Posts in Category: p&s 4 wildlife
Sanderlings!
Sanderlings, Laudholm Beach, Wells ME
This is a collage of two Sanderling shots, taken on Laudholm Beach at the Wells National Estuarine Research Center at Laudholm Farms in Wells Maine. I like the light and the sense of movement.
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/1000th @ ISO 100 @ f7.1. Processed in Lightroom and assembled in Coolage.
Red momma!
Red Squirrel, Laudholm Farms, Wells Maine
I was walking on the boardwalk through the maple swamp at the Wells National Estuarine Research Center at Laudholm Farms yesterday, and I thought, “this is just about where I saw the Red Squirrel last year.” And just like magic, there was a Red Squirrel on the boardwalk doing just exactly what the Red Squirrel was doing last year…picking up and eating the the little whirlygig seeds of the Red Maple. Once more, the squirrel allowed me to approach quite closely…I worked my way a few feet at a time to within 12 feet of it, before it turned to challenge me and then scampered off.
I knew, while taking the pictures, that there was something odd about the squirrel…or out of the ordinary anyway. Last year the squirrel had a wound on its nose below the eye on one side. This year it was an obviously nursing mother squirrel, taking a break from nest duty to enjoy the maple bounty. You can’t see the nipples in this shot, but in other they are clearly visible.
Sony RX10iii at 840mm equivalent field of view (600mm optical plus an in-camera crop to 10mp for the extra reach.) 1/250th @ ISO 125 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom. The difference in clarity and detail between this photo and the those I took with the Nikon P900 last year is obvious at anything larger than screen view 🙂 and it is pretty clear even here.
Easy Song Sparrow
Song Sparrow. A beach, Kennebunk Maine
This somewhat bedraggled Song Sparrow, singing along the road in to our local beach, could not have been more cooperative. It let me approach, eventually, to within 10 feet. This shot was from more like 20, using the in-camera corp on the RX10iii to boost the reach to 1200mm.
It is an incredibly detailed shot, much like having the bird in your hand. I think it catches the energy behind that song quite well.
Sony RX10iii at 1200mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom.
Red-eyed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo, Laudholm Farms, Wells Maine
I am sure I must have seen a Red-eyed Vireo in Maine before last week, but I can not remember when. This specimen was active in the trees above the main path to the beach at Wells National Estuarine Research Center at Laudholm Farms in Wells Maine last week when I walked in to photograph the Least Terns at their nesting site. Just a bit too backlit to see the red in the eye 🙂
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/400th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed and cropped slightly for scale in Lightroom.
Least Terns in flight: Happy Sunday!
Three Least Terns in flight. Laudholm Beach, Wells Maine
“If your eye is generous, your whole being is full of light!” Jesus
To the generous eye, the glory of God is all around us in the natural world. Sunsets and sunrises, the drama of clouds over a sunlit landscape, the energy of a storm, the quite beauty of flowers…God’s glory is all around us. And no where, as I see it, more clearly than in birds in flight. Grace and power, intense purpose accomplished with such ease it looks to us like play…our spirits soar just watching, and it takes a hard heart indeed, or one terribly distracted, not to be driven to praise.
There is only one place where the glory of God is more clearly revealed…and that is, as Paul says, in the unveiled faces of God’s children. May your eye be generous to see the glory of God today, and may your unveiled face reveal that glory to all who see you. Happy Sunday!
Piping Plover
Piping Plover, Laudholm Beach, Wells Maine.
Piping Plovers are endangered in Maine, largely because the beaches they prefer for nesting are also the beaches both Mainers and tourists prefer for sunbathing, jogging, walking dogs, and general recreating. Add in the population of cats that inhabit beach houses all along the coast, and the native foxes, raccoons, snakes, and gulls…all of whom prey of the eggs and chicks of the Piping Plover, and, if the nest does not get stepped on by a tourist, it is likely to be raided before the chicks hatch or fledge. The State of Maine and the Federal Government have set aside “Protected Areas” for the last nesting colonies of Piping Plovers on our beaches, but dogs, cats, and natural predators can’t read the signs or “see” the stakes and orange ropes that are supposed to keep the areas safe. Neither can, apparently, some tourists. It especially irritates me to see people running their dogs on beaches with nesting colonies, contrary to the clear posted signs. Maine Audubon has a volunteer/paid program that puts people on the beaches to monitor the nesting areas and keep as many predators (human, canine, feline, and other) away from the birds…but they are only there during daylight hours. And of course, the Piping Plovers themselves pay no attention to the protected areas either. They might or might not nest behind the barrier, but they certainly do not feed there. This Plover was way down the beach from the posted signs, running along the little line of green stuff deposited by the receding tide. Back up at the nest area, the State has erected a wire mesh enclosure around a cluster of nests, but while out feeding, the Plovers are on their own. The number of chicks fledged each year in Maine is counted in low double digits, and that is on a good year.
And they are such cute little birds. Full of attitude! This is a panel of 4 shots of the same bird (one of only two I saw that day on the beach). Sony RX10iii at 840mm equivalent. 1/1000th @ ISO 100 @ f5.6. Processed in Lightroom and assembled in Coolage.
Least Tern takes a dive!
Least Tern plunge fishing, Laudholm Beach, Wells Maine
I went out yesterday specifically to find birds in the air so I could practice Birds in Flight with the new Sony RX10iii. To have a chance at BIFs, you need somewhere there are birds pretty much constantly in the air…a lot of birds is better than a few. My prime BIF locations are Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico for Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese, and the wild bird rookery at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm for Wood Storks and Egrets. The only reliable place around home is the very end of Laudholm Beach where the Little River comes to the sea, and where there is a nesting colony of Least Terns (and a few Piping Plovers…both endangered in Maine) on both sides of the river. This time of year the Terns are in full breeding mode and are actively plunge fishing in the Little River. Now there is a difference between catching Cranes or Storks in the air, or even geese, and catching a Least Tern in the air. Terns are smallish, and Least Terns are both tiny and fast, which makes keeping them in frame long enough for the camera to focus and then getting off a burst is very challenging. I will go back today, even though it is the better part of a two mile walk each way, to try some techniques I discovered in reading the camera manual last night…after reviewing yesterday’s take.
What we have here is high speed sequence of a Tern diving. As you can see, the Tern goes completely under water after its prey. I can not imagine the strength it takes to break the surface on the way out and get into the air with a fish, even a small fish, in your mouth.
Sony RX10iii in Sports Mode. 600mm. 1/1000th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom and assembled in Coolage.
Six-spotted Tiger Beetle
Six-spotted Tiger Beetle, Emmon’s Preserve, Kennebunkport Maine
While looking for River Jewelwings the other day, I happened to look down at the moss beneath me, and saw this bright metallic green beetle. A closer look showed the six white spots on the black margins of the elytra (hard shell). It was easy to google this morning: “metallic green beetle with white spots” brought up lots of pages about the Six-spotted Tiger Beetle…evidently a common forest beetle across much of the north eastern part of the continent. I don’t remember ever seeing one before. It was small, about 1/2 inch, but the bright green is hard to miss. 🙂
Sony RX10iii at 1200mm (Smart Digital Tel-converter in-camera crop to 5mp). I used Direct Manual Focus to fine tune the auto focus to separate the bug from the moss. 1/800th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom;
Aurora Damsel
Aurora Damsel, Emmon’s Preserve, Kennebunkport, Maine
This is another teneral bug…a newly emerged Aurora Damsel (damselfly). The color will be more bluish when it finishes hardening off into its full adult form, but the pattern on the back is distinctive.
Sony RX10iii at 840mm equivalent (in camera crop at 600mm equivalent). I used Direct Manual Focus to fine tune the focus on the damsel’s head. 1/320th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom.
Whiteface
Frosted Whiteface? Day Brook Pond, Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area, Maine
There continue to be lots of teneral (newly emerged) dragonflies at Day Brook Pond on the Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area in W. Kennbunk Maine. I saw at least 3 different species on my last visit. Most are Lancet Clubtails and Chalk-fronted Corporals, the two most common dragonflies at the pond in early summer…but this one appears to be a Whiteface. It looks to me most like a Frosted Whiteface, but Belted is also possible, and from there, perhaps even Dot-tailed.That is if it is a Whiteface at all 🙂 It is really difficult to id from my guides because tenerals are not pictured or described (since they only last in that form for a day or less).
Sony RX10iii at 840mm (in-camera crop from 600mm optical). 1/640th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom. (I am really enjoying the tel-macro abilities of the RX10iii 🙂