Posts in Category: autumn
Bluebird splash
Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — not a perfect shot but it certainly caught my eye when I was importing my photos from a walk to Roger’s Pond the other day. The bluebird was a little too far away even at 600mm on the zoom, and the light was not good, but when a bluebird splashes across the frame like this, well it certainly catches your eye. 🙂 The colorful background helps too. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr, Pixelmator Photo Pro, and Apple Photos. ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Bluebird for November
Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — We are privileged to have had Bluebirds in our yard just about year around these past few years. As long as I keep the mealworm feeder stocked, we see them just about every hour of the day. They join the Chickadees, Nuthatches, and Downy Woodpeckers as our truly “resident” yard birds. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications, Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Canada Geese
Canada Geese: Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, Wells, Maine, USA — I know Canada Geese are reaching “vermin” status in some parts of the country, but I still like to see them as they gather in Southern Maine in late fall. They are still mostly in the marshes, not on folks lawns here yet. (My attitude might be different if I were a golfer, but I am not.) This group was in the marsh beside the Merriland River where it flows through Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, below the bluff where the headquarters buildings are and the Well’s National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms on the other side of the river. Sony Rx10iv at ~580 equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos and assembled in FrameMagic. ISO 400 and 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Music loving Mallards
Mallard ducks: Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters, Wells, Maine, USA — the only thing special about this pair of Mallards from Branch Brook at Rachel Carson is that they were apparently music lovers…either that or they just came downstream to see what the awful racket was as I sat on the observation deck by the marsh playing my Native American Style flute. 🙂 (Of course it is almost impossible to make anything resembling a racket with a NAS flute…it is a naturally melodic instrument…which is why I play it.) They were still shy. Once I noticed them, cruising down under the bank, and stoped playing to take a few photos, they circled back upstream, and then when I started to play again, got up and flew away right in front of me toward the junction of Branch Brook with the Merriland River across the marsh. I wish I had had my camera up at that point…but at least I played them away on their journey. Sony Rx10iv at 580mm equivalent. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photo. ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
That birch…
This might be another story about Japanese Barberry, which provides the red understory here, but the photo is really about the birch tree…which I have photographed in every season. The ultra-wide lens makes it look less substantial than it is in person. It is s a big birch tree, and standing alone in the middle of a mostly maple forest at Laudholm Farms as it does, it is very impressive. iPhone SE with Sirui 18mm ultra-wide lens. Apple Camera app with Smart HDR engaged. Processed in Apple Photos.
Little River Marsh
This is looking across from the Little River Marsh overlook at Laudholm Farms toward the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge headquarters, on a late fall day. iPhone SE with Sirui 18mm ultra-wide lens. Apple Camera app with Smart HDR engaged. Processed in Apple Photos.
Crow in Autumn
American Crow: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — The crows are congregating for the winter already in southern Maine…but then they are kind of a congregating species anyway. You rarely see one crow. This was part of a small flock that works our section of Brown Street, and probably a wider area. I see them mostly when they come to visit around home, and they are often in the big empty lot just up the street. And, also very Crow-like, this one had something on its mind that it was determined to let the world know all about. It was not happy about something. Maybe it did not like me stopping under its tree for these photos. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Assembled in FrameMagic. ISO 200 @ f4 @ 1/500th +.3 EV and ISO 320 @ f4 @ 1/500th, +1 EV. (Playing with the EV compensation to try to balance the back bird against the bright background.)
It is the Bittersweet time of year…
You know, changing the clocks, dark until well after coffee time, frost every night…and, in the fields and forest, the Bittersweet fruiting out. You have to suspect that anything that gaudy that grows so prolifically and saps the life out of native trees and overwhelms native bushes is invasive…and indeed, this is Asiatic Bittersweet, and pure bitter for our natural habits…nothing sweet about it. I photographed this plant climbing all over the fence lines at Laudholm Farms in Wells, Maine. iPhone SE with Sirui 10x macro lens. Apple Camera app with Smart HDR engaged. Processed in Apple Photos.
Blue Jay blue too
Blue Jay: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — If one set of poses of my cooperative Blue Jay from the other day is good…then a second set should be better? Maybe. As good as, more likely. 🙂 After all it is the same bird and the same feeding station. Handsome bird. Lovely background. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos and assembled in FrameMagic. ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Blue Jay blue…
Blue Jay: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Blue Jays are only occasional visitors to our yard, though they are certainly always in the neighborhood. I can not tell you how many times one has landed on our deck when I have not had my camera handy, and, always, they are gone as soon as I move to go get the camera. This one was no different, but he came back after I got the camera and actually posed for me in a couple of different spots on the deck…here on one of the perch branches we have bolted to the deck rail near the feeders. Blue Jays are Corvids…related to the Crows…and are highly intelligent birds, with lots of character. They can be bullies at the feeder and I suppose I would feel differently about them if they were in our yard all the time, but as occasional visitors I am always happy to see them. It helps, in these shots, to have the lovely background of fall color, already in the sun while our deck was still in shadow. Taken through the thermal glass of our deck door. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 640 for the first two, 800 for the last @ f4 @ 1/500th. +.3 EV to compensate for the backlight.