This month's potpourri gathered from the archives features the themes of critters, fences, skies, macros and reflections. It is a retrospective view of photos taken three years ago, in December, 2012. At the time I did not seek to portray each of these memes, so it is a bit of a scavenger hunt. Let's see how far I need to go into the month to find at least one of each. If I can get them all I will have won the game twelve months in a row since starting in January, 2015. This month's flashback tour was particularly easy, with an abundance of "critters" and completion of all of the themes by December 12.
As we set out for our morning walk into the wetlands a half hour before sunrise, the SKY as seen from the back yard of our home is colorful. It even shows some green (December 5, 2012):
It is just an abandoned utility easement, but the rising sun touches its far reaches, adding depth and vibrant color to the humble scene:
Roseate Spoonbills have extended their stay on the lake:
A spoonbill forages with a White Ibis and a Great Egret...
...as well as with an immature Little Blue Heron:
The flock of American White Pelicans returns:
A Snowy Egret seems unhappy about the presence of an immature Little Blue Heron, drives it away, and then lifts off, its "golden slippers" trailing behind...
...as a Tricolored Heron arrives to take their place:
A Belted Kingfisher flies over the assembly, its rattling call echoing:
A soaring Short-tailed Hawk is on the lookout for small birds:
An immature Little Blue Heron occupies the "Enchanted Island" stump, providing a nice REFLECTION on December 9:
Another Little Blue Heron, in adult plumage, takes flight:
Not even half way through, I completed my search for all required memes with this image of a Cooper's Hawk occupying a FENCE, on December 12:
There is no shortage of CRITTERS in my December archives, but I cannot pass by this MACRO view of a Northern Mockingbird on a fence post next to our home:
Earlier in the month, on December 5, I obtained MACRO shots of two butterflies-- a Soldier...
...and a White Peacock:
In the back yard, two White Ibises hurry by, photo-bombing a Great Blue Heron:
The ibises "cross swords":
On December 27, the local female Bald Eagle is low in the nest, incubating:
The month's not over yet! Near Everglades National Park, on December 30, I catch a Vermillion Flycatcher on a barbed wire FENCE:
So, we close out the year with another visit to the eagle nest. Both adults are now spending much time peering down into the nest, suggesting that the first egg is hatching:
Success! I have now found photos to match each of these memes for all 12 months in 2012!.
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Linking to Misty's CAMERA CRITTERS,
Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,
Linking to GOOD FENCES by Tex (Theresa).
Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy
Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James
Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni
Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart
Linking to I Heart Macro by Laura
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Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display
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This month's potpourri gathered from the archives features the themes of critters, fences, skies, macros and reflections. This presented a particular challenge. It is a retrospective view of photos taken three years ago, in November, 2012. As you will learn in a moment, events took an unexpected turn.
At that time I did not seek to portray each of these memes, so it is to some extent a game of chance. Let's see how far I needed to go into the month to find at least one of each. If I can get them all I will have won the game eleven months in a row since starting in January, 2015. This month's flashback once again produced the required set of images, but not until November 26th
Unusually, we started out the month in NE Illinois, partly to celebrate a large Halloween party honoring our son-in-law. Nearly 200 guests attended and enjoyed a Cuban-style pig roast. In lieu of gifts the event benefited a volunteer agency that assists foster children and their court-appointed attorneys.
Agramonte, one of two Tibetan Mastiffs in our daughter's household, welcomed the cold weather:
We discovered that the landscape surrounding our second home had been drastically changed in our absence. The cornfields that had been fallow for over 10 years and which produced a surprisingly rich habitat for prairie species were being "reclaimed." Within months we would be surrounded by new town-homes and lose our view of the horizon. These are not "good fences" except in the sense that they prevent construction debris from blowing about:
Migrating Sandhill Cranes, which usually stopped here, instead flew overhead against a gray sky:
We encountered birds that would not venture into south Florida, such as this Long-eared Owl...
...Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Juncos...
...Red Crossbills...
...American Tree Sparrows...
...and Lapland Longspurs:
One of the more impressive "critters" was this Red-tailed Hawk, displayed as a MACRO:
Bundled up against the cold, we birded with our local Kane County Audubon Society group, at nearby Nelson Lake/Dick Young Forest Preserve:
Winter weather on the Great Plains can be extreme, producing dramatic sunsets..
...and rainbows over the cornfields:
We had extended our stay to be with our daughter and two granddaughters while her husband was away on a hunting trip in North Carolina. Unfortunately, a deer stand collapsed under him and he broke both of his legs. Roly had to be transported back home for specialized treatment. We therefore remained through much of the month to help them out. Here he is after successful surgery, "walking" in his neighborhood with his daughters and other family members who flew in from Florida and Connecticut:
During our stay in Illinois I failed to capture a single reflection, and my only "fence' was a poor substitute for the real thing. Luckily, our return to Florida, on November 24, produced immediate results. Here is our home, not only including its reflection and that of a backyard egret, but also showing our neighbor's fence!
Finally I had a spate of more credible MACRO photos on November 25, unknowingly saving me from "future failure," including a Honeybee...
...and a Zebra heliconian:
For the first time over the eight years that we lived there, flocks of White Pelicans and Roseate Spoonbills appeared on the local wetlands! A spoonbill cast a lovely reflection on November 26:
They mixed with the pelicans:
The pelicans fed cooperatively, lining up to herd a school of fish to the lake's margin:
I captured this video of their feeding behavior, American White Pelicans Feeding Cooperatively (turn the sound down to avoid hearing my New Jersey accent!) If the video fails to load in the space below, try THIS LINK:
https://youtu.be/t7XslbDgSPU
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Linking to Misty's CAMERA CRITTERS,
Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,
Linking to GOOD FENCES by Tex (Theresa).
Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy
Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James
Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni
Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart
Linking to I Heart Macro by Laura
________________________________________________
Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display
________________________________________________
This month's potpourri gathered from the archives features the themes of critters, fences, skies, macros and reflections. It is a retrospective view of photos taken three years ago, in October, 2012. At the time I did not seek to portray each of these memes, so it is a bit of a scavenger hunt. Let's see how far I need to go into the month to find at least one of each. If I can get them all I will have won the game ten months in a row since starting in January, 2015. This month's flashback once again produced the required set of images, but not until the 23rd of the month.
As usual there were plenty of photos of CRITTERS--
My first photo foray into our neighborhood Florida wetlands yielded on October 3, 2012, a nice portrait of a Prairie Warbler:
Two mornings later we encountered an adult Bobcat, sitting in the middle of the gravel road that accesses the wetlands:
Male Black-throated Blue Warbler on October 10:
Fall migration generally provides a greater abundance of colorful warblers than in spring, and 2012 was no exception. This is a Northern Parula, photographed on October 14...
...a Yellow-throated Warbler on October 22:
Halloween Pennant dragonflies, as seen in this MACRO were numerous:
We "reverse migrated" to NE Illinois at the end of October to celebrate a Halloween party and pig roast in honor of our son-in-law's milestone birthday. Rudely thrust into winter-like weather, I did photograph some species for the first time, such as this Purple Finch, on October 25...
...and a Lapland Longspur on the last day of the month:
I would be remiss if I did not include just a couple of more "party critters," yours truly, in costume...
...and unmasked...
...and Cleopatra (Mary Lou)...
flanked by our granddaughters Cinderella (Cari)...
...and the Queen of Hearts (Graci):
My search for REFLECTIONS and SKY photos was productive of many images, such as this Sunrise on October 7 from the back patio of our home:
Paradoxically, this early morning shot on October 8, looking to the southwest over the wetlands seems to portray the sunrise, but the apparently diverging rays are not from the rising sun but rather from the opposite direction (behind my LEFT shoulder)! The rays of the sun filters over the tops of the thunderheads and paints long parallel pink streaks. Perspective gives them the appearance of diverging from the west, but they actually are converging towards the vanishing point. Almost every summer, tropical winds carry dust particles 5,800 miles across the ocean from northern Africa. The dust is able to cross that distance because it travels in its own air layer — the Saharan Air Layer.
I captured another "mirrored sunrise" on October 20, this time directly opposite the rising sun (notice how the clouds are illuminated from the near side rather than from behind):
Saharan dust produced the pink sky that enhanced this view of a Great Egret, on October 26:
At first I thought my search for a photo of a fence in the October 2012 archives was in vain, until I looked closely at this photo of a gathering thunderhead. I was rushing home to beat the storm. It looks back to the gate to the gravel road that leads out of the wetlands. A vehicle is parked just outside the fence, but you must click on the photo to enlarge it:
Fearing that Tex would ban me from her meme for posting the above, I carefully re-reviewed the month's photos and discovered that I had overlooked this October 23 image of a family of Wood Storks gathered on a neighbor's back yard FENCE:
