Monthly Archives: August 2023
Maine! — Ruby-throats
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — we have unprecedented numbers of hummingbirds coming to our feeder this week. We have at least one male, one sub-adult male, and half a dozen “female/immature” types — often up to 4 around the feeder at the same time. The male and what I assume is an immature male are both attempting to guard the feeder from perches in the Maple tree above the deck. These shots were not in the best of light…early, on a rainy day, but they were all taken standing in our open deck door within 30 minutes of each other. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. Females at ISO 12800 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th, males at ISO 5000 and 4000 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
India! — Langur Monkeys
Grey Langur Monkeys: Rathambore National Park / Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — Probably two females and the baby, along side the road near a stream at the edge of Rathambore National Park, just below the Temple. Sony Rx10iv at 361mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Maine! — Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron: York County, Maine, USA — Here the Great Blue Heron is the star of the show. There were two with the mixed flock of Egrets on the sandbar at the mouth of the river. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and assembled in FrameMagic. 1 and 2 at ISO 200 @ f8 @ 1/800th @ -.7EV, 3 at f7.1 @ 1/1000th.
Maine! Day Lilies
Day Lilies from our yard. The “wild-ish” Day Lilies that grow in our front yard are all “double blossom” lilies, with two flowers on top of each other. The Day Lilies that grow in our back yard are single blossom??? These are from the front yard. Both images are in-camera focus stacked (hand held) with the OM Systems OM-1 and the 100-400mm zoom at 300mm equivalent. It is still pretty amazing to me that the camera can do this. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. Nominal exposure ISO 2500 @ f5.7 and f6.3 @ 1/500th.
Maine! More Egret Action
Great Egrets and Great Blue Heron: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — More Egret action from the mouth of one of our local rivers. (This time with a Great Blue Heron bystander, and what appears to be a Great Black-backed Gull not interested at all.) Note the fish fry in the beak of the center Egret in the first photo. I don’t think the fry was the source of the conflict…much ado about nothing if it was. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f9 @ 1/1000th. -.7EV.
India! Common and Pied Kingfishers
Common and Pied Kingfishers: a reservoir near Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — On a small dam in an irrigation system next to the reservoir, both Common and Pied Kingfishers were hunting. Sony Rx10iv at 580mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4.5 @ 1/1000th.
Conflicting emotions: Great Egrets
Great Egrets: York County, Maine, USA, August 2023 — After seeing some of Jack Coughlin’s photos of of Egrets and Herons taken at the mouth of one of our local rivers, just a few miles down the road from me, I took my trike out yesterday at low tide to see what I could see. I have never, in my 30 years (more or less) on the Maine Coast seen such a large concentration of Egrets and Herons as the one I found on a sandbar just back from the river mouth yesterday. There were at least 20 Great and 20 Snowy Egrets, and two Great Blue Herons. There were so may fish fry in the shallow water it seemed to boil and birds were actively feeding…but there was also a lot of bird on bird interaction as they competed for the best spots…or that is how it looked to me. With so many birds gathered it may have just been a dominance thing. ?? I have a whole set of shots of this particular interaction, but this one captures the energy. Great Egrets are generally the most elegant of birds, calm, full of steady purpose, especially in Maine, and at least in Maine, generally solitary. I have only ever seen them act this way in the pools at Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge in Florida in early spring when they gather for the shrimp hatch. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f9 @ 1/1000th. -.7EV.
India! Wire-tailed Swallow
Wire-tailed Swallow: Near Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — On the morning of our last day at Rathambore we drove out to one of the dams around Sawai Madhopur for some shore birding. The Wire-tailed Swallow was by far the most common Swallow we saw in the area of India we visited. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom Birds and Wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f5 and f4 @ 1/1000th and 1/800th.
Maine! Calico Pennants
Calico Pennant: Kennebunk Plains Nature Conservancy, Kennebunk, Maine, USA, August 2023 — There were several Calico Pennant mating wheels at Day Brook Pond on the Kennebunk Plains this week. This one posed against a interesting backdrop. And this is the season when I always try for a shot of a Calico on a Northern Blazing Star bud. Northern Blazing Star is an endangered plant that, along with the Black Racer Snake and the Upland Sandpiper, the Plains are managed for. The flowers are too broad for them to perch on but the buds are likely perches, especially the shorter plants just back from the shore of the pond. OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f6.3 @ 1/640th.
India! Painted Sandgrouse
Painted Sandgrouse: near Rathambore, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — On our way back from the Chambal River boat tour we stopped in a field, after sunset, for a few more birds in the dusky light…and chanced on this Painted Sandgrouse…evidently a rare sighting and a rarer photo (not the best photos but is was getting dark and the bird only showed for a few seconds, quite a distance away, before flying off into deeper grasses). Our local guide was certainly impressed that I got any kind of shot at all. (Though rare they are still gamebirds in India and very wary of humans.) Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 1600 @ f4 @ 1/500th.