which speak for themselves.

We started out the month at our second home in Northeast Illinois, where a falcon and doves symbolized peace.

An American Kestrel...

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... was joined by two Mourning Doves:



Local butterflies included a Painted Lady:



We then flew back to Florida on August 5, visiting the local rookery, where the Yellow-crowned Night-Herons had finished breeding. Their legs had turned dark and their crowns have lost their golden hue:



I could not resist capturing a closeup crop of this one's face after it had splashed after a fish :



An immature Great Blue Heron occupied a high perch:



A wild Pink Phlox brightened up the barren gravel path:



I was experimenting with my new Olympus E-M10 Mark II, a mirrorless four-thirds camera with a 75 to 300 mm zoom lens, which I planned to take on our upcoming trips. It is much more compact than my full size Canon 80D with its massive 420 mm prime lens system. I was pleased with its low-light performance, 15 minutes before sunrise on August 9:



The Olympus produced this nice detail of Melaleuca trees next to a flooded ditch:



A hand-held shot of the full Moon was remarkably sharp:



Sunrise on August 9:



We were off to the Texas Panhandle on August 11 to celebrate the wedding of our grandson at the chapel on the grounds of WTAMU (West Texas A&M University) in Canyon, where he was a pre-med student:



Our son and newly enlarged family:



The happy couple, after the ceremony:  

 

We visited nearby Palo Duro Canyon State Park: 



Barn Swallows nested on the porch of the Park headquarters:



Rock formations at Palo Duro Canyon resemble imposing architectural structures:



American Bison near Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge:



On August 16, Corpus Christi, Texas was our next destination, where we stayed at a condominium on the Padre Island beach.

Golden Padre Island sunrise (August 17):





Willet:



Piping Plover:



Ruddy Turnstone and Sanderling:



Night fishing with our daughter's family off the pier at Aransas Pass:



Port Aransas harbor:



The Lighthouse at Port Aransas, Texas on August 18, 2017. Little did we know that, one week later, Hurricane Harvey would make a direct hit and devastate this harbor:

 

From Texas, we flew back to Illinois on Aug 20.

This Great Egret roosting near the Fox River made me feel as if already back in Florida:



Hoping for one last sighting of the Lark Sparrows in a field near our condo, we only saw a nice male Dickcissel:



We arrived back at our permanent Florida home on  August 25. In our back yard, a Tricolored Heron hunted and a fish disturbed the mirror surface of  the lake:



In the local wetlands, a White-tailed Deer buck was in breeding condition:



On my birthday, fall land-bird migration had already begun, as evidenced by the arrival of this Northern Waterthrush...



...and a Blue-gray Gnacatcher:



A large feral hog boar, which usually fled any time we approached, caused concern when he ran across in front of MaryLou, who froze in her tracks. They can be very dangerous, so I started carrying a defensive weapon:



My photo does not do justice to the metallic silver spots on the undersides of the wings of this Gulf Fritillary:

 

A colorful sunrise from our back patio:




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Linking to:

Fences Around the World

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Camera Critters

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Natasha Musing

Our World Tuesday

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World

Timeless Thursday

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