Poring over my photo archives from three years ago, I reflect that my life is now much less active. Having given up our second home in Illinois, we are more homebound. Excursions are mostly for shopping, choir practice, church and of course, visits to the dentist and various doctors. Our early morning walks into the adjacent Wounded Wetlands highlight each day.
We started out the month of May, 2016 in Illinois. Our son-in-law hosted their traditional backyard Cinco de Mayo pig roast with over 100 people in attendance. Since it is also a birthday party for our daughter, donations to a local charity are requested in lieu of gifts. Spring migration was underway. At every opportunity, MaryLou and I visited the numerous municipal parks and county forest preserves.
At Bliss Woods in Sugar Grove we found Yellow Warblers in full song:
We encountered one Orchard Oriole:
Common Grackles in Midwestern US were formerly called "Bronzed Grackles" as opposed to the eastern "Purple Grackles," as I knew them as a kid in New Jersey. They were originally considered separate species. This photo illustrates its iridescent brown back:
At Jones Meadow Park near our condo in North Aurora, Flocks of Sandhill Cranes were arriving and passing overhead:
This Virginia Rail was a real treat as it posed in a cattail patch:
A Canada Goose tends to its goslings. This photo was taken from some distance away, as they can become violently aggressive in defense of their young:
A male American Goldfinch is reflected on the surface of a brook:
We visited the Japanese Garden at Fabyan Forest Preserve in Geneva, providing some of my favorite photo opportunities:
Blossoms enveloped a small outbuilding in the garden:
There, a Great Horned Owl tended its owlets...
...and a beautiful Yellow-throated Warbler sang in a treetop:
Oh, my-- this only brings me up to the 6th of the month-- So many more photos to review! Scarlet Tanager, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and an Indigo Bunting on April 12:
On May 15, the day before we returned to Florida, a Baltimore Oriole perched nearby:
Back home, MaryLou is ahead of me as she enters our local wetlands:
A Great Egret takes flight:
A little Blue Heron and a smaller Green Heron interact:
A young doe prances across the gravel track:
Before sunrise, a storm is forming to the west over the Everglades:
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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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Once again I am peering through the retrospectroscope, back three years to March, 2015. I will search my photo archives for images which depict favorite memes-- critters of all kinds (especially birds), reflections, fences, clouds, and scenes which speak for themselves.
Rain threatened early on the morning of March 1 as we hurried back home from a shortened walk in the local Wounded Wetlands.
At the lake, there is an ancient three-foot high cypress stump which I call the "Enchanted Island." It provides a useful gauge of the depth of the water. At full capacity it is entirely submerged, and in a normal dry season it sits out of the water on the mudflats.
This time of year the water should begin rising, but not nearly this high, meaning our lake will not likely attract many shorebirds. Let's see if this prediction holds true.
A Red-winged Blackbird reflected on the "Enchanted Island," March 1, 2015:
A Green Anole displayed his dewlap on March 2:
Two female White-tailed Deer appeared at the edge of the wet prairie:
A White-winged Dove gathered nesting material in our front yard:
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron male performed a courtship display:
Early in the month, the new female Bald Eagle (Jewel) watched, her mate (Pride) hard at work on the nest, flying in with sticks...
...and arranging them. Jewel did not join him, remaining on her roost next to the nest to the right:
:
On March 12, Pride was still working on the nest but Jewel finally flew down with him. They performed a sort of recognition ritual...
...and then Jewel started helping out:
During the next few days the pair spent some time together on the nest, but Jewel never settled down. She is on the left in these photos (March 16):
They seemed to have a cozy relationship, but it was far too late for the eagles to start raising a family:
Indeed, Jewel never appeared "broody," and never settled down in the nest. We wondered whether she deposited one or more eggs in the nest but lacked the instinct to incubate them. Indeed, Pride was often seen sitting deep in the nest over the next few weeks. The odds are against a single adult (especially a male) being able to hatch out an eaglet.
The weather remained unusually rainy. Although the mud flats never appeared on the lake, we were pleased to have visits by graceful Black-necked Stilts:
The Mottled Ducks did not mind the weather:
The cloudy skies produced some nice sunrises over our back yard lake...
...and a double rainbow:
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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
________________________________________________
Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display
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Once again, it is time to glean through my photo archives from three years ago to look for examples of favorite memes: Fences, Skies. Reflections, Birds and other Critters, images which depict the Seasons and Wordless scenes that need no explanation.
Reflecting upon the month of July, 2014 I remember how the previous month's trip to Alaska disturbed the rhythm of our annual summer "migrations" from Florida to Illinois. If one has a choice, July is not the best month to be in Florida.
We had traveled to Alaska and then returned to Illinois for only a couple of weeks. Many essential doctor and dental appointments had to be kept back home in Florida, and we hate to leave our house untended for any extended period.
Usually I have a hard time finding images of fences, but before we departed from Illinois we visited the Japanese Garden in nearby Fabyan Park. The fences arced along my favorite foot bridge:
I tried to imitate an Impressionist painter on my digital "canvas:"
On our last full day in Illinois, we stopped at Nelson Lake preserve in Batavia, where we saw Cedar Waxwings..
...and an exuberant Common Yellowthroat:
Then, off to south Florida, where the month had started out with lots of rain and mosquitoes. The wetlands were so flooded that prey items were diluted and many wading birds sought refuge in our backyard lake.
Thanks to blown-in Saharan dust we were greeted by a golden sunrise:
Early morning light bathed a Wood Stork as it foraged along our back lawn:
Our long-legged "yard birds" lingered all day. While the tactile-feeding Wood Stork stirred up prey with its bubble-gum pink feet...
...a Tricolored Heron followed along, using its sharp vision, gobbling up any that got away:
A Snowy Egret flew in to join the feast...
...while a stealthy Green Heron waited for a meal to come within striking distance:
A Green Anole, hoping to attract a mate, displayed his dewlap:
Housebound by rain, we often missed our morning walks and watched angry sunrises from our back patio...
...but all the rain was good for our pineapples...
...and delicious tree-ripened Sugar-apple (Annona squamosa, also known by many other names such as Sweetsop or Custard Apple):
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Linking to Misty's CAMERA CRITTERS,
Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,
Linking to FENCES AROUND THE WORLD by Gosia
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 Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue
Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jesh
________________________________________________
Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display
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