Posts in Category: Kennebunk
Maine! Ownership dispute
Tree Swallows: York County, Maine, USA, May 2024 — So who owns this Bluebird box anyway? These two Tree Swallows are ready to fight over it…but in the end the Bluebirds are likely to claim it…they did last year. 🙂 Interestingly there were a group of at least a dozen Tree Swallows around the tidal stream when I went out…and none at all when I came back. They do nest somewhere in area. I will see the young on the rail of the bridge before long. OM System OM-1MKii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Maine! Cardinal visitation
Northern Cardinal: York County, Maine, USA, May 2024 — Now that I am back from Ohio and the Biggest Week in American Birding, it is time to catch up on some Maine birds. Our neighborhood pair of Cardinals came for a visit just before I left. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Parula
Northern Parula: York County, Maine, USA, May 2024 — I went out to fill the feeders one last time before my trip to Ohio and the Biggest Week in American Birding, just as it started to rain, as it turns out. Not well planned that. But as I was out under the pines at the edge of yard, what should pop in but a Northern Parula. It took me a moment to work out what it was. I think it is maybe only the 2nd Northern Parula I have seen in Maine, certainly the first I have seen in many years, though I know they come through here and nest further north, and, of course, I see lots of them in Ohio, and will probably see lots next week. It worked its way up the berry brambles, picking leaf buds, probably for the insects inside, until it was only 3 feet from me. Of course I did not have a camera with me, not even my phone. I finished up what I was doing and went inside to get my camera, knowing full well that it would not be there when I got back…but I was gifted with the same bird in the same bushes, or, more likely a second bird following the same migration path as the other, and making use of the same resources. Such a treat! And good practice for next week. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator. (I am posting this tonight as I will be in the air tomorrow when I would normally post. 🙂
Maine! Streeetttccchhh
Piping Plover: York County, Maine, USA, May 2024 — It is Piping Plover season again on southern Maine beaches, and I remind you (and myself) again to give them their space. Usual disclaimers here. I was further away than it looks from the photo and well outside the roped off nesting area. I do not approach the birds. Sometime they approach me, but when they do I do not move. Just another stump on the beach, me (although a stump with a camera). Occasionally they stretch. 🙂 OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Ruby in the sun
Ruby-throated Hummingbird: York County, Maine, USA, May 2024 — After my rainy day encounter with supplemental light, I tried for hummers in the full sun yesterday. They presented their own challenge…and the gorget is never as deep ruby as it is in subdued light…but still very ruby. Next I will try increasing my minimum shutter speed from 1/2000th to 1/4000th to unblur the wings…though I like the blurred wing effect on hummers. 🙂 OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 584 and 652mm equivalents. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Ruby Thursday
Ruby-throated Hummingbird: York County, Maine, USA, May 2024 — The neighbors had seen a hummingbird at their house so I got out and disinfected our hummingbird feeder. We had a couple of nice spring days with no sight of the hummer, and then it clouded over and rained for a day. I saw the hummer a couple of times and went out and stood and then sat on the back deck in the drizzle to wait. After an hour I gave up. That was Wednesday. Yesterday, after the rain stopped, I saw it come twice within 30 minutes so I got my camp stool and coat and hat and went out again to sit and wait. It came several times in the next hour and I managed a burst of shots each time. It was still very heavy overcast so I mounted my new Ulanzi Video Rechargeable Flashlight on the camera for supplemental light. It is a lot like any rechargeable led flashlight but is specifically made for photography and has a very even, high intensity beam, three color temperatures, and a tripod mounting hole. I have a little adapter for the hot shoe of the camera and it seems to work very well. Between the subdued natural and the supplemental light (set to cool daylight temperature) it certainly lit up the gorget on this male Ruby-throat, and shows off exactly where the bird gets its name. (I would guess this is 90% natural light at least. I could not actually see the flashlight beam, but I do think it made some difference.) OM System OM-1Mkii with the M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 436mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications (with give me 1/2000th at ISO 8000). Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Her Majesty in a pine
Red-tailed Hawk: York County, Maine, USA, April 2024 — Eventually the Red-tailed Hawk flew even closer to the trail and settled in a pine. Again, angles were difficult to find, but there she was, as close as I might like. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Her Majesty flys
Red-tailed Hawk: York County, Maine, USA, April 2024 — I spent a long time waiting for Her Majesty to leave her perch when I encountered her along one of my favorite birding trails across the marshes. It took her a long time to decide that the hunting might be better from another perch. I had the camera set for flight and I would hold it on her on the perch, waiting, watching the strong off-shore wind buffet her, for as long as I could hold it up…then I would put it down to give my arms a rest…then back up and waiting some more. Finally it happened, and I caught it 🙂 Again, harsher light than I would have preferred, but otherwise a very cooperative bird. OM-System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator and Apple Photos.
Maine! Her Majesty
Red-tailed Hawk: York County, Maine, USA, April 2024 — When I started out on one of my birding trails a Red-tailed Hawk came flying across the marsh right toward me at eye-level and then swooped over and climbed in spirals higher and higher and way inland. All I managed were a few “going way” shots. Ah well. But then, on the way back to car, almost back, I caught sight of big bird shape right over the highway in a tree…sure enough it was the hawk. I watched it hunt from several different perches along the edge of the marsh until it moved on back the way it had originally come from. The light, high noon, was about as harsh and hard as it gets in Southern Maine this time of year…but still, such a majestic bird. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. -0.3 to hold the highlights. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Head and shoulders
American Robin: York County, Maine, USA, April 2024 — If I sit very still in my camp chair, the Robins, most common of yard birds here in Southern Maine, will come right up to me. These two shots are at 1600mm equivalent, using the digital tele-converter in the OM Systems OM-1Mkii with the M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom, so I was not as close as it looks. Still, pretty close for a wild bird. Late afternoon light picks out every feather detail. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.