Posts in Category: Maine
Maine! Bobolink at high noon
Bobolink: York County, Maine, USA, June 2024 — Though the light was as harsh as it gets here in southern Maine, the Bobolinks were out singing from the saplings along the road…and any time they are putting on a show is a good time for a photo. I took this from the seat of my eTrike. 🙂 OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Excuse us! Can’t you see we are having a moment here?
Least Terns (and Piping Plover): York County, Maine, USA, June 2024 — Lots of courting action on the beach a couple of days ago, with males showing off their sand eels to prospective females. The females did not seem overly impressed, or even very interested. ?? I guess it works for them, since the colony seems healthy. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. This is cropped to 1600mm equivalent field of view at least. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Diving again
Common Tern: York County, Maine, USA, June 2024 — Two more diving shots, this time a Common Tern. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Maine! Both sides now
Least Tern: York County, Maine, USA, June 2024 — Least Terns hunting Sand Eels at the mouth of one of our rivers, along with Roseate and Common Terns. There is a large colony of Least Terns nesting one river south, and a few may nest on this beach…through there are no signs yet (other than the Fish and Wildlife protected area signs). The slope and shape of all our beaches were radically altered by the late winter and early spring storms. Terns in flight are always going to be a challenge to photograph. They are super acrobatic flyers as you see here where two similar postures show the underside and the upper-side of the wings. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! The dive!
Roseate Tern: York County, Maine, USA, June 2024 — There were three species of Terns actively feeding at the mouth of one of our local rivers on Sunday: Roseate (pictured here), Common, and Least. The sand eels were plentiful. I set out to try to capture the diving terns and terns rising from the water, and the OM System OM-1Mkii and M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom did well, even at 800mm equivalent. Any faults in the photos are user error 🙂 This is Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. 16.7 frames per second in SH2 mode and 1/2500th and 1/2000th of a second. The hardest part was keeping the bird in frame as it dived and continuing to keep it in frame as it rose. The Roseate Tern tail features are a treat. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Towhee
Eastern Towhee: York County, Maine, USA, May 2024 — On my way back from the beach and photographing terns and plovers, I walked up under this singing Eastern Towhee on the boardwalk. Literally. It sat and sang from a perch not 12 feet above and slightly out from the boardwalk, right out in the open, not only for me, but for a party of 6 tourists who got there before me. It was not singing its “drink your tea, tea, tea” song…more like its name “towhee, towhee,” but it was singing. After I had walked all around under it, looking for good angles against the background trees and sky, it was still sitting there and singing when I walked on. If you know Towhees at all, you know that that does not happen often. 🙂 OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Incoming!
Least Tern: York County, Maine, USA, May 2024 — Being the object of a Least Tern’s attention on an open beach can be intimidating…which is, of course, the whole point of the exercise as far as the Tern is concerned. He does not want you there. In this case I was guilty by association. As I mentioned a few days ago, the Fish and Wildlife folks were busy moving the protected area ropes to include the nest site this Tern had selected outside the existing roped off area. I just happened to be there when it was happening, hoping for some Terns in flight shots. This is a stack of three shots from a sequence at 16 frames per second…not consecutive shots, but three selected to tell the story. The last shot was last with the Tern in frame before he pulled up to pass over my head with at least 6 inches to spare. 🙂 OM System OM-1Mkii with the M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 400mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomatic and assembled in FrameMagic.
Maine! Pitcher Plant
Pitcher Plant: Coastal Maine Botanical Garden, Boothbay, Maine, USA, May 2024 — Carol and I took advantage of the Maine resident open days this weekend (free tickets) to visit the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden 2 hours north of us in Boothbay. It was a lovely day, and we have never been there this early in the season. Pitcher Plants are one of my favorite plants, just because they are so bizarre, and they always grow in the tiny and carefully maintained bog at the end of the pool at the Alfond Children’s Garden. Both these shots are in Program mode with in-camera focus stacking, with the OM System OM-1 and M.Zuiko 12-45 f4 Pro zoom at 90mm equivalent and at 72mm equivalent. In the past it has been a challenge to get both the flower stalk and the pitchers themselves in focus at the same time. but hand-held focus stacking makes it easy. I always have mixed feelings about photographing plants in gardens…it is kind of like photographing wildlife in zoos…but I am not going to pass up a chance for a good photo of the Pitcher Plant. 🙂 I might get out to Saco Heath this week, our closest remnant bog, to see if I can find some in the wild.
Maine! Least Tern on the beach
Least Tern: York County, Maine, USA, May 2024 — As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the Least Terns are staking out nesting areas on our local beaches…mostly behind the protected area ropes. This one decided to pick a spot beyond the protected area and the Fish and Wildlife folks were there moving the ropes to include the potential nest site. A Tern on the sand is quite a different bird than a tern in the air. These guys were made to fly. This shot is from quite a distance, at 1600mm equivalent, using the OM-1Mkii’s built in digital tele-converted, the M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom, and cropped at that. You can see the effects of the heat shimmer over the sand in the sun. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Fight
Willits: York County, Maine, USA, May 2024 — I walked most of a mile in to one of the more distant beaches in York County to see if there were any Piping Plover chicks yet…there were not…but while I was looking, two of the many Willits in the area took sudden exception to each other’s presence and engaged in this tumbling, jumping, wing flapping, beak snapping fight just over the beach grasses. I was not close, but I got the camera into action mode and shot a few bursts to see what I could catch. One of them flew off and sulked on the sands down by the river’s edge, but no apparent harm was done to either bird. OM Systems OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.