Monthly Archives: August 2023
Maine! More migrating Monarchs (Blazing Star)
Continuing our coverage of the Monarch butterfly migration in southern Maine, here are two from the Kennebunk Plains and the Northern Blazing Star bloom. I recently found out that the Plains are host to the largest population of Blazing Star left in the world. In the world! Clearly the Monarchs are doing their bit to help keep it healthy. And really, is there anything more photogenic than a Monarch in Blazing Star? (Well, maybe, just possibly, yes there is, but I will save that for another day 🙂 OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
Maine! Ring-bills in flight!
Ring-billed Gull: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — I am still trying to figure out my birds-in-fight modifications to program mode on my relatively new OM Systems OM-1…so I went down to the beach and river mouth to practice on some gulls and whatever else I could find there on a Sunday morning. There were lots of gulls in flight, but I only had one close flyover. These are three frames from one burst at 5fps as the gull swept by only maybe 20 feet over me, filling the frame at 800mm equivalent. I still need a lot of practice, and I am still tweaking the settings, but getting there. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds-in-flight modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 320 @ f6.3 @ 1/3200th. Plus .7EV
Maine: Monarch Migration
The Monarchs migration has arrived in Maine. Of course we do raise a few of our own, but large numbers come down the coastline from further north this time of year. I found these in a field of clover just behind the marsh of a tidal creek near home. And there were lots out on the blueberry plains, among the fading Blazing Star flowers, when I was there yesterday. OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 250 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
Maine! Snowy Egret, shallows dancing
Snowy Egret: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — These were taken a week ago, when the congregation of Egrets at the mouth of our local river was still strong. This week, they are mostly gone on south, I think. When I went down a few days ago there was only one lonely Snowy left, hanging out with the gulls. This Snowy was quite active fishing in the shallows along edge of the sandbar. OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th.
Maine! Scolia Wasp in Goldenrod
Scolia Wasp: Kennebunk Plains Nature Conservancy, York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — When the Blazing Star blooms on the Kennebunk Plains, it attracts insects of all kinds. This Scolia Wasp happened to be in the Goldenrod, which is also in full bloom on the Plains right now. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th.
Monday Supplement: White Blazing Star
I can’t let Northern Blazing Star season pass without properly celebrating it, so here is another Blazing Star shot. About one in a thousand (just a guess) Blazing Star plants produce white blossoms. I have no idea why…whether it is in the plant itself or in the soil, or some combination of the two. The plants appear otherwise healthy and identical to their purple counterparts. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 585mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f7 @ 1/800th.
Goldfinch among Blazing Star
American Goldfinch: York County, Maine, USA — Along the same lines as Goldenrod and Northern Blazing Star in the same frame, here we have a Goldfinch among Blazing Star. The same color contrast. 🙂 This time of year, as the Blazing Star blossoms ripen, there are flocks of Goldfinches out on the Plains, picking out the thistle like seeds. Getting close enough for a good photo is a trick, as they are fairly exposed and quite flighty. I took this from the seat of my trike, still clipped into the pedals, on the access road for the pond, low and through the foreground blooms. OM System OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 320 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th. Heavily cropped for scale.
Sunday Supplement! Honey Bee in Blazing Star
For some reason the Carpenter Bees and Ground Bees outnumber the Honey Bees on the Plains, even during the Northern Blazing Star bloom. Maybe no one keeps hives close enough. I am always happy, considering the decline in bee populations, to see a Honey Bee at work. I enjoy my honey! OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. (Makes a decent macro lens as well 🙂 Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th.
Maine! Snowy Egret in flight
Snowy Egret (and Canada Geese): York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — Great Egrets outnumber Snowy Egrets by about 5 to 1 this summer on the sandbar at the mouth of one of our local rivers…but that does not mean the Snowies don’t put on a good show. 🙂 OM Systems OM-1 with the ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds-in-flight modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f8 @ 1/1250th. -.7EV.
Maine! Bonus shot. Blazing Star and Goldenrod
I love the extreme color contrast between the Goldenrod and the Northern Blazing Star this time of year…though as I have mentioned before you have do some looking to find the two close enough to include in the same frame. This was taken with the OM Systems OM-1 and the ED 100-400mm zoom at 246mm equivalent. Still with my custom bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/800th.