Posts in Category: wildlife
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Bluebird, Kennebunk, Maine, USA. Sitting under the feeders during our pandemic isolation here in Kennebunk, the Bluebirds did eventually come in close. This is the female. I am still waiting for a photo of the male of this pair. They do not nest in our yard…though we have invited them by putting up a box…but I think I have found the box where they do next, about 2 blocks away. They come for the meal worms I put out, and they will bring their chicks when they fledge, later this summer. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Downy Woodpecker
Another shot from my back deck feeder watch. A female Downy Woodpecker, attracted to my suet feeder and taking a rest after eating on one of my perches. Too close to fit the whole bird in a 600mm equivalent frame. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
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. 🙂
Praying Chipmunk
There is not much moving in Maine’s forests during March other than chipmunks. I did see my first Red Squirrel two days ago, but not nearly close enough for a photo. This chipper appears to be praying at a mossy alter in the March sun, at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm Farms, in Wells, Maine. And well it might be, and well we should join it in prayer in these days of spreading Covid-19. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
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.
Feisty Chipmunk…
On our first really warm day of spring…hovering just under 70 degrees…this chipmunk at Laudholm Farms in Wells, Maine, was pretty full of himself, feisty even. He was not sure he was going to give me the right-of-way on the boardwalk through the lower woods along the Rachel Carson NWR border…though he did finally take the leap off the edge and into a pile of brush. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos and assembled in Framemagic.
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