Willets in love
Willet: York County, Maine, USA, May 2025 — I was down at the local beach one of the first sunny days we have had in southern Maine in what seems like a very long time, just in time to catch these two Willets “going at it” as they say. They were a long way down the beach from me, on my way back from looking for plovers, and these are deep crops from shots at 600mm. I think they might have been too busy to know I was there anyway. 🙂 Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program with my birds-in-flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Lady Slipper
Lady Slipper Orchid: Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters trail, Wells, Maine, May 2025 — It is Lady Slipper time again. I took advantage of the sunny day yesterday to trike out to the Rachel Carson NWR headquarters trail to see if they are in bloom. Since I hoped to be working low, I strapped my little travel tripod that folds down to ground level to the trike rack and carried into the woods with me. I don’t often use a tripod, but there are times when one just makes photographic life that much easier. Lady Slippers have a symbiotic relationship with a species of fungus that grows only on the roots of certain trees, so they are limited to patches where the conditions are exactly right. (Which is why they cannot successfully transplanted to your yard, and why you should not try. Enjoy them where they grow.) Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 126mm equivalent. Program mode with my macro modifications. f16 @ 1/40th to get the whole flower in focus. (Tripod 🙂 Processed in Photomator.
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2025 — Tis year, during the Biggest Week in American Birding, there were lots of Black-throated Blue warblers along the boardwalk…my impression is more than normal. They are another warbler that, when present, often feeds low and close to the artificial edge the boardwalk makes through the marsh. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Least Tern
Least Tern: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, May 2025 — I got my trike back on the road yesterday…all assembled and some minor adjustments in the morning, and out to the beach with my camera in the afternoon. I was surprised by the number of Least Terns already making themselves at home on our local beach. Last year they did not come in numbers until their original nest site at the mouth of the next river south of us failed. This year they seem ready to establish a first nest on our beach. It will take me a while to get my eye and hand in for tern flight shots…but I am happy with this for a first day effort. (The terns have probably been on the beach for a few weeks…but I have not been to a long stretch of too cool, too wet, May weather.) Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird-in-flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Black-throated Green
Black-throated Green Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2025 — A “I see you” shot from a second encounter with a friendly Black-throated Green Warbler. The warblers at Magee do mostly seem aware of the crowds of humans on the boardwalk, but it does not seem to bother them. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Rufous-winged Woodpecker
Rufous-winged Woodpecker: Nectar and Pollen Reserve, Gualpies, Costa Rica, March 2025 — Nectar and Pollen Reserve is a small hummingbird garden, with fruit feeders, on the side of the mountains coming up out of Gualpies on the way back to San Jose. In the past year the owner, Miguel Delgado, a retired birding and nature guide, has built a hide for King Vulture observation as well. We were there early on our last morning in Sarapiqui to see if we could see some vultures…but this Rufous-winded Woodpecker entertained us while we waited. Looking at the red just on the nape, this is a female. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Long-tailed Tyrant
Long-tailed Tyrant: Pierrella Ecology Garden, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, March 2025 — One of the first birds our guide took us to find at Pierrella was the Long-tailed Tyrant. There were a pair nesting and hanging out in a far corner of the property, right up against the fence-line at the edge of a sustenance farmer’s garden and little banana grove. They were not at home, and though we scoured the area for quite a ways around, could not be found. Later though, while we were busy with yesterday’s Jacamar show, our guide snuck off to check the roosts again, and came back bubbling over with delight. A quick traipse back past the pond, and there it was, sitting on the top of a snag. Long-tailed indeed. Not as flashy as a Jacamar, but still a very good bird. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my macro modifications (still by mistake, I had not caught it yet). Processed in Photomator.
Ruby-crown
Ruby-crowned Kinglet: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2025 — It is never ALL about warblers at Magee during the Biggest Week in American Birding. The Kinglets, at least the Ruby-crowned, are always part of the show, showing in equal numbers to the more common warblers. And, they are, of course, must slightly more challenging to photograph than most warblers. They sit still just a bit less than the already active warblers and tend to feed deeper in the tangle…or so it seems to me. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Blackburnian
Blackburnian Warber: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2025 — Most years at the Biggest Week in American Birding on the Erie Shore in Ohio, I have to work hard for my first eye-level shots to a Blackburnian, and they don’t come until my last days there. This year this Blackburnian was working both sides of the boardwalk, at and below eye-level, for over 3 hours on my first day in Ohio. And he was close! Occasionally I thought he might hop inside to my lens hood to look at his reflection. Such a treat! Blackburnian is, by the way, a name I hope survives the great honorific culling…it is just such a perfect name for this little blank and burning warbler. I guess they can change it to Blackburning. That would be okay. 🙂 Black and Orange will not do. Sorry. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Jacamar again
Rufous-tailed Jacamar: Pierrella Ecology Gardens, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, March 2025 — Once the Jacamar had finished the Blue Morpho butterfly (see yesterday’s post for that story). It sat on an open perch, again, right in front of us…perhaps hoping for another. I always think Jacamars look like huge hummingbirds. For me at least, it is a bird, and this was an experience, that had me jittering on the edge of too much wonder to contain. I am sure I was grinning ear to ear, and so were all those with me. And, while I was disappointed to find my camera in the wrong mode when I finished…still, I have a record of that wonder. Goes to show you. Goes to show me. It is not really about what I do…it is about what the birds are doing. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program with my macro modifications (by mistake). Processed in Photomator.