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.

American Goldfinch: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I still have thistle seed out for the Goldfinches, which have not been regular at our feeders since early August. A bunch came through last week, on their way south, but we have one that is hanging around. Not so gold, but a still a pretty little bird. It is, of course, just as interested in the sunflower seed feeder I moved up onto the deck feeding station from out under the trees, so maybe that is really what is keeping it. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Got to love that bokeh. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Tufted Titmouse: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Another shot from a cold misty December morning, with very little light. Shooting at ISO 3200. In addition to my normal low light noise reduction, I also used a brush to remove residual noise in the “open” areas of the image, leaving it in the bird itself and the feeder, where detail masks the noise, and removing it would soften the detail. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 3200 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Good light is the digital camera’s best friend. Today’s sensors are light hungry…they respond best to higher light levels. But, the truth is, you don’t always get good light, and good light for photography is sometimes not the best for showing the subtle colors and rich details of the birds around us. This shot was taken yesterday in the misty rain on our back deck, and it does an admirable job of capturing the look of a bluebird on a rainy day, even though the sensor was staining at ISO 2000. That is not all that high by full-frame standards, maybe, but is getting right on up there for an compact sensor camera like my Sony Rx10iv. Still, with just a bit of extra noise reduction in Polarr, it makes an effective shot. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr using my “low light” preset, which includes noise-reduction, and finished up in Apple Photos. ISO 2000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — “Free as a bird” as they say…which is why we are always so thankful when the bluebirds frequent our feeders. I think is is the 4th year we have had them regularly, spring through mid to late summer, and then again in winter. This year they are early. They often don’t appear, after their fall sabbatical, on a daily basis until December and they have been with us several weeks already. We are appropriately thankful. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 320 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

White-breasted Nuthatch: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I have written before about the likelihood that nuthatches and chickadees expend more energy opening a black-oil sunflower seed than they can possibly get from the kernel. It must be a close run thing. Still they persist in prying the seeds open, so either they really like the taste or they do get more out of the effort than they put in. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Assembled in FrameMagic. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

White-breasted Nuthatch: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I introduced the subject of how birds deal with food yesterday, specifically the differences between chickadees and nuthatches. Chickadees use their feet like hands to hold their seeds, etc. while working on them. This is the other method. The White-breasted Nuthatch carries the seeds off and finds a crack…in the wood of our deck rail here, but often in the bark of a tree…where it can wedge the seed in to hold it like a vice while it deals with getting it open and the kernel out. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 320 @ f4 @ 1/500th.