Monthly Archives: September 2017

Juvenile Savannah Sparrow?

Savannah Sparrow, Kennebunk Plains WMA, W. Kennebunk ME

I am thinking this little sparrow out on the Kennebunk Plains is a Savannah Sparrow, despite the lack of yellow in the eyebrow. Juvinile perhaps? Mostly I like the setting…the bird posted up on the old tree against the lovely bokeh of the field behind.

Sony Rx10iii at 600mm equivalent. Program mode, -.3 EV. 1/400th @ f4 @ ISO 100. Processed in Polarr. 

One chipmunk is not enough…

Chipmunk, Rachel Carson NWR, Wells Maine

Before he stood up on the twig in the foreground, this is the pose where I originally saw the Chipmunk at Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Wells Maine the other day. He had seen me eating my apple, and was completely aware I was there, and aware of what I was doing. 

Sony Rx10iii at 600mm equivalent. Program mode, -.3EV.  1/250th @ f4 @ ISO 1250. Processed in Polarr. 

Red Squirrel again…

Red Squirrel, Rachel Carson NWR, Wells Maine

The Red Squirrels at Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Wells Maine just would not leave me alone. They insisted that I keep taking their pictures…striking poses, making faces, anything to keep my attention. So, of course, I had to oblige. Was forced to. Could not help myself.

Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent. Program mode, -.3EV. 1/200th @ f4 @ ISO 1600. Processed in Polarr. 

Curious Chipper

Chipmunk, Rachel Carson NWR, Wells Maine

There is a great scurry and fuss among the chipmunk clan this week. Evidently it occurred to them all at once that it is time to get serious about laying in the winter cache. They are everywhere in the forest, gleaning everything that might sustain them in the months ahead. This fellow paused in his efforts to take a look at me as I ate an apple after my walk at Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Wells Maine. I think he was hoping for some of the core. 

Sony Rx10iii at 600mm equivalent. Program mode, -.3EV. 1/250th @ f4 @ ISO 1000. Processed in Polarr. 

Red Squirrel at Rachel Carson

Red Squirrel, Rachel Carson NWR, Headquarters, Wells Maine

I took my ebike down along Rt 9 as far as the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters to see how fall is happening. While at Rachel Carson I walked the short loop trail behind the buildings out along the bluff above the junction of Branch Brook and the Merriland River. There were lots of Red Squirrels, very busy with laying in winter supplies. I caught this one perched less than 15 feet from me. 

Sony Rx10iii at 600mm equivalent. Program mode. -.3EV. 1/250th @ f4 @ ISO 1000. Processed in Polarr and TouchRetouch (there was a foreground twig running right up across the body.) 

Chipper with an acorn

Chipmunk, Old Falls on the Mousam River, W. Kennebunk Maine

I like Chipmunks. They are cute and industrious and not much bother in the yard…and they are especially cute when caught in the field and forest. This one was on the banks of the Mousam River at Old Falls when I visited over the weekend to check the fall foliage. Old Falls is one of my favorite places to photograph in the fall. The chipper was a consolation prize as the leaves have just started to turn along the river. 

Sony Rx10iii at 600mm equivalent. Program mode. 1/250th @ f4 @ ISO 1000. (And that is pretty good image quality at ISO 1000!) Processed in Polarr. 

Spotted Sandpiper swimming…

Spotted Sandpiper, Old Falls, W. Kennebunk Maine

I took my ebike out to Old Falls on the Mousam River, just checking the fall color. Not yet. But while there I was watching this Spotted Sandpiper dance along the rocks at the top of the falls when, suddenly, it dove into the water below the rock, and proceeded to swim in the churning eddy for a minute or more before taking off to a sunny rock on the far shore…where it resumed “normal” Spotted Sandpiper behavior. I have never seen the like. I did not know Spotted Sandpipers could swim…let alone did swim. If you know Spotted Sandpipers and have seen this behavior (or have read about it somewhere) please let me know in the comments. 🙂

Sony Rx10iii at 600mm equivalent. Program mode. 1/250th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in Polarr.

Good morning light…

Bedroom, the house, Kennebunk Maine


I never do this kind of thing…well, almost never by the evidence. 🙂 I glanced down at the head of the bed half way through my qi gong exersizes this morning and could not resist the light and the color. Three minutes for three shots at various angles and distances, and back to my routine. It is the purple, the green, the textures of the fabric, I guess, and what the light is doing to it all.

Sony Rx10iii at 24mm equivalent. In-camera HDR. Nominal exposure: 1/30th @ ISO 500 @ f2.4. Processed in Polarr. 

Kingfisher hovering…

Belted Kingfisher, the beach, Kennebunk Maine


I took a run down to the beach yesterday to see what kinds of waves Jose was kicking up in Maine. The tide had gone out from full so the waves were not all that impressive, but there was a Belted Kingfisher hunting the pools were the marsh had flooded relatively close to the road. It kept alternating between a bush on my side, more or less, of the pond and a post on the other, and it spent long enough hovering in front of me so that I could get some shots. The collage is made in FrameMagic’s blended mode. 
Sony Rx10iii at 600mm equivalent. 1/1000th second (set in Minimum Shutter Speed ISO). f4. Processed in Polarr and FrameMagic. 

Spillway in Autumn

Fernald Brook, Kennebunk Maine


Autumn is coming fast in Maine…though we have not had a frost yet. This is the spillway of a small pond along Rt. 9 in Kennebunk Maine. Just a kind of random still life…if not for the flowing water. 🙂

Sony Rx10iii at 70mm equivalent. In-camera HDR. Processed in Polarr and TouchRetouch (some out of focus grass in the foreground).