Posts in Category: Laudholm Farm
Yellowlegs on a Log
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I have not seen any Yellowlegs all summer until this week. Evidently they are coming back through southern Maine on migration. I saw a few along the Mousam River and this group in the pond behind the beach, the dunes, and the houses at Laudholm Farm. True, I have not been exactly haunting the beaches…not something I enjoy during tourist season…but I am always happy to see the Yellowlegs on their way north and south. The one standing, at least, appears to be a Lessor Yellowlegs.
Sony HX400V at 2400mm equivalent field of view (1200mm optical plus 2x Perfect Image zoom). ISO 80 @ 1/500th @ f6.3. Processed in Lightroom on my Surface Pro 3 tablet.
Eastern Phoebe
Sitting on the trailhead sign at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farm in the afternoon light. The bokeh is out-of focus grass from the lawn behind. I could not have positioned the bird better if I had posed it 🙂
Sony HX400V at 2400mm equivalent field of view. (1200mm optical plus 2x Perfect Image digital zoom.) Processed in Snapseed on my tablet.
Butterflies of August
And late August in Maine at that. The Common Buckeye in the upper left is a late summer migrant in Maine. In fact it does not breed anywhere in New England. It wanders north seasonally. And then we have the Monarch. Monarchs have been rare in Maine this summer so far. This is maybe the third one I have seen. There is no lack of Milkweed. The fields at Laudholm Farm, where all these pics were taken, are full of ripening Milkweed pods. Just, for whatever reason, very few monarchs. Next (bottom left) we have a very worn Red-spotted Purple. Amazing that it is still flying. Finally my first Black Swallowtail of the season, though I am sure that have been flying for many weeks now. This one is certainly already showing signs of wear.
Sony HX400V at 600-1200mm equivalent field of view. Processed in Snapseed on my tablet. Assembled in Pixlr Express.
Bug’s-eye View of Cedar Waxwing
This is what the mild mannered Cedar Waxwing looks like if you are a bug! 🙂 Super predator. We have more Cedar Waxwings this summer that I have ever seen before in Southern Maine…and less Dragonflies. Do you suppose there is a connection? This one was hunting the edge of a meadow at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farm yesterday afternoon. I was shooting a sequence of shots on the branch when he launched.
Sony HX400V at 1200mm equivalent field of view. ISO 80 @ 1/360th @ f6.3. Processed in Snapseed on my tablet. Cropped slightly for composition.
Summer Azure
The Milkweed Meadow at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farm is now dominated by Goldenrod, and will be until the Milkweed pods burst this fall. And it seems there is nothing quite like Goldenrod for attracting a wide variety of insects. This Summer Azure Butterfly was uncharacteristically cooperative, well above ground level and sitting still for long enough for some macro shots.
Sony HX400V. About 70mm equivalent field of view. Macro. Program with Program Shift. ISO 80 @ 1/250th @ f4.5. Processed in Handy Photo on my tablet. Cropped slightly for scale and composition.
Chipmunk
On my way back from my photoprowl to the beach at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farm I chose the boardwalk trail through the forest, and was rewarded by this Chipmunk sitting and eating berries on a tree quite near the trail. Nothing cuter!
Olympus OM-D E-M10 with 75-300mm zoom. 1200mm equivalent (600mm optical plus 2x digital extender). Shutter preferred. 1/640th @ ISO 2000 @ f7.1. Processed in Snapseed on my tablet.
At the Mouth of the Little River
This is another shot from my photoprowl the length of Laudholm Beach at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve. The Little River is formed when the Merriland River meets Branch Brook about a three quarters of a mile inland, already well out into the tidal marsh. It has to flow at least twice that far, in a huge S curve, to actually reach the ocean. A recent study of the watersheds of the Merriland and Branch Brook shows that both are actually surprisingly healthy and productive streams. You can see here the clarity of the water as it flows the last few yards across the sand to the sea. It is a somewhat static composition, with the horizon splitting the frame, but I tried crops both top and bottom and this actually works best to my eye. I think the rushing water and the dramatic sky, with its own strong focused pattern give it enough tension to save it. 🙂
This is a low angle shot with the Sony Alpha NEX 5T and the ZEISS Touit 12mm f2.8. In-camera HDR. Processed for further HDR effect in Snapseed on my tablet.
Summer in Maine
I wanted to explore the beach at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farm yesterday to complete the Photoprowls series on Laudholm…or at least to extend it. You pass this permanent Pond on the way to the beach, formed by the dam created by the road (Old Farm Lane) built across the marsh generations ago. It is strictly a hiking and biking path in this day of the Reserve. I could not resist this view of the high summer in Southern Maine. The Welcome to Maine sigh on I95 says “The way like is supposed to be.” On a July day like yesterday it is hard to argue. 🙂
This is another shot made possible by the extreme depth of field of the ZEISS Touit 12mm f2.8 lens. I was maybe 3 inches from that rose. The Touit lenses, this and the 50mm macro, have become so integral to the way I see the world (photographically) that I had to purchase them when my loan period ended. Either one of them would have been far and away the single most expensive piece of Photo gear I have ever bought, but there is simply nothing that even begins to compare with the way they image the world. They indeed capture life the way it is supposed to be. 😉
Superior Auto on the Sony Alpha NEX 5T pegged exposure at ISO 100 @ 1/250 @ f13. Processed for HDR effect in Snapseed on my tablet.
Hoverfly in Grass Pink Orchid
Last Thursday I attended a program on dragonflies and butterflies at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farm in Wells, Maine. We netted a few interesting moths and butterflies…including a Snowberry Clearwing Moth…and after the program I wandered down to the boardwalk through the mini-bog that my wife Carol discovered earlier this summer. I had gotten good photos of the Grass Pink Orchids there earlier in the week, but I wanted to try for better shots of the Pink Pagonia, the other common bog orchid in Southern Maine. Still I could not resist a few more shots of Grass Pink…especially when I caught this Hoverfly visiting. There seem to be several species of Hoverfly here in Southern Maine…or else the species is very variable in size. I see all sizes, from very tiny (smaller than this one), to big brutes that over in openings and over trails in the forest 2/3rs the size of a Bumble Bee.
Sony Alpha NEX 5T with the ZEISS Touit 50mm f2.8 macro. Aperture preferred at f11 for depth of field. 1/250th @ ISO 100. Processed in Snapseed on my tablet. Cropped slightly for scale and composition.
Grass Pink, bog orchid
A collage of Grass Pink from the bog at Laudholm Farms
Grass Pink certainly got shortchanged by the naming department! This little bog orchid, which I found growing in abundance along with the more common Pink Pagonia, in the tiny section of bog at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm Farm, should be called Purple Pulpit Flower, or Yellow Bearded Purple Bog Orchid, or certainly something much more grand than “Grass Pink” . I mean! Look at it! Anyone passing out names should be impressed. I certainly am. Bad day in the naming department, is all I have to say!
Again this panel is a mix of telephoto macros at the long end of the 600mm equivalent zoom on my Olympus OM-D E-M10, and true macros with the ZEISS Touit 50mm macro on the Sony NEX 5T. There is indeed, some variation in the purple/pink color of the blooms. A volunteer at the Reserve, who we happened to meet on the bog boardwalk, suggested that it had to do with how long the blossom had been out. She speculated that they fade in the sun. Could be. We saw a few that were definitely pink…but most were shades of purple.
As above: Olympus OM-D E-M10 with 75-300mm zoom and Sony NEX 5T with ZEISS Touit 50mm f2.8 macro. Processed in Snapseed on my tablet. Panel assembled in Pixlr Express.