Once again I am celebrating the new month by looking back over photos I took during July, three years ago. Favorite memes include critters of all kinds (especially birds), skies and landscapes, flowers, fences, butterflies and reflections, and scenes which speak for themselves.
We started July, 2016 at our (then) second home in Illinois. It was a treat to see and photograph a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak in breeding plumage when we visited Les Arends Kane County Forest Preserve :
A peaceful slough along the Fox River at Les Arends:
Our daughter was hosting an exchange student from France, and we attended a soccer game with a group of the students at Mooseheart Stadium, about a mile from our condo. As we approached the venue an adult Bald Eagle flew across the road right in front of our car, to the delight of the visitors (Quick detour to the present-- sadly, the male of this pair was struck and killed by a motor vehicle at this location only about 2 months ago View newspaper story. Now back to 2016...).
Bald Eagles had raised at least two eaglets in a nest in the middle of the stadium parking lot. The tree began to decline during the prior two years and now was completely dead. The eaglets were free-flying. As dark approached both eaglets returned to the nest tree. I kept one eye on the nest and the other on the game:
I only had my pocket camera (a Canon PowerShot SX700 HS) but its optical zoom allowed me a good photo of one of the eaglets:
We returned to Florida by mid-month. A Snowy Egret on the lakeside marsh reflected nicely:
As expected, the bird species were all familiar summer residents. The daily species count hovered around 20 to 25. Yet, there was beauty to be appreciated. A Loggerhead Shrike posed on a high stalk of grass:
A male Common Nighthawk is distinguished from the female by its bright white throat and more conspicuous wing markings:
The weather was typical for this time of year. Clear humid and hot mornings evolved into afternoon showers and thunderstorms, or morning storms moved in from the ocean. Here is a view from our back patio around sunrise on July 21:
The next morning we dared to walk out just before sunrise, but kept an anxious eye on the sky behind us over the entrance gate:
The local pair of Bald Eagles persisted through the summer after losing their first brood and successfully raising two eaglets more than a month later than is normal. An adult swooped over the lake and splashed a few times but failed to catch a fish:
The local eaglets seemed to be at about the same stage of development as those in Illinois, which fledge 4-6 weeks later than Florida birds usually do. Normally, an eaglet from this nest would have migrated to the north by mid-July. Since they have not developed all their hunting skills, they benefit by moving into areas with cooler water where the fish are not hiding deep to escape the heat. They typically return to south Florida by mid-autumn:
Red-winged Blackbirds had raised their broods but they still inhabited the lakeside marsh and sang from atop the Pond Cypress trees:
Northern Cardinals were caring for fledglings. The juvenile cardinal has a dark bill...
...as compared to the bright red bill of its mother:
Lantana was in full bloom. It attracted butterflies...
...including this Gulf Fritillary:
An Opossum walked right up close before recognizing me:
A White-tailed buck was approaching breeding condition. Increasing blood levels of testosterone have made him more muscular and cut out the blood supply to the protective felt which has now been cast off his antlers:
High water in the Everglades has driven the deer to seek dry ground. The lake has spilled over into the marsh and wet prairie:
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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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We had a welcome and increasingly rare visitor to our back yard on June 20. I had not seen a Wood Stork here since an adult showed up in August, 2015. It may have been the same one which appeared a week earlier. Both were one-day visits. Before that, one had walked up on our patio in June, 2015:
The recent visitor was an immature bird, as evidenced by the light yellowish or bone color of its bill. By the time they are three years old, adults have developed black bills. It was probably a second-year bird, as those which hatched out this year would retain some feathers on their heads and their bills would be brighter yellow. It walked along the lake shore just off our patio:
In typical fashion it stirred the water with its pink foot to frighten fish into its waiting open jaws:
A Tricolored Heron scurried about as it fished along the lake:
Unlike the stork, which is a patient tactile feeder who waits for the prey to approach its jaws, the heron uses its keen eyesight to spot and pursue anything edible. It caught a small fish along with a dead leaf and carried both up onto our lawn. This prevented the fish from escaping into the water as the heron used its tongue to dislodge the vegetable matter:
The heron joined the stork in a quiet corner of the lake where floating coconuts had accumulated. (Some have sprouted into trees which will eventually be removed by the landscapers.) We often see such associations between sight and tactile feeders, as this can be mutually beneficial. The heron helps the stork find schools of fish. The stork then scatters them out into open water. Note the maturing mangoes on a neighbor's tree:
The stork extends one wing while stirring the water with the opposite foot. I used to think they were doing this to cut down on glare so that they could see the fish, but they don't catch by sight. Rather, the fish tend to collect in the shade of the wing, making them more likely to stray into the stork's waiting jaws:
A Great Egret fished nearby. The fence and red walls of a neighbor's house reflected nicely:
A Blue Jay roosted on our mango tree. Our fruit ripened much earlier this year:
We left the topmost mangoes to the wildlife. Egyptian Geese savored them:
Out in the local wetlands, mosquitoes descended in hordes. Among them was a very large species with a painful bite, the American Giant Mosquito (Psorophora ciliata), sometimes called Shaggy-legged Gallinipper or Feather-legged Gallinipper. Indeed, it has banded shaggy legs and looks like a wasp. It appears sometimes after a spell of heavy rain but is not known to carry any human diseases:
As usual, we go out early. Here is MaryLou up ahead of me with her flashlight, under the full Strawberry Moon:
Sunlight touched the Wet Prairie through morning haze, dust blown in from Africa:
Back at my computer I discovered that one of my views revealed a distant deer:
Anti-solar rays opposite the sunrise, reflecting the Saharan dust, converged on the western horizon, creating a mirrored or false sunrise:
Recently cleared of debris left almost two years ago by Hurricane Irma, the levee trail was inviting:
A Marsh Rabbit appeared on the track:
Ahead, a female White-tailed Deer checked to see if it was safe to cross. I slowly raised my camera:
The doe led her half-grown fawn across the trail:
A buck, its growing antlers still in velvet, followed close behind:
I knew where the deer were most likely headed, so I crept over to get an open shot. The buck spotted me first:
The fawn emerged from cover and trotted right past me:
Sensing danger, the doe raised her tail like a flag and then bounded after her offspring:
The buck followed, and their hoof-beats rattled on the gravel track:
A Mourning Dove basked in the sun:
Storm clouds gathered:
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
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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