Posts in Category: marsh
Maine! Hunter
Great Blue Heron: York County, Maine, USA, November 2024 — I posted a hunting Coyote from Yellowstone already this morning, but here is a local hunter…hunter of the November marsh along the river just back from the ocean. About as different as you can get, but hunting is hunting, and if you take the time to compare the two you will see a similar attitude in both Coyote and Heron. A similar intensity. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Great Blue in Autumn Marsh
Great Blue Heron: York County, Maine, USA, October 2024 — The marsh is never so colorful as in late October when the grasses are turning, and the Great Blue Heron stands out even more. If you look closely you will see the tiny, what looks to be a Sand Eel, it just caught. The past few years the Herons have stayed right into winter. As long as they are still taking enough prey to continue to put on weight they will be with us…and that might be until the marsh freezes over. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Yellowlegs in the autumn marsh
Greater Yellowlegs: York County, Maine, October 2024 — there are still Great Blue Herons and Greater Yellowlegs hanging out in the autumn marsh along the river…not ready to go south yet. Sony a6700 with Tamron 50-400 Di iii zoom at 600mm equivalent in great light! Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator. Assembled in FrameMagic.
Maine! Not so strange frame fellows
Great Blue Heron and Great Egret: York County Maine, USA, September 2024 — As I have mentioned before, this month we have been treated to mixed flocks of herons and egrets, probably staging for migration, in our river marshes. This is a manual focus stack…the birds were as they are in the frame but, of course, it was impossible to focus on both of them at the same time. I took two shots, one focused on the heron and one on the egret, processed them in Photomator, then merged them in Pixomatic, and finally touched the image up in Photomator again. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Highlight metering.
Maine! Marsh edge
Sitting at the edge of the lower Mousam River marsh in Kennebunk, watching herons and egrets on a beautiful September day. Sony a5100 with the Sony E 10-18mm f4 zoom at 15mm equivalent. Superior Auto with Landscape Scene Mode. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Incoming!
Great Egret: York County, Maine, USA, September 2024 — The group of Egrets and Herons were close, by Maine standards, to the trail already when this Great Egret decided to move to a pool right in front of me. I got the camera in action and flight mode in time to catch a burst of shots as it crossed the marsh toward me and landed. Another study in wing power. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my action and flight modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.
Maine! Flood tide on the Mousam marsh
Mousam River marsh from the Kennebunk Bridle Path in Kennebunk Maine. Not quite high tide. I got out before the path flooded. 🙂 Sony a5100 with the Sony E 10-18 f4 zoom at 15mm equivalent. Superior Auto with Landscape Scene Mode. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! See my wings!
Great Blue Heron (and Snowy Egret): York County Maine, USA, September 2024 — The Heron flew 50 yards from one spot in the marsh to another and landed just about on top of the Snowy Egret. Massive wings to lift a relatively massive bird. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my action and flight modifications. Animal/bird recognition auto focus. Highlight metering. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Cross purposes
Great Blue Heron and Great Egret (Snowy in the foreground): York County, Maine, USA, September 2024 — It is odd here in Southern Maine to see Heron’s and Egrets hunting together. Egrets tend to hunt communally with a mix of Great and Snowy being common…but I think of Herons as being solitary birds. The past week or so though, numbers of Great Blue Herons have been congregating with the mixed Egret hunting groups, perhaps getting ready for migration. These two were apparently not bothered at all by their proximity. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Highlight metering. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Merlin
Merlin: York County Maine, USA, September 2024 — Not a great photo (too far and against the light) but a great bird, for me at least. I am not totally positive I have seen a Merlin in Maine before, and this is only one of a very few I have ever seen. It came winging into the top of a tree well out in the marsh while I was turning to go back to the trike and sat long enough for a burst of photos, before it swooped out across the marsh to amuse itself with a flock of Greater Yellowlegs…putting them all up in the air and then chasing them. In the process it got too close to a Kingfisher perched on a tall pole (a dead sapling stripped of all its branches) way out by the river, and was itself set upon. The Kingfisher was just defending territory, but I looked up the Merlin’s diet and Greater Yellowlegs, while certainly at the larger end of the scale for Merlin prey, is definitely on the list. Bold bird! The Yellowlegs is at least equal in size to the Merlin. And all this from what amounts to a meat-eating parrot. Sony a6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my bird and wildlife modifications. Heavily cropped, upscaled, and processed in Photomator.