Posts in Category: wildlife
Green Heron
Green Heron: Quest Ponds at Southern Maine Medical Center, Kennebunk. Maine, USA — I stopped by the drainage ponds at SMMC here in Kennebunk to check for new dragonflies, and to see if there were any spreadwings. Spreadwings have been noticeably absent so far this season. While there I was surprised when this Green Heron took off from under the reeds and landed on the lone rock in the pond. It sat there for long enough for a series of photos and then took off, likely for one of the other ponds around the edge of the parking lot or for the marshy area between lots. It is the first time I have see a Green Heron at these ponds, but it is first time in several years. It was overcast so not enough light to bring out the green highlights in the wings, but still a handsome bird. Nikon B700 at 1440mm equivalent. Shutter program at 1/400th. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Feed me! Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Not a great photo technically, as it was early and overcast. Both I and the camera would have liked more light, but I could not resist trying to capture a little of the interaction between our fledgling bluebirds and the diligent male who is trying to keep them happy and growing. They sit near the mealworm feeder and he ferries mealworms over to them. He is working as hard as he can, but the fledglings are certainly impatient. Every parent can identify! 🙂 Nikon B700 at 460mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker: I know there are Red-bellied Woodpeckers around here in Kennebunk, because we get them at the feeder a few times each year. They could be just passing through, of course, but the timing makes me suspect that they nest somewhere in the area. We are having a few cool (cold for a Maine summer), and very wet days in a row and for the past several days we have had a Red-bellied Woodpecker at the suet feeder at least once an hour all day. This may be a young bird, as it is not quite as “flighty” as the Red-bellieds I am used to…which are among the most difficult birds for me to photograph. If I move, say to go get my camera, even well inside the house behind the double-glazed doors to the deck, where the most they could see is a subtle change in the density of the shadows, they are off and away into the trees. This one allowed me, on two separate occasions, to get the camera and get a few shots through the thermal glass. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/500th. (I am pretty happy with this at ISO 6400, though it did require some additional noise reduction in post. 🙂
Turkeys in the hay :)
Wild Turkeys: Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine — the herd of Wild Turkeys that inhabits the fields (and yards) along Laudholm Farm Road in Wells, Maine is dispersed for the summer, but there are often at least a few turkeys feeding in the hay field across from the Trust building. It happens my current project on the bowed psaltery is “Turkey in the Straw” so I had to stop as I rode by on my eTadpole recumbent trike when I saw these three grazing in the ripening timothy…which will, of course, be hay if not straw. 🙂 Nikon B700 at about 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Mating Northern Crescent Butterflies
Northern Crescent Butterfly: Emmon’s Preserve, Kennebunkport, Maine, USA — I frequently see dragonflies in a mating wheel in flight…mating butterflies less often. It amazes me that mating butterflies, joined as the are back to back, can fly at all, but they do. There were several pairs in the meadows at Emmon’s Preserve when I visited on Sunday. I managed this shot of one with the 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.
Nothing is safe from a Red Squirrel
Carol called me from the bedroom where I was setting up for my morning qi gong. I thought she said “I think there is a dead squirrel here…” so I came to look…turns out she said “I think there is a Red Squirrel here…” and, indeed, there was. A highly caffeinated Red Squirrel at that. In the 10 minutes or so it was on our deck, it was everywhere, and into everything…all very rapid…a lightning raid before it scampered off. Red Squirrels must live in the surrounding woodlands, but they only appear in our yard once or twice a year, at least while we are looking. Just as well too, since nothing is safe from a Red Squirrel…we have come to an uneasy truce with our resident Grey Squirrels and Chipmunks (we are host to at least 4 squirrels and what sometimes seems to the hundreds, but is more likely dozens of Eastern Chipmunks), but the Red Squirrel is another beast altogether and no “squirrel proof” feeding solution will even mildly discourage them. Still, they are undeneighably cute with their rusty tail, little round ears and big round eyes…and those little paws…and it was fun to watch one scamper all over our deck and feeders…for a change…once in a great while. Sony Rx10iv at 500-600mm equivalent…through the thermopane glass of our deck door. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. And, of course, before full sun-up so the light was a problem.
back deck Cardinal
Northern Cardinal: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Our neighborhood pair of Northern Cardinals come to our feeders once or twice a day…generally to the feeders out under the pines, but recently more often to the deck right outside our back sliding doors. They are, most often, foraging for spilled seed on the deck and deck rails, but on rare occasions they will settle on the sunflower feeder for long enough for me to get my camera…as in this shot. They will not, of course, allow me to open the door, or even get close to the glass, but if I am careful, again as in this shot, I can have some success shooting through the double pane glass. And of course this was before full sun-up so the light was not the best. With Cardinals I am happy to take what I can get. 🙂 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.
Northern Flicker
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted): Wells Reserve at Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA — I started watching birds seriously when we lived in New Mexico, and all my birding habits were formed there, so it is still a shock when I see a Flicker in flight with bright yellow under-wings. 🙂 This one, near the parking area at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms in Maine, was, as is usual with Flickers, very busy feeding on the ground and had its head down digging for grubs most of the time. I shot a lot of photos of the back of the bird in the grass…to get just a few of the bird with its head up. Nikon B700 at 1440mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Common Green Darner
Common Green Darner: Sanford Lagoons, Sanford, Maine, USA — Not a great photo as I was at a fair distance and shooting through obstructive foreground plants, but, in my experience, a rare photo. I never…well, almost never…see Common Green Darner perched. They seem to be in perpetual flight, at least during daylight hours. I have a few shots of Green Darner mating wheels, and one of a Green Darner female ovipositing…but this might be only individual I have seen just settled out and resting in many years of looking. And, of course, when I tried to work my way down the bank for a less obstructed view, it was off instantly. Even in flight the Common Green Darner is hard to miss. It is not the largest Dragonfly in North America…the Giant Darner of the Southwest is bigger…but it is certainly the largest we have here in the Northeast, and that green body and bright blue abdomen stand out in almost any light. Nikon B700 at 1440mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Louisiana Waterthrush!
Louisiana Waterthrush: Sanford Lagoons, Sanford, Maine, USA — I have known about the Sanford Lagoons (Sanford Sewage Department) for many years…from word of mouth in the birding and dragonfly communities and occasional posts on the internet…but I have only ever visited once, before yesterday. One of the motivations for my switch to the recumbent trike, and then adding electric assist, was to be able to get a bit further out on my frequent explorations, without resorting to the car. The Lagoons are 15 miles from my door, almost exactly, and while I could have ridden the 30 miles round-trip on my upright ebike, those portions of my anatomy in contact with the bike…mostly my seat, wrists, and hands…would not have thanked me by the end of the ride…and it would have kept me off the bike for at least a day after. The recumbent makes it easy, and I still had half a battery charge left when I got home. 🙂 I did not get there until after noon, not the best birding time, but I saw some interesting dragonflies, and a few birds. This was the most unexpected. I was photographing some Cedar Waxwings moving through the tree line at the back of the lagoons when this cheerful bird popped up on a branch just in front of me. Waterthrush! I have only ever seen waterthrushes on very rare occasions…mostly in Ohio at Magee Marsh during spring migration…so it is pretty amazing that my mind supplied at least that much. As to whether it is a Louisiana or a Northern??? Louisiana is the only one on the York County Audubon bird list for Sanford Lagoons, and all 4 of my AI identification aids agree that this is a Louisiana…though I am not certain I could say for sure otherwise. I am sure I do not know the birds well enough to be confident where their range overlaps, as it does…just…here in Southern Maine. We are in the extreme northeast corner of the Louisiana’s range, and well with the range of Northern. All things considered I am calling it a Louisiana until someone who knows better convinces me it is not. 🙂 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.