Monthly Archives: May 2024
Maine! Lady Slipper
I went back to the woods to check on my patches of Lady Slipper Orchids here in Kennebunk, Maine. At least some of them have come out fully in the past 5 days and I spent over an hour on the slope where they grow. Others will still require another few days of warm sun. They are all somewhat small this year, maybe because of the peculiar weather we have been having…I don’t mean short, though most of them are…but the blossoms themselves seem a bit undersized compared to past years. This intentionally odd angle shot, an 9 frame in-camera focus stack, really shows off the bloom. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 12-45 f4 Pro zoom at 42mm equivalent. Program mode. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Hunting
Great Blue Heron: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville, Florida, USA, January 2024 — Nice Florida light and a cooperative Great Blue Heron along Blackpoint drive one morning during the Space Coast Bird and Nature Festival. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 522mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Biggest Week in American Birding: Parula Again
Northern Parula: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Crane Creek State Park, Oak Harbor, Ohio, May 2024 — As I may have mentioned, there were lots and lots of Parulas along the boardwalk at Magee…almost as many as Yellow Warblers. Actually the numbers might have been “normal” but compared to other species, which were sparse, they seemed high. I came away with one of almost every possible pose. 🙂 (Exaggeration) OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Florida! Preening
Blue-winged Teal: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, Florida, USA, January 2024 — Blue-winged Teal seem to be the most common duck at Orlando Wetlands in January. This is just a study in feather detail as this female gets all the feathers in the right place. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Biggest Week in American Birding: Full on Prothonotary
Prothonotary Warbler: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Crane Creek State Park, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2024 — As I have said before, sometimes the Prothonotary Warblers are too close for comfort at Magee. It seems each year at least one pair builds a nest in one or another of the uprights that hold up the boardwalk rail. A gap tends to form between the upright and the rail where insects gather, and where woodpeckers come to get them, and, in digging them out, enlarge the gap until there is a hole big enough for a Prothonotary nest. The rangers come and put hazard tape either side of the nest to give the birds some space, but they seem totally unconcerned about the passing humans, and may, in fact, get some extra protection from their real predators by building so close to human traffic. While building the nest and feeding young they are busy within in feet of the boardwalk and often perch on the rails right in front of astonished birders and tourists. Fun! And it does not seem to any harm to the birds. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400mmIS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Biggest Week in American Birding! Upstanding Parula
Northern Parula: Magee Marsh Boardwalk, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2024 — I like the delicate leaves and catkins framing this bird, and the subtle hues of the bird itself. I think the out of focus branch crossing just makes the bird look sharper. I might, in another mood, edit it out, but for now it stays as part of the natural composition. There were lots of Parulas this year at Magee. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Tell me it isn’t Monday already!
Monday monday. Just for humor’s sake. But Red Squirrels are always super expressive, and an easy canvas to project almost any emotion. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 300mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator and TouchRetouch (to remove a feeder pole across the tail).
Florida! More purple
Purple Gallinule: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, Florida, USA, January 2024 — I spent two mornings at Orlando Wetlands as I had workshops scheduled there, and, of course, both times I went looking for Purple Gallinule, of the stars of the show at the wetlands. Both mornings were overcast, but that is not bad light for the irredentist purples and blues of the Gallinule. OM System OM-1 with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.
Maine! Red again
Red Squirrel: Back deck, Kennebunk, Maine, USA, May 2024 — we had a rainy day visit from the neighborhood Red-Squirrel yesterday. Sometime it runs off as soon as I open the back deck door to take its photo, but sometimes it is bold as brass and just dares me to do something about it. It spent a good hour, coming and going on the deck, and I got the door open far enough for photos a couple of times. Once I had to shoo it off when it was in danger of coming inside. 🙂 OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 246mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom bird modifications (no need to switch to animal for a squirrel :). Processed in Photomator.
Biggest Week in American Birding: singing loud
House Wren: Estuary Trail, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2024 — I took my first group of Point and Shoot for Warblers group out the beginning of the trail around the back of the marsh, on the other side of the channel from the boardwalk. We did not see a lot of warblers…just enough to practice on…but we had a couple of good wrens singing. A bit far away, and not quite out in the open, but still good. Gotta love the wren attitude. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent (pretty severe crop). Program mode with my custom bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.