Posts in Category: action
Maine! Up, up, and away
Double-crested Cormorant: York County Maine, USA, September 2024 — This Double-crested Cormorant seems to have laid claim to a stretch of unnamed tidal creek in the marsh. It has been regular there for a couple of weeks now. Though you can’t tell from the photos, the creek at this point is only a dozen feet across, and varies in depth from 1 to 10 feet, depending on the tide. Cormorants are never going to win any prizes for deportment or elegance, but they get the job done…generally with a lot of splashing. Sony a6700 with my action and flight modifications. Animal/bird recognition auto focus. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Red over head
Red-tailed Hawk: York County, Maine, USA, September 2024 — I watched this Red-tailed Hawk fly in to the far edge of the marsh, pursued by crows, as I walked out the trail and kept my eye out for it on the way back. Sure enough it came soaring down the berm from behind me, and circled twice right over me. I think it was actually using the thermal from the colder waters of the creek just there to gain a bit of height, but as it circled I was able to get a few relatively close shots of the hawk overhead with an interesting sky behind. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my action and flight modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Face-offs in the seaweed
Semi-palmated Sandpipers: York County, Maine, USA, September 2024 — a few more face-offs from Labor Day at the beach. Again, I don’t know exactly what is going on here, but it was interesting to watch. It certainly appears to be some kind of dominance game. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my action and flight modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Maine! Sandpiper action
Semi-palmated Sandpipers: York County Maine, USA, September 2024 — I went back to the beach yesterday specifically to try to catch a few of these interactions…face-offs, tumbles in the air, and aggressive posturing…between the Semi-palmated Sandpipers as they fed up against the sea wall in the piles of seaweed. I am not certain what these interactions signify, but they are interesting to watch and a challenge to catch in a photograph. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Standoffish
Snowy Egrets: (and two Greater Yellowlegs) York County Maine, USA, August 2024 — A small pool and lots of birds so, of course, there were a lot of squabbles as they hunted. Here two Snowy Egrets face off while another strolls by. And of course the Yellowlegs, are variously concerned. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Highlight metering. (Not easy light!) Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Greater Egret Action
Great Egrets: York County Maine, USA, August 2024 — More of the Egret action from the other day in the marsh. This time two Great Egrets, but again, disputing the fishing rights. My pool! These two actually got along okay as long as they were separated by the width or the length of pool. As soon as they close there was trouble. The wings on these birds never cease to amaze and delight me. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Highlight metering. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Snowy action
Snowy Egrets: York County, Maine, USA, August 2024 — I found a group of more than dozen Great and Snowy Egrets feeding in the marsh quite close to a trail I use, and was able to work my way through the woods to the edge of the marsh to watch them as they actively hunted a small pool for 30 minutes or so. If I had had a chair I would have watched longer 🙂 There was a lot of interaction as they squabbled for fishing rights. As I have mentioned in recent Egret posts, these kinds of concentrations of Egrets are, I think, new to our area marshes in the past few years. Previously I would see an Egret here or there, always a special treat. The past two years they have been here in large numbers and often congregated in mixed feeding groups like the one I saw yesterday, the second half of summer and through early fall. I can’t testify to anything beyond the past 20 years, or to any other marshes in Maine (if memory serves there have always been larger numbers in the bigger marshes north of us). These two Snowys were playing dominance games. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Highlight metering. Processed in Photomator and framed in FrameMagic.
Maine! Wild Hummingbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird: York County, Maine, USA, August 2024 — Until this year I would have said that encountering Ruby-throated Hummingbirds away from any feeder, in the wild, was very rare. This summer I have had half a dozen encounters, and gotten photos in two of them. The problem with wild sightings is that, without a feeder to keep them close and coming back, you only have seconds to react…to get the camera up and get off a burst or two of shots before the hummingbird is off to find fresh flowers. And of course, around a feeder you are “primed” for hummers…ready both physically and psychologically to capture the action. Just out on a stroll, seeing what you can see, it is much more difficult to snap to focus and snap the photos. And, of course, it is a testament to how well bird recognition, eye-tracking auto focus works that any of these chance encounters result in focused images. 🙂 Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife and action and flight modifications. (I switched between the two shots…so these are shots from two different bursts…on is at 1/500th and one is at 1/2000th. Can you tell which is which?) Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Making ripples
Northern Water Snake: Day Brook Pond, Kennebunk Plains Nature Conservancy, Kennebunk, Maine, USA, August 2024 — I saw the Water Snake swimming along the shore of the pond and got off a series of frames. I like the ripples in this one, and the light…and the sense of power that it somehow captures. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Stretch
Ruby-throated Hummingbird: York County Maine, USA, August 2024 — We have a couple of migrant Ruby-throats dominating our feeders the past few days. I caught this young male stretching in the low level light of late afternoon. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC VXD zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. -1 ev. Processed in Photomator.