Northern Cardinal: York County, Maine, USA, March 2024 — Before my Cardinal after the March snow and ice event encounter slips too far into memory I need to share at least one more photo. 🙂 OM System OM-1Mkii with M. Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Song Sparrow: York County, Maine, USA, March 2024 — The recent snow and ice event here in southern Maine had the birds sticking close to the feeders for two days and we had our first Song Sparrow of the year in our yard. I saw my first in York County a month ago (though that was a really early bird) and saw a flock of them out near a local pond two weeks ago, but this is the first of the year in the yard. The ice adds a touch of interest as well. OM System OM-1Mkii with M. Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Eastern Bluebird: York County, Maine, USA, March 2024 — Another shot from our frozen Monday here in Southern Maine. Bluebird and iced Maple buds. OM System OM-1Mkii with M. Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Sunday Morning in Maine. This is a hand-held focus stack with the OM System OM-1Mkii and the M. Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 338mm equivalent. Program mode. Processed in Photomator.
Northern Cardinal: York County, Maine, USA, March 2024 — We woke yesterday to trees glistening with frozen rain after maybe 3 inches of snow on Saturday. Right at first light our neighborhood male Cardinal was under the pines and up in the glistening branches…too far away and still too dark for a photograph. As the sun got up, I bundled up and spent an enchanted hour or more photographing birds…bluebirds, robins, goldfinches and even the Carolina Wren…in the back yard among the icy branches…but I kept hearing the siren call of the Cardinals somewhere out there in the larger neighborhood and eventually it was too much. I went walkabout with my camera. I went around our local blocks many times. I could hear the Cardinals calling but wherever I went, by the time I got there, the Cardinals were somewhere else. Finally I traced them to some tall trees a few corners over from our house. They were close. I could hear them but I just could not see them. And then the male popped out of a hedge of evergreens right in front of me, right at eye-level, way lower than I was expecting from the calls. Alright! A gift pure and simple. I took way too many photos. This is not necessarily the best one…I have many I will keep…but the one I chose this morning. OM System OM-1Mkii with M. Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
More filigree ice from the Mousam River here in Kennebunk. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm IS zoom at 472mm equivalent. Program mode with in-camera HDR. Processed in Photomator.
Just to prove that my interest in natural ice formations goes beyond “swirly ice” (see last week’s post), here is a shot of the unique ice that forms where salt and fresh water mix in a tidal river. I have heard this called “rotten ice” but it deserves a better name, and “salt ice” works for me. 🙂 Little River at Laudholm Farms. Sony Rx10iv at about 300mm equivalent. Program mode with auto HDR. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Nominal exposure: ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/1000th.
The other thing, besides yesterday’s Mallards, that I found on my hike into Wonderbrook, was this swirly ice on the stream. To be fair I am always looking for swirly ice in the winter, as I find the patterns that ice forms while freezing fascinating. I can’t quite figure out the physics of it…no, that’s not right…I am no where near figuring out the physics of it. 🙂 The beauty only has to seen. We can appreciate what we can not fathom…and often do. Sony Rx10iv at 227mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. (Just because I was too lazy to switch to another mode.) Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 1600 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
So far we have not had ideal conditions for ice bells on the Mousam River here in town, but I did find these while out looking for Eagles the other day. 🙂 And they have a festive look for Christmas morning. A very Merry Christmas again to all. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. I used TouchRetouch to remove an obtrusive foreground branch. ISO 160 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Deep in the forest, the vernal pools are slow to melt. This one has been working on it for weeks, and there is still a ways to go. There is not much water underneath the ice so most of the melt has to happen at the surface. It does make for some interesting abstract images though. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 90mm equivalent. HDR mode. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Wells Reserve at Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine.