Tufted Titmouse: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2026 — Another shot from the steps up to the back deck and our feeding station on a frigid January day. The Titmouse does not often get up on the mealworm feeder, but needs must when it is this cold. Our titmice are perky, attractive without being remarkable, birds, and we are always happy to share our mealworms with them. (The bluebirds might be less happy, but the titmice are rarely there at the same time as the bluebirds. 🙂 Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 at 450mm equivalent field of view. Program with birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2026 — I snuck up the stairs to the back deck one cold day and stood in the shadow of the house, hoping to photograph some of our feeder birds without the double-glazed glass deck door between me and them. Our bluebirds, nuthatches, titmice, chickadees, and woodpeckers (both hairy and downy) are used to me enough now so if I stand relatively still they will still come to the feeders. The angle is not great, but I stand any further forward they startle. I caught this interaction between two bluebirds. As always it is very difficult not to read emotions into the postures of the bluebirds…or to put it another way, it seems to always be easy to write captions for bluebird photos. 🙂 I am sure you can come up with some great ones for this interaction. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 at 450mm equivalent field of view (cropped to something short of 600mm fov). Program with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator. Assemble in FrameMagic.

Common Merganser: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2026 — As I mentioned, the river is frozen right up past the rapids this winter. It was still in single digits when I took this photo of the female merganser hauled out on the ice for a rest. Most winters we get mostly females along the upper river. Sony a7CR. Tamron 150-500 at 500mm equivalent (cropped some). Program with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Mallard Duck: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2026 — For the first time in maybe 5 years, the Mousam River is frozen almost all the way up to the dam in Kennebunk. Even the rapids below the dam are closing up. The Mallards are concentrated in the open water between ice flows, where the rapid water is moving too fast for ice to form. I caught this female just as she lifted off to move from one open area to another. By accident, the camera was set to ISO 12,800 (there is a button on the back I have to be careful of, especially in two layers of gloves), so it is at 1/8000 second, and she is frozen (no pun intended) in mid-air above the frozen river. Perhaps, in fact, she is moving to say ahead of being frozen herself. Sony a7CR. Tamron 150-500 at 500mm field of view (cropped to something like 750mm). Program with an accidentally high ISO and my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Downstream from the dam in Kennebunk, Maine, at 5° above zero. Crossing the bridge in the car, I saw that the supercooled mist from the dam had decorated every branch and twig along the river with a delicate coating of rime. I parked at the Chamber of Commerce and walked back across the bridge for a few photos. Then I continued on to the pond to look for eagles (without success). The sun came out while I was there. By the time I got back to the bridge, the rime was completely gone, even though it was still only 8°. Delicate indeed. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 at 66mm equivalent field of view. Auto (Landscape Scene Mode). Processed in Photomator.

Red-shouldered Hawk: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2026 — No, this is not any kind of winter hawk in southern Maine. It should not be here, and it should not be here in the middle of a cold snap…when it is 5 degrees above zero (and colder when the sun is not up). And yet, here it is, sitting out in the sun above a little frozen cattail pond near the river. I saw it first from the river side and photographed it with its back to me, and then drove around to the sunny side for this view. It did not seem to be in a hurry to go anywhere, even in the frigid temperatures. You just never know what the birds will get up to. (And that is part of the fun of birding.) Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 at 450mm equivalent field of view (cropped to about 900mm). Program with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

European Starling: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2026 — Of course, we do not like Starlings. They eat more mealworms than they need (they will continue to eat until there are no more mealworms), they take good nesting sites, they are noisy and messy, and aggressive toward other birds…but in the right light, there is no question that they are beautiful (in their own way). Stars of their own show. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 at 450mm equivalent field of view. Program with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2026 — Our Bluebirds are certainly winter hardy…they have been with us for the past 7 or 8 years, and the adults have seen their share of snow…but that does not mean they are happy about it! (Of course, that is purely a projection. I actually have no idea how they feel about snow, or if they “feel” anything at all about snow.) Still, it is hard not to read some comment on snow into these selected Bluebird portraits. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 at 450mm equivalent field of view. (And not through double-glazed glass doors for a change…I was actually out in the frigid temps waiting on the birds yesterday. Program with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.

Hairy Woodpecker and Carolina Wren: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2026 — Temperatures in the single digits all day and 16 inches of new snow on the ground make for lots of activity at the feeders. And a bit of unusual activity. Neither of these birds is frequent at the mealworms (though the wren loves to pick up the crumbs under the feeder), and to have both at the feeder at the same time is very rare. I took lots of photos, in an attempt to catch both birds in attractive poses in a single frame, but most of the time one or the other had its beak buried in the mealworm port. This is, in the end, two shots composited in Pixomatic. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 at 450mm equivalent field of view. Program with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and Pixomatic.

Red-bellied Woodpecker: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2026 — The neighborhood Red-bellied Woodpecker has been coming to our suet feeder much more often this year than in years past, especially this winter. However, the suet feeder is way over on the far corner of the deck, in a position where I have to shoot through the glass at an oblique angle, which “softens” the image more than shooting straight through the double-glazed deck doors. So I am happy that the Red-bellied has discovered the mealworm feeder we keep full for the bluebirds and now, on occasion, comes over right in front of the doors so that I can shoot straight through the glass. (It does not take much to make me happy 🙂 Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 at 450mm equivalent field of view. Program with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.