A work in progress…
Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — This is one of this year’s fledglings, maybe from the first brood considering the amount of color it has already, and the lack of speckling, but it still retains that “unfinished” look. A work in progress. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 1250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
The “crook in my neck” bird :)
White-breasted Nuthatch, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — It seems like it has been a while since I posted a nice close up shot of a bird from our feeding station. All the birds were very active ahead of storms coming in on a cold front yesterday so I spent some time in the open deck door watching and photographing. The White-breasted Nuthatch gets itself in some amazing poses as it picks jump seeds at the feeder. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th. (and not bad for a high ISO shot 🙂
Another Laudholm landscape
Another iPhone and Sirui 18mm ultra-wide lens landscape from the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms, in Wells Maine. Textures, colors, and clouds. What could be better? Apple Camera app with Smart HDR engaged. Processed in Apple Photos.
Ladyish Bug?
While walking at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms the other day, I spotted what I thought might gleam off the shell of a very small insect on the dried flowers of a plant along the trail. I took a few tel-macro shots at 600mm equivalent, but I was not sure, through the viewfinder, if I was really even seeing a bug at all. In processing on my iPad Pro, I discovered this elegant little beetle. The Fieldguides AI app says it is a Cryptocephalus (Leaf Beetle) of some kind. The closest match on Google Lens, and the only one from North America, is 14 Spotted Leaf Beetle. The photo has received the super-crop treatment: processed as most of my photos are in Polarr, then opened in Pixelmator Photo Pro for enlargement using the Machine Learning Super Resolution tool, then recropped for what amounts to maybe the equivalent 2500mm of magnification from 5 feet, and possibly a 4x macro. This is a tiny bug, less than 1/8th inch long. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed as above. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/800th.
Laudholm landscape
Time for a landscape Pic for today 🙂 A lovely late summer sky over the buildings at Laudholm Farms (Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve) in Wells, Maine. iPhone SE with Moment thin case and Sirui 18mm ultra-wide lens. Apple Camera app with Smart HDR engaged. Processed in Apple Photos.
September rose…
We have these two small rose bushes out front, which I think I bought at Walmart several years ago. They have bloomed every year in the spring, and this year, for some reason, they are blooming again in September. This is a shot after rain overnight on a bud just opening. Not dew on roses, but rain on roses. September roses. iPhone SE with Moment thin case and Sirui 10x macro lens. Apple Camera app with Smart HDR engaged. Processed in Apple Photos.
American Lady
American Lady Butterfly: Kennebunk Plains Preserve, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — It is short aster season on the Kennebunk Plains here in Southern Maine, with at least 3 species of small asters in bloom, and large areas heavily carpeted. I found several fairly fresh looking American Ladies working a stand in the sun. They did not want to sit still for photography but I did my best. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos and assembled in FrameMagic. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/1000th, 1/1000th, 1/640th, and 1/800th.
Praying Mantis
Praying Mantis (European Mantis): Kennebunk Plains Conservancy, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I have not seen a Praying Mantis in several years. I see them so infrequently these days that I remember every encounter. Of course the one I saw a few years ago was the first one I had seen since I was a boy playing the fields of upstate New York on the Vermont border, so I am thinking either they are fairly rare (not likely) or I am just not looking at the right time. 🙂 This week when I went out to the Kennebunk Plains I saw at least 4, maybe 5, Praying Mantises, all in a little square of low vegetation about 20 feet on a side in the middle of the plains with no particular distinguishing features. Maybe there were other clusters like it…but I did not find any. Strange. It was quite windy and the Mantises were up on waving grass stalks hunting so my photos are not portrait quality, but still, it was fun to see them. I am happy not to be a honey bee when these are around. (I am happy not to be a honey bee most of the time, but I certainly would not want to fall prey to a Praying Mantis.) I am not certain these are European Mantis, but that is most common species in Maine. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/640 and 1/500th.
Great Egret hunting
Great Egret: Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA — This is Maine and the Egrets are never as close as I would like, but we do get Great Egrets in good numbers during the extended migration in late summer and early fall. There were two hunting in the tidal marsh beyond the viewing platform in the Maple Swamp. The Sony Rx10iv will take a good crop when the birds are too far away, and this shot had some help from Pixomatic Photo Pro’s Machine Learning Max Resolution…but the main limiting factor with birds across a marsh at any distance, no matter how long your lens or big your sensor, is heat wave interference, and you can see some softening this shot. Still, and elegant bird, even in hunting mode. Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr, Pixomatic Photo Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4.5 @ 1/1000th. -1/3 EV.
Cormorant attitude!
Double Crested Cormorant: Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA — I went to Laudholm Farms specifically to fill my photo buffer. When you post a image every day, you have to think about keeping ahead of the calendar 🙂 I found this handsome (and doesn’t he just know it) fellow on the boat dock at the overlook on the Little River. At least I think it is a “he”. I see what might be the beginnings of crests happening above the eyes. We rarely to never see them in breeding plumage here in southern Maine. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/1000th.