Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets, Laudholm Farms, Wells Maine

It was a dark and somewhat dreary day yesterday as a cold front rolled in from the west, and the high temperature for the day was predicted at 9AM. I got out early on my eBike, down along the coast to Laudholm Farms. The temperature was dropping fast, but, after much debate with myself, I decided to walk the loop of trails around the edge of the Farms to see if I could see any birds or if the Wood Frogs were active in the vernal pools. I was still in the aisle of trees at the head of the trail, before the miniature bog, when I caught sight of something small and birdy flicking though the bushes over the tiny stream on the left along the path. On closer inspection it was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, my first of the year in Maine. I don’t see them often in Maine at all, so I was delighted to follow it as it worked its way down the stream and on either side of the path. It was feeding very actively and would not sit still for more than a single second on any one perch. I was trying to frame it at 600mm and it was relatively close, not an easy combination, but I finally managed a few record shots. Then another mile on, in the woods by the silent vernal pool (no frogs) I spotted what I took to be another Ruby-crowned Kinglet working the low undergrowth. Again, on closer inspection, it turned out to be a Golden-crowed Kinglet. It was just as busy, and even harder to catch in a 600mm field of view. If anything, I see fewer Golden-crowned Kinglets here in Southern Maine than I do Ruby-crowned. Both are more common on my summer trips north, and I have seen them frequently in the forests of Acadia National Park…but not around home in Kennebunk and Wells. I only saw the two, and one each, Ruby and Golden. A wonderful treat! Sony RX10iv at 600mm. Program mode with Minimum Shutter Speed ISO set at 1/500th. f4 @ 1/500th @ ISO 400 and 640. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

Lichen, Emmon’s Preserve, Kennebunkport Maine

There are large numbers of fallen limbs in the forests of Southern Maine this spring, courtesy of our series of March nor-easters, and they brought all manner of strange lichen and moss from the upper elevations. This specimen among them. Sony RX10iv at 24mm. In-camera HDR. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

Crocus, the yard, Kennebunk Maine

If you have been following these posts and our slowly unfolding spring in southern Maine, you know that I have been watching these Crocus since they first popped up green leaves on Easter Sunday. In other years they have gone from leaf to flower in days. It took weeks this year. But they are here. When I went out for my bike ride yesterday at 11, it was above 50 degrees…and the Crocus were open! About time! We will get to enjoy them for a few days at least. I noticed that the daffodils along the front of house look about readymade to bloom, so maybe we have flowers for a while now. Though they say it will be below freezing with sleet on Sunday. 🙁 Rejoice in Crocus while ye may! Sony RX10iv at 600mm from 4 feet. Program mode. Program shift for greater depth of field. f10 at 1/320th @ ISO 100. Processed in Polarr.

Crocus, the yard, Kennebunk Maine

If you have been following these posts and our slowly unfolding spring in southern Maine, you know that I have been watching these Crocus since they first popped up green leaves on Easter Sunday. In other years they have gone from leaf to flower in days. It took weeks this year. But they are here. When I went out for my bike ride yesterday at 11, it was above 50 degrees…and the Crocus were open! About time! We will get to enjoy them for a few days at least. I noticed that the daffodils along the front of house look about readymade to bloom, so maybe we have flowers for a while now. Though they say it will be below freezing with sleet on Sunday. 🙁 Rejoice in Crocus while ye may! Sony RX10iv at 600mm from 4 feet. Program mode. Program shift for greater depth of field. f10 at 1/320th @ ISO 100. Processed in Polarr.

Eastern Bluebird, Kennebunk Maine

Here is another shot that demonstrates the Eastern Bluebird’s ability to project attitude, in a way that very few birds do. Something like “the intensity of his regard” as though he were a character in a Romance Novel or some other highly dramatic genre. I still think it must be a kind of accident based on the shape and coloration of the face of the bird, but it does not stop me from being entertained by the faces bluebirds seem to make and the postures they seem to take…entertained enough to repay me for all the meal worms I have invested over the past year keeping the bluebirds coming to our yard. Sony RX10iv at 600mm. Program mode set to Minimum Shutter Speed ISO at 1/500th. -.3EV. 1/500th @ ISO 250 @ f4. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

Crocus, Kennebunk Maine

This year in Maine spring is coming in millimeters, not in inches. These Crocus were showing leaves above ground an inch or more on Easter Sunday, and here we are 11 days later and still no flowers. It has been unseasonably cold…disappointingly cold…and that is from a human standpoint. Clearly the Crocus like it even less. We need three days of 60 degree weather, and we should have had them by now. Looking at the forecast we have one day above 60 to look forward to in the next 25. Like I said, coming in by millimeters, not by inches. Sony RX10iv at 600mm from 4 feet. Program mode. -.3EV. 1/500th @ ISO 320 @ f4. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

Red Squirrel, Laudholm Farms, Wells Maine.

The other day I rode my eBike down to Laudholm Farms (Wells National Estuarine Research Center) and stopped to walk up on the hilltop for some pictures of the sky, which was amazing. As I came up to the big barn that has been converted to an event center, I saw something moving by the foundation. On closer approach it was a Red Squirrel. I have seen Red Squirrels pretty often deeper in the woods at Laudholm, but this was the first one I have seen around the buildings. It had apparently wintered in a drain pipe under the building and was happily foraging next to the stone foundation. It let me walk up close enough, in several stages, so that I could fill the frame at 600mm…maybe still 15 feet away, but that is pretty close to any “wild” animal. It was very busy looking for whatever it could find to eat. It was in the deep shadow cast by the barn, so not the best lighting. Still, it is not often you get such a close portrait, and the slope of the foundation above the path put me near eye-level as well. Sony RX10iv at 600mm. Program mode, with Minimum Shutter Speed ISO set to 1/500th and -.3EV exposure compensation. 1/500th @ ISO 250 @ f4. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

Black-capped Chickadee, Kennebunk Maine

What fun! I wrote about this in yesterday’s Day Poem, but we have a pair of Chickadees working a nest hole in a little broken off sapling right next to our driveway, like right by the driver’s door where we park the hybrid. The stump is about 5 feet tall so the birds are very visible as they come and go. Yesterday they were still bringing out wood chips, but I am very hopeful that they will nest there. This shot was taken in a burst of activity when I was getting my eBike out of its shed from just the passenger side of the car. Sony RX10iv at 600mm. Program mode. -.3EV. 1/500th @ f4 @ ISO 160. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

White-breasted Nuthatch, Kennebunk Maine

We only get a couple of White-breasted Nuthatches at our feeders, as opposed to the crowd of Chickadees and Titmice, but I always enjoy them. They add a dash of particular attitude…unique to the Nuthatch. Where the Chickadees are fearless and cheerful, the Nuthatches are full of focused purpose…very intent on finding that next morsel of food. I am always happy when I catch one willing to pose for even a moment. Sony RX10iv at 600mm. Program mode. -.3EV. 1/500th @ f4 @ ISO 125. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photo’s Light tool.

Eastern Bluebird, Kennebunk Maine

Probably because we provided meal worms, we have had a pair of Bluebirds visiting our feeders all winter. It was interesting to watch as the male got paler, with the blue fading almost to the blue of the female, in the cold months, and now to watch as the male’s blue intensifies with the coming of spring. The blue of the male Bluebird, especially in contrast with the rust of the breast, is, I think, one of the bluest of blues in any North American bird. They are coming to the feeder right now, and I have my iPad on the kitchen counter to write this so I can watch them. Even the the half-light of a morning when it is still trying to snow or rain…it can’t seem to make up its mind…the blue is shockingly bright. And this shot from yesterday, taken just as we were losing the sun behind the first snow clouds, shows just how bright the blue has gotten. As a close up though, it also shows what the naked eye can not see from any distance…that the blue is not uniform…it has texture and subtle variations in tone that make it, in my opinion, even more beautiful. Sony RX10iv at 600mm. Program mode. -.3 EV. 1/500th @ f4 @ ISO 200. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photo’s Light tool.