Monthly Archives: December 2016
Winter Church Yard
Winter Grave Yard, Kennebunk Maine.
We had a good snowfall overnight…4-6 inces in our yard…more inland (up to 18 inches they were saying). I had an appointment for a health screening (provided by my insurance carrier free of charge, so why not) early so I was out before daylight snow-blowing the drive. The appointment was at a mobile van in the parking lot of the local library, which is right next door to one of the oldest churches in Kennebunk. After my appointment, as I was getting into the car, I looked out across the grave yard next door, and across the street to another of the old churches, and had to get back out with my camera.
Sony RX10iii in-camera HDR. 1/1000th @ f5 @ ISO 100. A distracting branch removed in Touchretouch and then processed in Polarr on my iPad Pro 12.9.
Red-tailed Hawk, view two.
Red-tailed Hawk, Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farm, Wells Maine
If you read yesterday’s post, you know that I got more than the one shot I shared of the Red-tailed Hawk at Laudholm Farms (Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at…). And as I mentioned, it allowed me to approach much closer than I expected. This shot is at 1200mm equivalent field of view, but still… Such a magnificent bird!
Sony RX10iii at 1200mm equivalent field of view (2x Clear Image Zoom). 1/500th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in Polarr on my Android tablet.
Red-tailed Hawk, and a poem :)
Red-tailed Hawk, National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farm, Wells Maine
There is a poem:
When I first pulled into the parking lot
at Laudholm Farms, I glanced out the
driver’s side window to see a hawk
sitting on the Bluebird House 40 yards
away. I grabbed for the camera, but
by the time I got it out and on, and
reached for the handle to roll down
the window, the Hawk was gone.Surely too big for a Cooper’s Hawk?
Still I got out and wandered over
toward the corner of the woodlot
beyond the bird house, in case it had
not gone far…and, surprise, there it
was on the ground 4 feet behind the
rough hedge along the fence between
the parking lot and field. It was away
again before I could get on it, but it
landed in the low branch of a big oak
at the edge. I got a few shots, mostly
obscured by branches and a few dried
leaves still clinging on…but then it
swooped and landed again on the
ground behind the hedge. Now there
was a big enough gap just there so I
could focus through the winter twigs,
and I took its portrait as it danced and
pounced on something small in the
frozen grasses at its feet. Up again
to perch in an old maple by the road.This time I caught the unmistakable
flash of rust red on the tail. Ah!The Red-tailed Hawk perched with its back
to me, and let me get a lot closer than I
expected, looking over its shoulder every
once in a while to see what I was doing.Magnificent! The beak and eye…the
intricate cryptology of feather detail
of one of nature’s ultimate birds of prey.In the end it had enough of my looking at it,
and flew off down the treeline another 40
yards. I let it go. Thrilled to my bones,
entirely blessed, to have been part of its day.
This is, clearly, one of the portraits behind the hedge. Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. Program Mode. 1/800th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Cropped for scale and composition and processed in Snapseed on my Android tablet. Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farm in Wells Maine.
British Soldiers, and a funny story…
British Soldier Lichen, Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area in West Kennebunk Maine
There is an interesting story behind this image of British Soldier Lichen, taken on the Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area in West Kennebunk Maine. I was feeling the itch in my shutter button yesterday. It was a strange winter day, with temperatures in the low 50s and snow still on the ground and I thought it would be a waste to stay inside, so I drove out to the Kennebunk Plains to see what I could see. I thought that with the warm weather and light snow coat, others would have been into the parking areas already and made a way for my non-four-wheel-drive hybrid. When I got there, the parking area was completely flooded. I had not counted on the snow melt, which was in high gear. The parking lot was not only flooded over and ice pack, but it actually had a good sized stream flowing through it…much deeper then I though when I turned in. By then I was committed, and I thought, oh well, I will just drive all the way to the other side to dry ground so I can get out of the car (I only had my winter crocks on, which have air holes and are only 3 inches high anyway). Good plan until, right in the middle of the stream, my front driver-side wheel went through the ice that was under water and the car sloped down until the water was right up to the lower sill of the door. And, of course, there I was, well and truly stuck. There was no way my little hybrid was going to climb back up out of that hole in the ice…and I was still in my crocks, but now surrounded by a minimum of 4 inches of water, and that was on the high side of the car. So I pulled out my phone and called AAA. It took a while to explain the situation, but about 40 minutes later a big flatbed tow truck arrived. By then I had climbed across to the passenger seat and out of the car and waded on tiptoes to solid ground at the edge of the parking lot. Of course I took some photos while I waited for the tow truck. This one, of the British Soldier Lichen (in case you have forgotten), is one of them.
The tow truck driver knew his stuff, and despite almost getting stuck when his back tires also went through the ice, he got the chain on a tow point on the frame and winched the car back to solid ground (or ice at least). From there I was able to back around and get out of the parking lot. No harm done. All part of the adventure. And I can not say enough good about the skill of that AAA tow truck driver!
The Lichen shot is at 1/80th @ ISO 100 @ f5 at 86mm equivalent field of view. Processed in Polarr on my Android tablet.
Cedar Waxwing among berries…
Cedar Waxwing, Roger’s Pond Park, Kennebunk Maine
As I have mentioned, I got a lot of good shots of Cedar Waxwings in the ornamental berry tree at Roger’s Pond Park in Kennebunk Maine last week. I have already shared one. This is another 🙂 I love the pose and the color. The image did take some massaging, however. There was an out-of-focus twig running right up through it in the foreground, right at the tip of the birds beak. It did not destroy the image, but it was distracting. The image was originally processed in Snapseed. I was then able to remove the twig in Handy Photo which has a magic touch-retouch feature that is like PhotoShop’s healing brush, only better. I did some final clean up using a brush mask in Polarr. That is much more processing than I normally do on any image. 🙂
Sony RX10iii at 1200mm equivalent field of view (2x Clear Image Zoom). Processed as above. 1/800th @ ISO 100 @ f4.
Cooper’s Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk, our house, Kennebunk Maine
We were gathered around the table for lunch on a cold rainy day last week, when Sarah (Sally), our daughter visiting for the holidays from Pittsburgh, glanced out the deck doors to see what all the Crow commotion in one of our big Maples was about…and there was a Cooper’s Hawk sitting below the Crows. It is rare for us to have a Hawk of any kind in the yard, and I think this is our first Coopers. I ran for the camera. When I opened the deck doors, the Crows all took off, but the Hawk sat there long enough for a few pics. Terrible light in the rain, but still…
Sony RX10iii at 1200mm equivalent field of view (2x Clear Image Zoom). Program Mode. 1/250th @ ISO 250 @ f4. Processed in Polarr on my Android tablet.
Merry Christmas, New England style
Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, Wells Maine
I have been saving this shot from Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters trail for this morning. It is Christmasy in a New England way. Evergreens ornamented with snow. I hope your day is blessed with love and joy…and that you remember and celebrate the reason for the season. Merry Christmas. Love was born today.
Happiness!
Eastern Bluebird, Roger’s Pond Park, Kennebunk Maine
It is the Bluebird of happiness, always! Not the Crow, or even the Cedar Waxwing, or the Great Blue Heron. Can you see it…the Great Blue Heron of happiness? No, it is the Bluebird of happiness. I know I am always happy to see one, or several as the case usually is. This specimen was part of a flock of a dozen or so feeding in and around Roger’s Pond Park in Kennebunk Maine early this week. It was there on the roof of the picnic shelter drinking melt water from the snow.
Sony RX10iii at 1200mm equivalent field of view (2x Clear Image Zoom). 1/500th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in Snapseed on my Android tablet.
And may this truly be your Bluebird of Happiness for today!
Blue and white…
Blue Spruce, Brown Street, Kennebunk Maine
We had another of those snowed all day and then turned to rain days in Southern Maine yesterday, but for a while there we had a nice white frosting over everything. This is just a Blue Spruce in the yard of a house down the street. I like the delicacy of the blue/green against the white, and the contrast in texture between the needles and the snow.
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. Program mode. 1/250th @ ISO 250 @ f4. Processed in Polarr on my Android Tablet.
Cedar Waxwing in winter…
Cedar Waxwing, Roger’s Pond Park, Kennebunk Maine
Continuing my unintentional theme of birds in winter, here is one of several “keepers” of the Cedar Waxwings from my freezing session at Roger’s Pond Park on the Mousam River in Kennebunk, Maine. (You will undoubtedly see others. 🙂 There is lots to like about a Cedar Waxwing. They are somehow elegant birds, and I particularly like the new-crayon-bright red and yellow on the wings and tail. I have only a few shots where both is showing (or at least peaking out).
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/800th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Cropped for scale and composition and processed in Snapseed on my Android tablet.