Mourning Cloak Butterfly
Another gift from yesterday’s visit to Emmon’s Preserve (Kennebunkport Land Trust) in search of Trout Lily. Lit in front of me, flew off, and then returned even closer…and then sat with its wings open as long as I stood there. 🙂 Warming up in the thin April sun. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Gift Owl
Barred Owl: York County, Maine, USA, April 2024 — Sometimes Owls happen. I was down on the ground photographing Trout Lilies in one of my favorite spots for aka Adders Tongue, Yellow Dog Tooth Violet. I had been down there for at least 10 minutes when I decided to stand up and move to another clump. When I stood, a big bird dropped out of the tree right above my head…no more than 10 feet above my head, and swooped away through the still bare trees to land in a big maple 50 yards into the forest. It must have been there when I walked in and I must have been right under it all the time I was photographing the lily. It took me a moment to process the fact that it must be an Owl. I could see it there sitting on a limb with its back to me, way too wide for a hawk, and its flight had been absolutely silent. Owl! I worked my way around, looking for a more or less unobstructed view, trying very hard not to disturb the bird any more than I already had. There was, of course, no ideal line of sight and though it was sitting in full noon sun, its eyes were in deep shadow. Still, a Barred Owl in broad daylight. That does not happen often, or at least not to me. OM Systems OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator. This is an image that required more than normal processing to find the eyes in their shadowed recesses, and to remove foreground obstructions, but, still…my best shot ever of a Barred Owl, and only the third one I have seen in Maine. What a gift!
Florida! Sorta Sora
Sora Rail: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2014 — I saw 2 lady birders stopped and looking intently through binoculars at the base of the mangroves across a narrow channel by the road, so I did a drive by look, and saw enough to pull over and walk back. Yes, a Sora, and not sorta, but a real Sora, deep in the shadows but within reach of the OM Systems OM-1 and M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Very high ISO, but still. Turns out this was the first reported Sora for the year at Merritt Island. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Maine! Full song!
Brown Thrasher: York County, Maine, USA — It was a treat to find this Brown Thrasher when I was out looking for Trout Lily the other day. It even sat up and sang for me. 🙂 OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Pelicans wave
American White Pelican: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — I know this looks like one of those trick shots were I have pasted the same bird into the frame over and over again to make a pretty pattern, but it is a natural flight formation of White Pelicans on the move over Blackpoint Drive. The first several days I was in Florida this is the only way I saw Pelicans…in the air. I eventually found some feeding on the water close enough for photography but it was not until my last day there. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine Landscape
Kennebunk Plains Nature Conservancy, Kennebunk, Maine, USA, April 2024 — More of a sky-scape than landscape, since the plains have not really come alive yet after the winter. Signs of life but still pretty subdued. The sky makes up for it. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 12-45 f4 Pro zoom at 24mm equivalent. Program mode. In-camera HDR. Processed in Photomator and Apple Photos.
Maine! Head and shoulders
American Robin: York County, Maine, USA, April 2024 — If I sit very still in my camp chair, the Robins, most common of yard birds here in Southern Maine, will come right up to me. These two shots are at 1600mm equivalent, using the digital tele-converter in the OM Systems OM-1Mkii with the M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom, so I was not as close as it looks. Still, pretty close for a wild bird. Late afternoon light picks out every feather detail. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Rim-light
Cattle Egret: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, January 2024 — I did not see many Cattle Egrets around Blackpoint Drive on any of the days I visited during the Space Coast Birding and Nature Festival, but there were a few…just coming into breeding plumage. This rim-lighted shot shows off the yellow bill to good effect. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 698mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine Landscape
Not exactly a landscape, but part of the early spring landscape in the Southern Maine woodlands. In this case Emmon’s Preserve of the Kennebunkport Land Trust. I went a week ago to check the Trout Lily (Adder’s Tongue…I just found out it is also called Dog Tooth Violet, though that was a distinctly different plant in upstate New York when I was growing up) and the leaves were just barely above ground. This week there are a few in full blossom, but only a few in the most favored of spots among thousands of plants. This is a hand-held in-camera focus stack with the OM System OM-1 and M.Zuiko 12-45 Pro zoom. Program mode. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Most Purple!
Purple Finch: York County, Maine, USA, April 2024 — Even though I am skipping over many memorable photos from the extended neighborhood here in Southern Maine from the last few days (and weeks), I feel it is only fair to celebrate the most purple of Purple Finches who came and posed so nicely in the late day, last of the sun, in the backyard, just before supper time. I have been waiting for the male Purples to arrive, and for an opportunity to photograph them away from the feeders. Only fair to share. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 1600mm equivalent (using the 2x digital tele-converter in the camera body). Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator and Apple Photos. (And no, this is not an exaggeration. In the soft sun of early evening in the spring, the Purple Finches, or at least this Purple Finch, do (does) look that purple 🙂