Crops & Clips: Flashback to August, 2020

As I do on the first Thursday of each month, I enjoy looking back over my archived photos, taken three years previously in August, 2020, 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), skies and clouds, reflections, flowers and scenes which speak for themselves.

We spent the entire month at home in Florida. Our back yard provided some nice wildlife images. This threesome of waders gathered at the edge of our lawn. A White Ibis, Great Egret and Tricolored Heron seemed to be conferring about how to divide the fishing territory:

The Tricolored Heron wasted no time. In typical hunting style, it rushed about erratically but came up with the first fish:

The egret's approach is to wait patiently for the prey to come close enough to allow a lightning strike:

I lost sight of the ibis, but this one was surveying the action from the roof of our home:

Muscovy Duck hens paraded across the lawn with their ducklings:

Out in the local Water Conservation Area ("Wounded Wetlands"), we saw a few early southbound migrants, including a Yellow Warbler...

...and an Ovenbird:

Prairie Warblers had returned inland from their breeding grounds in coastal mangroves:

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers had increased in number:

Out early at 6:00 AM on August 15, I had just missed the visual conjunction of the Planet Venus with the Sturgeon Moon, the two brightest objects in the night sky. I was surprised at the high definition of my iPhone image, revealing the Constellation Orion despite the morning twilight:

I created this annotated image:

My favorite route was along an old abandoned farm road, which I dubbed the Bar Ditch Trail. It is usually flooded by summer rainfall, but there had been a dry winter and the entire trail was accessible. Here is an early morning photo with the sun at my back:

My friend Juan alerted me to the view of sunrise behind us:

Butterflies were active, including this Julia male...

...Horace's Duskywing...

...and Florida's State Butterfly, a Zebra heliconian:

The 451 photos I processed that month brought back so many fond memories. The early morning summer skies were often stunning. Reflection from dust blown over from Africa intensified the rays of the sun as they converged to the west over the Everglades:

The Sturgeon Full Moon was setting as we walked out into the Wounded Wetlands before sunrise:

This week's header: Anti-solar rays over wet prairie AUG 16 2020

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Linking to:

Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Garden Affair

All Seasons

Image-in-ing

Nature Notes

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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