Tufted Titmouse, Kennebunk Maine

I spent a few moments on the back deck yesterday attempting to catch a Ruby-throated Hummingbird at the feeder…without success. But while I was there, I took a few pics of the other birds coming…including a few Tufted Titmice. This one is using the Mini-Squirrel Buster feeder I resorted to for mealworms, after nothing else would keep the Squirrels from emptying the mealworms three times a day…which was just too expensive to keep up. The Squirrel Buster works fairly well. I have to shake the mealworms down occasionally, but at least most of them go to the birds. 🙂 I put them out for Bluebirds, of course, but the Titmice and Chickadees like them too. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with Birds in Flight modifications. 1/1000th @ f4 @ ISO 800. Processed in Polarr.

Bascom River, Kennebunkport, Maine

Today’s Day Poem

August 25

August is not autumn in Maine of course,
except as they say, where the Maples
have their feet in the water. Behind the
beaver dam on the Bascom, the Maples
are knee deep in the flooded forest, and
here already in the third week of August
the green has died back to reveal the red,
and the leaves burn like October. It is so
startling that I had to stop for a picture…
fire above and fire below in the reflection.
Autumn before time, reminder and promise.

Sony RX10iv in-camera HDR at 42mm equivalent. 1/160th @ f3.2 @ ISO 100. Processed in Polarr.

Raleigh Detour IE at Branch Brook

Out on my eBike for a short loop to burn some calories, and to find some photos…what I call a photoprowl. Water-meadow along Branch Brook where it flows under Route 9 at the Kennebunk / Wells town line with some great clouds. Sony RX10iv in-camera HDR. Processed in Polarr.

Lesser Yellowlegs, Back Creek, Kennebunk ME

Lesser Yellowlegs along Back Creek at low tide. There were several feeding in a group, most likely migrants on their way back south already here in late August. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode. 1/1000th @ f4 @ ISO 100. Tight crop. Processed in Polarr.

Female Blue Dasher, Emmon’s Preserve, Kennebunkport, Maine

It was a hot day at Emmon’s Preserve in Kennebunkport, Maine, with strong August sun, and this female Blue Dasher is obelisking (pointing her abdomen toward the sun) to keep as cool as possible. One of the most common of dragonflies in Southern Maine all summer, but nicely posed on this fence post. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode. 1/640th @ f4 @ ISO 100. Processed in Polarr.

Northern Blazing Star, Kennebunk Plains WMA, W. Kennebunk Maine

It is not easy to capture the effect of the Northern Blazing Star bloom on the Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area, here in Southern Maine. Even in the best year the flowers are spread thin among the grasses. Visually, to the naked eye, it is impressive…but a photograph often does not capture what the eye sees and the mind (spirit) appreciates. This is the best I could do from yesterday’s visit to the Plains. Sony RX10iv at 170mm equivalent. In-camera HDR mode. Nominal exposure: 1/640th @ f4 @ ISO 100. Processed in Polarr.

Mexican Amberwing Dragonfly, Reid Park, Tucson AZ

We seem to be popping back and forth between Tucson and Maine these last few days as I work though the images for the past few weeks. This is a Mexican Amberwing from Reid Park in Tucson. I saw them there while leading a phonescoping workshop for ZEISS Sports Optics, and went back the next morning specifically to try to photograph one (along with a Vermillion Flycatcher that I also knew was hanging out there). This is a very small dragonfly…only maybe just over and inch long with wingspan not much greater. It is the southwestern equivalent of our Eastern Amberwing, which is in flight right now in Maine. Sony RX10iv at 600mm. Program mode. 1/1000th @ f4 @ ISO 160. Processed in Polarr.

Osprey, Great Diamond Island, Maine

On our way out to Long Island for Carol’s birthday treat, we passed an Osprey nest on some old pilings off Great Diamond Island just as the Osprey was coming in to the nest. We were not very close but I shot off a burst. I like the proportions and scale here, the beauty of the light on the water, the dynamic pose of the Osprey, and the opposing stillness of the Cormorant. Lots to like. 🙂 Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode. 1/1000th @ f4.5 @ ISO 100. Processed in Polarr.

Rivoli’s Hummingbird, Santa Rita Lodge, Madera Canyon, AZ

They recently split the Magnificent Hummingbird (on the left in this photo from Santa Rita Lodge in Madera Canyon south of Tucson) into Rivoli’s Hummingbird (the one we get in Southeast Arizona and down through Northern Central American) and Talamanaca Hummingbird, which inhabits the mountains of Costa Rica and south (I have seen them at Savagre Hotel in Costa Rica). I always thought the name Magnificent was appropriate for this large, and very flashy, hummer, but then what do I know? The Rivoli’s is sharing the feeder with a Broad-billed and a couple of Black-chinned Hummingbirds. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. My “Birds in Flight Mode” variation on Program. 1/1000th @ f4 @ ISO 640. Processed in Polarr.

Cactus Wren, Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson AZ

There were more Cactus Wrens around Tucson among the Saguaro than I have ever seen in any trip to Tucson. This one is from the grounds, the parking lot actually, of the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum where they nest and breed, and cage extra sustenance (if of questionable nutritional value) from what the tourists drop. Still I have to admit, this looks to be an exceptionally healthy specimen. 🙂 Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. 1/500th @ f4 @ ISO 1000. Processed in Polarr.