Posts in Category: birds
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch, Kennebunk, Maine, USA. Another bird from our back deck feeding station. We have a suet feeder in a cage to defeat the squirrels. It took the birds a while to figure it out, but they did. And it does keep the squirrels out of the suet and saves a lot more for the birds. 🙂 Both woodpeckers and White-breasted Nuthatches hang from the bottom of the feeder to get at the suet. Red-breasted Nuthatches, Chickadees, and Titmice go through the outer cage and use the suet feeder inside just as they would if it were free hanging. It is raining today, but I will still try to sit out under the feeders for a while, in all my rain gear and with camera in its rain jacket, just to continue convincing the birds that I am harmless. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Chickadee in a time of pandemic
Yesterday, while we hunker down here at home waiting out the pandemic, I spent about 90 minutes sitting under the feeders on the back deck waiting for the birds to stop noticing me. Of course the Chickadees were the first to come in close. They paid me no attention at all. This one took his sunflower seed up to one of the apple branch perches I have bolted to the deck to de-shell it and worked on the seed for a good 60 seconds before flying off. I have a whole sequence of ”working the seed” shots. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent (from about 6 feet). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Florida Scrub Jay
Today, as I pretty much “shelter in place”, we will pop back down to Florida, from January’s trip to the Space Coast Birding Festival, to pick up this shot of two Florida Scrub Jays working the sandy trail at the Helen and Allen Cruickshank Sanctuary in Rockledge. (USA). Busy, busy, Jays are always busy. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. We are not in lock-down yet here in Maine, but I am keeping close to home. I hope to set up in the back yard today to get some shots of birds coming to the feeders. 🙂
Unlikely acrobatics…
One of the most enjoyable things about watching Cedar Waxwings, for me, is the acrobatic poses they get into while feeding. This is good example. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Roger’s Pond Park, Kennebunk, Maine, USA
Chickadee in the wild
We get Chickadees at the feeders on the deck right outside the back deck doors all year long…but as I have said before, Chickadees “in the wild” are somehow much more interesting than our backyard friends. This one was on the Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area near Kennebunk Maine, USA. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Cedar Waxwings once again…
Again with the Cedar Waxwings. Though the birds in general have become more active in the past week, Cedar Waxwings are still the primary photo subjects in Kennebunk right now. This is from a few days ago, and from the largest flock I have seen in one yard yet…over 40 birds. I like the way the two birds interact within the frame here. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Kennebunk, Maine, USA
Ruddy Turnstones
We return to Florida and the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival in Titusville. On my last day there, my daughter Sally and I did a loop around Black Point Wildlife Drive and then the short loop of Gator Creek, where we found a small flock of Rudy Turnstones, which we pulled over to watch in two different spots as they moved along the waterfront. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Assembled in FrameMagic. Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA.
Picking berries on the wing: Cedar Waxwing
I seems to me most days (and it might beginning to seen to you), that if there were not Cedar Waxwings in February and March in Kennebunk, there would be nothing to photograph. Neither of us would be far from wrong. At the very least, the large flock of Cedar Waxwings currently working their way through the ornamental berries of the village are the most interesting photographic subjects…and much easier to find than the Eagles that show up occasionally at Roger’s Pond Park. This sequence shows a Cedar Waxwing picking berries on the wing. The bird never did land, which is uncommon, in my experience, for a Waxwing. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications (which includes 3.5 frames per second continuous shooting). Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos, and assembled in FrameMagic.
Cedar Waxwings in the fame
On my walk yesterday I came upon a flock of at least 40 Cedar Waxwings. I have been seeing flocks of 15 to 20 around town, but yesterday’s congregation was the largest I have seen…I think the largest I have ever seen. The yard where I found them had a number of plants with winter berries, but that is true of most yards in Kennebunk. This is an interesting shot in that it is what I would call an “accidental” focus stack. I took a burst of this pair of Waxwings. They were just far enough apart (the bottom bird is a good 6 to 8 inches in front of the top bird) that they were not in focus at the same time, so I switched the focus point back and forth between them. Two of the shots were framed closely enough so that, during processing I immediately saw the possibility of combining the two into one shot with both birds in focus. After my standard processing in Polarr I applied a little careful manipulation of the two images in Pixomatic, and here you have it. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. 2 images focus stacked in Pixomatic.
Downy Woodpecker
A little Downy Woodpecker playing hide-and-seek in a thicket along my walking route the other day, here in Kennebunk, Maine, USA. We get both Downy and Hairy at our feeders at home…but it is somehow more interesting to see them “in the wild”…even if the “the wild” is just down the street. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at the 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.