Posts in Category: Maine
Maine! more snow
Actually this is still the snow from Sunday morning, and of course by now the wind has knocked most of it off the trees and brush, but it is still there. It has not been above freezing since. 🙂 Sony a5100 in Superior Auto, with Landscape mode selected. Sony 10-18 f4 @ 15mm equivalent. Processed in Photomator and framed in LikeAFrame.
Maine! Denisons under the deck
Carolina Wren: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2025 — Yesterday we woke to six inches of snow in the yard, like most people in Southern Maine (some had more) and after clearing the drive and cleaning off the car and removing the snow from the shed roof I went looking for birds. We see these two wrens about once a week up on our back deck after the spilled meal-worm crumbs, and occasionally on the meal-worm feeder itself after a whole worm, and I know they spend considerable time under our deck, in the jumble of old flowerpots that have accumulated there. I think they actually nest a few yards over but they visit us. We see them often in the summer and I know they have been recorded on the Christmas Bird counts in Southern Maine, but this is the first winter when we have seen them regularly. I am always happy to see them. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Neighbors
American Robin and European Starling: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2025 — I always look for the neighborhood flock of Robins this time of year, in hopes that there will be Cedar Waxwings with them. This year, so far, I have only found Starlings with them…not the same at all…but actually a bit rarer in Southern Maine than waxwings. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! We don’t like Starlings
European Starling: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2025 — We don’t like European Starlings much here in the US…and there are lots of good reasons not to like Starlings…invasive…aggressive…noisy…messy…voracious eaters of our seed…but, seen dispassionately (and in someone else’s yard) I, at least, can not deny that they have certain elegant beauty, and when the light on them brings out the iridescence…even an opaline splendor. I actually don’t see many starlings here Southern Maine. The few hanging with the local winter flock of Robins this year are the first I have seen, or at least noticed, in several years. I would not want to see it become a trend, but I don’t mind seeing one once in a while (in someone else’s yard). Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! January Song Sparrow
Sony Sparrow: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2025 — Besides the Pine Warblers hanging out with our wintering Bluebirds, there are several Song Sparrows that have neglected to go south around town. At least a few along the dunes in the beach rose, and 3 or 4 in a local park along the river. (And probably more that I don’t know about.) They seem perfectly happy and have already survived the few snow storms and the low temperatures of the past few weeks. We will see how they do when it gets really cold next week. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Playing with his food
Common Eider: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2025 — This first winter male Eider is breaking all the rules. While he did eventually swallow the crab whole, he did it on the surface, not underwater, and he was, so it seems to me, playing with his food before he ate it…to the extent that he threw it up in the air and then re-caught it as it came back down…before it could sink. I know there must be a better explanation than play…if there isn’t we have been seriously underestimating the intelligence of Eiders (or I have anyway). Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Maine! Downy male and female
Downy Woodpecker: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2025 — We have had some bright clear January days this week, so I have been out in the backyard trying for some winter birds. The little Downy Woodpeckers are at the feeder and in the trees around the house everyday. Here we have a male and a female in similar poses. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Maine! blue jay, red berries
Blue Jay: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2025 — For some reason we don’t get many Blue Jays in our yard…maybe a dozen times a year one will appear and hop up on deck for a few moments. Just down the street there is a house with feeders that has them all the time when I walk by. ??? I caught this one coming in to use a feeder tray. I like the riot of color with the reds and greens of the setting contrasting with the blues of the bird. The low January sun picks out all the detail. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Winter Pine
Pine Warbler: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2024 — I was surprised to see not one, but two Pine Warblers, a male and a female, in our yard over the past two days. According to the field guide range maps these guys should be in the deep south in January. So of course I did some research and found that there have been half a dozen e-bird sightings of Pine Warblers in Maine this January so far, as far north as Darmiscotta, and in the past 10 years there have been several hundred winter sightings. So not all that uncommon. I was thinking these were birds displaced by the unusual deep freeze and snow hitting the south right now…but maybe not. If any warbler can survive a Maine winter it is the chunky, seed-eating Pine. There were several reports of Pine Warblers hanging out with Bluebirds, and the ones in our yard are doing exactly that. They like the mealworms, but they are also attracted to suet and don’t seem adverse to picking up sunflower fragments the finches and nuthatches drop. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator. Taken through double-glazed deck doors.
Maine! skulking Cardinal in the snow
Northern Cardinal: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, January 2025 — I was surprised to find a pair of Cardinals skulking deep in the beach rose tangle on the dunes as the snow fell the other day. Not easy to photograph, but worth a try. A Cardinal is always worth a try. 🙂 Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 Di iii @ 600mm equivalent. Eye-tracking is really something! Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.