Posts in Category: Maine
Swamp Sparrow. FOY!
Swamp Sparrow. Wells National Estuarine Research Center at Laudholm Farms, Maine
Sunny and in the upper 40s, low 50s yesterday in Southern Maine, so I took a long photoprowl to the Wells National Estuarine Research Center at Laudholm Farms in Wells. Out by the Marsh Overlook I found this Swamp Sparrow, first of this year, foraging in the native phragmities by the platform. It cooperatively posed for me on this bent reed. I love the intensity of the rust red, and the boldness of the pattern on the Swamp Sparrow. It is as close to NOT being a LBJ (little brown job) as any sparrow gets. 🙂
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 100 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Palm Warbler: FOY
Palm Warbler, Day Brook Pond, Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area, W. Kennebunk ME
I already posed one pic of this FOY (first of year) Palm Warbler with yesteday’s Day Poem…it was a real treat to find it along the shore of Day Brook Pond on the Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management area. Such a lot of attitude for such a small bird 🙂
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 320 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom and assembled in Coolage.
Late light of April
Mouth of the Mousam River, Kennebunk ME
It is amazing how fast the length of the day is progressing now that the clocks have been set ahead. We went out last night after supper to catch the last of the sun on the beach near our home at the mouth of the Mousam River. This is a sweep panorama showing Great Head and the river mouth, but mostly it is about the spreading cloud tree above…and the light.
Sweep panorama. Sony HX90V. Processed for HDR effect in Lightroom. This is as close to the natural look of the scene as I can make it.
Maple Flower time again!
Maple Flower, the back yard, Kennebunk Maine
We are having a strange spring…but then I am beginning to believe that strange is the normal for southern Maine. No two springs in the two decades I have lived here have been remotely the same. This year the Maple Flowers are at lest 2 weeks early…but when, on the strength of that, I checked for Trout Lily in the forest, it was barely sprouting leaves above the leaf litter. Last year I photographed both Maple flowers and Trout Lily on the same day around the first of May. Go figure.
The lowest Maple Flowers in our back yard are just far enough above my head so I need a strong telephoto to reach them, and yet too close for my Nikon P900’s minimum focus of 16.5 feet…so I got out the P610 for this shot (and many others 🙂 This is at about 2000mm equivalent field of view, using the P610’s full 1440mm optical and bit of Perfect Image digital zoom. 1/250th @ ISO 100 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Agitation!
Red Squirrel, Alewive Pone Woods, Kennebunk ME
This is another shot of the Red Squirrel from my encounter last week in Alewive Woods. You can see how unhappy he is to have me visit by the blurring of his agitated tail. Sure sign!
Nikon P900 at 1100mm equivalent field of view. 1/50th @ ISO 800 @ f5.6. Processed in Lightroom.
House Finch Singing
House Finch, Timber Point, Rachel Carson NWR, Goose Rocks Maine
The song of the House Finch is not strong…it kinds of wisps along…but it is has a good deal of melody. Pleasant, if not striking. This specimen sang for 10 minutes while I watched. It was well buried back in the back branches of a road-side tree at the Timber Point section of the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge across the Little River from Goose Rocks Maine, and the head of Goosefair Bay.
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 140 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom. Cropped slightly to eliminate distracting out of focus branches at the base.
Crocuses in the snow… Spring surprise.
Crocuses in the snow, our yard, Kennebunk ME
Though April snow storms are not unheard of in Southern Maine, they always come as a surprise, especially right after a week of really spring like weather. We had a day in the 70s last week. Then it snowed a bit on Sunday, and then pretty much all day on Monday, and we woke to something over 2 inches on the ground. The crocuses, as you see here, were not happy! I don’t know what will become of them…whether that’s it for blossoms this year, or if these blooms can recover, or if they will push out new buds. Time will tell. They are hardy plants and we can only hope. I feel for them. I was ready for spring too! 🙂 Still, there is no accounting for the weather…and don’t get me started on climate change!
Sony HX90V at 24mm equivalent field of view from a few inches out. In-camera HDR. Nominal exposure 1/2000th @ ISO 80 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom.
Song Sparrow in the deep reeds.
Song Sparrow, Timber Point, Rachel Carson NWR, Goose Rocks Maine
As I mentioned last week, there were quite a few Song Sparrows along the Timber Point trail at the new section of the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge across from Goose Rocks in Southern Maine. This one was buried well back in the cattail reeds, and was busy with its grooming. That made for a variety of poses, which I have assembled here in Coolage.
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ~ISO 140 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom and assembled in Coolage.
The wacky world of wood…
Weathered roots on driftwood. Timber Point, Rachel Carson NWR.
Every once in a while I see something in the field and realize that it has more interest as a graphic design than as an actual photograph. The Sony HX90V which I carry for HDR landscapes has a Picture Effect called “Illustration” which reduces an image to its graphical elements and attempts to render it as a color drawing, pen and ink style with airbrush style. Often it produces surprisingly attractive results, so much so that I have it set to one of the three memory slots on my camera. I just have to remember to use it. Generally, once I have used it on a photoprowl, I will try several shots during that adventure…only to forget it until the next time some really apt object or subject catches my eye to remind me it is there.
This is the root end of a huge driftwood log on the beach at Timber Point (Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge) across from Goose Rocks Beach in southern Maine. It has been exposed for many years, and the wood, especially around the roots, has weathered into something very like a modern abstract sculpture. Just the thing for the Illustration Picture Effect. Once in Lightroom, I applied some HDR-like adjustments to bring up the shadowed areas deeper into the log. What do you think?
Goldfinch in the Snow. Happy Sunday!
American Goldfinch, back deck feeding station. Kennebunk Maine
“If your eye is generous, your whole being is full of light!” Jesus
We are having a minor spring snow event today and tomorrow. No significant accumulation (well maybe an inch by tomorrow night), and nothing compared to what they got from this storm further west…but still enough to remind us that we don’t put our snow boots and winter coats away until May 1st here in Maine. My wife had to find her mittens to get to church this morning. This American Goldfinch was one of several birds hanging close to the feeders in the snow. I expect we will get lots of traffic on the back deck today and tomorrow as birds try to find enough sustenance to keep warm in the unseasonable weather.
Jesus reminds us that God takes care of the Goldfinch, no matter what the weather does, and that we should take that as evidence that God will care for us…that we should not be anxious for how we will stay alive, but, the implication is, devote ourselves to living in a way that demonstrates our faith in God, our thankfulness for the blessings of God, and a generosity of spirit that embraces our fellows and all that lives.
The Goldfinch in the snow reminds me of God’s blessings in my life…but it also challenges me to take a look at how well I live…how well I embody faith, thanksgiving, and generosity. The answer today is the same as it always is, and always will be…not well enough…or at least not as will as I think I ought to. The hardest lesson of all to learn, far harder than trusting God for our daily bread and shelter, is trusting God for our goodness. If God takes care that I stay alive…surely God will also take care that I live well…with faith, thanksgiving and generosity. Being anxious about how good I am is just as misguided as being anxious about what I will eat or what I will wear.
God is good. Only God is good. We live by faith in God or we do not live at all. When I look at this Goldfinch in the snow, I do not see a trace of anxiety…no fear…no worry…just the impulse to get on with it…to get on with life…no matter what the weather does. Yes, you say, easy for the Goldfinch…that is just the way it is made. But isn’t that what Jesus was saying? That is the way we are made. We only have to let ourselves live that way. By faith. All else follows.
Happy Sunday!