I enjoy browsing through my photo archives from three years ago, to remember how it was and anticipate how it may be this January. As usual, we are looking for favorite subjects: critters (especially birds and butterflies), flowers, skies, reflections, fences... and scenes which need no captions and speak for themselves.
We spent the entire month in South Florida, getting out into the local Wounded Wetlands early on the first day of January. Winter sparrows were late arrivals, missing 2016 altogether, but a Savannah Sparrow was there to welcome in the new year:
Egyptian Geese first appeared in 2011, but their numbers quickly increased. A pair flew overhead, the female trumpeted loudly and the male uttered a coarse hissing sound:
On January 1 we saw the first Loggerhead Shrike of the year, and other early sightings included...
...a Long-tailed Skipper on Lantana blossoms,
...a female Soldier butterfly on Bidens alba (Florida's most productive native source of nectar),
,,,a White Peacock butterfly,
...a perky Gray Squirrel,
...a Sharp-shinned Hawk,
...and a sedate Great Blue Heron in early light:
Ligustrum blossoms attracted a Zebra heliconian:
Forgive me for emphasizing the butterflies, but I was to find few to none during the following January, thanks to Hurricane Irma which struck in October, 2017 and decimated their adults, eggs and caterpillars. The heavy use of insecticides to curb the Zika outbreak which followed Irma certainly contributed to their plight. This is a female Julia longwing, a species which was probably Irma's worst casualty:
The Ruby-throated hummingbird is a welcome winter visitor. This is a female:
A Great Egret comes in for a landing:
White-tailed Deer at the far end of the road:
Glossy and White Ibises:
Backyard Tricolored Heron:
On January 15, rain threatens...
...but not a drop falls. Walking home, sunbeams bathe the entrance to the wetlands:
A few doors from our home, the entrance gate, from inside the preserve:
The next morning, the end of a rainbow seems to be only steps away:
Parallel high clouds appear to converge to the north:
A motorized parachute frightens the wildlife, but I could not miss the photo opportunity as I anticipated a near collision--"Fly me to the Moon:"
On a sad note, our next door neighbor, a young energetic and athletic man with a fine wife and two great sons, developed pancreatic cancer and passed away within a few months of the diagnosis. His younger son paddles in our lake with his sweet Labradoodle:
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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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The month of November, 2016 started on a sad note. MaryLou's oldest brother who lived in Tucson, Arizona was recuperating from complications which followed a leg fracture. We planned to visit him and made flight reservations, also hoping to do some birding while out there. His condition suddenly deteriorated the day before our scheduled arrival. He had turned gravely ill with pneumonia and sepsis.
We flew out the first day of November and visited him that evening in a rehabilitation facility. He was very weak but alert and involved with events surrounding the World Series and the presidential election. We stayed at nearby Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and visited with him the next morning. We planned to spend more time with him, but he passed away that night.
We had reservations to return to Florida on November 4 and had time to briefly visit Sweetwater Wetlands and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum before flying home.
I had to pore over nearly 1,000 processed photos from November to highlight favorite memes, such as critters (plenty of birds!), skies, reflections, flowers, fences and scenes which speak for themselves.
My first images were from Sweetwater Wetlands. Our visit was much too brief, given the circumstances.
Yellow-headed Blackbirds flew overhead:
The Red-naped Sapsucker is the western counterpart of our Yellow-bellied Sapsucker:
The Verdin inhabits thorny shrubs in the arid lands of southern Arizona:
Long ears serve to dissipate body heat of the Desert Cottontail:
The next morning, rain was threatening when we visited the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, but most of it evaporated before reaching the ground:
Cactus Wrens were common:
Butterflies included a Common Checkered-Skipper:
Back home in Florida, our winter resident birds were settling in. Among them was a fairly rare Bell's Vireo:
Marsh Wrens appear irregularly during the winter months:
Eastern Phoebes stay for the winter:
This phoebe is dwarfed by the heavy guard rail fence along the "road to nowhere:"
Clay-colored Sparrows made their first (and so far only) appearance in our local wetlands:
Wintering Palm Warblers were numerous:
Swamp Sparrows were reliably present but few in number:
Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird:
Sharp-shinned Hawk:
Dark morph of a Short-tailed Hawk:
The local pair of Bald Eagles, after losing their first brood earlier in the year, had successfully reared one eaglet which remained dependent well into September. Now they were refurbishing their nest in preparation for the new season:
A large male Bobcat was visiting, probably meeting up with one of the resident females:
Zebra heliconian at the flower of a Firebush (Hamelia patens):
A "mirrored sunrise" on November 27 is an illusion caused by convergence of the parallel rays of the rising sun on the opposite (western) horizon. Conditions are best when the sky is clear overhead but the tops of storm clouds over the Atlantic Ocean break up the light to form the rays:
The sky was clearing up after a rain storm on November 28:
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
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
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