Blackburnian Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, May 2026 — Another warbler I always look forward to seeing at Magee each May. We get them in Maine, but by the time they get to us, they are feeding in the very tops of the trees. Seeing them at and below eye level is always a treat. The leaves being full out continues to present a challenge, and this bright male was skulking deep in the brush but close to the boardwalk. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary. Program with birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Prothonotary Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2026 — The thing you soon notice about Prothonotary Warblers, right after the eye-popping yellow of them, is that they have absolutely no fear of human beings. At Magee, where they nest every year, they come within 18 inches of your camera lens, sometimes closer. I have had them land on the boardwalk railing a few inches from my elbow. I have had them fly between my feet. The main issue when photographing them is that most telephoto lenses do not focus close enough. 🙂 My Sigma 16-300 Contemporary is the ideal lens for Prothonotaries. This shot is from about 3 feet away, and only cropped for composition, and even on a decent-sized phone screen it is going to almost life-sized. On a tablet or laptop it will be life-sized or larger. Sony a6700. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Northern Parula: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2026 — Warblers at Magee this year with the foliage full out are a wait-and-see game. Patience. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 at about 800mm equivalent field of view. Program with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Piping Plover: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, May 2026 — If you watch plovers for long, you will see one of this thing with the wing—the wing thing. I assume they are stretching the wing to settle the feathers. Only one wing at a time as they support the wing with an extended leg and foot. Like so many things in this life—it is a matter of balance. Sony a7CR. Tamron 150-500 at about 800 equivalent. Program with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Garter Snake: Emmons’ Preserve, Kennebunkport, Maine, USA, May 2026 — I know snakes are not everyone’s favorite creature, but they have, to my eye, a beauty all their own. Not cuddly by any means, but if you admire efficiency, the snake is kind of elegant with efficiency. And it is hard to miss the intelligence in the eye. This is a relatively large Garter snake, going on 4 feet long, and rather than slither away under the leaves, it chose to freeze in place, head up and alert. I spent 10 minutes with it, and it was still in this pose when I walked on. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at 450mm and 77mm equivalent fields of view. Program with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.

Continuing with Trout Lilies from my visit to Emmons’ Preserve in Kennebunkport, Maine, this week. I keep looking for one I could frame against water, and eventually found this one growing close to a small stream, only 18 inches wide at this point, that runs down to the river below. I tried some close-ups and then backed away to use the telephoto effect to catch some texture in the water while keeping the lily sharp. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at 424mm equivalent field of view. Aperture program with macro modifications. f/22 for depth of field. The visitor (the bugs were active around the flowers) appears to be Lycidae (lace-winged beetle) of some sort (according to Google). Processed in Photomator.

Trout Lily (Adder’s Tongue, Dogtooth Violet): Emmons’ Preserve, Kennebunkport, Maine, USA, May 2026 — Trout Lily has so many names partially because each name comes from a different part of the plant. Trout comes from the pattern on the two leaves of the mature plant, which resembles the pattern on a brook trout. Adder’s Tongue comes from the shape of the immature plant’s leaves (and remember the plants take 4-7 years to mature and there are generally 99 immature plants for every one mature). Dogtooth comes from the white “tooth” on the bulb of the plant if you dig it up. However, it is definitely a lily, not a violet. (I looked it up 🙂 Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at 135mm equivalent. Aperture program with macro modifications. f16 Processed in Photomator.

Trout Lily (Adder’s Tongue, Dogtooth Violet): Emmons’ Preserve, Kennebunkport, Maine, USA, May 2026 — My first trip to Emmons’ to look for Trout Lily a month ago, there were no leaves even showing. Yesterday I found them well scattered through all the likely spots, but not in bunches as I have seen them the past few years. I looked it up. Only 1% of Trout Lily plants flower each year. Those are the mature plants with two leaves. It takes between 4 and 7 years for a plant to mature, and maturation depends on the amount of sunlight the plant receives between the leaves emerging and the canopy closing over them. They tend to grow in patches where the spring canopy is thinnest and because they spread through a shared network of roots underground. On the plus side, if you view all the Trout Lily plants in a forest as a single organism, the trout lily in reactively undisturbed forests might be 1000s of years old. This is apparently a year when only a few plants have reached maturity, and when the already mature plants apparently did not store enough energy to produce a bloom this year, so flowers are few and far between. And many are very small (perhaps first-year blooms). It took me a long time to find a very few of what I would call full-blown Trout Lilies. These two were half the size of some of the others I found, and the ones I have come to expect. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at 105mm equivalent field of view. Aperture program with macro modifications: f22 for depth yielded 1/30th @ ISO 100. Working at ground level off my tiny tabletop carbon fiber tripod. (One of my best purchases ever!) The main limiting factor was the wind.

Rock Doves: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, April 2026 — This pair of Rock Doves verily likely has a nest under the bridge on the way into our local beach. I am seeing them on almost every visit now. I am not sure that is a good thing, all things considered, since they are active nest predators of both the protected Piping Plovers and Least Terns that share the beach a few hundred yards away. I would not be surprised if Fish and Wildlife moved them on when nesting season is in full swing. Still, they are very handsome birds, especially these throwbacks to the original wild stock, with their subtle grays and that amazing iridescent green and violet, bright pink feet, and orange eye. And they are graceful flyers. I often mistake them for falcons on the wing. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at about 500mm equivalent field of view. Program with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Kennebunk, Maine, USA, April 2026 — It seems we humans always want to improve the landscape—and certainly change the landscape whether we intend to or not. This old, bleached tree with its roots has been on the beach as long as I can remember, and it is a lovely thing—I am not sure why anyone would feel the need to turn it into a somewhat ragged-looking hut. And of course, someone is missing those lobster pots. Still, the universe has a way of creating harmony out of apparent discord, and this image somehow still hangs together and speaks of peace. Maybe it is the clouds? Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 Contemporary at 35mm equivalent field of view. Auto with Landscape Mode selection. Processed in Photomator.