Posts in Category: Wells
Maine! Sunday Supplement 2: Autumn’s touch
Fall is coming! This wet maple forest is right next to the marsh just inland from the sea, so it will be a while before peek foliage…but already the tallest maples are touched by fall. OM Systems OMD EM5Mkiii with 12-45mm Pro zoom at 24mm equivalent. In-camera HDR mode. Processed in Pixomator Pro.
Maine! Fresh on Friday. Little River Marsh
Little River Marsh from the overlook at Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA, September 2023 — OM Systems OMD EM5MKiii with 12-45mm Pro zoom at 24mm equivalent. HDR Scene mode. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. Nominal exposure: ISO 200 @ f10 @ 1/400th. (4 shots combined in camera).
Maine! Goldfinch in Joe Pye Weed
American Goldfinch: York County, Maine, USA, September 2023 — Though it looks like it might be an exotic, this plant is growing, thriving in fact, in a display of native plants at a local reserve…It is Joe Pye Weed, and it is the perfect setting to show off the bright yellow of this fall Goldfinch. As you can imagine there is an interesting story behind the name of the plant. It is named for the Joe Pye, who, legend has it, was a New England tribal medicine man who treated typhoid among early European settlers with native plants…though not, probably, the Joe Pye Weed…though it has been used to treat fever, among other ailments. It is a great host plant for bees and butterflies, and, apparently the Goldfinches enjoy it as well. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 1600mm equivalent (2x digital tel-extender). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 250 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
Maine! Barn Swallow in flight
Barn Swallow: York County, Maine, USA, September 2023 — a small flock of Barn Swallows was feeding avidly on a swarm of insects just above the tops of the trees along the trail. An ideal opportunity to practice the most difficult of birds in flight. The Barn Swallow, apparently, has the widest distribution of any passerine bird in the world. This bird, as did most of the birds flying with it, looks to be a female or sub-adult male…as it lacks the long outer tail feathers. Clearly I still have room to improve my BIF skills. OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds-in-flight modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/1000th.
Maine! Snowy Egret in the noonday sun.
Snowy Egret: Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve, Wells, York County, Maine, USA — It was high noon by the time I got to the overlook on the back side of the Little River marsh, and the light was really too bright for white birds! This Snowy Egret with a nice plume was busy feeding in the pool close in. Such a handsome bird! OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 250 @ f7.1 @ 1/640th and ISO 320 @ f7.1 @ 1/800th.
Maine! Eastern Towhee
Eastern Towhee: Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA, May 2023 — Again I took advantage of some early sun, or so I thought, to get out for some practice with the new Olympus OM-1 and the 100-400mm zoom. By the time I got down to Laudholm Farms, the clouds had rolled in and the light was already less than ideal. So it goes. I have trouble remembering that this is not the Rufous-sided Towhee, which is the name it had when I as first leaning bird names. I think I may have confused more than one young birder by calling it that. It has been the Eastern Towhee for some time now. 🙂 It was keeping company with a couple of Catbirds and some Robins along the upper trail at Laudholm. Olympus OM-1 with the 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving custom birds modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Canada Geese
Canada Geese: Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, Wells, Maine, USA — I know Canada Geese are reaching “vermin” status in some parts of the country, but I still like to see them as they gather in Southern Maine in late fall. They are still mostly in the marshes, not on folks lawns here yet. (My attitude might be different if I were a golfer, but I am not.) This group was in the marsh beside the Merriland River where it flows through Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, below the bluff where the headquarters buildings are and the Well’s National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms on the other side of the river. Sony Rx10iv at ~580 equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos and assembled in FrameMagic. ISO 400 and 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Music loving Mallards
Mallard ducks: Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters, Wells, Maine, USA — the only thing special about this pair of Mallards from Branch Brook at Rachel Carson is that they were apparently music lovers…either that or they just came downstream to see what the awful racket was as I sat on the observation deck by the marsh playing my Native American Style flute. 🙂 (Of course it is almost impossible to make anything resembling a racket with a NAS flute…it is a naturally melodic instrument…which is why I play it.) They were still shy. Once I noticed them, cruising down under the bank, and stoped playing to take a few photos, they circled back upstream, and then when I started to play again, got up and flew away right in front of me toward the junction of Branch Brook with the Merriland River across the marsh. I wish I had had my camera up at that point…but at least I played them away on their journey. Sony Rx10iv at 580mm equivalent. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photo. ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
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.
Red
As I have mentioned several times now, we don‘t seem to have had as much red in our foliage this autumn as I remember in the past. That does not mean, however, that we had had no red at all 🙂 And, what red there is, really stands out! This is at Laudholm Farms in Wells, Maine. iPhone SE with the Sirui 18mm ultra-wide lens. Apple Camera app with Smart HDR engaged. Processed in Apple Photos.