Posts in Category: back deck feeding station
Trouble
Eastern Grey Squirrel. Kennebunk, Maine, USA, September 2025 — I wrote about these adolescent squirrels we have coming to the deck. They have not yet learned deck etiquette. They can have all the spilled seed they want, but they cannot get on the feeders to spill seed (or in the flowering pants to bury seeds). These are the rules! And you can see what this one thinks of that. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program with birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Flying Ruby
Ruby-throated Hummingbird: Kennebunk, Maine, August 2025 — Of course the real challenge is to get the hummingbirds in flight. It is not nearly as hard as it used to be, before bird recognition, eye-tracking, auto focus. Now days it is just a matter of patience (and a bit of hand-eye coordination that comes with practice). And of course totally dependent on how cooperative the hummer is. 🙂 So still a gift really, despite our fancy equipment. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Ruby
Ruby-throated Hummingbird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, August 2025 — I sat in the open deck doorway for an hour yesterday afternoon to see if the Ruby-throated Hummingbird was in a mood to cooperate. I wanted the adult male with his gorget showing, of course. For the first half hour the young male and the adult spent a lot of time keeping each other way from the feeder, but as afternoon drew on, and the need to fill the tanks before night became more urgent, they begin to be better at taking turns. The adult posed nicely right in front of me, and then the young bird came in to try to drive him from his perch. This is part of the interaction. The adult was not in the mood to move. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Downy intent.
Downy Woodpecker: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, August 2025 — While waiting on the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, I could not resist the Downy Woodpecker who comes to the deck no matter what I am doing. Here is a Downy very intent on something. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 489mm equivalent. Program mode with action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Not so Ruby-throat
Ruby-throated Hummingbird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, August 2025 — We still have Ruby-throats coming to the feeder. This appears to be a young male, probably this year’s brood. The adult and this bird are having a grand old time keeping eachother from the feeder. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Immature Chipping Sparrow
Immature Chipping Sparrow: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, August 2025 — Standing in the open deck door waiting for hummingbirds to come to the flowers or the feeders on our back deck, I could not resist grabbing a few shots of the Chipping Sparrows in their immature finery. So elegant. So fresh. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Wren thoughts
Carolina Wren: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, June 2025 — The wrens are family Troglodytidae which means cave dweller, and I can see, in this photo, how they might have been the inspiration for illustrations of the cave dwelling dwarfs. And now, having had that thought, I cannot see them any other way. Dwarf birds, with all the character of a Tolkien dwarf. I think that might be okay. 🙂 Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Not a ho hummer!
Ruby-throated Hummingbird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, June 2025 — Lousy light is often the best light for hummingbirds, if you want to catch the gorget in all its glory. The day stated overcast and dull yesterday, but, for the first time this summer the male Ruby-throat was very active around the feeder, and was posting guard on the little branches we have fixed to the deck for perches, and I had time to watch it and get some photographs. They needed treatment for noise in post, but the gorget is as good as I have ever seen it. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Hoover
Red Squirrel: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, May 2025 — I call him (or her) Hoover because he (or she) comes after the Raccoons have been emptying our sunflower seed feeders all over the deck, mostly on rainy days for some reason, to clean up the mess. She (or he) lets me open the deck door for an unobstructed view and photographs. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 543mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator. (ISO 16500 by the way.) (And a second by the way…I am not sure, of course, if our Hoover is a individual squirrel, he or she, or if we have a whole tribe of Hoovers living the woods across the road, just waiting rainy day, “clean-up on the back deck aisle” call??)
Cardinal
Northern Cardinal: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, April 2025 — I sometimes feel that no morning is compete without a bird photo, and since my pic for today was a frog, I will offer you this bright spring Cardinal from our back deck the other day. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Taken through a double glazed deck door and processed in PhotoQuality and Photomator.