Crops & Clips: Flashback to December, 2019

As I do each month, I enjoy looking back over my archived photos, taken three years previously, to remember how things were then as contrasted with events this year at our new home in Connecticut. As usual, I searched for images which reflected favorite memes: critters of all kinds (especially birds and butterflies), skies and clouds, reflections, flowers and scenes which speak for themselves. 

We spent the entire month at home in south Florida and I processed over 400 images, mostly from our early morning walks in the Wounded Wetlands adjacent to our home. Pardon my nostalgia, but now that winter approaches in Connecticut, I find many things I miss. 

The highlight of the month occurred on the first day, when I obtained nice photos of a Marsh Wren. Although they were fairly common near our old Illinois home, I had encountered them here only 2 or 3 times over the years and never gotten a decent shot.:

That same day, a Blue-headed Vireo allowed a few exposures:

A back-lighted Pileated Woodpecker pulled up into a stall just before landing on a power pole:

The abandoned rookery provided a resting place for a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron:

My flash deployed unexpectedly and produced an otherworldly portrait of an immature Yellow-crowned Heron:

I startled a trailside Bobcat. It appears small and frail in comparison with the bulky and long-haired Bobcats we have here in Connecticut:

A Blue Jay was harvesting the ripening fruits of a Royal Palm:

A male American Kestrel  had arrived to spend the winter:

This active Yellow-throated Warbler paused for a sideways pose:

A tiny Barred Yellow butterfly sipped nectar from a globular blossom of the invasive Largeflower Mexican Clover (Richardia grandiflora). By the way, this weed has very small flowers, is not a clover and was introduced from Brazil, not Mexico:

An even smaller Dainty Sulphur feasted nearby:

An Osprey, its meal interrupted by our presence, coursed overhead:

A Magnolia Warbler peered out from the foliage:

Befittingly, this Magnolia Warbler was in its namesake tree:

A topsy-turvy Black-and-White Warbler descended the trunk of a Cabbage Palm:

A pair of Egyptian Geese shepherded their brood:

I miss the warmth of winter morning sunlight. Its back to the sun, an Anhinga soaked up the radiant heat:

I miss those pre-dawn walks, listening for owls, nighthawks and whippoorwills (or in the summer, Chuck-Wills-Widows) .  On December 11, MaryLou, with flashlight in hand, trudged ahead of me into the wetlands in very early twilight. The stars were still visible in this iPhone photo:

Now, with an open view only to the north and west, I miss seeing the sun rise. At dawn, sunlight radiated behind coastal storm clouds:

Later, the morning sky reflected on our back yard lake:

A contrail accented the western sky over the wet prairie opposite the sunrise on December 26:

I miss nearby Chapel Trail Nature Preserve, where I interpreted wetland walks. Here, on December 23, a Northern Parula warbler is surrounded by the persistent leaves of a Red (Swamp) Maple:

A sad endnote: That day I also obtained one of my favorite images of the Longhorn cow with a magnificent coat. It was accompanied by a Cattle Egret, more interested in the insects stirred up underfoot. This pasture, adjacent to the Preserve, has since been replaced by a parking lot:

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Linking to:

Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Garden Affair

All Seasons

Image-in-ing

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World
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Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
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