Crops & Clips: Flashback to June, 2018

To kick off the month of June, I have once again turned to my photo archives, bringing back memories of three years ago, searching for favorite memes: birds and butterflies, flowers, reflections, colorful skies and scenes which speak for themselves.

We spent June, 2018 entirely in Florida. Early in the month, our Texas family visited and we drove to Shark Valley Visitor Center in Everglades National Park.

The range of Limpkins is nearly confined to Florida, so they are much sought after by visiting birders. Although they look somewhat like herons, they are more closely related to rails and cranes. Limpkins were abundant, as were Apple Snails, their favorite food:

"The Limpkin's bill is uniquely adapted to foraging on apple snails. The closed bill has a gap just before the tip that makes the bill act like tweezers. The tip itself is often curved slightly to the right so it can be slipped into the right-handed curve of the snail’s shell." (All About Birds, The Cornell Lab)  

Next to the parking lot at the entrance to the Visitor Center, an immature Red-shouldered Hawk cried out incessantly:

Alligators inhabited the canals, thrilling the many tourists:

At the local Bald Eagle nest, only one of the two eaglets survived to fledge. P Piney 19 was 5 months old, ready to leave the care of parents and likely migrate to the north where fish are easier to catch as the water is cooler and they are closer to the surface.

Out in the neighborhood wetlands, male Common Nighthawks patrolled nesting territories along the path. I accidentally captured the waning Strawberry Moon in this photo:

Killdeers also protested as we walked past their nests:

A Raccoon walked out into the open and looked at me before fleeing:

In the marsh, Pickerelweed thrust up their blue flowers...

...intermingling with the white blooms of Broadleaf Arrowhead (aka "Duck Potato" for its edible root tubers)...

...and Swamp Lily:

A "piebald" Little Blue Heron was molting from white juvenile to dark blue adult plumage:

A White-tailed Deer doe thrust up her tail as an alarm as she bolted for cover:

An immature Green Heron rested in a small Pond Cypress tree before flying off:

Young Wood Storks awaited to be fed at the rookery about 10 miles north of our home:

Along the path I encountered a Florida Box Turtle. Unfortunately, many people bring them home as pets, often not knowing that they do not live in the water or what to feed them:

Among the insects, A white Peacock...

...a Halloween Pennant...

...a Phaon Crescent...

...and a bee-like hoverfly:

A Great Egret reflected on June 27:

A foggy sunrise on June 29:

Along the path at 20 minutes before sunrise on June 30:

= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

Linking to:

Garden Affair

Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Camera Critters

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Natasha Musing

Our World Tuesday

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World

Timeless Thursday

________________________________________________

Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
________________________________________________

Crops & Clips: Flashback to February, 2016

This week I am refreshing memories of events three years ago, looking for favorite memes: critters of all kinds (especially birds), skies, reflections, fences, butterflies and flowers... and tranquil scenes which speak for themselves.

We began the month with a rather unusual sighting in our local south Florida Wounded Wetlands. An American White Pelican startled me as it flew in directly overhead:



This species usually travels in fairly large flocks, as they are cooperative feeders. Typically they swim in a line and circle in on schools of fish, herding them together in shallow water for a feast. This one settled on the lake, alone. It was present for one day only, on February 2:



That same morning, a roadside American Kestrel was grasping a prey item as it perched on the top shoot of a Royal Palm: 



I tried out my pocket camera, a Canon PowerShot SX700 HS, on a rather distant Merlin which was eating a little bird. With the optical zoom fully extended to 30X it produced a fairly decent image of the small falcon:



As if to help me round out my falcon images for the month, a Peregrine showed up:



Wispy pink clouds appeared over the wetlands:



I liked the glow of sunrise on the sheltered still water. Its reflection illuminated the Great Blue Heron against the lake, its surface stirred by waves which picked up the blue sky:



A male Northern Cardinal stood out against a gray sky:



A visit to Peaceful Waters Park wetlands in Wellington, Palm Beach County provided intimate views of Purple Gallinules...





...a Sandhill Crane at its nest...



...a Little Blue Heron on the prowl...



...and a Loggerhead Shrike:



At Wellington Environmental Preserve, Mary Lou walked along the marvelous boardwalk...



...with an American Alligator in open view...



...a well-hidden Limpkin...



...and a cluster of American Coots:



More images from the wild lands back home in south Florida; a light morph Short-tailed Hawk soared :



A female Anhinga showed off her "turkey tail:"



This male Anhinga developed a fancy "hairdo" as breeding season approached:



A male Ruby-throated Hummingbird sipped nectar from a Ligustrum flower:



Northern Flicker female:



Female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker on our back yard Mahogany tree:



Most winters we are lucky to see even a single American Robin. This one appeared on February 11:



View from the lakeside marsh on a foggy February morning as the sun touched the Pine Bank:



Back yard sunrise on February 11:



Zebra heliconian on Balsam Pear:



Female Julia heliconian on Bidens alba (Shepherd's Nettle):



A "weed" with tiny yellow composite flowers:



= = =  = = =  = = = =  = = = = =

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

________________________________________________

Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display

________________________________________________