Posts in Category: beach
Maine! winging it
Least Tern: York County, Maine, USA, June 2024 — I am still learning to photograph Terns in flight…I have a feeling that no matter how many I photograph I will always still be learning. 🙂 There are always tourists on the beach and there are always Terns in the air. I find that 600mm equivalent is the maximum I can currently handle and still occasionally get the bird in the frame. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko ED 100-400IS zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds-in-flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Gotcha
Willet: York County, Maine, USA, June 2024 — Willet hunting along the tide line of a tidal creek. And having some success! I am testing the new M.Zuiko ED 150-600IS zoom and this shot was at the full 1200mm reach on my OM System OM-1Mkii. This is a very good lens! Program mode with my bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine: Bringing it
Least Tern: York County, Maine, USA, June 2024 — As I mentioned, there was lots of courting action on the beach the last time I visited. It was getting on for high tide and the terns were down along the surf line, catching and offering Rock Gunnel. Note the band on the leg of the bird in flight. The Least Terns in Maine are carefully monitored. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko ED 100-400IS zoom at 684mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds-in-flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Front passing
While photographing Least Terns on the beach I could not resist this shot of the warm front passing offshore. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 12-45 f4 Pro zoom at 24mm equivalent. Program mode with in-camera HDR. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! The exchange
Least Terns: York County, Maine, USA, June 2024 — Apparently a new group of Least Terns, perhaps a dozen, have moved up to our local beach for second nests. They were actively courting yesterday, with a good amount of eel offering. I even got to see one actual exchange, and maybe caught a pair mating. Not this pair. This is just the exchange. There is no way Facebook would keep the images in the right order, so I have made them into a read right and down composite. If you are viewing on a phone you may want to pinch and zoom out to see each individual frame. Right place, right time, and ready! That is the key to wildlife photography. 🙂 OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko ED 100-400IS zoom at 656mm equivalent (cropped to fill the frame…I was shooting terns in flight, for which I find that 600mm works better than 800, and did not get zoomed back out to 800mm for these beach shots…so, maybe, not quite ready…but the sequence only lasted a second or two, and I got the shots :). Program mode with my birds-in-flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Maine! Getting bigger
Piping Plover: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, June 2024 — The Piping Plover chicks, at lest this one family, are getting bigger and their feathers are developing from pin to full plumage rapidly. This chick is about 3 weeks old now. They are fully functional at birth…capable of feeding themselves and running around to considerable distances from the nest, but now they are going all the way down across the open beach to the serf line. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko ED 150-600IS zoom at 1200mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Willet in the surf
Willet: York County, Maine, USA, June 2024 — On one of our hot days last week, this Willet spend a lot of time in the surf, perhaps cooling off. It did not appear to be actively hunting…at least I did not see it try for any prey while I was watching. It just stood there and let the surf run around it. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Air defense
Least Tern (with Rock Dove): York County, Maine, USA, June 2024 — I had never thought of the Rock Dove (pigeon) as a potential predator of Least Tern eggs, but this pigeon was showing way too much interest in one particular Least Tern nest on the beach. I had also never realized just how big a Rock Dove is compared to a Least Tern. The Terns made a valiant attempt to dive the pigeon off, dive bombing it on the beach and harassing it in the air, but when it landed near the nest and showed every intention of raiding it, they went into full air defense mode with one of most amazing shows of aerial dexterity I have ever seen. Every Tern on the beach joined in, and for several moments the Dove had their full attention…until it finally decided two tern eggs were not worth the hassle and got up and flew off into the distance. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 338mm (Dove and Tern) and 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds-in-flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Maine! Still two
Least Tern. Kennebunk, Maine, USA, June 2024 — One of the reasons we invest in the long telephoto lenses and the cameras with good sensors is to be able to take photos like these from a distance where we were not disturbing the birds. But then I always have mixed feelings about sharing them. They look like they were taken from much closer than they were, and I certainly do not want to encourage folks with cell phones or even their kit zoom lenses to try to get shots like this. This is with the OM System OM-1Mkii with the M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent, plus the 2x digital tele-converter and a healthy crop to bring the final field of view to about 3000mm…or spotting scope scale. It is worth sharing, I think, because it is just something most of us never get to see. Look at how well camouflaged those eggs are. In fact, when the Tern wants to hide the eggs she (or he) just gets up and moves a few feet to one side or the other. Once the bird is off the nest it is almost impossible to see the eggs, even with optical aid. This bird is just returning to the nest after attempting to distract a gull. Program mode with my bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! feel the heat?
We have had a couple of days of unusual heat for June. You might be able to feel in this photo from our local beach. I was out early photographing Piping Plover chicks before it got unbearable on the beach. I could go home. The Plovers are stuck there. 🙁 OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 12-45 f4 Pro. Program mode with in-camera HDR. Processed in Photomator.