Maine! Great Egret
Great Egret: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — Another shot of a bird way out in the marsh! Great Egret looking very regal against the marsh grasses. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 320 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
Maine! Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron: York County, Maine, USA — By the time I got out yesterday morning the tide was at full, and the sandbar at the mouth of our local river was completely under water. The congregation of egrets and herons that gather there at other tides was dispersed far and wide in the marsh pools looking for food. I did an explore up and down the Bridle Path through the marsh to see if I could find any close…but they were pretty far out in the marsh when I did find any. This Great Blue Heron was about as close as I could get. Even at 800mm equivalent, there was just too much moist, moving air between us. 🙂 Still, it is a satisfying image for its range of tones and textures, and for the interesting details that the wind is revealing in the plumage. I think. 🙂 OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 250 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
Happy Sunday! Northern Blazing Star
Northern Blazing Star against Goldenrod, Kennebunk Plains, Kennebunk, Maine. — Both Northern Blazing Star and Goldenrod are in full bloom on the Kennebunk Plains right now…but they the stands rarely overlap. I had to look long and hard to find two plants close enough to put them in the same frame, but who could resist trying? The color contrast is just too wonderful. I offer it as a celebration of Sunday! Sony A5100 with 18-50mm zoom at 45mm equivalent. Auto.
Maine! Blue Jay
Blue Jay: York County, Maine, USA — I was photographing Ruby-throated Hummingbirds at the feeder on our back deck when this Blue Jay flew in and landed on one of the feeder supports. It is relatively rare for us to have Blue Jays in the yard, only a few times each summer, and very rare for us to have one on the deck. I suspect this is a juvenile bird, mostly due to the pale forehead and crown. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 5000 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
India! Painted Spurfowl
Painted Spurfowl: Rathambore National Park/Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — Getting near the end of our trip to India in March, or at least to the end of the photos 🙂 This is a Painted Spurfowl from Rathambore. Again, along the stream below the temple. Such a handsome bird! Sony Rx10iv at 595mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Maine! Walk this way…
Great Egret: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — Strutting his stuff! One of a dozen or more Great Egrets gathered at the mouth of one of our local rivers. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro.
Maine! Northern Blazing Star
Northern Blazing Star: Kennebunk Plains Nature Conservancy, York County, Maine, USA. — It is the season of Blazing Star on the Kennebunk Plains. The Plains are one of the few remaining sand-plains in the Northeast, and are managed for several rare and endangered species…the Northern Blazing Star chief among them. Blazing Star is a fire-dependent plant, and the Plains are burned on a regular rotation to keep the population healthy. This time of year the Blazing Star is host of a wide variety of insect and bird species as well, and it is right now that the the Plains are perhaps the most alive. This year’s crop is notable for its height…all the plants are very tall, taller then average by almost a foot, and they have blossoms all down the stalk. If the weather holds the last of those won’t bloom until the first week in September, making for an exceptionally long bloom. I have been tracking and photographing the Norther Blazing Star bloom on the Kennebunk Plains for over 20 years now. Every year is different. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at various focal lengths for framing. Program mode with my custom birds modifications (yes they work for plant macros as well…not need to change mode.) Processed in Pixelmator Pro.
Maine! — Ruby-throats
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — we have unprecedented numbers of hummingbirds coming to our feeder this week. We have at least one male, one sub-adult male, and half a dozen “female/immature” types — often up to 4 around the feeder at the same time. The male and what I assume is an immature male are both attempting to guard the feeder from perches in the Maple tree above the deck. These shots were not in the best of light…early, on a rainy day, but they were all taken standing in our open deck door within 30 minutes of each other. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. Females at ISO 12800 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th, males at ISO 5000 and 4000 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
India! — Langur Monkeys
Grey Langur Monkeys: Rathambore National Park / Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — Probably two females and the baby, along side the road near a stream at the edge of Rathambore National Park, just below the Temple. Sony Rx10iv at 361mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Maine! — Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron: York County, Maine, USA — Here the Great Blue Heron is the star of the show. There were two with the mixed flock of Egrets on the sandbar at the mouth of the river. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and assembled in FrameMagic. 1 and 2 at ISO 200 @ f8 @ 1/800th @ -.7EV, 3 at f7.1 @ 1/1000th.