Posts in Category: Kennebunk
On its own already
Piping Plover chick: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, June 2025 — I have been seeing photos of this piping plover chick since it hatched a week ago, but not seen it myself until Monday. They blend in so well with the sand, and it is, after all, only one tiny puff of feathers and toothpick legs. It is so small and so fuzzy, that the camera still will not focus on it even at a week old. It is pretty much independent now. The parents have even given up trying to keep it corralled to the safe zone behind the nesting area ropes. It is running all over the beach. Which is probably why I finally saw it. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent (and heavily cropped at that). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Least Tern
Least Tern: Kennebunk, Maine, June 2025 — Sometimes we encounter angels unaware…and sometimes they are intent on pooping on us 🙂 I had to quit when one scored a direct hit on my dot-sight and my lens (not to mention the face behind them). And yes, I have been experimenting with a dot sight…or reflex sight…to better target the angels. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm. Program mode with my birds-in-flight and action modifications (trying minimum shutter speed 1/4000th). Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Wild Iris
Blue Flag Iris: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, June 2025 — There is a little pond formed where the road crosses one of the meandering streams that runs down through the marshes behind the dunes to the sea, where a clump of wild iris has been blooming every June for as long as I can remember. I photograph it every year. Sony a5100. Sony 10-18 f4 at 15mm equivalent. Intelligent Auto with Landscape Mode. Processed in Photomator.
Tern turn turn
Least Tern: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, June 2025 — I am still very much “practicing” to be a Tern photographer…at least a terns-in-flight photographer. They are way faster and more agile than either I or my camera. Still persistence sometimes almost pays off. 🙂 This is almost a satisfying shot. Almost, if I don’t look too close. I will try a slightly faster shutter speed next time out. I remind myself it is not about perfection. It is only about catching a hint of the grace and beauty of the living tern. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds-in-flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Plover
Piping Plover: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, June 2025 — There are probably more Piping Plover pairs on our local beach than I have seen. They tend to be illusive and blend in well with the environment. Which is a good thing, all things considered. It is how they have survived this long, though as the density of humans, and their dogs and litter, has increased along the coast-line, survival has become harder. Which is why they are now protected, and why the upper edgers of the beach, above high tide line and up against the beach rose, where they nest, is roped off on most beaches in Southern Maine right now. I ask, as always, that you give them space. This is a long telephoto shot, and cropped to fill the frame. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Backyard Turkey
Wild Turkey: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, June 2025 — The past few days we have had Turkeys in our yard in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon. I am sure they live in the patch of forest across the street, but come out to hunt insects and invertebrates in the relatively short grass of the neighborhood yards. That’s okay by me. I like to see them, and as far as I can see they are doing no harm. Adds a bit of wild to the neighborhood. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Bobolink
Bobolink: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, June 2025 — The Boboliks are back, nesting in the hayfields along the road in to our local beach, singing from the tops of the saplings. This was taken on a day when the air was full of Canadian wildfire smoke. The smoke did not dampen the song, but it definitely dimmed the photo. Bobolinks are close to invisible most of the year, but during nesting they certainly put on a show. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. (From the seat of my trike). Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Sunny Woodchuck
Groundhog sunning. It seems to be woodchuck season in southern Maine. This is my second encounter in less than a week. This specimen was obviously sunning itself on a log in an overgrown damp pasture on a warm June day in Kennebunk, Maine. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm. Program with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator. Assembled in VDIT.
Taking aim
Least Tern: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, June 2025 — The Least Terns on our local beach have gotten serious about defending nesting territories. Though I stay well away from the strings set out by Fish and Game for their protection, they are still intent on using me for target practice. Two can play that game and I use the opportunity to practice my birds-in-flight…I was going to say “skills” but that implies that there is skill involved when mostly it is just a matter of taking your chances often enough so that you come home with some results that are worth processing…with a few “keepers”. Mostly I find that after their initial alarm and half a dozen passes at me, they settle back down to their nest sites…there are no eggs yet…and if they do not then I move on. I do have a growing collection of white spots on my hat. If I count my keepers and the spots I think the Terns and I are coming out about even. I should point out that this is all taking place on a popular tourist beach, with folks in beach chairs and on blankets all around me, so the Terns do not lack for targets. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds-in-flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
She’s not having any (and neither is he)
Least Tern: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, June 2025 — I thought the Terns might have abandoned our local beach when I visited this week…there were very few in the air when I got there, where there had been many a few days before. I eventually found them, down on the exposed rocky flats just above tide line, busy doing their spring courting. I watched this male hard at it, and though he had a nice big offering none of the females he approached were receptive. She’s not having any, and neither is he apparently. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. (considerably cropped). Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.