Posts in Category: Wells

Maine! Chickadee in the wild

Black-capped Chickadee: York County, Maine, USA, October 2023 — It is somehow aways more satisfying to catch a Chickadee out in the field or forest, away from our feeders. This bird was a member of a mixed feeding flock in an old orchard and, typical of chickadees, worked his way closer and closer to me as I watched. The only issue was finding a more or less clear line of sight through the brambles for a photo. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Maine! White-tail again

White-tailed Deer: Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, October 2023 — Another study of the White-tailed Deer that came out onto the marsh at Laudholm while I was waiting for the Great Blue Heron to hunt its way down to me last week. It appears to the a young doe and was certainly wary as it worked it way out deeper into the marsh and into the open. I am not sure what it was looking for. When it saw me on the deck, right in plain slight and wearing my hunter safe colors, it had second thoughts and headed back to the forest. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Maine! Hunting Heron

Great Blue Heron: York County, Maine, USA, October 2023 — Another shot of the Great Blue Heron hunting in the marsh. I watched this bird take a small shrimp or fish from the edges of the pools at the rate of about one very two minutes for over an hour. An amazingly efficient hunter but very small bites. Twice it caught something lager…some kind of snake or eel…but mostly it was just taking the same tiny prey. The impressive thing was that the heron’s attention never wavered. It was continuously on the hunt. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Maine! Bird in a stick

Hermit Thrush: York County, Maine, USA, October 2023 — still finishing up photos from last month, as bad weather and hunting season are keeping me out of the woods and off the fields. “Bird on a stick” is the, at least mildly, derogiatory term for static photos of birds on a branch…the most common bird photos. As is generally the case, I can describe my photo, tongue in cheek, as just a bird on a stick photo and that is humor. If you describe my photo as bird on a stick, then I might take umbrage. But in this case, I probably would not as this is very definitely a bird on a stick. A Hermit Thrush from my encounter with several feeding in an old orchard. They bushwhacked under the trees a year or so ago to reclaim the orchard from the brush, and there are lots of these sapling stubs just a few inches tall. The thrush hopped up on one presumably to look for insects moving on the ground. Still, makes an interesting bird on a stick photo. 🙂 OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Maine! White-tail

White-tailed Deer: Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA, November 2023 — I spotted this Great Blue Heron (upper left and upper right in the top and bottom photos) and decided to stay on the marsh overlook deck on the back side of the wet maple forest boardwalk at Laudholm to see if it would work its way down to me…it eventually did, but while I waited for it, this lovely young doe White-tail came tentatively out of the forest, maybe looking for a a fresh water pool. I was sitting on the bench and partially blocked by the deck itself and the foreground brush, so I eventually stood up in all my hunter-safe bright yellow glory, and, of course, the deer, who was already wary out in the open, saw me and, after due consideration, decided it was time to head back into the relative safety of the forest. Watching it run through the marsh was one of the most satisfying wildlife moments I have had in a log time. White tail indeed! OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications (wildlife in this case). Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.

Maine! Hermit Thrush in the orchard

Hermit Thrush: York County, Maine, USA, November 2023 — Out and about the other day, my first surprise (of many that day) was a small flock (maybe just a pair and their off-spring of this year) of Hermit Thrushes feeding along the path and in an old overgrown orchard. I think of Hermit Thrushes, true to their name, as being shy and keeping to themselves…not so this group, who were happily feeding among the fallen apples right out in plain sight only yards from the moderately busy path. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Maine! Autumn Yellow-rump

Yellow-rumped Warbler: York County, Maine, USA, October 2023 — Color on color. A Yellow-rumped Warbler showing its color against the colors of a fall maple. Not a portrait, unless it is a portrait of the season. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro.

Maine! Little River Marsh

Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA — The Little River Marsh from the overlook on wet maple forest boardwalk. We did not get many days like this this fall. OM Systems OMD EM5Mkiii with 12-45mm zoom at 24mm equivalent. Program mode with in-camera HDR. Processed in Pixelmator Pro.

Maine! So fall!

Maple leaf caught in Winterberry at Laudholm Farms. Fall at its most intense. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 472mm equivalent. Program mode. Processed in Pixelmator Pro.

Maine! Laudholm October, where field meets forest

Where the overgrown meadow meets the forest at Laudholm Farms (Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve). Color, color every where. OM Systems OMD EM5Mkiii with 12-45mm zoom at 24mm equivalent. Program mode with in-camera HDR. Processed in Pixelmator Pro.