Downy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — The Downy Woodpeckers are with us all year long, and active around the feeders. I have my suet in squirrel proof cages, but the Downies learned to use them very quickly…sometimes going inside the cage but mostly hanging off the bottom. From my backyard photo blind I like to catch them coming and going from the suet, as they perch on the pine or on this massive bittersweet vine. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. The afternoon light in the eye is very attractive, I think.
Baltimore Oriole
Baltimore Oriole, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — We had a brief stop-over sighting of a female Baltimore Oriole high in our pines the day before yesterday, so I knew they were back, and I have seen photos of them already settled in at feeders north of us in Maine (not unusual as many of the migrants seem to leave the coast south of here and fly directly north across the Gulf of Maine to their summer homes, before they find their way to our little western costal nook). I put out a piece of an orange I bought on my last shopping trip just to have ready for the Orioles. Yesterday we woke to two males and a female on the suet feeders on the deck. I immediately put out more oranges. They hung around all day, making frequent visits to both the suet and the oranges and they were back again early this morning. I am hoping to entice a pair to stay for the summer. 🙂 It was late in the day before I caught one close enough to my backyard photo blind for a series of shots. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Rhodora
There is a poem that goes with this. 🙂
The first Rhodora of the season
most often blooms in a roadside
ditch along Rt. 9, between the
ponds on the right, south of Brown
Street and north of the marsh
at Branch Brook and the Wells
Town Line. It is about the most
prosaic place you could hope
to find the particular pinkish
purple of the herald of May in
the wet woods of Maine (one of
only two native Rhododendrons in
the state) but for those of us,
like me, who are eager for the
flowering season, early Rhodora is
welcome where and however found.
I was gliding along on my eBike, headed somewhere else, when the Rhodora in the ditch unexpectedly caught my eye. I have seen it there before. Rhodora is, as the poem says, one of only two native Rhododendrons (or Azaleas) in Maine, and it is the only Rhododendron that has separated petals, as opposed to trumpet shaped blooms with the petals fused at the bottoms. The other, Clammy Azalea, one is much more rare, found only in deep swamps and isolated areas of the state. I know of some large patches of Rhodora in a few places I can get to even during the shut-down, but they will not bloom for a week or more, if past seasons are any indication. They always bloom first in the warm corridor along the road. Sony Rx10iv at 87mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications, which I also use for macro. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. I like the way the out of focus flowers in the background frame the focused flowers in the foreground. 🙂
Wren caught in the act!
House Wren, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — When the House Wren is not singing, it is generally foraging among the leaf litter under my feeders…or somewhere out of my sight…but foraging all the same. I caught this one in the act, with success. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Catbird calling
Grey Catbird, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I saw a Catbird, through the full thickness of the brush under our pines where my feeders hang for my backyard photo blind, the day before yesterday, and heard it singing off across the yards, probably in the forest edge along the railroad tracks, but yesterday it perched nicely in the brambles near the blind, and sang for me. 🙂 Another species for the yard and for the blind. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Purple Finch mating display!
Purple Finch, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I continue to be amazed at the success of my backyard photo blind project…way beyond my expectations. I spend about 2 hours there each day when the weather allows, mostly in the late afternoon when the light is at its best. While I am, of course, missing all the birds that do not come to our yard (warblers in particular this time of year and the more obvious shore and water birds, not to mention raptors) I am seeing lots of birds I did not expect from my casual feeder watching in previous years. The Purple Finches are among them. We rarely had them at the feeders on the deck, but this year we have them daily at the feeders by the blind. For a while there I was not seeing the adult male, but he has been coming the past few days, several times a day. Yesterday I had the immense privilege of watching him do his mating display. He was moving rapidly and not sitting anywhere long, and I did not get to the video button in time for video, but I got many stills of his various poses. The Purple Finch display is a mix of begging postures…wings drooped and fluttering rapidly, chin up, just like a nestling…and aggressive displays with his crest raised and his back arched and his tail cocked up. It is really something to see! You will want to view the still image as big as you can make it. 🙂 I am also posting a short animation of the action. Though this is the best of 4 attempts, the frames are not perfectly aligned and at 4 frames per second, it does not capture the wing fluttering at all, but you can see the rapid changes in posture and attitude. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Video assembled in ImgPlay.
American Goldfinch (partial leucistic)
American Goldfinch, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I have watched this Goldfinch come into full breeding plumage over the past 8 weeks here in Southern Maine. It is only now becoming certain that it is partially leucistic…that grey patch on the back of the neck should not be there. It makes it vaguely reminiscent of a Lawrence’s Goldfinch from about as far away as you can get from Maine and still be in the US…the far southern coast and mountains of California. Also over the past two months the greenery behind the feeders and perches at my photo blind has come in nicely to provide this kind of of backdrop to portraits of the birds. This twist of Bittersweet vine is a favorite perch for the Goldfinches. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — there is a poem for this one too 🙂
When the Lincoln’s Sparrow
showed up in the litter under
the feeders, I had to convince
myself, first, that it was not
wishful thinking. It could so
easily have been a Song, of
which we have several every
day, doing the same forage
in last year’s oak and maple
leaves, looking for the seeds
the finches spill. Still, the
Lincoln’s is such a fine featured
bird compared to the chunky
Song, and eventually I got
a good enough look to tick
off the tells, and be sure it
was more than wishful. I am
pretty sure it is my first Lincoln’s
for this southern end of Maine.
They don’t nest here, except
rarely, but I have seen them
in migration many a time in
Cape May, New Jersey, and
a time or two up north in
Maine, at Acadia National Park.
So, there it is, one more bird
for the yard list…one more
photo from the blind. And not
and easy bird at any time.
Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr. The light here was early evening and warm, but I have tried to strike a balance in the processing.
Full adult male Purple Finch!
Purple Finch, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — There is a poem that goes with this.
5/15
I am here to celebrate my first good shots
of full male Purple Finch. It dropped by
the feeders in front of the blind this after-
noon while I was out waiting for the supper
chili to cook and watching for whatever
birds might favor me with their presence.
And such a presence! We have had two
females right along, and a first year male
just coming into its first blush of color these
last few days, but the male has been scarce…
two sightings in bad light on the deck feeders
and a few photos through the thermal glass,
but this male was right there, 10 feet in
front of me, at the feeder in its full royal
plumage…purple so rich it glows, almost
red when it perched higher in the pine in
the late day sun. Such a treat. And a great
relief. I had begun to think I would have
to wait for our first year male to purple up.
Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. I shifted the focus point to the upper third of the view to make sure the head was in focus at this close distance. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
House Wren
House Wren, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I am hoping this House Wren will attract a mate and nest in our yard, or one of the neighboring yards. It has been vocal on occasion and will respond to a recording of its song. I already had some grab shot photos of it on the feeder…just perching, not feeding, and I was delighted when it worked the area under the feeders and came this close. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. And I did catch it singing, though from within a bramble.