Mary Lou and I try to get out each morning about three-quarters to a half hour before sunrise, when the skies are clear and the air is often cool and still.
With the approach of winter, the period of twilight lengthens as the southward path of the rising sun rolls along just beneath the eastern horizon. On the first day of summer the Sun rises more directly and the sky takes less time to lighten up. This phenomenon is much more apparent nearer the Equator, where the "Dawn comes up like thunder," quickly turning from dark to light.
On November 6 our walk was cut short by the threat of rain. Just before sunrise, the eastern horizon appeard to be on fire ("Red in the morning, sailors take warning"):
On the way in it is usually too dark for photography, but on another morning I tried anyway as a Tricolored Heron flew past before sunrise...
...as did an Osprey:
Later in the day, a Loggerhead Shrike stood guard atop a Pond Cypress...
...and an American Kestrel perched on a leaf shoot from a Royal Palm :
At what remained of the once-thriving heron rookery, the only occupants were a female Yellow-crowned Night-Heron...
...and a Black-crowned Night-Heron:
Visitors from the north, two Eastern Phoebes shared the top of another cypress:
A Gulf Fritillary extracted nectar from a Lantana flower:
The fruits of Lantana attract buntings. A male and female Painted Bunting suddenly flew to a nearby perch:
I love to observe and photograph this species away from artificial feeders. The males are usually shy and retiring, so this was a lucky series of shots:
A female Painted Bunting perched on a tall grass stem:
An Ovenbird flew in but did not provide me with a clear view:
A Ruby-throated Hummingbird foraged in a Ligustrum bush. I could not see it in the viewfinder but clicked the shutter blindly several times. It happened to appear in one photo:
Black-throated Green Warblers foraged in the Live Oaks:
They are very active, flitting among the branches in search of caterpillars:
These flowers were tiny, less than 1/2 inch wide. I got this shot with my Canon PowerShot SX700 HS in macro mode, hand held. Image stabilization is amazing. It is just a "weed" (Largeflower Mexican Clover -- Richardia grandiflora), but close up it looks like a magnificent bouquet.
On November 9 the clouds moved in a bit later in the morning:
We kept a wary eye on the storm as we walked back towards home:
At the gate, the Ixora blossoms attracted butterflies:
Among them, a tiny Tropical Checkered-skipper with a wingspan of less than an inch:
Fog lifting on opposite shore:
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Linking to Misty's CAMERA CRITTERS,
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. 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 I Heart Macro by Laura ________________________________________________ Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display ________________________________________________
My weekly potpourri gathered from the archives features... Looking back three years through the retro-spectroscope to the month of April, 2012... Striving to find photos to match the various themes: Critters, Fences, Reflections, and Skies... Hoping to have two in each category, but will put no bag limit on critters, which I photograph in abundance. CRITTERS: Tricolored Heron in back yard, April 1, 2012 Brown Thrasher, April 2, 2012: Black-necked Stilts, April 2, 2012: A male Queen (a contradiction in terms?), April 9, 2012:
Green Heron taking flight, April 10, 2012:
Green Heron female on April 11, 2012:
...and a few of bonus Critters, like all these photos, from our local wetlands... White-tailed Deer, doe, April 15, 2012:
Raccoon, April 19, 2012:
Here is a video about some precocious week-old Green Heron babies in the local rookery (April 19, 2012). Now these are really "critters!":
Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,________________________________________________ FENCE: I wasn't looking for fences in those days, so they are mostly accidental images. I only found one photo that included a fence. Sunrise over the gravel road (note the entry gate), April 11, 2012: Linking to GOOD FENCES by Tex (Theresa).
________________________________________________ SKYWATCH: Harbour Lakes wetlands, April 18, 2012: Look up and tell me which bird is different! Snowy Egret with 8 Cattle Egrets, April 11, 2012: Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy ________________________________________________
REFLECTION:Killdeer, April 4, 2012: Mottled Ducks, April 11, 2012: Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James________________________________________________ Also: Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart
Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display________________________________________________
