Field guide No. 572
Oak leaves become starlings
Autumn, leaving on the wing.
A bare oak in a stubbled field sheds a stream of brown leaves that turn into a flock of starlings as they blow away to the right. The tree gets them back in spring, more or less.
Field noteLeaves fall and stay leaves. These turn into starlings as the wind carries them off.
Also possible, also breaking category
Snake-tipped fiddleheads in springFiddleheads coil like snakes, and here the likeness went too far. Fern at the bottom, viper at the tip.
Leaf closureA glowing leaf fills the mouth of a forest tunnel. The road has been absorbed into the plant.
Blue flame in a hollow lemonLemon rind hollowed into a burner, blue gas flame at the bottom of one half.
The sleeping matchSheep sleep and matches are wooden. Combining the two takes a carpenter, not a paradox.