Posts in Category: Kennebunk
Pileated Surprise!
Pileated Woodpecker: Roger’s Pond Park, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I have determined to walk 2-3 miles a day between now and my photo trip to Costa Rica the end of the month…hoping to rebuild the stamina I lost due to my broken wrist over the summer. I will need it during my two weeks in the rainforests and mountains of Costa Rica. Yesterday I walked to Roger’s Pond, hoping to find the flock of Cedar Waxwings in the ornamental cherry trees, or perhaps the flock of Bluebirds that is assembling and has been seen various places around Kennebunk in the past week. I did not see either. I did get to see this Pileated Woodpecker! A nice bright male in all his glory. I heard him calling as he flew in and landed right overhead…high overhead, but still. I got off a series of shots as he climbed higher up the trunk, and then he paused to call right at the top, against the sky, and I just held the shutter button down and hoped for the best. These are the best I got. I would have like him closer, but, with today’s post-processing tools, you can stretch your lens and shrink the distance by using artificial intelligence or machine learning routines to enlarge the image, then crop for the equivalent of, in this case, maybe a 2400mm lens field of view. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent optical zoom. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. +.3 EV to balance the sky. Processed in Polarr, Pixelmator Pro Photo, and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4.5 @ 1/1000th. Assembled in FrameMagic.
Autumn Meadowhawk, living up to its name…
Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly: Kennebunk and Wells, Maine, USA — The Autumn Meadowhawk is the only dragonfly flying this first week in November here in southern Maine, but there are still fair numbers to be seen, almost anywhere where there is water nearby. The top one was along the Kennebunk Bridle Path where it crosses a more or less fresh water marsh beside the Mousam River. There are always dragonflies there and it is one of my favorite places to look for them. The bottom one was taken in the deep woods at Laudholm Farms, with only a little stream nearby, not a place I would particularly look for any kind of dragonfly. And not only are they still flying, I had a mating pair land on my chest (I was wearing a bight yellow hoodie for hunting season safety and perhaps the color attracted them). Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos and assembled in FrameMagic. ISO 100 @ f4.5 and f4 @ 1/1000th and 1/500th.
Pretty Garter Snake
Garter Snake, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I am always happy to see a snake on one of my hikes. I have a friend who literally always sees a snake wherever he is…but that is him, and I am me. I rarely see one. And, at least in Maine, if I do see one it is almost certainly a Garter Snake…the most common snake in Maine, and probably in the USA. Still, always delighted! This was a particularly large and pretty Garter. It must have been three feet long, and corresponding robust, and so brightly patterned that I suspect it has recently shed its skin. Or maybe it was just well polished from sliding through the undergrowth still wet from rains overnight. When it came to a ditch full of water about 5 feet across, flooded from said rains, it just skimmed over the surface. It did sink a bit as it cruised up the bank looking for a place it could slither out, but it kept its head high and dry. I was happy just to get a few photos. Sony Rx10iv. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. 1) at 184mm equivalent @ ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/400th, and 2) at 554mm equivalent @ ISO 2500 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Assembled in FrameMagic.
Flood
We had a lot of rain with this last storm. The neighbor’s yard had a small pond in it, which I have not seen in at least 10 years, the pond along Route 9 south of Brown Street was over its banks, which I have never seen before, and, as you see from the photo, the Branch Brook Marsh right on the Wells Town line was completely under water…and though I don’t have a photo of the other side of the road, it was completely flooded as well, as far as you could see out toward the sea. That is a lot of water. In this shot, which is a short sweep panorama with the iPhone SE and the Sirui 18mm ultra-wide lens, if you did not know better you would think you were looking at a lake. The water is only inches, a foot at most, deep over the matted grasses of the marsh. Apple Camera app with Smart HDR engaged. Processed in Apple Photos.
Another of the Alwive Red Squirrel
Red Squirrel: Alwive Pond Preserve, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Another shot of the Red Squirrel I encountered on my way out from Alwive Pond the other day. In processing this one I noticed that he has all four paws off the tree…so mid leap. I really like the out of focus branch in the background of this series. Also notice the back patch in his tail. Red Squirrel are highly variable in color and color pattern, but i have not seen this back spot in the tail before. A very handsome squirrel. Sony Rx10iv at 400mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Another low light shot. ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/400th.
Entertaining Red
Red Squirrel: Alwive Pond Preserve, Kennebunk Land Trust, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — When I visit Alwive Pond I am always hoping for a moose. I saw on there in early 90s. 🙂 Now days I have to be mostly satisfied with a Red Squirrel, and some visits I don’t even see one of those. I caught this one gathering leaves, probably as nest lining, and, as Red Squirrels will, he decided to contest the trail with me, facing off a daring me to come any closer. Very entertaining. He was all over the tree trunk, striking aggressive poses in hopes that I would back away. I particularly like this apparent handstand on the twiggy branch. It was overcast by the time I was headed out, October mid-afternoon, but there was not a lot of light under the heavy canopy of pines, so this shot is testing the image quality limits of the Sony Rx10iv at high ISO. 400mm equivalent (that’s how close I was). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr using my Sony High ISO preset, so some noise suppression involved, and finished off in Apple Photos. ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/400th.
Bluebird in the fall
Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — We have Bluebirds coming for mealworms pretty much year round now. Even during periods when the the adults are mysteriously absent, the young will still be there almost every day. And now that fall is coloring the backyard trees, the subtle blues, in this case on one of the immature males from the first brood of this summer, have something to contrast nicely with. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 1250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Looking into Autumn
Looking into Autumn, and into the sun, down another long alley of marsh, this time just over the hill from the Kennebunk town line on Rt. 9. I really like the perspective of the Sirui 18mm ultra-wide for this kind of of shot, especially since it is wide both ways…vertically as well as horizontally. It gives the scene a very natural look. At least to my eye. The high contrast light picks out every detail, and the Apple Camera app’s Smart HDR renders the range of light effectively, producing another memorable image of fall. Or that is what I think. Processed in Apple Photos.
Best of autumn in Kennebunk
Of course, this time of year, I have my eye out for great autumn shots…places where the color is at its best and well displayed. I was in the passenger seat of our car (a rare position for me to be) when we crossed the marsh at the edge of Kennebunk Lower Village, in leaf-peeper traffic at its best (or worst), and glimpsed this scene out the widow as we passed. It was overcast with a dull grey sky, so I could let the scene pass, but I would remember. I immediately began to plot how to get there safely on Indigenous People/Columbus Day Monday, when better skies were predicted, on my eTrike, without getting myself run over by a leaf peeper. By 11am the next morning the sky was promising and I got the trike out and took my chances…going the long way around to approach from the right side of the road, and avoid as much traffic as I could…as well as the stretch of horrible trike road on Rt. 9 coming into Lower Village. When I got there I found that there was enough of a shoulder on the bridge over the marsh so I could safely park my trike for the photos. I took many views of this with slightly different compositions, and picked this one as the best of the non-panoramic set. I might post the panorama another day. Anyway. This is a classic southern Maine autumn landscape. iPhone SE with Sirui 18mm ultra-wide lens. Apple Camera app with Smart HDR engaged. Processed in Apple Photos.
Turkey!
Wild Turkey: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — We had to go to Kennebunkport on an errand yesterday about noon, and saw these two tom turkeys (you can tell by the well developed breast beards) feeding by what will be the new headquarters of the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge when they get around to renovating the existing buildings. The Wildlife Refuge bought (or perhaps was given) a large stone mansion and extensive grounds that already occupied an enclave in Refuge lands just down the street from us. I was not thinking about the turkeys when I decided to take a walk down that way…just out for exercise and maybe a bit of fall color on what was turning out to be an increasingly overcast day…but they were still there, now well out in the lawn, slowly trolling for bugs in the grass. And who can resist a turkey shot when it is on offer? There is not much color on a turkey, but the richness of the feather pattern and the variety of textures in the plumage always strikes me as quite beautiful. Sony Rx10iv. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. 517mm equivalent and ISO 400. 534mm equivalent and ISO 500. Both at f4 and 1/500th. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Assembled in FrameMagic.