American Goldfinch
American Goldfinch, Kennebunk, Maine, USA. Still coming into full breeding plumage. My backyard bird / photo blind is proving to be very satisfying, and very productive. The opportunity to observe and photograph my backyard birds this close, without disturbing them in any way, is new to me, and I am enjoying it immensely. Odd as it seems, I will have the pandemic to thank for this. I would not have gone to the expense and effort of setting it up if not for the “stay at home” advice. I ordered a hanging water feeder and bird bath to add to my setup. I expect I will be using the blind a lot this spring and summer. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo.
Dark-eyed Junco (slate-colored)
Dark-eyed Junco, slate-colored sub-species. Kennebunk Maine, USA. This is “first fruits” from my new bird / photo blind in our back yard. I put out my pop-up turkey hunting blind and 2 squirrel proof bird feeders and a suet cage within another cage, again to discourage the squirrels, under the big pine along the boarder of our yard in the back. The Chickadees found the feeders first, of course, but in 2 hours of sitting in the blind yesterday afternoon I had opportunities to observe and photograph several species at close range. It works amazing well. This Slate-colored Junco is a bird that is around the yard all summer, and occasional up on our deck under the feeders there, but this is the first decent photo I have gotten. I will be spending a lot of time, these next weeks as we wait out the pandemic, in my blind. One afternoon was enough to convince me it will work. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo.
What’ca think of them berries?
Dropping back a week or so to when the flock of Cedar Waxwings was working its way though the berry trees and vines of Kennebunk (Maine, USA) for this interesting pose. I don’t know where the Cedar Waxwings are now. I have not seen them in many days. I suspect they have moved on…or at least out of town…or perhaps dispersed to breeding territories. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Look at my seed!
Another interesting pose from the White-breasted Nuthatch, at our back deck feeders here in Kennebunk Maine, USA. Sony Rx10iv at 454mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
There are always Chickadees
Black-capped Chickadee, Kennebunk, Maine, USA. Chickadees are reliable. They are everywhere, at least here in the northeast, and they are always there…even on the quietest day…even when we are under stay-at-home orders. 🙂 Occasionally one will strike a pose that lifts the photo out of the ordinary. It does not take much…in this case the angle of the head and way the light strikes and kindles the eye. In most photos the chickadee eye looks completely dark. Here you can see the rich brown iris. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Head on with a Bluebird
This is the male of the pair of Eastern Bluebirds that frequent our yard here in Kennebunk, Maine, USA. They started coming three years ago, and this same pair (I assume) comes back every year. They are actually here during all but bleak mid-winter. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Red like a Sumac
The Sumac plumes are bright red this week. I found this one along Water Street here in Kennebunk just beyond the Roger’s Pond turnoff. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Macro at the long end of the zoom in program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Sparkly Crow
American Crow, Kennebunk, Maine, USA: Crows like sparkly things, but this Crow is itself kind of sparkly…sitting in the sun on a bright March day. It’s glossy black plumage is full of reflective highlights. This is just down the street from us on one of daily walks around the neighborhood…practicing social distancing, of course…not hard when I am the only one on the street…except for the crows, of course, and they keep their distance from me. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Coy Chipmunk…
Chipmunks are, almost by definition, coy. They have that strange mixture of boldness and timidity…bold to certain point, and then instantly timid, that makes them worth paying attention to whenever you see one. This one was near the beginning of the Kennebunk Land Trust Mousam River Sanctuary trail here in Kennebunk. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Bronze in passing
Something a bit different today. Along the back side of the loop at the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, there was a land slippage on the high bank over Branch Brook last spring that took an overlook and part of the trail with it. One of the tall spruces that was on the edge of the bank is now down near the river, leaning against the back and out over the trail. It did not survive the fall, and is now slowly turning brown. They will get to it with a chainsaw one of these days soon, but for now it is like a rich bronze casting over the trail, especially in afternoon light. I moved in close and tried several different compositions out at the long end of the zoom, in an attempt to capture the effect. Sony Rx10iv at about 440mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications (which I also use for macro). Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.