Monthly Archives: October 2023
Maine! Little River Marsh
Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA — The Little River Marsh from the overlook on wet maple forest boardwalk. We did not get many days like this this fall. OM Systems OMD EM5Mkiii with 12-45mm zoom at 24mm equivalent. Program mode with in-camera HDR. Processed in Pixelmator Pro.
Maine! You say hello, I say goodbye
Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers: York County, Maine, USA, October 2023 — Coming and going. A (maybe) pair of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers on a dead tree. You never know what you are going to catch when you point the camera up. I was, of course just trying for the perched bird, when the second bird flew in and startled it off the perch. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent (and cropped). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro.
Maine! Copper Oak
The oak leaves turn copper as November comes on fast. They will, mostly, stay on the trees here in southern Maine, and get a little browner before spring when they fall as the new buds come out. OM Systems OMD EM5Mkiii with 12-45mm zoom at 50mm equivalent. Program mode with in-camera HDR. -0.3 EV. Processed in Pixelmator Pro.
Maine! Pileated Woodpecker preening
Pileated Woodpecker: York County, Maine, USA, October 2023 — This bird flew into a tall bare maple tree on the other side of the pond while I was looking for Great Blue Herons in the river. I don’t see Pileateds very often, though they certainly nest in the area, so I hustled (much as a 76 year old ever hustles) around the pond and under the tree on the off chance the bird would wait for me. Turns out it was busy having a preen and was able to get some shots…not ideal…silhouetted against the grey sky and from an odd angle…but still…you have to photograph what is in front of you…especially when it is a Pileated Woodpecker. Pileated, by the way, refers to the peaked cap on the head. 🙂 OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Plus 1.0 EV for the backlight. Processed in Pixelmator Pro.
Maine! Bittersweet
Almost everything about bittersweet is bittersweet. There are two bittersweets…American and Oriental. Most of what we have in Maine is Oriental Bittersweet, a clinging, climbing, invasive plant that smothers its hosts and can even bring down full grown trees. We have a vine in our yard that reaches the very top of a tall pine, and is 8 inches in diameter at eye level. Still the berries are pretty, and are eaten by at least a few birds. OM Systems OMD EM5Mkiii with 12-45mm zoom at 90mm equivalent. Macro scene mode. Processed in Pixelmator Pro.
Maine! Mockingbird in bittersweet
Northern Mockingbird: York County, Maine, USA, October 2023 — Somehow I have not seen a lot of Mockingbirds this year. We have had none in our yard, and I have only seen one other besides this one, enjoying the bittersweet berries as they ripen. I was happy to see it eating bittersweet…I did not think anything ate the berries of this vine, and there is always an abundance of bittersweet. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and assembled in FrameMagic.
Maine! Laudholm October path
An October path at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms, in Wells, Maine. About as good as autumn gets in southern Maine. OM Systems OMD EM5Mkiii with 12-45mm zoom at 24mm equivalent. Program mode with in-camera HDR. Processed in Pixelmator Pro.
Maine! Great Egret in flight
Great Egret: York County, Maine, USA — I don’t remember the Great Egrets being so present in past years. They seem to be here in numbers. I first noticed them (who could not) went they were gathered daily for the feast of some spawn at the mouth of a local river, but they have held on, feeding in the marsh pools beside the river for months now, a bird there and a bird there, but I see them almost every time I an down toward the marshes. Always handsome and never more so than in flight. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 200 @ f7.1 @ 1/1000th. -0.3EV.
Maine! Fall on the Mousam
Fall along the Mousam River here in town. The colors might have been late this year, but they did come on. OM Systems OMD EM5Mkiii with 12-45mm zoom at 24mm equivalent. Program mode with in-camera HDR. Processed in Pixelmator Pro.
Maine! Bluebird in autumn
Eastern Bluebird: York County, Maine, USA, October 2023 — We have 5 Bluebirds coming to our back deck feeders this week…our nesting pair, and three of this year’s young. They will be with us most of the winter, as long as the mealworms don’t run out. 🙂 Though the light was not great early in the morning on a cloudy day, catching the Bluebirds against the changing foliage is always a treat. OM Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 16000. 🙂