Maine! Day Lilies
Day Lilies from our yard. The “wild-ish” Day Lilies that grow in our front yard are all “double blossom” lilies, with two flowers on top of each other. The Day Lilies that grow in our back yard are single blossom??? These are from the front yard. Both images are in-camera focus stacked (hand held) with the OM Systems OM-1 and the 100-400mm zoom at 300mm equivalent. It is still pretty amazing to me that the camera can do this. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. Nominal exposure ISO 2500 @ f5.7 and f6.3 @ 1/500th.
Maine! More Egret Action
Great Egrets and Great Blue Heron: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — More Egret action from the mouth of one of our local rivers. (This time with a Great Blue Heron bystander, and what appears to be a Great Black-backed Gull not interested at all.) Note the fish fry in the beak of the center Egret in the first photo. I don’t think the fry was the source of the conflict…much ado about nothing if it was. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f9 @ 1/1000th. -.7EV.
India! Common and Pied Kingfishers
Common and Pied Kingfishers: a reservoir near Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — On a small dam in an irrigation system next to the reservoir, both Common and Pied Kingfishers were hunting. Sony Rx10iv at 580mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4.5 @ 1/1000th.
Conflicting emotions: Great Egrets
Great Egrets: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — After seeing some of Jack Coughlin’s photos of of Egrets and Herons taken at the mouth of one of our local rivers, just a few miles down the road from me, I took my trike out yesterday at low tide to see what I could see. I have never, in my 30 years (more or less) on the Maine Coast seen such a large concentration of Egrets and Herons as the one I found on a sandbar just back from the river mouth yesterday. There were at least 20 Great and 20 Snowy Egrets, and two Great Blue Herons. There were so may fish fry in the shallow water it seemed to boil and birds were actively feeding…but there was also a lot of bird on bird interaction as they competed for the best spots…or that is how it looked to me. With so many birds gathered it may have just been a dominance thing. ?? I have a whole set of shots of this particular interaction, but this one captures the energy. Great Egrets are generally the most elegant of birds, calm, full of steady purpose, especially in Maine, and at least in Maine, generally solitary. I have only ever seen them act this way in the pools at Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge in Florida in early spring when they gather for the shrimp hatch. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f9 @ 1/1000th. -.7EV.
India! Wire-tailed Swallow
Wire-tailed Swallow: Near Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — On the morning of our last day at Rathambore we drove out to one of the dams around Sawai Madhopur for some shore birding. The Wire-tailed Swallow was by far the most common Swallow we saw in the area of India we visited. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom Birds and Wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f5 and f4 @ 1/1000th and 1/800th.
Maine! Calico Pennants
Calico Pennant: Kennebunk Plains Nature Conservancy, Kennebunk, Maine, USA, August 2023 — There were several Calico Pennant mating wheels at Day Brook Pond on the Kennebunk Plains this week. This one posed against a interesting backdrop. And this is the season when I always try for a shot of a Calico on a Northern Blazing Star bud. Northern Blazing Star is an endangered plant that, along with the Black Racer Snake and the Upland Sandpiper, the Plains are managed for. The flowers are too broad for them to perch on but the buds are likely perches, especially the shorter plants just back from the shore of the pond. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
India! Painted Sandgrouse
Painted Sandgrouse: near Rathambore, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — On our way back from the Chambal River boat tour we stopped in a field, after sunset, for a few more birds in the dusky light…and chanced on this Painted Sandgrouse…evidently a rare sighting and a rarer photo (not the best photos but is was getting dark and the bird only showed for a few seconds, quite a distance away, before flying off into deeper grasses). Our local guide was certainly impressed that I got any kind of shot at all. (Though rare they are still gamebirds in India and very wary of humans.) Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 1600 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
New Mexico! Burning Rufous
Rufous Hummingbird: Randall Davey Audubon Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 2023 — I went back to Randall Davey Audubon Center in the foothills above Santa Fe a second day, with the specific purpose of catching more birds away from the feeders. This Rufous Hummingbird was guarding a feeder and had three perches, two of them in tall pines up the hill, and one in brush at the corner of the building…close enough for detail shots. Catching the gorget flashing was another whole thing! I managed a few shots. OM System OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 800 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
India! Chambal Storks
Asian Openbill, Wooly-necked, and Painted Storks: Chambal River near Rathambore, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — Still playing catch up from my March 2023 trip to the area just south of Delhi in India. These are three more birds, all storks, that we saw from the boat on the Chambal River near Rathambore National Park. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 and f4.5 @ 1/1000th.
New Mexico! Towhees
Spotted Towhee and Canyon Towhee: Randall Davey Audubon Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 2023 — The Spotted Towhee was among the most common birds at Randall Davey Audubon Center in the foothills above Santa Fe and I saw at least one Canyon Towhee keeping company. As the name suggests, and as you can see from the photos, the two birds share basic body shape and proportions and habits, though they are often separated by habitat. The Spotted has been in the past, considered the same species as the Eastern Towhee…and was called the Rufous-sided Towhee when I first started birding. (Which dates me.) OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modification. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 1000 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.