Posts in Category: Pic of the Day
Brown Violet Ear Hummingbird
Brown Violet-ear Hummingbird, Rio Santiago Resort, Honduras
The dominant Hummingbird species on our visit to Rio Santiago Resort in the North Coastal mountains of Honduras, by a ratio of 25 to 1, was the Brown Violet-ear. Rio Santiago Resort is actually a small lodge with a few cabins that is justly renowned for the numbers of hummingbirds and the numbers of hummingbird species that work feeders, too many to count, that they maintain. There were certainly hundreds, maybe thousands, of BVEs working the feeders at the lodge. For that reason, we saw far fewer species at the feeders than we expected. Even the most aggressive species, like the Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds, were kept at bay by the sheer numbers of BVEs. This shot, which actually shows the “violet ears”, was taken in the deep shade of the thatched roof over the open air restaurant/bar at the lodge. The roof is lined with maybe 50 feeders, and there are always a hundred or more hummers buzzing overhead while you eat. It is hard to imagine the density of hummers. I was able to stand at at less than 3 feet from the wire supporting the feeders and frame as many BVEs as I wanted. It was dark under there, and this shot was taken at a very high ISO…but it is exactly the kind of shot the Sony JPEG engine does best with, even at such an elivated ISO. Lots of fine detail and a blank background. Sony’s noise reduction routines work very well here.
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 6400 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom.
Kinkajou!
Kinkajou. The Lodge at Pico Bonito, Honduras
We took a night hike at the Lodge at Pico Bonito, looking for Owls, reptiles, Red-eyed Tree Frogs, and whatever we might find. We heard the Vermiculated Screech Owl, and Mottled Owl, but could not see either of them. The Red-eyed Tree Frogs were great, and we found no snakes 🙂 What we did find was a Kinkajou, high in the canopy, taking as much interest in us as we were in him. Our guide, Elemer, first heard something moving high in the trees while we were looking at moths on the moth sheet near the edge of the forest on our way to the Tower and frog pond but could not see it. Then as we walked through the rainforest up to the tower in the dark, he must have heard it overhead (Elmer hears everything), and we got our lights on it. It had apparently heard us and come over to check us out. With the lights on it for focus, I popped up my flash and tried a few shots, which came out surprisingly well considering it was totally dark under the canopy. The eyes, of course, reflected back the flash. This is a collage of two shots…not two Kinkajous 🙂
The Kinkajou is a member of the same family as Raccoons and Cotis. It is not scarce within Central and South America, but is rarely seen as it is strictly nocturnal. There is evidently a trade in Kinkajous as pets (though why anyone would want a nocturnal animal as a pet is question I can’t answer) and for meat and leather (they evidently make wallets and saddles out of it). Honduras, in particular, strictly regulates any trade in Kinkajous.
Sony RX10iii at about 330mm equivalent field of view. Flash at ISO 3200. Processed in Lightroom (including red-eye removal).
Calico Pennant Posing
Calico Pennant, Day Brook Pond, Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area, W. Kennebunk Maine
There are still lots of Calico Pennants emerging every day at Day Brook Pond on the Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area, though they must disperse widely, since I only ever see a few adult males at the pond at any given time. This beautiful specimen landed right at my feet, on a stalk a foot tall, so I only had to bend over a bit for this shot. They really should have named this dragon the Valentines Pennant.
Sony RX10iii at 840mm equivalent field of view (600mm plus in-camera crop to 10mp). 1/640th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom.
Poppies
Giant Poppies, Sargentville Maine
Deep in the overgrown flower beds at Edgehill House in Sargentville Maine, these giant Poppies burst out on the second day of our visit. Just a single flower first, and then more each day. I think of these a very “old fashioned” flowers…you don’t see them in yards in Maine much these days. They were far into the jungle of Beebalm and thistle so this is a moderate telephoto shot, with lots of Program Shift to increase depth of field enough to catch both the two flowers in the foreground and the single flower in the background in focus.
Sony RX10iii in-camera HDR at 400mm equivalent field of view. Nominal exposure: 1/125th @ ISO 100 @ f13. Â Processed in Lightroom.
Another Swallowtail
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. Sargentville Maine
Are you tired of Swallowtails yet? I have never seen as many Eastern Tiger Swallowtails as there were flying on the Blue Hill peninsula on the Maine coast this past weekend. In fact, in four days I saw way more Swallowtails than I have seen in the total of my life up to that point. They were crossing the roads, hovering over fields, among the trees of the forest, on the rocky beaches…everywhere. If you sat still anywhere outside for more than 5 minutes you were almost guaranteed to see one float by. They were particularly fond of a patch of Lupine and Wallflower growing in corner of the yard where my daughter’s wedding was held. I saw as many as a dozen at once working the patch, and there were at least a couple every time I chanced by. Since they were actively feeding among the Wallflower, they were relatively easy to photograph…and I brought back a lot of Swallowtail pics. 🙂
Sony RX10iii at 840mm equivalent (600mm with an in-camera crop to 10mp for the extra reach). 1/800th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom.
Pumpkin Island Light
Pumpkin Island Light. Little Deer Island, Maine
On Friday morning before Emily’s wedding I had no assigned duties, so I took Anna’s boyfriend, visiting from New Mexico, looking for Lighthouses and classic Maine seaside village scenes. Sarah came with us because she likes bridges and wanted to go over the Deer Island bridge…a vintage suspension bridge just about two cars wide and with a significant humpback. I had found a light off Little Deer Island on the map of Maine Lighthouses I had consulted on the internet, but had to go by dead-reckoning once on the Island itself in hopes of finding it, and a photo worthy view. We drove out in the general direction of the light as far as we could go…and there it was…sitting on its little island just off-shore. It is the Pumpkin Island Lighthouse, decommissioned long ago, but still maintained by the same organization that maintains most of the Maine Lighthouses…as a historical monument. It is an odd light, far up into Pennobscot Bay, only visible for 3 miles on a good day (or night), and essentially landlocked. Before decommissioning it was judged to useless…and actually slightly dangerous as it often lead ships into a ice bound passage during winter months. But it sure is pretty!
In-camera HDR at 111mm equivalent field of view. Sony RX10iii. Processed in Lightroom.
Back view: Tiger Swallowtail in Wallflower
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Sargentville Maine
I shared a front view of Tiger Swallowtails in the Wallflower at the house where Emily got married for the Generous Eye yesterday. This is the back view. 🙂 It is a beautiful butterfly either way you look at it.
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom.
Nubble in the sun with Gulls
Nubble Light, Cape Neddick, Maine
I had to drive to the bus terminal in Portsmouth on Tuesday to pick up a daughter coming in for her sister’s wedding this weekend, and, since it was a nice day, and since she has not spent much time in Maine over the past few years, we took the scenic route home and stopped at Nubble Light. I had been there just the week before, but not in the afternoon when the light is on the face of the buildings and the gulls are soaring around the island. 🙂
Sony RX10iii. In-camera HDR. Processed in Lightroom.
Lady Slipper Orchids in Array
Pink Lady Slipper Orchids, Rachel Carson NWR, Headquarters trail, Wells Maine
It is not often you get this kind of a display of Pink Lady Slipper Orchids in the wild. This stand is along the trail at the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center in Wells Maine, and is one of several clusters in the same area.
Sony RX10iii at 277mm equivalent field of view. 1/200th @ ISO 100 @ f8. Program shift for greater depth of field. Processed in Lightroom.
Spangled Skimmer
Spangled Skimmer, Day Brook Pond, Kennebunk Wildlife Management Area, W. Kennebunk Maine
This is another of my favorite dragonflies: Spangled Skimmer from Day Brook Pond on the Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area in West Kennebunk Maine. It is not much to look at perched, as pictured here, but in flight those bright white pterostimga (spots) on the wings catch the light and make a complex flashing pattern all around the bug. It is something to see!
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom.