Monthly Archives: January 2021

Bluebird for Sunday

Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — the bluebirds are our daily vitamins for our eyes and our spirits. Any day with a bluebird in it is a good day…and Sunday is a good day to be thankful for bluebirds. 🙂 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. + 1 EV exposure compensation for the backlight.

Salt Ice

Just to prove that my interest in natural ice formations goes beyond “swirly ice” (see last week’s post), here is a shot of the unique ice that forms where salt and fresh water mix in a tidal river. I have heard this called “rotten ice” but it deserves a better name, and “salt ice” works for me. 🙂 Little River at Laudholm Farms. Sony Rx10iv at about 300mm equivalent. Program mode with auto HDR. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Nominal exposure: ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/1000th.

All business…

Pine Grosbeak, Wells Reserve at Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA — another shot from my session with the Pine Grosbeaks among the fallen apples at Laudholm Farms. This shot shows off that specialized beak. Pine Grosbeaks feed on a variety of smaller seeds. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/640.

Still Bluebirds…

Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — one of the delights of winter is our daily visits from the bluebirds. We have had up to half a dozen on the deck at once, but we have three that come every day…the pair that nest in one of the yards around us, and this year’s chick from the second brood. This particular shot is through the thermopane deck door. They are still pretty flighty, even after long exposure to our harmless observations, and I only rarely get the deck door open without scaring them off. If I startle them, they don’t come back for few hours, and I don’t want to keep them from the mealworms this time of year when they need the fat for warmth. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

them apples!

Pine Grosbeak: Wells Reserve at Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA — As I mentioned yesterday, I finally found some Pine Grosbeaks near home, to satisfy my finch irruption cravings. They were busy filling their apple seed cravings in the abundance of wind-fall apples under the trees at Laudholm Farms. They spent a lot of time tossing the apples. It was entertaining to watch, to say the least. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th, 1/800th, and 1/1000th.

Pine Grosbeak!

Pine Grosbeak: Wells Reserve at Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA — I will admit to being the tinniest bit jealous of all the folks in Maine who have had Pine Grosbeaks in their yards this winter. It is an irruption year for northern finches in general, and Grosbeaks in particular, including the Pine, but as far as I know they have not gotten as far south as Kennebunk. But then I found 6 birds, all young or female (it is impossible to tell which without a hand’s on examination), feeding on fallen apples under the trees by the education building at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms. The reserve is just south of the Kennebunk town line, less than 5 miles from my house. They have temporarily detoured the main hiking trail right under the trees, and the birds were so busy with the winter dried apples that they paid no attention to passing hikers, or photographers. I had forgotten how big Pine Grosbeaks are…almost the size of a Robin…but definitely a finch. The massive bill is suited for anything from pine nuts to thistle seed, and they were definitely digging something in the shriveled apples…not maybe the apple flesh itself as they were doing a lot of tossing…they may have been after the seeds. Anyway, I have a lot of photos of immature or female Pine Grosbeaks now. I am still jealous of those who have had males…but, actually, I have only seen a few photos of males from Maine this year. I am definitely keeping my eyes out. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/800th.

Handsome Downy

Downy Woodpecker: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Our Downy Woodpeckers, here in southern Maine, are distinctly petite…especially compared to their chunky Hairy cousins. This male has learned to get inside our anti-squirrel suet cage, like the smaller chickadees and titmice. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

swirly ice :)

The other thing, besides yesterday’s Mallards, that I found on my hike into Wonderbrook, was this swirly ice on the stream. To be fair I am always looking for swirly ice in the winter, as I find the patterns that ice forms while freezing fascinating. I can’t quite figure out the physics of it…no, that’s not right…I am no where near figuring out the physics of it. 🙂 The beauty only has to seen. We can appreciate what we can not fathom…and often do. Sony Rx10iv at 227mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. (Just because I was too lazy to switch to another mode.) Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 1600 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Mallards on ice…

Mallards: Kennebunk River, York County, Maine, USA — It has been an atypically warm winter, and we have had very little ice in the rivers…here we are in mid-January, and we only had a significant amount of ice over the last few days. I generally find concentrations of ducks at edges of river ice and I have missed the mergansers, the occasional wood duck and the rafts of mallards. There was a group of over 100 mallards on the Kennebunk when I visited yesterday…the first large concentration I have seen this winter. Ducks on ice are always photogenic, even in the relatively dull light of a January day. I like the way this group is arranged within the frame…almost exactly were I would have placed them in a painting. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Robin in the brush…

American Robin: Wells Reserve at Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA — Another view of one of the robins in the large flock, 100 or more, working the edge of the woods and marsh at Laudholm Farms this week. They were actively feeding, mostly deep in the brush. This shot serves as a demonstration of why wildlife photographers like the Sony Rx10iv. It is a crop at 600mm equivalent, and I used auto focus…flexible movable spot. The camera was able to sort out the jumble of branches and lock on to the bird. 🙂 Of course the conditions were ideal for the camera. Good direct light. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/800th.