Pine Warbler, Kennebunk, Maine, USA. Only a few days ago I was surprised to see a Pine Warbler in our yard at all…a first-ever-event…now we have them coming to our deck, right outside the windows, and singing by the blind. How great is that! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent (cropped to yield something like a 1700mm field of view). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications, Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

Eastern Bluebird, Kennebunk, Maine, USA. The hanging bird bath (Audubon brand from Amazon) has been a big hit so far at my feeding station by my photo blind. I have yet to see a bird bathing in it, but they drink from it every day. This male Eastern Bluebird was heavy enough to make the hanging bath rotate slowly as the bird hopped around, but it is remarkably stable. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr And Apple Photos. Check out the blue on this remarkably blue male. In close up photos like these you can see the texture of the blue. To the naked eye it is just eye-poppingly blue!

We have several Chipping Sparrows coming to the new feeders near the photo blind. They come up on the deck too, much more this year than in year’s past. I am sure, that is, at least in part, because until this spring I fed only Black-oil Sunflower seeds…this spring, mainly due to the difficulty in obtaining bird seed with a “stay at home” order in place…I am feeding a mix. The sparrows and the finches seem to greatly prefer the mix. I have lots of natural perches around the feeders by the blind, which makes for some nice shots as the birds come and go. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

White-breasted Nuthatch, Kennebunk, Maine, USA.

We put the mealworms out, of course, for the bluebirds. We have had bluebirds frequenting our yard for the past 4 years. But (also of course) the other birds, Titmice, Chickadees, and Nuthatches also eat the mealworms. A mealworm is quite a mouthful for the smaller White-breasted Nuthatch. The Titmice and Chickadees only take the broken bits. A bluebird can swallow a mealworm whole. 🙂 This White-breasted Nuthatch took his prize up to a nearby branch to figure out how to deal with it. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

Song Sparrow, Kennebunk, Maine, USA While Song Sparrows are common in the fields and even along the beach access road a few miles from home, we have seen very few in our yard…until this year, with the addition of the feeding station under the trees by my new photo blind. Now we have them daily, harvesting the spilled seed under the feeders. There is at least a pair, since I have seen them together. This one was about 8 feet from my blind where I had intentionally spilled some seed while filling the feeders. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

Pine Warbler, Kennebunk, Maine, USA There is a poem that goes with this. See below. First though it turns out I should not have been surprised that the first warbler of spring here in southern Maine was a Pine Warbler. According to the Audubon Guide to the Birds of North America online, the Pine Warner is singing on territory and nesting by April in Maine. This particular pine warbler was the first I have seen in our yard…but, again, according to Audubon, they are one of the few warblers that do come to feeders. You can see the seed I had scattered under the feeders by my blind around the bird’s feet. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

And the poem:

4/20
Sitting in the blind on a chilly, cloudy
April afternoon, a bird flys in. At first
glance I am thinking female Goldfinch
since we have a lot of them around,
and it has that dull yellow color and
wing-bars…but then it hops down and
comes toward me through the leaf-
litter…not very Goldfinch like. I get
the camera on it and see the pale
streaking on the breast and that carpet
tack black bill. A warbler then, but
which one? Clearly not one of the
more obvious ones, or one I have
seen recently or often at all the past
or I would know it. The indexer in me
does that pinball machine thing where
it rolls down like the ball, bouncing off
the dull yellow Orange-crowned, and
the grayer Tennessee…the brighter
Palm and Prairie, looking for a home.
It comes to rest, just barely balanced
on Pine. But is it? It takes a visit to
iBird on my phone to convince me,
but, yes it is definitely a Pine. Isn’t it
wonderful how the birder’s mind works?
But I have to say, at first glance it still
looks enough like a female Goldfinch
so that I am not embarrassed at all.

Northern Cardinal, Kennebunk, Maine, USA. We had a day of cold rain yesterday, and that made the feeders on the deck and by blind particularly active in the morning. By the time I got out there it had quieted down, but I did have a visit from this female Cardinal just before 11am. It was still raining and I was sitting on a damp chair in a leaky blind with my own and my camera’s rain jacket on. The things we do for a photo. This is a good example, technically, of how good the auto focus is on the Sony Rx10iv. 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

Eastern Bluebird, Kennebunk, Maine, USA. Things are looking up! At least this Eastern Bluebird is, and when the bluebird of happiness is looking up, well then, things can not be all that bad. 🙂 Just saying. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Taken from my backyard photo blind.

White-breasted Nuthatch, Kennebunk, Maine, USA The White-breasted Nuthatch is such a sleek little bird that it is sometimes hard to get much feather detail at all in a photo. This one seems set to disprove the sleek assumptions. 🙂 One of the advantages of a photo blind is that, if you sit there long enough, you get to see all kinds of interesting behaviors. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.