Crops & Clips: Flashback three years to April, 2018

At the beginning of the month I like to review images from three years back and  look for favorite themes and memes in the monthly collection-- critters of all kinds (especially birds), skies and reflections, flowers and fences as well as scenes which speak for themselves. 

We started the month of April, 2018 exploring the wonders of nature on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Mexico. Our Illinois children and grandchildren flew in and we spent several days with them on Sanibel Island.  

Instead of my trusted DSLR, I carried my new mirrorless camera (Olympus E-M10 Mkii) to Sanibel. It was straight out of the box and its features and controls were utterly different from those of my Canon. Therefore I learned how to use my new camera by trial and error (mostly error). 

Shorebirds at sunrise (Sanderling, Willet and a gull):

Sun rising over the beach:

Willet:

Panoramic iPhone view of the Gulf from the condo where we stayed:

We visited Ding Darling refuge and were entertained by the antics of foraging Reddish Egrets:

I was not pleased with the colors, as they were sometimes over-saturated and not true to life, as with this Little Blue Heron:

Marsh Rabbit:

Panorama (iPhone) of the estuary at Ding Darling:

On the way home we stopped briefly at Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, where we saw Roseate Spoonbills (which did not need the extra saturation to show off their magnificent plumage):

A Great Egret was badly overexposed, but I liked the composition:

Back home at the local Bald Eagle nest, their eaglet had fledged:

Wood Storks were raising their young at the rookery in Weston:

A Tricolored Heron guarded nestlings:

On our wetlands, Least Terns had migrated in to breed on shopping center rooftops:

A vine growing up in a tree in our local wetlands had these pretty little flowers (Clematis?):

Fog lifting on April 18:

We finished the month back in Illinois. We had decided to sell our condo there and live in Florida permanently. Our first visit was Jones Meadow Park near our condo. Recent heavy rains had flooded the trails:

It was a treat to see American Robins, as they are infrequent winter visitors in Florida:

 

Brown Creepers do not migrate into south Florida:

American White Pelicans had arrived at Nelson Lake:

Iconic twin oaks at Nelson Lake:

At Lippold Park, Canada Geese had a nest at the end of the boardwalk, with a fair warning as they will attack people who come too close:

Indeed, this goose, possibly the gander, was guarding the entrance to that part of the boardwalk:

Nearby. three male Mallards swam in precision as they approached a pair of Blue-winged Teal:

We could see the male Bald Eagle on its nest across the road:

A Red-winged Blackbird was singing:

Trout Lilies were in bloom:

Marsh Marigold bloomed along a muddy part of the trail:

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Linking to:

Garden Affair

Fences Around the World

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

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Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
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Crops & Clips: Flashback to April, 2016

It's again time to peer at my photo archives through the retrospectroscope and set the dial back three years to April, 2016. As usual I will search for favorite memes: critters (especially birds), the skies and reflections, flowers and fences, and scenes which speak for themselves. We spent the first half of the month in Florida before traveling to our second home in northeastern Illinois.

Of greatest interest and concern were events at the local Bald Eagle nest which I have been monitoring since 2008. The male eagle (Pride) lost his mate (Joy) in October, 2014 and found a new and young female (Jewel) two months later. Although they copulated, Jewel never seemed to take an interest in the nest and they failed to produce young during the 2014-2015 season.

Then the pair laid their eggs in mid-December, 2015, but 5 weeks later, just as they should have hatched, a wind storm brought down a limb which fell in the nest. One eaglet may have survived as there was evidence that an adult was feeding it two days later. However it was never seen again and assumed to have perished. Undaunted, the pair refurbished the nest and bred again. Two eaglets hatched in mid-March but one was killed or out-competed by its nest-mate. The survivor (P Piney 15, the 15th known eaglet produced at this nest)  fledged in mid-June, 2016.

Pride roosts near the nest on April 2, 2016:



Here is the plucky P Piney 15 on April 2, 2016:



Both eaglets (P Piney 15 & 16) looked fine on April 7, 2016:



The siblings engaged in serious combat. We assume both were females, as they are the stronger and more aggressive of the sexes. Male siblings are smaller and learn to stay clear, but two females "stand their ground" and fight with each other for dominance. After April 10, 2016 we only found a single eaglet in the nest. We presume it is the older female, P Piney 15, here seen on the nest with Pride:



Well, turning to other events in the neighborhood...

On April 7, an unusual sunrise filled the sky east of the entry gate to our local wetlands:



Trying to draw us away from its nest, a Killdeer performed a distraction display:



An immature Great Blue Heron was on the lake before sunrise:



Spring was in the air. A Green Heron tended its eggs in the local rookery on April 8:



On April 13, success!





A Black-necked Stilt was mirrored in the still water:



Two stilts:



A White-tailed buck posed with two does in soft morning light:



This Black-and-White Warbler performed acrobatics as it searched for insects on the trunk and branches:



A Roseate Spoonbill honored us with a visit:



It joined Snowy Egrets, a White Ibis and a Greater Yellowlegs:



Then, we left for Chicagoland, where a Bald Eagle was tending an eaglet in its nest very near our condo in North Aurora, Illinois. Coincidentally, this was the first pair to nest in Kane County after DDT was abolished in 1972, just as the pair near our Florida home was the first in Broward County:



Fox Squirrel at Fabyan Park in Geneva, Illinois:



A Red-winged Blackbird displayed its epaulets as it sang:





This Eastern Towhee has red eyes, unlike the straw yellow eyes of the south Florida population:



A White-throated Sparrow...



...and an American Goldfinch at Nelson Lake in Batavia, Illinois:



Spring wildflowers in Illinois--

Bluebells:



White Violets:



Wake Robin (Trillium):



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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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