Posts in Category: Kennebunk
Maine! — Ruby-throats
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — we have unprecedented numbers of hummingbirds coming to our feeder this week. We have at least one male, one sub-adult male, and half a dozen “female/immature” types — often up to 4 around the feeder at the same time. The male and what I assume is an immature male are both attempting to guard the feeder from perches in the Maple tree above the deck. These shots were not in the best of light…early, on a rainy day, but they were all taken standing in our open deck door within 30 minutes of each other. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. Females at ISO 12800 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th, males at ISO 5000 and 4000 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
Maine! — Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron: York County, Maine, USA — Here the Great Blue Heron is the star of the show. There were two with the mixed flock of Egrets on the sandbar at the mouth of the river. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and assembled in FrameMagic. 1 and 2 at ISO 200 @ f8 @ 1/800th @ -.7EV, 3 at f7.1 @ 1/1000th.
Maine! Day Lilies
Day Lilies from our yard. The “wild-ish” Day Lilies that grow in our front yard are all “double blossom” lilies, with two flowers on top of each other. The Day Lilies that grow in our back yard are single blossom??? These are from the front yard. Both images are in-camera focus stacked (hand held) with the OM Systems OM-1 and the 100-400mm zoom at 300mm equivalent. It is still pretty amazing to me that the camera can do this. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. Nominal exposure ISO 2500 @ f5.7 and f6.3 @ 1/500th.
Maine! More Egret Action
Great Egrets and Great Blue Heron: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — More Egret action from the mouth of one of our local rivers. (This time with a Great Blue Heron bystander, and what appears to be a Great Black-backed Gull not interested at all.) Note the fish fry in the beak of the center Egret in the first photo. I don’t think the fry was the source of the conflict…much ado about nothing if it was. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f9 @ 1/1000th. -.7EV.
Conflicting emotions: Great Egrets
Great Egrets: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — After seeing some of Jack Coughlin’s photos of of Egrets and Herons taken at the mouth of one of our local rivers, just a few miles down the road from me, I took my trike out yesterday at low tide to see what I could see. I have never, in my 30 years (more or less) on the Maine Coast seen such a large concentration of Egrets and Herons as the one I found on a sandbar just back from the river mouth yesterday. There were at least 20 Great and 20 Snowy Egrets, and two Great Blue Herons. There were so may fish fry in the shallow water it seemed to boil and birds were actively feeding…but there was also a lot of bird on bird interaction as they competed for the best spots…or that is how it looked to me. With so many birds gathered it may have just been a dominance thing. ?? I have a whole set of shots of this particular interaction, but this one captures the energy. Great Egrets are generally the most elegant of birds, calm, full of steady purpose, especially in Maine, and at least in Maine, generally solitary. I have only ever seen them act this way in the pools at Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge in Florida in early spring when they gather for the shrimp hatch. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f9 @ 1/1000th. -.7EV.
Maine! Song Sparrow
Song Sparrow: York County, Maine, USA, July 2023 — Song Sparrows seem to congregate behind the dunes of our local beaches, and well out into the marsh along the rivers. And, of course, they perch up to sing, so they are quite visible. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f8 @ 1/1250th and @ f7.1 @ 1/1000th.
Eastern Amberwing
Eastern Amberwing Dragonfly: Roger’s Pond Park, Kennebunk, Maine, USA, July 2023 — One of the smallest of the true dragonflies, the Eastern Amberwing is not much bigger than a large bee. I was a long time seeing my first one in Maine, but there have been a few at Roger’s Pond this time of year for the past several years. There were three males at one end of the pond and at least one more at the other. I can only assume there were females somewhere, but I did not see them. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom @ 1600mm equivalent (2x digital converter). Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 250 @ f5.3 @ 1/640th.
Maine! Cedar Waxwing
Cedar Waxwing: York County, Maine, USA, July 2023 — I was photographing dragonflies along the Bridle Trail near home when three Cedar Waxwings flew into the tree above me. And then one of them hopped a branch closer, right over my head. I literally pointed and shot off a burst. This is pretty much the full frame at 800mm equivalent on the OM System OM-1 with the 100-400mm zoom. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 320 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
Maine! — Halloween Pennant
Halloween Pennant: Forever For All Preserve, Kennebunk Land Trust, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — The newish Forever For All Preserve has turned out to be a very good spot for dragonflies and damselflies over the past few years, beginning in the overgrown meadow next to road and all the way down the hill to the stretch of meadow along the Mousam River. The Holloween Pennant’s coloring and the exceptionally wide wings, its relatively large size, and its habit of “posing” on the tip of an exposed stalk, all make it a stand-out dragonfly. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th.
Maine! Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Kingbird: York County, Maine, USA — On one of my trike rides during our last day spell (rare this summer in Maine), I took this portrait of an Eastern Kingbird on an only post in the marsh from the seat of my trike. I carry my OM-1 and 100-400mm zoom on a Cotton Carrier on my chest as I ride, and I am, with practice, getting quick on the draw 🙂 1600mm equivalent (2x digital teleconverter). Program mode with my custom birds modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th.