Chickadee in Autumn light
Black-capped Chickadee: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I am really enjoying the early November light. I have mentioned that I have been in Texas and New Mexico this time of year for going on 20 years, and so the light these first weeks in November in Maine is something that I don’t have a lot of recent experience with. The sun is low to the horizon and has swung around way to the south, putting my feeders in the good light from 10am until sundown. This Chickadee was doing it’s usual sunflower seed dance. It had picked one up from the feeder and retreated to a branch to bash it open. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Nuthatch not at the feeder…
White-breasted Nuthatch: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — After yesterday’s Nuthatch at the feeder…here is the same bird caught on a branch away from the feeder. It is a lot harder to do. Our Nuthatches may or may not be typical, but they tend to come in for a few moments at the feeder, and then, unlike the Chickadees which often perch close to the feeders to work on a sunflower seed shell, the Nuthatches take off into the far reaches of the neighbor’s yard and I don’t see them again until they are back at the feeders. On rare occasions one will work its way from the feeder branch and trunk to branch and trunk, but generally they don’t pose on perch for long. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 200 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Nuthatch at the feeder
White-breasted Nuthatch: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — I don’t post many photos of birds at the feeder…around the feeder, yes…but I try to keep the feeders out of frame as much as possible. Sometimes you do get a feeder shot that is just too good to pass by though. This perky little nuthatch with the seed and the chickadee peeking out the back…the level of feather detail…the lighting…the background…all add up to a memorable image. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 320 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Titmouse in the November shade…
Tufted Titmouse: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — If the November sun is a different kind of light, the November shade is a different kind of shade. All summer photography under the pines were one set of feeders are was difficulty because of the abundance of vegetation and the depth of the shade. Now, as the leaves are mostly fallen, and the light is coming in more obliquely, and from across the yard as opposed to behind the house, the open shade under the pines is becoming slightly more photographically assessable. This Tufted Titmouse only sat for a second, as is their habit, but long enough for a couple of frames. The light brings out the subtle hues of the bird’s plumage. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Titmouse in the November sun
Tufted Titmouse: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Another of the faithful visitors to our feeders, the Tufted Titmouse, here seen against the backdrop of fallen leaves, and highlighted by the low November sun. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Leaves in the stream
We were up in the 70s on Saturday…a real Indian Summer. I did a bit of research on the term “Indian Summer”…to see how much cultural baggage it might carry…but its origins are hazy at best, and it seems never to have had a negative connotation. It…a warm dry spell in October or November…is called different things in different cultures. It is “old woman’s summer” in German speaking countries, “poor man’s summer” in slavic countries, “gypsy summer” in the Balkans, “little summer” in South America (where it happens in May), and “little autumn of the geese” in Gaelic. Many people name it for one of the Saints whose Saint Day falls in late fall…though the particular Saint varies by region. At any rate, I don’t feel too guilty calling it Indian Summer. To celebrate I got my ebike out and took a ride. I was arrested by this scene as I crossed the bridge over the Merriland River in Wells on my way to Laudholm Farms. Sony Rx10iv at about 135mm equivalent. Program mode with auto HDR. Nominal exposure: ISO 640 @ f4 @ 1/320th. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Nuthatch montage
White-breasted Nuthatch: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Out in the backyard in this lovely November Maine light, with the sun coming across at eye-level, I caught the acrobatics of this White-breasted Nuthatch on the Bittersweet vine under the pines. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos, and assembled in FrameMagic.
Junco
Dark-eyed Junco: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Dark-eyed Junco is a complex species with several different identifiable regional forms. Though southern Maine is in the range of the White-winged Dark-eyed Junco, this appears to be the more common Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco, as I can see no white lining on the wings…or even more likely considering how pale the grey is…and inter-grade between the two. The Juncos are coming through Kennebunk from the north in numbers this week. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Downy peeking
Downy Woodpecker: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — After Chickadees, the Downy Woodpecker has to me our most faithful and most frequent visitor to the feeders. They come to the suet blocks both on the deck and under the trees. This shot’s unique flavor is down to the afternoon light as the leaves are off the trees and the sun is low in the sky. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Another shot from the feeders under the trees in our back yard. Our faithful White-breasted Nuthatch who comes to both these feeders and the feeders on the deck several times each hour all day long every day. From what I can see the nest is actually in a little stand of trees several streets over…at least that is the way the bird heads when it leaves our yard, but we are a regular feeding stop. And we are happy to have the Nuthatches as neighbors. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 320 @ f4 @ 1/500th.