Great Egret: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, July 2026 — Sometimes you just have one of those days in Maine when the Egrets are close and they dance for you. I do not pretend to understand why, but I am grateful! I watched as this Egret caught 3 fairly large fish within 30 minutes, so the Egret was having a good day too. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 at about 800mm equivalent field of view crop. Program with bird and wildlife modifications. -1EV for highlight control on this very white bird in full sun. Processed in Photomator.

Seaside Dragonlet (female): Kennebunk Bridle Path, Kennebunk, Maine, USA, July 2026 — Another interesting (to me) dragonfly, the little Seaside Dragonlet. This is a female. The males are all black with very faint suggestions of orange rings on the abdomen (what you might think of as the tail). It was a hot day, and the second shot shows the Dragonlet just going into obelisk mode, where the abdomen is pointed directly at the sun to minimize heat absorption. Dragonflies have no other way of regulating body temperature. The Seaside Dragonlet is, as its name suggests, one of the few dragonflies that breeds in salt or brackish water and is very common in marshes near the sea. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at about 800mm effective field of view crops. Program with insect modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Song Sparrow: Kennebunk Bridle Path, Kennebunk, Maine, USA, July 2026 — Here is something you do not see every day: a Song Sparrow eating what appears to be a wild cherry fruit. I am pretty sure I have never seen it before. I think of Song Sparrows as insect eaters, with the occasional side of grass seeds. Of course, when I looked it up, fruits do make up a portion of their summer diet. I did notice that the bird did not appear to eat the whole fruit. It picked it apart to get at the high-protein core and dropped the rest. Or maybe this particular bird was still getting the hang of eating fruit. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at about 800mm equivalent field of view crop. Program with birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Wild Turkey Polt: Arundel, Maine, USA, July 2026 — when driving back from Emmons’ Preserve yesterday, an oncoming truck flashed its lights at me. I checked. I was not speeding, and I did not know the driver—but then I came up over a little rise to find two hen turkeys and a dozen well-grown polts in the road. I grabbed the camera and rolled down the window in time for a few shots before they realized that I was going to let them cross the road—and they did just that—the whole bunch of them—disappearing into the dense forest on the other side. Thank you, unknown truck driver. Thank you, turkeys. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at maybe 600mm equivalent. Program with birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Spangled Skimmer: Day Brook Pond, Kennebunk Plains Conservancy, Kennebunk, Maine, USA, July 2026 — Another favorite dragonfly—but mostly because of how it looks in flight. Imagine those little bright spots on the wrist of the wing—if dragonfly wings had bones, which they do not—in motion, describing arks and figure 8s as the wings more as only dragonfly wings can move. Boneless, the wings respond to both the complex muscles at their bases which control tilt and camber and speed, and dynamically to the currents of air they are navigating. And you can see this dance if you watch the patterns the spots on the Spangled Skimmer’s wings make. Spangled comes, of course, from that glittering dance. We have a female (brownish) and a male (bluish) here. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary. Program with insect modifications. Processed in Photomator.

There are a lot of mushrooms in our yard right now. We have a kind of wild yard. Much of it is a mixture of moss and volunteer grass, and it is mostly shaded by huge old oak and maple trees. The mushrooms feel right at home with us. I will make no attempt to identify these. I do not eat wild mushrooms, but I do love to photograph them. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at between 50 and 75mm equivalent fields of view. Aperture with macro modifications. (Mostly f/18 on my little, tiny carbon fiber tripod.) Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.

Willet; Kennebunk, Maine, USA, July 2026 — Several pairs of Willets are nesting in the marshes behind the dunes at our local beach. Yesterday they were in full protection mode, acting as though there were chicks already, though I could not see any chicks. Hopefully, they are well hidden in the deep marsh grasses. I was nowhere near either adult, but they were certainly on high alert and even took to the air in an attempt to intimidate me. With some success, I might add. They are a lot bigger and way less agile than Least Terns, but thankfully, they appear to know the limits of their own turn ratio and keep a good distance. A close encounter would not be comfortable for either of us. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at about 600 to 900mm effective field of view crops. Program with flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Great Egret: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, July 2026 — as I mentioned, I saw the first “flock” of mixed waders this past week in the marshes along the river, two Great Egrets among them. I watched this one fish along the edge of one of the pools in the marshes for a half hour. It was taking something bigger than the marsh shrimp they usually take in these pools, but mostly it was just looking. 🙂 Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at about 800mm equivalent field of view crop. Program with bird and wildlife modifications. -.3EV to preserve the highlights. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.

Piping Plover Chicks: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, July 2026 — I had not seen the Piping Plover chicks since they were 2 days old. I found them again the other day—or to be more precise—they found me. The parents were doing their chicks on a loose thing, thought there were no chicks in sight, so I sat down on my folding stool and waited. Sure enough, the first one, and then the other came down across the protected area at the top of the dune and out onto the beach. I sat and watched and snapped while they made their way to the tide-line for a snack, and then, eventually, headed back into the protected area. At two weeks old, they have grown considerably, but they are still mostly fluff on long legs. As you see they are beginning to stretch their wings. Their eyes are fully open now, though, which makes them marginally easier to focus on. 🙂 Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at between 600 and 800mm equivalent field of view crops. Program with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Great Blue Heron (Great and Snowy Egret): Kennebunk, Maine, USA. July 2026 — I have gotten out early the past few days to stay ahead of the heat and air quality warnings. I found my first “pod” of waders along the marsh trail. I have seen solitary birds for the past month or more, but this was the first gathering in the same feeding pool of any number of birds. There were, when I first saw them, 2 Great Blue Herons, 2 Great Egrets, and numerous Snowy Egrets. Not a big group by Florida standards, but nice to see in southern Maine. I pulled out my folding stool and sat at the edge of the marsh and watched them feed and interact for a half hour. This is, of course, a photo of the Great Blue Heron, but I could not resist leaving the Great Egret and Snowy Egret in there for company 🙂 Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at about 600mm equivalent field of view crop. Program with birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.