Maine! Hummingbird Clearwing Moth
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth: Kennebunk Plains Conservation Area, York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — Last week when I went out to check for insects in the Northern Blazing Star bloom on the Kennebunk Plains, I found this Hummingbird Clearwing Moth working the Blazing Star…with a Monarch Butterfly right behind it. What are chances? Clearly better than you might think…as here you have it. There are two Clearwing Moths in Southern Maine, the Hummingbird (this one) and the Snowberry (which has a dark stripe down the side) and I have seen them both on the Plains different years. This is, on the other hand, only my 5th life Clearwing, though I only have photos from 3 of the previous…but I do remember each encounter vividly. This one will be the “one with the Monarch” 🙂 OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th.
Maine! Snail in flight
Herring Gull: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — It might not be about the gull…it is more about the snail that the gull is taking high up in the air, undoubtedly on its first flight, and then dropping it to the rocky verge below in hopes of cracking it open. Thus ends the snail. The first two images are overexposed slightly because I had the exposure compensation turned up in anticipation of shooting birds against the sky, and was caught on the wrong foot, so to speak, when this bird took off from the sand bar with the snail. I am still practicing my birds in flight skills with the OM Systems OM-1. Program mode with my custom birds in flight modifications. ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 1600 and 640 @ f6.3 @ 1/3200th.
Maine! Herring Gull catches eel
Herring Gull: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — During my birds in flight practice on Sunday morning, I managed to catch a sequence of this Herring Gull catching what appears to be an eel from the waters where a tidal creek meets our local river. Birds in flight are one thing, but a sequence like this is always special! OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 1000 @ f6.3 @ 1/3200th. Plus .7 EV.
Maine! More migrating Monarchs (Blazing Star)
Continuing our coverage of the Monarch butterfly migration in southern Maine, here are two from the Kennebunk Plains and the Northern Blazing Star bloom. I recently found out that the Plains are host to the largest population of Blazing Star left in the world. In the world! Clearly the Monarchs are doing their bit to help keep it healthy. And really, is there anything more photogenic than a Monarch in Blazing Star? (Well, maybe, just possibly, yes there is, but I will save that for another day 🙂 OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
Maine! Ring-bills in flight!
Ring-billed Gull: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — I am still trying to figure out my birds-in-fight modifications to program mode on my relatively new OM Systems OM-1…so I went down to the beach and river mouth to practice on some gulls and whatever else I could find there on a Sunday morning. There were lots of gulls in flight, but I only had one close flyover. These are three frames from one burst at 5fps as the gull swept by only maybe 20 feet over me, filling the frame at 800mm equivalent. I still need a lot of practice, and I am still tweaking the settings, but getting there. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds-in-flight modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 320 @ f6.3 @ 1/3200th. Plus .7EV
Maine: Monarch Migration
The Monarchs migration has arrived in Maine. Of course we do raise a few of our own, but large numbers come down the coastline from further north this time of year. I found these in a field of clover just behind the marsh of a tidal creek near home. And there were lots out on the blueberry plains, among the fading Blazing Star flowers, when I was there yesterday. OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 250 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
Maine! Snowy Egret, shallows dancing
Snowy Egret: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — These were taken a week ago, when the congregation of Egrets at the mouth of our local river was still strong. This week, they are mostly gone on south, I think. When I went down a few days ago there was only one lonely Snowy left, hanging out with the gulls. This Snowy was quite active fishing in the shallows along edge of the sandbar. OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th.
Maine! Scolia Wasp in Goldenrod
Scolia Wasp: Kennebunk Plains Nature Conservancy, York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — When the Blazing Star blooms on the Kennebunk Plains, it attracts insects of all kinds. This Scolia Wasp happened to be in the Goldenrod, which is also in full bloom on the Plains right now. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th.
Monday Supplement: White Blazing Star
I can’t let Northern Blazing Star season pass without properly celebrating it, so here is another Blazing Star shot. About one in a thousand (just a guess) Blazing Star plants produce white blossoms. I have no idea why…whether it is in the plant itself or in the soil, or some combination of the two. The plants appear otherwise healthy and identical to their purple counterparts. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 585mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f7 @ 1/800th.
Goldfinch among Blazing Star
American Goldfinch: York County, Maine, USA — Along the same lines as Goldenrod and Northern Blazing Star in the same frame, here we have a Goldfinch among Blazing Star. The same color contrast. 🙂 This time of year, as the Blazing Star blossoms ripen, there are flocks of Goldfinches out on the Plains, picking out the thistle like seeds. Getting close enough for a good photo is a trick, as they are fairly exposed and quite flighty. I took this from the seat of my trike, still clipped into the pedals, on the access road for the pond, low and through the foreground blooms. OM System OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 320 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th. Heavily cropped for scale.