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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The entrance to our wetlands is only a few doors from our home:
On many mornings for the past two weeks the humidity has been high and the temperature close to the dew point, so we have been greeted by fog, especially thick over the lake.
Too often I strive to depict the birds in side-on "field guide" poses. A feather in disarray or an errant bit of foliage can spoil such images. Fog smooths out these defects and provides a natural filter for photo effects, obliterates the background and focuses attention on the subject and its immediate surroundings.
Composition and action seem more important than the plumage details of this Great Egret:
Images such as these of a Little Blue Heron are soft and lack detail, but I find them especially pleasing to the eye:
A pair of Mottled Ducks are barely identifiable:
Poor light muddles the image of a Belted Kingfisher but makes the setting almost look like an oil painting:
Street lights, still on almost two miles to the north, burn through the fog at sunrise
Just as the fog is lifting, the sun's glare is restrained and shadows are muted. The warm color temperature permits better display of plumage details, especially that of white birds such as the White Ibis and Great Egret:
I did not see these two Red-breasted Mergansers swimming away from me until they were too far away for a decent photo, but I loved the warmth of the sun playing on the grasses of the wet meadow:
A patch of sunlight pierces the fog next to these White Ibises:
Everything is coated with dew as the fog breaks up and droplets fill the air. I don't know what kind of composite flower this may be, but it is very tiny, only about 3/4 inch (2 cm) wide:
The spiders' webs are weighed down by dewdrops:
A necklace of silk and dewdrops:
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Linking to Misty's CAMERA CRITTERS,
Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,
Linking to GOOD FENCES 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 Today's Flowers Friday by Denise
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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South Florida has continued to experience unusual quantities of rainfall. Getting out early, we sometimes had to curtail our wetland walks as storms approached. On the day before we departed, thunderstorms gathered on all sides. On our way back home via the gravel road an ominous "double mushroom thunderhead" had formed in the southeast, over the city of Miami:
The early morning sun created a startling rainbow effect:
Before the winds picked up, a Green Heron reflected from its perch on a little rock island:
Both days after we arrived at our second home in northeastern Illinois we took morning walks at nearby Nelson Lake, a Kane County Forest Preserve. On the first day we explored the eastern prairie and surrounding woodlands. The weather was pleasant but the birding was slow.
An observation deck overlooks the east side of the lake:
The view from the platform:
A Red-tailed Hawk flew towards us and passed right overhead:
A Savannah Sparrow flew up from the path and then settled on a small shrub. They are usually active and restless, but this one allowed a rather close approach.
In the wooded area, photography was a bit of a challenge because of the dense foliage and dark shadows. This Downy Woodpecker was a case in point. My photos were soft but I liked the bokeh caused by the filtered light and the different postures assumed by the woodpecker as it foraged on some low-lying branches:
Yellow-Rumped Warblers are late migrants, and their arrival signaled that the best of the season had passed. It was difficult to pick them out among the leaves:
That night a cold front passed through. In mid-morning, after the rains let up we entered the preserve from the north We were not prepared for the cold 46 degrees (~8 degrees Celsius), such a contrast from Florida's heat and humidity. A family group of Sandhill Cranes provided a nice photo opportunity. The colt lacks the red forehead which distinguishes it from its parents:
They suddenly decided they did not appreciate our intrusion:
When birding is slow there is time to observe other items of interest and beauty, including colorful Milkweed Bugs:
It was very windy and there were few butterflies but plenty of flowers, such as these rich purple New England Asters:
A honeybee collected pollen from a Heath Aster...
...and a Yellow Jacket also visited:
Our travel and temporary relocation have caused me to get terribly behind on correspondence, but rain is in the forecast and I hope to have more computer face time in the next few days. I will certainly be browsing all your great posts, and thank you for so many kind comments! (Now to make my Thursday morning deadline!)
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Linking to Misty's CAMERA CRITTERS,
Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,
Linking to GOOD FENCES by Tex (Theresa).
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 Today's Flowers Friday by Denise
Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue
________________________________________________
Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display
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