Monthly Archives: June 2022

Tennessee Warbler

Tennessee Warbler: Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio. USA, May 2022 — While looking for my life-photo-op for a Canada Warbler around the Metzger Marsh parking area, I spent a while in front to this tree long the dike above the parking watching a variety of warblers hunting among the catkins. This Tennessee was among them. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Beach Roses in the view

The beach roses (Rugosa Rose) are in bloom in southern Maine. Beach Rose is an invasive species, originally from the Asia, that was imported and planted to stabilize dunes all along the Atlantic coast. You see it everywhere through most of the summer here in Maine. The flowers develop into Rose Hips…and are made, not so much in Maine, but in other Atlantic states, into a jam or jelly. They do make a great foreground for the skies of June…or this June at any rate. We have had a lot of these days lately. iPhone SE with Sirui 18mm lens. Auto with intelligent HDR turned on. Processed in Apple Photos.

Red-winged Blackbird

Red-winged Blackbird: Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2022 — One morning later in the Biggest Week in American Birding, I went to Metzger Marsh instead of the boardwalk, as I had heard reports of several Canada Wablers there the morning before, and I had yet to see, let alone photograph a Canada Warbler. I posted that pic a while ago, my first ever of Canada Warbler. 🙂 While there, of course, being the Erie Shore and May, there were lots of other birds. This Red-winged Blackbird, which just might be the most numerous common bird in North America, was insistent that we all take note that this was his patch! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixomator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/640th.

Mourning Warbler

Mourning Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2022 — The Mourning Warbler is a hard bird to see, let alone photograph, at least at Magee, where they tend to say low in the vegetation, mostly under the ground cover. And there is a LOT of ground cover at Magee this year, due to the massive blow-down of the mature cottonwoods that used to provide shade for the forest floor. This one hopped up on a twig two inches above ground for a brief look-around, just as I came up on a group of birders who had been tracking it by the movement of the undergrowth for twenty minutes already. 🙂 Right place, right time, and ready! That is my wildlife photography recipe in a nutshell. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixomator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Cedar Waxwing among the Apple Blossoms

Cedar Waxwing: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2022 — There is almost always a crowd of photographers under the apple tree that blooms in May along the Magee Marsh Boardwalk. There are often birds among the blossoms, and it makes a very attractive setting. I have photographed a dozen species of warblers there, as well as Baltimore Oriole and, of course, Cedar Waxwing. The Cedar Waxwings eat the apple flowers, and there can be many in the tree at once when they come through. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f5.6 @ 1/1000th, minus .7 EV. Difficult lighting.

Prothonotary: I spy a spider!

Prothonotary Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2022 — All the warblers at Magee during the Biggest Week in American Birding are busy hunting and gleaning, but none more obviously than the Prothonotary. I caught this one picking spiders out of webs right by the boardwalk, paying no attention to me only a few feet away. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/640th.

Maine Great Egret

Great Egret: Parson’s Beach, Kennebunk, Maine, USA, June 2022 — We have both Great and Snowy Egrets, pretty much all summer, in small numbers in the marshes behind the dunes along the coast. Nothing like the flocks, and multiple flocks, you see in Florida, or even Texas, and the individual birds stay pretty much far out in the marsh, so I don’t get very many photo ops. This one flew into a tidal pool behind the dunes fairly close to the beach access road while I happened to be there on my eTrike. A nice looking bird! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed (and enlarged) in Pixelmator Photo. Finished in Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f5 @ 1/1000th. .

Prothonotary: prodigious singer

Prothonotary Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio. USA, May 2022 — The Prothonotary Warbler is a prodigious singer, as anyone who lives in their nesting territory can testify. And, at least at Magee during the Biggest Week in American Birding, they often sing right in your face! They are not shy about it at all! Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th.

Wild Iris at the Pond

I photograph this scene almost every year…some years I have been traveling and missed Iris season altogether, and some years I just get the timing off, but most years I manage at least one stop by the little pond along Rt. 9 between the end of Brown Street and the Wells Town line, while the Iris is in bloom. Some years I hit it on a sunny day with amazing clouds behind the trees. Some years, like this one, the sky is mostly overcast and the light subdued. It is always beautiful. iPhone SE with Sirui 18mm equivalent lens. Processed in Apple Photos.

Magnolia Warbler in Ohio

Magnolia Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2022 — though I have been sharing some local Odonata and wildlife, I am only half way through the photos I took in Ohio in May during the Biggest Week in American Birding…and some of the remainder simply MUST be shared ( 🙂 ) This is one more of the thousands of Magnolia Warblers who begged to have their photo taken during the week I was there. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 200 @ f4 @ 1/500th.