Lady Slipper Orchid: Kennebunk Plains Sanctuary, Kennebunk, Maine, USA, May 2022 — We interrupt our coverage of the warblers and song birds of Magee Marsh in Ohio and the Biggest Week in American Birding to bring you breaking news from the woods of Maine. The Lady Slipper Orchids are in bloom. I went to Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge where they grow along the loop of trail behind the current headquarters buildings, and found them almost too late, and then yesterday took my eTrike out to the Kennebunk Plains to check the extensive stand in a hidden spot in the woods there. Again this year there were well over 500 orchids in bloom, all along the bank where it rises from the stream. The dappled light and shade provide lots of options for photography. These Lady Slippers are among the most healthy I have ever seen (unlike the ones at Rachel Carson which seem to be more faded each year)…intense pink verging on purple depending on the light…tall and stately, and sometimes half a dozen to a bunch. It is an amazing and an inspiring display of this threatened flower. Sony Rx10iv at 68mm (the macro) and 97mm (the wider view). Program mode with HDR. -.3EV. Nominal exposure: ISO 100, f3.5 @ 1/160th and 1/200th.