Downy Woodpecker: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, September 2025 — Still testing a new lens, but of course just standing in the open back deck door on an overcast day when the birds are active at the feeders is always a delight. The new lens is just a very good excuse. This is our neighborhood downy. I especially like the background and intentionally kept the bright begonia flowers in the corner and stretched the frame to suit the pose. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 @ 450mm equivalent. Program mode with birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, September 2025 — I was out trying out a new camera in the backyard. We have some late fledgling Eastern Bluebirds in the neighborhood, and they come in frequently for the mealworms we put out. I love the chain-mail look of the feathers on the breast. Sony a7RC. Tamron 50-400 at 400mm. Program with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Spider web: Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA, September 2025 — Some spiders are just way to ambitious. This web had to be at least 2.5 feet long. I like the way it catches the sun…though I do not think that is what the spider had in mind at all. We are funny beings who see what we want to see…or see what it is given to us to see…or something like that. I was delighted to see this web. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 169mm equivalent. Aperture mode with custom macro and landscape modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Common Yellowthroat: Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms, Well, Maine, USA, September 2025 — I went for a hike at Laudholm Farm recently to see what I could see. Birds were few and far between. There were two of these Common Yellowthroats off the boardwalk through the wet maple swamp…as dry as anywhere else in southern Maine this fall. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Double-creased Cormorant: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, September 2025 — This cormorant seems two be checking the suggestion box…someone put it out in the marsh a few years ago as, I assume, a joke, and I have photographed several different species of birds using it as perch. I am pretty sure that same someone gave it a fresh coat of paint this summer renewed the lettering. That might be taking the joke too far…but I do appreciate the efforts. (I am not sure the birds care one way of another.) Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Chipmunk: Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farms, Wells, Maine, USA, September 2025 — Yes it is apple season in southern Maine, and the old orchards at Laudholm Farms are paved with windfalls right now. What an opportunity for chipmunks to fatten up for the coming cold. There were more chipmunks out and about than I have seen all summer. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.

Indian Pipe (Ghost flower) Kennebunk, Maine, USA, September 2025 — it is still super dry in the forests of Southern Maine…there are very few Indian Pipes, and mostly close to the base of trees. They are not doing well either. Most are blackening before they reach full flower. I have watching this one for a couple of weeks, and here it is with the bud upright at last and showing its innards. As you see, the flower is not without pigment, and has all the traditional flower parts. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 150mm equivalent. Aperture program for increased depth of field (f16). Processed in Photomator.

Great Blue Heron: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, September 2025 — Down at the marsh the other day I spotted this Great Blue Heron just as he decided to take a short hop closer to me. I love to see the spread wings of birds, especially such wings as the Great Blue Heron has. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator and assembled in FrameMagic.

Semipalmated Sandpipers: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, September 2025 — Yesterday I identified these birds as Sanderlings, but, of course, they are not. They are Semipalmated Sandpipers coming into winter plumage. I should pay more attention! No excuse. There were many of them mixed in with the Semipalmated Plovers down at the end of the beach. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.