Posts in Category: wildflower
Grass Pink with visitor
Oh yes, I am going to inflict another Grass Pink Orchid from the bog at Laudholm Farms on you this morning…this one with a visitor. The visitor is, I think, one of the Hover Flies. The wiki on Grass Pink Orchids, which I will warn you has no supporting citations, says, among other things, that the Grass Pink Orchid is all show and no go when it comes to insect pollinators. It makes no nectar and very little pollen to attract insects. It just looks good, and those little yellow/white filaments are obviously insect bait. It is often found in association with other pink flowers that do reward pollinators, and therefore might get a free ride. The wiki also says that the flower “snaps shut” around the insect, forcing it to crawl out between the reproductive parts and hopefully pollinate the flower. I will admit I have never seen that happen, and the flower showed no signs of snapping shut on this hover fly…so, unless confirmed by someone who knows better, I am somewhat doubtful of the snapping shut bit. In looking back through my photos I do see some blossoms folded in on themselves, but I have always assumed they were just opening…not that they had bugs trapped inside. Who knows? (No really, if you know, let me know!). Sony RX10iv at 600mm optical with enough Clear Image Zoom to fill the frame. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.
Grass Pink Orchid
I apologize in advance, but you are probably going to have to endure several days of Grass Pink Orchid posts (with maybe a few Rose Pagonias thrown in. 🙂 I rode down to Laudholm Farms yesterday, on a somewhat foggy, misty morning, as a front came through bringing rain, to see if the Orchids were in bloom in the little remnant bog they have preserved in the lower fields at Laudholm. They were…both Rose Pagonia and Grass Pink. And, I have not seen a bloom like this year’s in all the years I have been watching this little bog. There were many clusters of both orchids…half a dozen to a cluster…and the total number of blooming plants had to be above 50…and that is just what I could easily see from the boardwalk. Last year I found only a few Rose Pagonias and only 2 Grass Pinks. What a difference a year can make. The Grass Pinks were fresh, so very purple pink, and the subdued light helped to bring out the intensity of the color. I probably said this last year (and maybe the year before) but they really need to come up with a better name for this orchid than “Grass Pink.” The Greek generic name is “Beautiful Beard”, but this is not, upon reflection, much better. It is, I think, one of the most beautiful bog orchids I have seen. It is also relatively unique in the orchid world because the stem twists to present the flower upside down, with the tongue at the top. There is more of interest here…but I don’t want to tell you everything today, as I have more pics for tomorrow. 🙂 Sony RX10iv at 600mm optical equivalent with enough Clear Image Zoom to fill the frame. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.
Beach Rose
Rugosa Rose, or Beach Rose, grows on the backsides of our ocean dunes and long access roads all along the coast. I see as hedges in people’s yards within a mile or so of the sea as well. It is not native. It comes from the coastal areas of Northern China, Korea, and Japan, and was introduced in Connecticut and on Nantucket Island in the 1840s. From there it as spread all up and down the New England coast.
This is an ultra wide close up, taken with an 18mm equivalent lens on the Sony a5100 from about 8 inches. I like the ultra wide perspective on the occasional close up. Program mode. Landscape Creative Style with -1 Saturation. Processed in Polarr.
Pearly Crescent Butterfly
As part of our photoprowl when my friend Stef visited last week, we went to East Point in Biddeford Pool. There were stands of Daisy on the brink of the headland above the rocky shore, probably Oxeye, an invasive plant along our coast, and there were many Pearly Crescent Butterflies working the flowers. Sony RX10iv at 1200mm equivalent (600 optical plus 2x Clear Image Zoom). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.
Pitcher Plant
A friend drove up from Concord to visit for the day yesterday and I took him to Saco Heath…the southern-most peat bog of any size in Maine…protected and maintained by the Nature Conservancy. Over the past 3 years they have completely renewed the boardwalk across the bog, and upgraded the trail, so it is a pleasure to visit. The Sheep-laurel is in bloom, but there (as in Southern Maine in general) it is not looking good this year. The blossoms are small and bit weathered looking. However the Pitcher Plant was also in bloom and there were lots of them, way more than I have seen in past years (at least near enough to the boardwalk for photography) and they were looking very healthy indeed. This is one of the larger specimens…about 3 1/2 inches across. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm optical with some Clear Image Zoom to fill the frame. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.
Wild Iris at the pond, sunny day
Lots of busyness yesterday (involving my daughter buying a car) so I did not get out for my ebike ride / photoprowl until late afternoon. I had to go by the pond with the Wild Iris, and, of course, stopped to catch the late sun on the flowers and the pond. So this is the same flowers, same pond, but a very different day. Again, an ultra wide perspective using the Sony 16mm f2.8 with the UWA converter for 18mm equivalent. In-camera HDR on the Sony a6500. Processed in Polarr and cropped a bit on the left to eliminate an out of focus iris. Just a touch of Apple Photos magic Light tool to finish up.
Wild Iris at the pond
I enjoy the perspective of an ultra wide lens enough to carry a second camera fitted with one for my landscape work…and the occasional ultra wide close-up. They don’t always work, but sometimes the effect is striking. My Sony a6500 allows me to use touch focus to put the focus exactly where it needs to go…and the in-camera HDR often renders the scene much as the human eye would see it. This Wild Iris on the edge of one of the small ponds along Rt 9 a few miles from my home is a case in point. Cloudy, overcast, just a bit misty, day, but the Iris pops out of the wet greenery in a unique way. Taken at about 8 inches from the flower…as close as I can focus. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Wild Iris
Another shot of Wild Iris (Flag Iris) to go with yesterday’s For the the Love of Landscape shot…from the same field. The distortions of this ultra wide lens close up produce a interesting background and composition. Sony a6500 with 18mm equivalent ultra wide lens. In-camera HDR. Processed in Polarr.
Back to Lupines
It is only fair to warn you that I still have a lot of Lupine photos from this year, and the season is not quite over. I am still hoping to find another patch. This shot uses the farm machinery as contrast to the masses of lupine blossoms. Since there were 3 other photographers working this field, I had to wait patiently for this shot without one of them in it. I shot from a distance, using the equivalent of a 200mm telephoto to isolate the flowers and machinery, and then cropped relatively tight at the top to make it more about the flowers. Sony RX10iv in-camera HDR. Processed in Polarr.
Lupines with a touch of yellow
I am not, of course, done with Lupines yet. They only bloom but briefly, once a year, and they are so spectacular, at least to my eye. You will have to put up with my momentary indulgence…just as in August, if the season is good, you will have to put up with a flood of Wood Lilies. You can never have, in my opinion, too many photos of such wildflowers! Here the Buttercups provide the yellow grace note among the blues and purples. In-camera HDR with the Sony a6500. 16mm f2.8 plus UWA converter for an 18mm ultra wide equivalent field of view. Processed in HandyPhoto, Polarr, and TouchRetouch.