Crops & Clips: This week's clicks

Spring is here! As we walk into the local Wounded Wetlands in the predawn darkness, Northern Cardinals are already in full song. It is too dark for photos, but two hours later on the way back home, their clear whistles dominate the soundscape.

Cardinals prefer to to sing from a prominent perch.  A Pond Cypress, beginning to leaf out, provides a perfect podium:









A demure female occupies a branch lower down and sings a duet with her mate:





A rival male, not far away, asserts ownership of an adjacent territory:





His mate is more reclusive, hidden in the shrubs:





The Worm Moon, the third and final Super Moon of 2019, sets on a cloudy morning on the first day of Spring. This was the best photo I could take before it was totally obscured. If you look closely, you will see Mary Lou walking in with her flashlight at the very bottom of the photo:





The next morning the sun rises due east in a clear sky, as seen through the fence in "Sundial Alley:"

 

The Moon is much higher in the sky at sunrise on March 24...


 
 ...and it soon disappears into the haze and clouds:





On March 26 the waning gibbous Moon...



...is followed, on the opposite horizon, by a sunrise peeking out under a blanket of clouds:



Later in the day, a Great Egret casts its reflection in morning light:





Two Mottled Ducks fly by:



There has been a huge hatch of Halloween Pennants (Celithemis eponina). These colorful dragonflies help control the mosquitoes and midges and themselves are food for the birds, especially shrikes, kestrels and blackbirds, as well as orb-weaving spiders:



American Kestrel eats a Halloween Pennant, March 22, 2016:



A Tropical Orb Weaver spider dispatches a Halloween Pennant, March 23, 2014:



Along the path, Castor Oil Plants thrive. Their seeds are the source of ricin, a deadly poison:




Good news: We have been blessed by the birth of our third Great-Grandchild, our first Great Grand-Daughter, Kennedy Lee Schneider, whose name includes elements of those of both her parents, Kenneth and Danima Lee.

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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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