Posts in Category: Kennebunkport
Trout Lily
Trout Lily: Emmon’s Preserve, Kennebunkport, Maine, April 2025 — This early spring flower of the New England woods has many names. Trout lily, Yellow Trout lily, Fawn Lily, Yellow Adder’s-tongue, Dogtooth Violet, or Yellow Dogtooth Violet. Dogtooth Violet is actually a different species, and is, as the name says, purple/violet in color, but many still call this yellow lily by that name. I have always called it Trout Lily. I go looking for them in late March and early April every year. I know a few spots where they grow, in addition to a couple of dense patches at Emmon’s Preserve, a short drive from home. This year I had to make three trips. The second week in April no leaves were showing. The third week I found some leaves, and only now, in the fourth week did I find the flowers. That is late. I shot photos in two different stands at Emmon’s. In one stand the pollen was yellow, and in the second patch the pollen was, as in these photos, orange. I looked it up this morning, and, indeed, there are Trout Lilies with the orange pigment, and there are Trout Lilies without. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 112mm and 114mm equivalent. The closer shot is with the Sigma Achromatic 1.75 diopter Macro attachment. On both I used my Sirui travel tripod at ground level. Processed in Photomator.
Rapid run
Batson River, Emmon’s Preserve, Kennebunkport, Maine, April 2025 — Relatively high water on the Batson River (more of a brook really) in Emmon’s Preserve (Kennebunkport Land Trust). Still no leaves on the trees so this is just about as bright as this stretch of water gets. Sony a5100 with Sony 10-18 f4 at 15mm equivalent. Shutter Preferred at 1/40th. Processed in Photomator.
Eddy art
Emmon’s Preserve, Kennebunkport, Maine, April 2025 —Water heavily laden with tannins from decaying leaves and high spring stream levels work with gravity and fluid dynamics and the April sun to create art in the eddies. Sony a5100. 10-18 f4 zoom at 27mm. Superior Auto. Photomator and LikeAFrame.
Creature in the woods
Porcupine. Emmon’s Preserve, Kennebunkport, Maine, USA — While out looking for the first Trout Lily’s (Adder’s Tongue) of the season (there were none yet) I encountered a creature in the woods. I could not, for any amount of trying, figure out what it was, but I managed a few photos and came home to study them. My first instinct was Porcupine, but the almost total lack of quills had me baffled. There is nothing else it can be though, and I found some other photos on the web showing porcupines in a similar state. Perhaps it had just survived an attack of some sort…or perhaps it was its first venture out of the winter borrow, and it had lost most of its quills rubbing on the rocks all winter. It seemed heathy enough otherwise, and not overly upset at the encounter. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Photomator.
Maine! Yellowthroat youngster
Common Yellowthroat (fledgling): York County, Maine, USA, July 2024 — Walking along the edge of a meadow, this little bird was chattering in the bushes. It is fledgling Common Yellowthroat. You can just see a bit of the gape still there at the back of the beak. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Animal/bird subject recognition and auto focus. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Chance encounter
Ruby-throated Hummingbird: York County, Maine, USA, July 2024 — So I don’t really believe in chance, but I am always surprised to find a hummingbird away from our back-deck feeder…in the wild, so to speak. I forget that hummingbirds got along just fine before humans began to feed them. This female Ruby-throated Hummingbird was harvesting nectar from the jewelweed along a trail I visit on occasion, and it cooperated for a few photos. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my flight and action modifications. Animal/Bird subject detection auto focus. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Late Ladies
When I went out looking for Lupines near Emmon’s Preserve in Kennebunkport/Arundel, I was surprised to find a few late Lady Slipper Orchids blooming along the trail into the Batson River falls. Lovely wherever and whenever you find them. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 12-45 f4 Pro zoom at 48mm equivalent. Program mode with in-camera HDR. Processed in Photomator.
Maine Landscape
Trout Lily (Adder’s Tongue, Yellow Dog Tooth Violet), Emmon’s Preserve, Kennebunkport, Maine, USA. July 2024 — One of the first wildflowers of spring in Southern Maine. OM Systems OM-1 with M.Zuiko 12-45 f4 Pro at 40mm equivalent. Program mode with in-camera HDR. Processed in Photomator.
Maine Landscape
Batson River above the rapids at Emmon’s Preserve, Kennebunkport, Maine, USA, April 2024 — A quiet stretch of the Batson, on a sunny April day. The woods are still open and the sun warms the ground and the water. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 12-45 f4 Pro at 24mm equivalent. Program mode with in-camera HDR. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Honey Bee on Dog Tooth Violet
Western Honey Bee on Dog Tooth Violet (Trout Lily, Adder’s Tongue): Emmon’s Preserve, Kennebunkport, Maine, USA, April 2024 — The bees and the hoverflies were very active in the early blooming Trout Lily patches at Emmon’s Preserve the other day, so I turned the dial on my camera to program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications and attempted to catch a few around the flowers. 1/2000th of a second at 15fps and bird subject recognition with eye tracking got me a number of keepers as the Western Honey Bees were busy with the flowers. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent from about 4 feet. Cropped, these are very close to 1:1 image scale. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.