Posts in Category: close up
Grass Pink Orchid
Grass Pink Orchid: Wells Reserve at Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA — The Tuberous Grass Pink Orchid is, according to my bit of morning research, among the most wide spread of its genus…occurring in both wet bogs and moist prairies across most of south east Canada and the north eastern US. I found these in the tiny remnant bog that is preserved at the Wells Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms here in Wells. Both Grass Pink and Rose Pagonia grow there…though the Rose Pagonia seems to be fewer and fewer year to year. The Grass Pink is doing well…and there are many blooms this season. It is a beautiful flower…only about 2 inches across, but growing in clusters on single stems above the moss. As you see, the orchid hangs “upside down” due to the twist in the stem. Nikon B700, telephoto macro at 1440mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Just for fun! Spangled Skimmer. Happy Father’s Day!
Spangled Skimmer: Day Brook Pond, Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I have mentioned that the Spangled Skimmer is one of my favorite dragonflies. This is not a good identification photo. I have lots of those. But this is among my favorite photos of a favorite dragonfly. The “Hay, what’s up?” pose, the angle of the light, and the interesting background just combine to make me smile. And a smile is good on a Sunday, Father’s Day. I hope all you fathers are smiling…and all you children of fathers as well. Nikon B700 at 1440mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Slaty Skimmer
Slaty Skimmer: Day Brook Pond, Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Evidently they Spangled Skimmers fly before the Saltys…as we have had Spangled for at least a week at the pond, before I saw my first Slaty yesterday. Now that the Saltys are flying, they will dominate the pond for months, outnumbered only by the smaller Calico Skimmers. Nikon B700 at 1440mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Widow Skimmer
Widow Skimmer: Alwive Pond Preserve, West Kennebunk, Maine, USA — This is the first Widow Skimmer I have seen this season…along the edge of Alwive Pond, well out over the bog where a long telephoto lens is a necessity. 🙂 This would appear to be a juvenile male. Nikon B700 at 1440mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Black-shouldered Spinyleg
Black-shouldered Spinyleg: Alwive Pond Preserve, West Kennebunk, Maine, USA — This dragonfly always takes me by surprise. This is actually only maybe the third one that I have seen, and this individual is particularly bright yellow. And it is big! When I first saw it I thought it was a Dragonhunter…but on closer examination there is just too much yellow. 🙂 (I have only ever seen one Dragonhunter.) A nice dragon to see. I encountered it in the middle of the trail (more a wood road) down to Alwive Pond, and it was still there, patrolling the same area on my way back out. Nikon B700 at 1440mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Female Spangled Skimmer
Spangled Skimmer: Emmon’s Preserve, Kennebunkport, Maine, USA. — I saw two Spangled Skimmers at Day Brook Pond the other day, both males, and two Spangled Skimmers along the meadow edge at Emmon’s Preserve on Sunday, bot females. I think the difference is the distance from the water. It is my impression, and I could be wrong, that the females often forage further from the water than the males…though that seems counterintuitive. At any rate, whatever gender, and wherever found, the Spangled Skimmer is still one of my favorite dragonflies. Nikon B700 at 1440mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications (for this camera). Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Ebony Jewelwing
Ebony Jewelwing: Batson River at Emmon’s Preserve, Kennebunkport, Maine, USA — I rode my eTrike out to Emmon’s Preserve to see if I could find any dragonflies, and specifically to the check over the small tumble of falls on the Batson River for early Ebony Jewelwings. They will be more abundant in a few weeks, but there were a few pioneers flying over the rapids and rills. This one posed nicely on a leaf over the water, just at the close focus range of the Nikon B700’s 1440mm equivalent lens. Nikon’s Active-D Lighting does an excellent job of balancing highlights and shadows, which makes this kind of high contrast shot much more possible. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Spangled Skimmer
Spangled Skimmer: Day Brook Pond, Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area, Maine, USA — The Spangled Skimmer is one of my favorite dragonflies to see in flight. The white stigma near the wing-tips reflect the sun and draw intricate spirograph patterns around the moving dragon. (Do they still make spirographs? I had hours of fun with mine as a child.) And, like most skimmers, they perch nicely for photos. This one landed closer than the 1440mm zoom on the Nikon B700 will focus so I had to back to to about 1000mm for this shot. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Four-spotted Skimmer
Four-spotted Skimmer: Kennebunk Bridle Path, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — As I said yesterday, it was definitely a skimmer day, with Painted, Twelve-spotted, and Four-spotted all in flight over the little pools in the marsh along the lower Mousam River here in Kennebunk. This is two shots of the same 4-spot. Nikon B700 at 2880 (2x enhanced digital zoom) and 1440mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Painted Skimmer
Painted Skimmer: Kennebunk Bridle Path, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — It was a skimmer kind of day, or perhaps just skimmer season, at the little brackish pools in the marsh along the lower Mousam River here in Kennebunk yesterday. I had Twelve-spotted, Four-spotted, and Painted Skimmers from the same spot along the Bridle Path. The nice thing about skimmers, from a photographer’s point of view, is that they occasionally perch long enough for a shot…the hard thing about skimmers is that they generally perch on the top of a tall thin stalk waving in the wind. These shots are at 1440mm equivalent with the Nikon B700. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.