Monthly Archives: May 2021
Day Brook Pond
I am falling behind…not because I am not posting every day, but because I am taking too many photos 🙂 Not a bad problem to have. Of course a string of rainy days might cure that, but for now, I am going to group this set taken at the same location on the same outing: I rode my trike out to Day Brook Pond on the Kennebunk Plains near home here in Maine, to see how spring was coming along. We have the Plains landscape on the way into the pond at 24mm equivalent (all with the Sony Rx10iv, this one with HDR, and the rest with my birds and wildlife modifications to Program), a Northern Water Snake (one of the largest I have ever seen) at 465mm, Dogwood in bloom against a stand of white birch at 24mm, two Painted Turtles sharing what appears to be a tender moment (but probably was not really) at 600mm, and Eastern Pine Elfin at 600mm and about 3 feet (this is a tiny butterfly, about 1/2 inch across). In leaner times I might have stretched this out over 5 posts, as each shot has an interest of its own. (I did already post the Elfin to some of the Butterfly groups on Facebook, but it belongs here too, in the context of the the visit to Day Brook Pond.)
Ruby-throated
Ruby-throated Hummingbird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — When you only have one species of hummingbird, you learn to appreciate what you have…and the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds we get here in Southern Maine are easy to appreciate. I know we have at least 2 coming to our feeder…both males…since just once I saw them both making an attempt on the feeder at the same time. Yesterday, while out filling the seed feeders on the deck, one of them came in to use the feeder when I was just passing it, about a 18 inches away. I froze…literally froze in position and did not move…and after some dithering and dancing in the air, probably deciding if it was hungry enough to risk it while I was standing there so close, the hummer came in and fed for two or three minutes…then zoomed away. It was amazing to stand so close I could see every feather in the gorget when it flashed. These photos are cropped from images with the 600mm equivalent lens on the Sony RX10iv, from about 12 feet, and through double pane glass, but they capture a bit of the close up effect. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos (with the protruding feeder poll removed in TouchRetouch). ISO 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Dynamic Purple Finch
Purple Finch: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Another dynamic pose, this time a male Purple Finch. This particular bird shows a lot of white on its under parts. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent, from my backyard photo blind. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th. +1 EV exposure compensation for the backlight.
Dainty Downy!
Downy Woodpecker: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Compared to our visiting Pileated Woodpecker, the Downy Woodpecker that frequents our yard is indeed dainty…but oh so handsome. I caught the male here in a dynamic pose as it was on the way into the suet cage in front of my backyard photo blind. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Apple Photos. ISO 320 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Hermit Thrush
Hermit Thrush: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I have not seen the Hermit Thrush (s?) that visited our yard for a few days last week, so maybe I should share a few more shots of this beautiful bird while it is still more or less current. We heard a few songs, coming from the denser woods across the street, and I had some hope we might have a nesting pair…but maybe not after all. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm from my backyard photo blind. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 1600 @ f4 @ 1/500th. +1 EV exposure compensation.
Out of context: Savanah Sparrow
Savanah Sparrow: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — It is interesting (at least to me) how much we birders rely (or at least I rely) on context in bird identification. I don’t expect to see Savanah Sparrow from my backyard photo blind, feeding in the brush under the big pines. I do see them in Maine…mostly where I expect to see them…out on the Kennebunk Plains which is typical Savanah habitat. So when showed up in front to the blind, even thought my instant id…almost instinctual…was Savanah Sparrow, the closest my mind could come was “that looks like a Savanah” and I had to spend some time with a field guide (a couple of them actually) to convince myself that it actually was a Savanah. And then it was more a case of “what else could it be” than anything else. I certainly would not have even hesitated or second guessed myself if I had encountered the bird out on the Plains. I just did not expect to see from the blind…it was out of context…and, just because of that, I questioned it. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @
Cardinal comes calling
Northern Cardinal: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Though they are definitely becoming more common in our yard, year to year, I still celebrate each visit of the neighborhood Cardinals that I manage to catch. I see them often enough now to be assured that they come every day, at some point in the day, probably several times a day, mostly when I am not looking. I was in my backyard photo blind for this visit, and though the shots are not without foreground obstructions, they are still satisfying. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo using ML Super Resolution and a preset I developed for my bird shots. Finishing touches in Apple Photos. ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th. +1 EV exposure compensation for the backlight.
Pileated Visitation
Pileated Woodpecker: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — This is only the third time we have had a Pileated Woodpecker in our yard in the 25 plus years we have lived here on Brown Street. There used to be a pair that nested in the little patch of woods inside the loop of Mousam Ridge just off Brown Street where we could hear them, but they have been gone for many years now. And I have only seen 4 others in Maine…two at Laudholm Farms (Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve), and two random sightings along the roads of southern Maine. I was, then, surprised to see one fly into back corner of the neighbor’s yard, into the trees behind my backyard photo blind, just as it was getting dark, and in the rain, two days ago. I went out but could not get a photo. Then yesterday, about 10 AM, I noticed movement at the base of dead pine that has been trying to fall over since we have lived here. It is hung up in a big maple and just leans there rotting away. Binocular time. It was indeed the Pileated Woodpecker. I went out and over the next hour or more worked my way around the bird, a female, eventually to within 15 feet, as it dug grubs from the decaying wood…excavating a huge cavity on either side of the trunk to the point where it is just about cut through. It flew off a few times when I was not cautious enough, but quickly returned to its work. I must have taken a thousand exposures…and I do not exaggerate. Such a treat! I left it there and went inside to get some lunch before heading out on my trike to check on the trilliums at the Rachel Carson headquarters (which was on my list of things to do on Monday, before the Pileated visitation). When I left, going on one o’clock, it was still there working away. 🙂 It was not there, when I tried to show it to Carol later in the day, but it returned just as it was getting dark again and she got to see it. We will see what today brings…but it is raining…and, really, I have enough photos to last me a while…unless, of course, the male shows up. Then I will be out in a flash with my camera, rain or no! One thing these photos can not capture is the SIZE of the bird. It is big! The size of a crow. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Apple Photos. ISO 500 to 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
An inundation of Yellow-rumped Warblers
Yellow-rumped Warbler: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — The other day I posted a photo of a single Yellow-rumped Warbler who visited our yard…a first in the almost 30 years we have lived here. Since then we have been inundated with Yellow-rumps. There are sometimes half a dozen at a time on our deck, often 3 or 4 inside the suet cage. And this has been going on for days now. Saturday morning and early evening I sat out in my backyard photo blind and, though I never thought I would say it, I think I already have enough photos of Yellow-rumps for this year 🙂 It is early yet here as I write, not yet full light on this overcast day, and already there are Yellow-rumps in the suet cage on the deck. I am not sure what is going on this year. I see photos on “Maine Birds” and “Backyard Birding in Maine” (on Facebook) that indicate that it is not just Kennebunk that is flooded with Yellow-rumps. Others are seeing them in their yards for the first time ever, and in numbers that are certainly out of the ordinary. Maybe it was just a bumper year for Yellow-rumps last breeding season. ?? You might want to check out my poem for today, which is also about Yellow-rumps. 🙂 (https://day-poems.tumblr.com/post/650156909047988224/53-i-can-only-think-there-must-be-a-surplus-of ) Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent from my backyard photo blind. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 1250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Strawberry Finch (aka Purple Finch)
Purple Finch: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Some of our Purple Finches this spring are just sooo bright. Especially in the early evening as the sun comes in low across the yard from the horizon. They might be called “strawberry finches”…but, of course, that name is already taken…though it appears to one of three names for an Australian bird, so maybe I can still borrow it for our spring male Purples. This fellow posed nicely for me on a perch near the feeders outside my backyard photo blind. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. (And, no, if you are thinking I “enhanced” the color…I can assure you this is how they look to the naked eye 🙂 ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.