Posts in Category: Sony RX10iv
Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I have to replace the peanut suet twice as often as I do the high energy, mainly because both the Downy Woodpeckers and the Nuthatches prefer the peanut. We only have one pair of Down Woodpeckers but we have several pairs of White-breasted Nuthatches and they can go through a cake of peanut suet in no time. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th. +1 EV exposure compensation.
clean up in aisle 3
Black-capped Chickadee: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I filled the feeders yesterday before the current storm hit, and the clean-up crew was right behind me. Why fight a sunflower seed from the feeder port when they are loose on the deck? Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Not, for a change, taken through the glass of the door. I managed to get the door open a crack but I was still contending with the heat shimmer from the escaping air from the house, as well as the low, pre-storm light. ISO 2000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Classic Goldfinch
American Goldfinch: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — another shot of a Goldfinch in the snowstorm the other day. One of about a dozen around our thistle feeder. Not bad for being shot through double glazed door glass. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th. +1 EV exposure compensation.
Eastern Bluebird portrait
Eastern Bluebird, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I have way too many photos of the Eastern Bluebird at the mealworm feeder…in all kinds of poses and all kinds of light…but he rarely sits long enough away from the feeder (and near the blind) for me to get an memorable image. This time he did. Late day sun. Perfect background. Great pose. What more can any photographer ask…at least for a portrait shot. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. You can drill in on this quite a ways before you run out of feather detail. (One of these days I am going to make a collage of all the mealworm feeder shots, just for fun.)
Wren caught in the act!
House Wren, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — When the House Wren is not singing, it is generally foraging among the leaf litter under my feeders…or somewhere out of my sight…but foraging all the same. I caught this one in the act, with success. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Purple Finch mating display!
Purple Finch, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I continue to be amazed at the success of my backyard photo blind project…way beyond my expectations. I spend about 2 hours there each day when the weather allows, mostly in the late afternoon when the light is at its best. While I am, of course, missing all the birds that do not come to our yard (warblers in particular this time of year and the more obvious shore and water birds, not to mention raptors) I am seeing lots of birds I did not expect from my casual feeder watching in previous years. The Purple Finches are among them. We rarely had them at the feeders on the deck, but this year we have them daily at the feeders by the blind. For a while there I was not seeing the adult male, but he has been coming the past few days, several times a day. Yesterday I had the immense privilege of watching him do his mating display. He was moving rapidly and not sitting anywhere long, and I did not get to the video button in time for video, but I got many stills of his various poses. The Purple Finch display is a mix of begging postures…wings drooped and fluttering rapidly, chin up, just like a nestling…and aggressive displays with his crest raised and his back arched and his tail cocked up. It is really something to see! You will want to view the still image as big as you can make it. 🙂 I am also posting a short animation of the action. Though this is the best of 4 attempts, the frames are not perfectly aligned and at 4 frames per second, it does not capture the wing fluttering at all, but you can see the rapid changes in posture and attitude. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Video assembled in ImgPlay.
American Goldfinch (partial leucistic)
American Goldfinch, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I have watched this Goldfinch come into full breeding plumage over the past 8 weeks here in Southern Maine. It is only now becoming certain that it is partially leucistic…that grey patch on the back of the neck should not be there. It makes it vaguely reminiscent of a Lawrence’s Goldfinch from about as far away as you can get from Maine and still be in the US…the far southern coast and mountains of California. Also over the past two months the greenery behind the feeders and perches at my photo blind has come in nicely to provide this kind of of backdrop to portraits of the birds. This twist of Bittersweet vine is a favorite perch for the Goldfinches. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Mrs Cardinal
Northern Cardinal, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Both the male and female cardinals are coming to the feeder station by the blind several times a day now…of course they generally come when I am not in the blind…but occasionally I am out there to see them. This is the kind of view you can only get from a blind. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Mourning Dove
Mourning Dove, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Mourning Doves spend a lot of time feeding on the ground, and most of my photos are of doves on the ground. This one came a perched nicely in front of the blind up just above eye-level. I like the tones in this photo. The dove looks like it might be cast in brass, while the feather detail against the smooth bokeh of the tree in the background adds a dimension to the photo. Right time, right place, and ready! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Goldfinch in song
American Goldfinch, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I find these photos particularly amusing because of the contrast of how hard the Goldfinch tries to sing, and how tiny the actual sound is. I published this little poem a few days ago, but it bears repeating here. 🙂
The Goldfinch sings such a wispy tune,
a whisper song, an absent-minded twitter
totally without conviction. It takes a flock
of them to make much noise, and then
it has all the coherence of a string ensemble
behind a closed door tuning. I want to say,
“hey, Goldfinches, you can do better!” but
then, considering the numbers coming to our
feeders, their song, no matter how deficiently
soft and un-melodic to my untrained ear, must
be perfectly sufficient to Goldfinch needs.
Got to give them points for effort as well. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.