I reviewed nearly 600 processed photos taken three years ago during April, 2015, a month which found us engaged in family fun and travel.
Since Easter came early in the month as it does in the present year, our planned events will be a sort of replay of the same places and habitats as the land bird migration season gets underway and peaks. In fact, we plan to be on Sanibel Island after Easter when this blog posts.
In the archives I looked for favorite memes of sky and reflections, birds and other critters to reflect the season as well as scenes which speak for themselves.
A Blogiversary! This marks my 800th Rosyfinch Ramblings blog post since it peeked out of its shell in September, 2006.
Photo of the month-- The lighthouse at night on Sanibel Point, Florida, April 7, 2015:
There was lots of activity during April. Our daughter's family came to visit us for the Easter holidays. We vacationed on Sanibel Island and finished the month at our second home in NE Illinois. On April 2, an Easter White-winged Dove posed in wonderful light (not to mention that this symbol of peace is perched on a Castor Oil Bean tree which is the source of Ricin, the deadly poison):
Looking south at sunrise, also on April 2, over our local Wounded Wetlands:
We experienced a lunar eclipse on April 4, the day before Easter Sunday. It had attained just about three quarters of umbra when the rising sun spoiled the show.
Then we were off to Sanibel, where we occupied a nice large suite overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. Our daughter, Son-in-Law and their two girls enjoy fishing, which is fine with us as it gives us time to go birding. We watched breathtaking sunsets from the fishing pier:
Our granddaughters caught a few, and did better than their Dad, who spent a lot of time on Company business (I remember the feeling-- like a busy executive, a family doctor in private practice really had no "free" time):
On the pier, the birds came to us, among them this Snowy Egret:
Brown Pelicans hoped to catch any throw-backs, although feeding them is prohibited:
An Osprey nest near the pier contained a hungry chick:
Pileated Woodpeckers were commonly present in the woodlands surrounding the lighthouse:
I could not ignore the beautiful Blanket Flowers along the way:
At nearby Ding Darling National Wildlife Preserve, Reddish Egrets foraged energetically:
A Northern Cardinal appeared on the boardwalk:
We spent the last half of the month at our second home in Illinois. The first couple of days were so cold that we did not venture out. We visited a local park to see a Great Horned Owl with three owlets (two are visible):
We don't get to see many American Robins in south Florida, so this was a treat:
In the surrounding corn fields, a grand old barn which I hope is still standing...
...but another was torn down only a few months later:
With half a month left, I can only highlight a few of the Illinois birds--
Virginia Rail:
Red-winged Blackbird:
White-breasted Nuthatch:
A pair of Bald Eagles at a nest near our condo:
Overhead, a Red-tailed Hawk:
A male Bobolink in breeding finery:
Eastern Meadowlark on budding oak tree:
A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher on its tiny nest:
Arriving Yellow Warblers:
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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
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Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display
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We had three cold fronts move through in succession this past week, driving the overnight temperatures into the mid 40's F (7 degees C) with a brisk northerly breeze. Daytime temperatures barely reached the chilly mid-50s F (15 degrees C).
We get out early. Here is the view from our back yard taken at 6:24 AM, 40 minutes before sunrise on December 17, 2017:
A half hour before sunrise, the sky is just beginning to lighten up behind the entrance gate of our subdivision:
With Christmas and the holiday season upon us, I look back on some of my photos which convey the theme. Nothing rare, but lots of color and seasonal joy. We are in south Florida, so these are not holly berries--
Yellow-rumped Warbler...
...and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, on Brazilian Pepper:
European holiday greeting cards often feature Robins and Turtle Doves. Here in the US, the most popular birds shown on Christmas cards seem to be cardinals and chickadees.
Northern Cardinal:
Black-capped Chickadee (taken in Illinois, as it does not range into south Florida):
No snow here. This Mountain Chickadee appears in one of my New Mexico photos:
This loving pair of Common Ground-Doves must substitute for Turtle Doves (getting over a lovers' quarrel?):
This American Robin, namesake of the unrelated European species, is an uncommon but welcome winter visitor to our local wetlands:
It too was eating the Brazilian Pepper berries:
Like our robin, the Eastern Bluebird is a member of the thrush family. Their images often adorn holiday cards. I saw this one in Illinois:
I wish I had photos of a Blue Jay on snow...
...but I did catch this snow scene, of the closely related Steller's Jay, almost two miles high on Sandia Crest in New Mexico:
Florida has many "snowbirds" of the people kind, but the Dark-eyed Junco deserves the name. This one was enjoying the snowflakes in our daughter's back yard in Illinois:
I searched my archives for photos taken on Christmas day--
A back yard Wood Stork (2008):
A wind-blown Tricolored Heron on our lawn (2010):
Pair of Egyptian Geese approaching the near shore of our lake (2013)
From the back patio, an airplane crossing in front of the full Cold Moon (2015):
Also on Christmas, 2016, a Great Egret in the local wetlands reflected nicely:
This photo of a Zebra Heliconian was taken on Christmas Day just last year. The butterfly is feasting on Lantana flower nectar. This year, Hurricane Irma struck on September 10, and so altered the habitat that nearly all flower buds and fruits were stripped off the trees and shrubs. This resulted in a serious lack of butterflies, even though the artificial "pruning" later caused a flush of blossoms which peaked in mid-November.
The Lantanas have now gone to fruit and have no flowers at all. Their berries, which normally ripen and persist through much of the winter, are an important food source for wildlife. The same happened to the Trema trees, but the ones which were not blown down have not yet recovered and show no signs of new buds.
This photo shows a Northern Cardinal on a Trema rich with fruit. (I use it as wallpaper for this blog.) It was taken on September 5, 2016, almost exactly one year before the hurricane struck. Note that new fruit appears and ripens sequentially at the tips of the branches. The shoots continue to grow out and produce new berries all winter. Not this year!
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all, and thank you for visiting and hosting my blog, which I started back in 2006. A good friend, who has since passed, created this Christmas Card from one of my photos only three years ago:
On a happy note, I ran across many Christmas photos of our grandchildren. I thought these two, of our Illinois granddaughters were special (2007):
(2008):
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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