Maine! Loosestrife Honey
Western Honey Bee: Roger’s Pond Park, Kennebunk, Maine, USA, August 2024 — Loosestrife Honey sounds like a good brand name…if not for Loosestrife being so aggressively invasive here in Maine. The Honey Bees seem to enjoy it, but look how dark that pollen sack is! Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 115mm equivalent from about 5 inches. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Insect recognition auto focus. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! The family that hunts together stays together
Snowy Egrets: York County Maine, USA, August 2024 — I am pretty sure, from other photos taken at the same time, that this is an adult and this year’s immature Snowy Egret feeding in a tidal creek. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Animal/Bird recognition auto focus. Highlight metering. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Ghost Plant
Indian Pipe (or Ghost Plant), Rachel Carson Headland Trail (at the headquarters), Wells, Maine, USA, August 2024 — Growing up in up-state New York, we called this Indian Pipe, but I see that many internet resources are using the name Ghost Plant. I can see why…it does have a definite ghostly appearance. It is a flowering plant, each stem producing one flower, but it has no chlorophyll and cannot use sunlight to generate nourishment. Instead it is parasitic on Russula type mushrooms, which are themselves parasitic on the roots of host trees. Ultimately the Ghost Plant gets its nutrients third hand. Talk about complicated living arrangements. This arrangement does mean that it can grow in deep undergrowth under dense canopy where little sunlight penetrates. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 75mm equivalent. Program mode with my macro modifications. ISO 2000 @ f4.5 @ 1/250th. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Eastern Calligrapher
Eastern Calligrapher: Roger’s Pond Park, Kennebunk, Maine, USA, August 2024 — This is another tiny bug…it was a good day for them yesterday at Roger’s Pond. There were lots of these tiny (just about 1/4 inch) hover flies working the (invasive) Purple Loosestrife. This is the only shot I got with the wings open. I was debating making this a Pic for Today, but when I looked it up and saw the name I could no longer resist. Calligrapher! I wonder if it is called that because of the pattern on the back or because it draws letters in the air as it hovers around flowers? Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 115mm equivalent (the macro range on the Tamron, so this about half life size depending on what you are viewing it on…more than life size on anything larger than a phone. 🙂 Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Insect recognition auto focus. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Tiny Dragons
Eastern Amberwing Dragonfly: Roger’s Pond Park, Kennebunk, Maine, USA, August 2024 — Among my favorite dragonflies, the diminutive Eastern Amberwing, is only the size of large bumblebee. They are not all that common in Southern Maine, but there are usually a few at Roger’s Pond this time of year. I think this is a male, due to the solid amber wings, and, indeed, if so I only saw males at the pond yesterday. The females may have been further out among the lily pads. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Insect recognition auto focus. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Little black clouds
Something in every layer of interest…from the beach rose pips and weathered post in the foreground to the snow fence and wind combed marsh grasses in the mid-ground, to the little black clouds just above the horizon…something to take the eye. I am sometimes accused of taking photos with nothing in them…but I say that is exactly what I am photographing…the too much to fit in a frame shots. Sony a5100 with 16-50 kit lens at 24mm equivalent. Intelligent Auto, Landscape Scene Mode. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Pretty Phoebe
Eastern Phoebe: York County Maine, USA, August 2024 — There are some old posts, maybe originally rail-road ties, that the Phoebes like to sit on while hunting. I like to photograph them there, because the weathered wood adds to the composition, and highlights the subtle beauty of the Phoebe. And then there is the out of focus marsh background. All in all, makes for a pretty Phoebe picture. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Debby sky over the dunes
As the remnants of Hurricane Debby approached the northeast coast, the skies heralded her coming. 🙂 Lots of drama. Sony a5100 with 16-50 kit zoom at 24mm equivalent. Intelligent Auto. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Song on the rocks
Song Sparrow: York County, Maine, USA, August 2024 — I was taking photos of a Snow Egret in the tidal creek when I heard a russel in the beach rose right at my feet. It was a Song Sparrow, this Song Sparrow, and it came out onto the gravel just below the road foraging, totally unconcerned with my close presence. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. ISO 640 @ f6.3 @ 1/1000th. (Experimenting with the “faster” setting under Min SS ISO Auto 🙂 Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Tripping Slugs
From my session with the mushrooms of the woods along the Bridle Path…you have to wonder if these slugs are tripping on what looks like Fly Agaric to me. They certainly seem to be enjoying it. Yes I know, yuk. Still I find it to be an interesting photo. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 75mm equivalent. Program mode with my macro modifications. Processed in Photomator.