Monday in Nature January 9, 2017

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<p><strong>Basic Guidelines</strong>: Nature based subject matter. Please, declare captive subjects. Keep your image at/under 1000 pixels on the long axis for in-line viewing. Note that this includes photos hosted off-site at Flicker, Photobucket, your own site, etc. Feel free to link your image to a larger version. <strong><em>In the strictest sense, nature photography should not include hand of man elements. Please refrain from images with obvious buildings or large man made structures like roads, fences, walls. Minimize man made features and keep the focus on nature. </em></strong><br>

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<strong><em>Are you new to this thread? We post one image per week. For more details on guidelines please read <a href="/nature-photography-forum/00cgtY">this</a> helpful information. </em></strong></p>

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<p>Good Morning,<br>

I hope you've had a great week. We'll dive right in, and open with a diving bird. This Red- throated Loon is in winter plumage. The image was taken on the bay side of Cape May, NJ. Cold gray water and skies, but a beautiful sleek water bird stands out. Great nature photography always surfaces when it's Monday in Nature. Have a great day, everyone.</p><div></div>

<p>Black-Crested Titmouse seen at Pedernales Falls SP in central Texas.</p><div></div>

<p>Winter woods.</p><div></div>

<p><strong>Pretty Coyote Looks Up From Her Hunting In Snow</strong></p>

<p><a title="Pretty Coyote Looks Up From Her Hunting" href=" data-flickr-embed="true"><img src="https://c6.staticflickr.com/1/689/32035944101_15b1555917_b.jpg" alt="Pretty Coyote Looks Up From Her Hunting" width="1024" height="819" /></a></p>

<p>Well, it's kind of a disappointment. By the time we got there in the afternoon, the sun was in the wrong place. What made the trip worthwhile was the apple pie alamode at the Black Rock Café in nearby Brenda, AZ. Not to mention the hairy off-road trip to the shooting site...</p><div></div>

<p>Still sorting through the Peruvian stuff, here's a sloth peering out from behind the digital noise...</p><div></div>

<p>Last week before the snow in NYC.</p><div></div>

<p>There's something about coots. . .</p><div></div>

<p>Canvasback</p><div></div>

<p>Black-necked stilt.</p><div></div>

<p>Anhinga surfacing for MiN...</p><div></div>

<p>The banana leaf!<br>

David your Coyote image is just stunning. </p><div></div>

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<p>David your Coyote image is just stunning.</p>

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<p> <br>

Thank you, Nilantha.</p>

<p>Drying...<br>

Nikon D500 with AF-S 80-400.<br>

<a title="Double-crested cormorant" href=" data-flickr-embed="true"><img src="https://c5.staticflickr.com/1/583/31313749764_64582e93bb_b.jpg" alt="Double-crested cormorant" width="1024" height="683" /></a></p>

<p>A tide-line of washed up <em>Laminaria</em> and folded limestone</p><div></div>

<p>Sunrise on Lake Michigan</p><div></div>

<p>Shortly after dawn on a brisk morning in October.</p><div></div>

<p>Well, I found beauty in this decaying mess....</p><div></div>

<p>Since it's only January 9 and has been bitterly cold, it makes one wonder how they make it through the winter.</p><div></div>

<p>From this time last year...</p><div></div>

<p>Ice Sculpted</p><div></div>

<p>Great White Pelican at Lake Nakuru, Kenya.</p><div></div>

<p>Female Cardinal from our snow storm from the weekend from the piedmont area of North Carolina.</p><div></div>

<p>In my area, this Jan 5 registered the lowest temperature for the date since 1890, and no, I'm not going to tell you how cold it got because you'll laugh at me. Anyway, the bitter cold made some odd things happen in tidally influenced ponds among the sand dunes. The ponds were freezing in the early morning hours while the tide was going out, which meant that the water was disappearing from under the developing sheets of ice. To make matters even more interesting, there's a fair bit of salt in these freshwater ponds (since they're only about 100 yd from the sea), and I suspect the salt that got excluded from the crystallizing ice showed up as the white streaks on the surface (I didn't have the presence of mind to taste it, though). There was also a bit of wind, probably contributing to sublimation and recrystallization. The end result was that at sunrise, the patterns of ice crystals, ice terraces, and ice surface decoration were spectacular, and this was all on sheets of ice that were suspended in mid air between grass mounds. </p><div></div>

<p>Sandhill Cranes flying overhead in a snowstorm.<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18330569-md.jpg" alt="" width="402" height="680" /></p>