White-breasted Nuthatch: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — This is one of at least two (I have seen two at the same time) White-breasted Nuthatches that frequent our feeders on a daily basis. During the spring and summer they would take a single seed and fly off to the trees to dispatch it…but the past few weeks they have begun to dig the kernel out right on the deck…wedging the seed in a crack in the deck rail and having at it. Someone’s comment on a previous post made think of the difference between our two “fearless” feeders…both the chickadees and the nuthatches will happily feed while I am on the deck, often landing within arms reach (you will have seen photos of chickadees trained feed from folk’s hands). The chickadees interact with humans. I am not sure the nuthatches even know we are here. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 200 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Red-breasted Nuthatch: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I enjoy all the nuthatches that come to our feeding stations. The White-breasted are there many times a day, all day, but, while they may come at least once everyday, I only see the Red-breasted once a week or so…sometimes not at all for many weeks. If I spend more time in the kitchen overlooking the feeders, or in my photo blind when it is set up, I would probably see them more, but as it is, every sighting is a real treat! This one popped up on the deck when I was taking photos of bluebirds the other day. It was there for maybe a moment, and then I did not see it again, but I got a few photos as it flitted through. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Once again one of our bluebirds on a favored perch at our back deck feeding station. I had to replace our nice mealworm feeder with an ugly “squirrel proof” multi-seed feeder this week as two of our neighborhood squirrels had figured out how to access the mealworms in the bowl feeder. Not easy, but I always say, “where there is a way there is a squirrel.” Still, it is a feeder the bluebirds used all summer out at my backyard photo blind, so they are used to it. It is difficult to find a hopper feeder that will reliably feed mealworms, and I found this one by chance…ordered it when no other squirrel proof feeders were available this spring for regular seed, and only discovered it worked with mealworms after I got it. The bluebirds have no problem with it, and so far no squirrels have gotten the better of the baffle. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus .3 EV exposure compensation.

American Goldfinch, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — This Goldfinch posed against strong backlight, straining at the limits of comfort for a digital sensor, but it makes, I think, an interesting portrait. The bird was only about 7 feet from me, and some extra post processing brought up all the detail the excellent ZEISS lens on the Sony can provide. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 125 @ f4 @ 1/500th.