On its own already
Piping Plover chick: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, June 2025 — I have been seeing photos of this piping plover chick since it hatched a week ago, but not seen it myself until Monday. They blend in so well with the sand, and it is, after all, only one tiny puff of feathers and toothpick legs. It is so small and so fuzzy, that the camera still will not focus on it even at a week old. It is pretty much independent now. The parents have even given up trying to keep it corralled to the safe zone behind the nesting area ropes. It is running all over the beach. Which is probably why I finally saw it. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent (and heavily cropped at that). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Least Tern
Least Tern: Kennebunk, Maine, June 2025 — Sometimes we encounter angels unaware…and sometimes they are intent on pooping on us 🙂 I had to quit when one scored a direct hit on my dot-sight and my lens (not to mention the face behind them). And yes, I have been experimenting with a dot sight…or reflex sight…to better target the angels. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm. Program mode with my birds-in-flight and action modifications (trying minimum shutter speed 1/4000th). Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Sing a little song
Magnolia Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, May 2025 — This Magnolia hung out, avidly feeding, along the same stretch of boardwalk for two days running. Of course it possible that there were multiple Mangonias over the course of the two days, and we humans are just not equipped to differentiate. 🙂 I always like to catch them in song. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Wild Iris
Blue Flag Iris: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, June 2025 — There is a little pond formed where the road crosses one of the meandering streams that runs down through the marshes behind the dunes to the sea, where a clump of wild iris has been blooming every June for as long as I can remember. I photograph it every year. Sony a5100. Sony 10-18 f4 at 15mm equivalent. Intelligent Auto with Landscape Mode. Processed in Photomator.
Flame Colored
Flame-colored Tanager: Batsu Gardens, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, March 2025 — Batsu Gardens is a project of one the grandsons of the original settlers in the Savegre Valley. High on the mountain side above the stream there is little terrace with flowering and fruiting plants, and two shelters where birders and photographers can sit and watch or photograph the visiting hummingbirds, tanagers, toucans, parrots, finches, silky-flycatchers and ground doves. This is the Flame-colored Tanager, one of the most common tanagers of the mountains, and one of the brightest colored. Almost like flame 🙂 Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Tern turn turn
Least Tern: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, June 2025 — I am still very much “practicing” to be a Tern photographer…at least a terns-in-flight photographer. They are way faster and more agile than either I or my camera. Still persistence sometimes almost pays off. 🙂 This is almost a satisfying shot. Almost, if I don’t look too close. I will try a slightly faster shutter speed next time out. I remind myself it is not about perfection. It is only about catching a hint of the grace and beauty of the living tern. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds-in-flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Redstart
American Redstart: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, May 2025 — lots of Redstarts at Magee this yard durning the Biggest Week in American Birding…but then there always are. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Mountain Gem
White-throated Mountain Gem: Miriam’s Quetzals Cafe, San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, March 2025 — There is a little Cafe halfway down the sharp mountain valley of the Savegre River, perched on a little shelf high above the water, where they serve good food and coffee and where the birds of the cloud forest come close. One of my favorite spots in the world. 🙂 This is an aptly named White-throated Mountain Gem…a gem indeed, and at home in mountains of Central America and Costa Rica. I am always so happy to encounter one. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator. (The Cafe had a new name when I was last there in March…but it is still Miriam’s Quetzals to me.)
Sometimes close
Prothonotary Warber: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, May 2025 — Sometimes the Prothonotary Warbers come so close it is hard to believe. They often sit and sing on the boardwalk rail while crowds of human watch and jostle for viewing or photographic angles. This one was in the vegetation just behind the boardwalk, closer than I thought the lens on my camera focused. This is full frame at 600mm equivalent. The dappled light paints the bird slightly orange in the shadows. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Quetzal again
Resplendent Quetzal: San Geraldo de Dota, Costa Rica, March 2025 — another shot of the Resplendent Quetzal from our mid-morning encounter. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.