Posts in Category: birds
Eagle, Eagle!
Bald Eagle, Muskrat Pond, Medomak, Maine, USA — This American Bald Eagle was really too far away for photos…but what are you going to do? It was all the way across Muskrat Pond in Medomak, Maine, at least a quarter of a mile, when I visited with the Holbrook Travel group at Hog Island Audubon Camp last this week. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent…but cropped, upscaled, and recropped for maybe the equivalent of 2000mm. Lots of mist in the air too, and crummy light, which did not help either. Still, we do what we have to. 🙂 Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr, upscaled in Pixomatic Pro, finished in Apple Photos. ISO 250, 500, and 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Black and White
Black and White Warbler: Medomak, Maine, USA — As part of my day with the Holbrook Travel group at Hog Island Audubon Camp, we took a walk around Muscrat Pond in Medomak, a small village just up the coast from Hog Island. There were birds. Not a great many, but more than a few species…not easy to photograph as they foraged in hedgerows and tree tops…typical Maine August birding when the migration is just getting under way. Just that much north of us they do have many nesting warblers that we don’t see all summer here in Southern Maine, like this female Black and White Warbler, who did come out to the edge of the foliage for a few moments while we watched. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr, enlarged in Pixelmator Pro and cropped for scale, and finished in Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Juvenile Rufous Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird: Bear Canyon Campground, Santa Fe National Forest, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA — I shared one shot if this juvenile Rufous Hummingbird at these flowers in the Bear Canyon Campground above Santa Fe, New Mexico a week or so ago, but I can not leave my New Mexico experience without sharing a couple more poses. The Hummer was very busy and remained around the flowers long enough so that I got a number of keeper shots. In these two you can see the the distinguishing features on the front side of the bird. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos, assembled in FrameMagic. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Sandia Crest Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-breasted Nuthatch: Sandia Crest, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA — There were hundreds of Red-breasted Nuthatches along the Sandia Crest Nature Trial when we visited last week. New Mexico Nuthatches seem to be quite large by Maine standards. They seem to be pretty much the same size as our White-breasted Nuthatches. In Maine the RBNH is noticeably smaller, by a full size, maybe a size and a half, than the WBNH. The same perky little bird though…always busy. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and given the Machine Learning Maximum Resolution treatment in Pixelmator Pro, then cropped back to fill the fame more, and finished in Apple Photos. I am guessing the net result is a frame of view approximately equivalent to a 2000mm lens on a full frame camera. This is my new method for overcoming the limitations of a 600mm equivalent lens for small birds at a distance. 🙂 ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Cassin’s Finch
Cassin’s Finch: Capulin Snowplay Area, Sandia Crest Highway, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA — As near as I can figure this is a juvenile male Cassin’s Finch. From the right angle you could see just a blush of reddish on the chest. There was another bird with it that was probably the adult female. Both sat above the water drip at the Snowplay area for most of the time we sat there…going on an hour. We left primarily because I came to the suspect we were keeping them from their drink (and partially because our two non-birders had exhausted the entertainment factor of the old road through the picnic area). Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 160 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Green-tailed Towhee
Green-tailed Towhee: Capulin Snowplay Area, Sandia Crest Highway, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA — My daughter Sal who lives in Albuquerque took us up Sandia Crest Highway to get away from the high temperatures and wildfire smoke settled over the city and to find some birds to photograph. We stopped at the Capulin Snowplay Area and walked down to the springs where there is water drip that attracts all kinds of birds depending on the time of day. This Green-tailed Towhee came and took several baths in the unaccustomed heat. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Santa Fe Red-winged Blackbird
Red-winged Blackbird: Santa Fe Canyon Preserve, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA — Playing catch up from what turned out to be a very productive (photographically) trip to celebrate our daughter’s wedding (a year after the fact due to Covid) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This is probably the same Red-winged Blackbird I have seen several on several past visits, above the remains of 2 Mile Reservoir in the Santa Fe Canyon Preserve. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/640th.
American Three-toed Woodpecker!
American Three-toed Woodpecker: Sandia Crest, New Mexico, USA — On our final day in New Mexico we visited our two daughters who live in Albuquerque, and since the smoke from the fires to the west was dense in the valley, we decided to do some birding, photography, and hiking up on Sandia Crest above the city and the smoke. We hiked out along the cliff-tops on the Sandia Crest Nature Trail and then turned back through the forest just behind the cliffs. There was considerable bird activity, and among several more “to be expected” species, we tracked down this pair (perhaps and adult and juvenile or a male and female) of woodpeckers. Three-toed Woodpeckers…a somewhat rare and hard to see bird that is known to haunt the Crest. The birds were a good way back in the forest from the trail, besides being partially obscured by foreground trees. I used the full 600mm equivalent of the Sony RX10iv’s zoom, along with my custom birds and wildlife modifications to Program mode…then cropped heavily…down to maybe 1/8th of the frame and processed using my normal birds and wildlife presets in Polarr. Then I saved the images and reopened them in Pixelmator Pro to use the Machine Learning super-resolution tool to increase the file size back up to about 2/3s of a full frame, then recropped to give me something like the equivalent of a 2400-3000mm lens on a full frame camera. I mean these birds were tiny in the original frames, and only really identifiable in binoculars. Finally I used the AI processing tool in Apple Photos to add a little presence. Given the challenges, I am pretty happy with the results. At least you can see the three toes in the first shot. 🙂 ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/640th.
Unexpected Visitor: Cooper’s Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA — We had gathered at my daughter and son-in-law’s home in Santa Fe for a backyard cookout / rehearsal dinner for their one year, delayed due to Covid, celebration of their wedding vows…20 or so people chatting in groups in the backyard, when a biggish bird swooped down at about 5 feet through the yard, just at my wife’s eyelevel and only about a foot from her face, and then swooped up into the tree over the grill. It sat there for at least 15 minutes giving us the eye as at least some of us paused to wonder at it. I was the official casual photographer at the event so I had my camera in my hand and got some photos. At first I thought the hawk had some plastic wrapped around its talons and tail, but closer examination of the photos when I got home showed that it had picked up something furry and apparently grabbed the plastic along with whatever it caught. After a while it moved on into a tree in the next yard, where it stayed for at least the next hour. Hopefully it got its prey, and itself, untangled from the plastic before it moved on. We have seen three individual Cooper’s Hawks in the 5 days we have been Santa Fe…one at the Santa Fe River Preserve where it is to be expected…this one making this unexpected visit to a backyard full of people…and another hunting House Sparrow along the Camino Real hike and bike trail along the Santa Fe River channel. It must be a good year for Cooper’s Hawks in Santa Fe. Sony Rx10iv at about 370mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Juvenile Rufous Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird: Bear Canyon Camp Ground, Santa Fe National Forest, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA — As we came back down through the Bear Canyon Camp Ground after our hike up Bear Canyon trail, we saw a number of juvenile Rufous Hummingbirds working the wildflowers. I attempted to catch one several times before this bird decided to cooperate, and hovered long enough for a few shots. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th.