Goldfinch aggression
American Goldfinch: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — The nor-easter we had this week brought out abnormal behavior in many of our feeder birds…but especially in the Goldfinches. Goldfinches can be feisty at times, but during the snowfall they were outright aggressive…defending the thistle feeder from each other and from the Dark-eyed Juncos that decided they were feeder birds while the snow was falling, and who wanted a turn at the thistle. The action provided an unusual view of the tail with the alternating black and white tips. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 1600 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Bluebird’s first snowfall…
Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — This year’s chick reacts to yesterday’s heavy snowfall. Says it all! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. (Taken through a thermopane glass deck door.) ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Another of the many moods of the bluebird
Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Yes, another Bluebird shot! And another shot that is ripe for anthropomorphic emotional projection. The bokeh certainly helps 🙂 I will let you be the projectors. What does this shot say to you? Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 320 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
The Cedar Waxwings are back!
Cedar Waxwings: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I have been watching for the Cedar Waxwings for a few weeks now. I was sure they were somewhere around town, but they have not reached our neighborhood. This time of year they are still in their big flock. Later on they will disperse into smaller feeding groups as the crop of berries still on the ornamental cherry trees and various vines diminishes. Winter berries are not sweet enough to attract them until after several freezes…freezing concentrates the sugars the same way it does in the grapes used for “ice wine” in Germany. I actually went out looking for them yesterday, hoping I would find them at Roger’s Pond Park where there are both ornamental cherries and the vines they like. They were not there, but on my home I found them (or they found me) in the trees along the street by the Rotary Club Park by the bridge over the Mousam River right in downtown Kennebunk. There 30 to 40 birds, flying back and forth across the river repeatedly and settling a few at time in the cherry trees. I, of course, have photos 🙂 In this shot you can see the “waxwings” on one of the birds. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/1000th.
Bluebird personality?
Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — it is probably wrong to think of any animal as having “personality”…but I don’t know what the animal equivalent might be. Bluebirds, in particular, seem to express a wide range of emotions, or at least, to strike poses which make it easy for us to project our emotions on to them. Which is, perhaps, part of the reason we like to have them around. This bluebird has its eye on something, and that is for sure. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr. ISO 320 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
and back to the regular nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — This is one of at least two (I have seen two at the same time) White-breasted Nuthatches that frequent our feeders on a daily basis. During the spring and summer they would take a single seed and fly off to the trees to dispatch it…but the past few weeks they have begun to dig the kernel out right on the deck…wedging the seed in a crack in the deck rail and having at it. Someone’s comment on a previous post made think of the difference between our two “fearless” feeders…both the chickadees and the nuthatches will happily feed while I am on the deck, often landing within arms reach (you will have seen photos of chickadees trained feed from folk’s hands). The chickadees interact with humans. I am not sure the nuthatches even know we are here. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 200 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
The other nuthatch…
Red-breasted Nuthatch: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I enjoy all the nuthatches that come to our feeding stations. The White-breasted are there many times a day, all day, but, while they may come at least once everyday, I only see the Red-breasted once a week or so…sometimes not at all for many weeks. If I spend more time in the kitchen overlooking the feeders, or in my photo blind when it is set up, I would probably see them more, but as it is, every sighting is a real treat! This one popped up on the deck when I was taking photos of bluebirds the other day. It was there for maybe a moment, and then I did not see it again, but I got a few photos as it flitted through. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Mousam River vista
Standing on the Route 1 bridge in Kennebunk, Maine, looking mostly south-east along the flow of the river toward the ocean on a December day. The sun was in and out and I caught it out as I crossed the bridge. Sony Rx10iv at 24mm equivalent. Program mode with HDR on auto. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Nominal exposure: ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/360th.
who’s the handsome bird?
American Crow: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I went for a walk yesterday, just to Roger’s Pond and back, to check if there were Eagles or Mergansers (or maybe Wood Duck) on the river, or just possibly, Cedar Waxwings in the berries. Nothing. Not even a Chickadee to reward my effort. It is the most wonderful time of year 🙂 But almost home there is an open lot bordered with big pines, and there I found a group of Crows very busy turning over leaves to see what was under them. Handsome birds, when you take the time to look. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Winter Sunrise
It was, going by the images posted already on Facebook, a particularly glorious sunrise yesterday all across Maine. This is just from our back deck, looking out over the yard, with the fringe of icicles from our metal roof sliding down over the door. Beauty is where you find it…and a good thing that is in this year of limited mobility. Sony Rx10iv at 24mm equivalent. Program mode with auto HDR. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Nominal exposure: ISO 200 @ f2.5 @ 1/60th.