Posts in Category: birds
Maine! Vespers
Vesper Sparrow: York County, Maine, USA, April 2024 — I am falling way behind in my postings. These were taken a week ago already, but I can’t not post my first Vesper Sparrow sighting of the year in Southern Maine. Vespers are not uncommon in Maine, but I know of only one place where I see them commonly, and sure enough, they are back again this year. It always takes me a moment to get reacquainted with this bird. I spend at least a while trying to make it into some other species before my mind settles on Vesper. They are not flighty…this one was actually working its way closer to me, so I get a chance to study them. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Osprey
Osprey: Biolab Road, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — You can only drive around Blackpoint Wildlife Drive so many times on any extended visit to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, so I almost always get out to Biolab Road at least once. I found this Osprey fairly low in the trees just coming into the parking area near the beginning of the road. It sat nicely for me as I popped out of the car with my camera. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Gift Owl
Barred Owl: York County, Maine, USA, April 2024 — Sometimes Owls happen. I was down on the ground photographing Trout Lilies in one of my favorite spots for aka Adders Tongue, Yellow Dog Tooth Violet. I had been down there for at least 10 minutes when I decided to stand up and move to another clump. When I stood, a big bird dropped out of the tree right above my head…no more than 10 feet above my head, and swooped away through the still bare trees to land in a big maple 50 yards into the forest. It must have been there when I walked in and I must have been right under it all the time I was photographing the lily. It took me a moment to process the fact that it must be an Owl. I could see it there sitting on a limb with its back to me, way too wide for a hawk, and its flight had been absolutely silent. Owl! I worked my way around, looking for a more or less unobstructed view, trying very hard not to disturb the bird any more than I already had. There was, of course, no ideal line of sight and though it was sitting in full noon sun, its eyes were in deep shadow. Still, a Barred Owl in broad daylight. That does not happen often, or at least not to me. OM Systems OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator. This is an image that required more than normal processing to find the eyes in their shadowed recesses, and to remove foreground obstructions, but, still…my best shot ever of a Barred Owl, and only the third one I have seen in Maine. What a gift!
Florida! Sorta Sora
Sora Rail: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2014 — I saw 2 lady birders stopped and looking intently through binoculars at the base of the mangroves across a narrow channel by the road, so I did a drive by look, and saw enough to pull over and walk back. Yes, a Sora, and not sorta, but a real Sora, deep in the shadows but within reach of the OM Systems OM-1 and M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Very high ISO, but still. Turns out this was the first reported Sora for the year at Merritt Island. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Maine! Full song!
Brown Thrasher: York County, Maine, USA — It was a treat to find this Brown Thrasher when I was out looking for Trout Lily the other day. It even sat up and sang for me. 🙂 OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Pelicans wave
American White Pelican: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — I know this looks like one of those trick shots were I have pasted the same bird into the frame over and over again to make a pretty pattern, but it is a natural flight formation of White Pelicans on the move over Blackpoint Drive. The first several days I was in Florida this is the only way I saw Pelicans…in the air. I eventually found some feeding on the water close enough for photography but it was not until my last day there. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Head and shoulders
American Robin: York County, Maine, USA, April 2024 — If I sit very still in my camp chair, the Robins, most common of yard birds here in Southern Maine, will come right up to me. These two shots are at 1600mm equivalent, using the digital tele-converter in the OM Systems OM-1Mkii with the M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom, so I was not as close as it looks. Still, pretty close for a wild bird. Late afternoon light picks out every feather detail. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Rim-light
Cattle Egret: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, January 2024 — I did not see many Cattle Egrets around Blackpoint Drive on any of the days I visited during the Space Coast Birding and Nature Festival, but there were a few…just coming into breeding plumage. This rim-lighted shot shows off the yellow bill to good effect. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 698mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Most Purple!
Purple Finch: York County, Maine, USA, April 2024 — Even though I am skipping over many memorable photos from the extended neighborhood here in Southern Maine from the last few days (and weeks), I feel it is only fair to celebrate the most purple of Purple Finches who came and posed so nicely in the late day, last of the sun, in the backyard, just before supper time. I have been waiting for the male Purples to arrive, and for an opportunity to photograph them away from the feeders. Only fair to share. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 1600mm equivalent (using the 2x digital tele-converter in the camera body). Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator and Apple Photos. (And no, this is not an exaggeration. In the soft sun of early evening in the spring, the Purple Finches, or at least this Purple Finch, do (does) look that purple 🙂
Costa Rica! Goodby Volcanos
Volcano Hummingbird: Paradiso Quetzal, Costa Rica, December 2023 — We generally stop at Paradiso Quetzal for lunch and hummingbirds on our last field day in Costa Rica, on the way back from San Geraldo de Dota to San Jose. This year the hummingbirds were sparse. According to our guide they just suddenly stopped coming to the deck behind the restaurant a few in October of last year. No one knows why. There were still a few (like two) Talamancas, and at least one Violet-ear, and a few Volcanos, like the one here, captured in flight near one of the feeders. And this is goodby to the photos from December of 2023. I have another trip half planned for next March…my first in the spring. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.