Birding in Maine» bird pictures

Pictorial: Birds of Summer 2009

John Briggs — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:35:52 +0000

I have been battling a nasty cold since the weekend and now have thoughts of H1N1. Attending classes are out of the question for the time being. With the free time on my hands, I have been catching up on course work and selecting photos for my birds of summer review. Coughing and sneezing my way through the photos, I have picked some of my favorites.

We hope you enjoy these bird photographs. Some of you may have already seen most of them, but it’s fun remembering the photos taken during the warm summer months. It won’t be long until the breath of winter will be upon us. Cold, snow, and ice… bringing along the birds of winter.

Note: Some of the photos are “tall”. Hitting the f11 key before viewing full-sized photos will open your browser to its fullest top to bottom size.

Happy birding!

BPW: The Blueberry Bandit

John Briggs — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:31:51 +0000

For those who follow me on Twitter, you may have seen my tweets referring to the “Blueberry Bandit” and the corresponding photos posted on TwitPic. This juvenile Pileated Woodpecker has been visiting our four blueberry bushes for two weeks now. The adult male and female visits too, but are so jumpy that I have been unable to photograph them.

The juvenile squawks loudly when it flies from tree to tree and then finally to the blueberries. This has been very convenient as I can hear it coming from a quarter of a mile away and have plenty of time to get my camera rig ready. I have tried sitting in my blind, patiently waiting for the woodpecker’s arrival, but the bird is not on any kind of schedule and the wait can get boring. Two days in a row I sat in the blind for 3 hours with no luck. But as soon as I come back to the house, here it comes!

My blind of choice, when I hear the woodpecker coming, is to lower the upper part of my bedroom window and photograph it from there. Not as close as I would like to be, but it works. The photo of the woodpecker perched on the side of a tree was a stroke of pure luck. I heard the bird coming and saw it land on a blueberry bush. I grabbed my camera and went to the window. I looked at every blueberry bush but could not find the bird. About to give up, I saw movement in my periphery and turned to see the woodpecker not 6 feet away on a maple tree. Too close for my lens, I waited until the bird moved further up the tree and then took photographs.

Enjoy these photos of the bird that I lovingly call the “Blueberry Bandit.”

Note: Some of the photos are “tall”. Hitting the f11 key before viewing full-sized photos will open your browser to its fullest top to bottom size.

Pileated Woodpecker - The Blueberry Bandit - Click thumbnail for larger view

Happy birding!

Great Blue Heron Fishing

John Briggs — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 00:16:19 +0000

I was going through photos on one of my hard drives today and came across an immature Great Blue Heron fishing in a small pool of water. I don’t recall ever posting them on this site, so I thought I would share a few with you.

Taken September of 2008 at Biddeford Pool, Maine. I remember it being cold that day, and I crawled down a drainage ditch to get a better perspective. At one point, a car stopped and a child got out and started throwing rocks into the water. With me wearing camo, the occupants of the car didn’t know I was there until a rock whizzed by my head and I let out a “Watch it!” They left and the Heron and I were alone. Here’s the results.

Click on image for larger view.

Immature Great Blue Heron

Happy birding!

Wordeless Wednesday: Great Blue Heron

Horned Grebes and Long-tailed Ducks

John Briggs — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:37:56 +0000

Horned Grebe

Making a trip to Saco, Maine yesterday for a doctor’s appointment , I decided to take my camera gear and binoculars along for the 110 mile round trip. My thoughts were to make a stop at the Pine Point Lobster Co-op dock and see what was happening bird wise. Also, you never know what you may come across as you are driving and having a camera along puts to rest the statement, “I wish I had my camera with me”.

Pine Point is situated south of Scarborough, Maine off Route 9. The Scarborough, Nonesuch and Libby Rivers and Jones Creek meet here before spilling into the Saco Bay. Prouts Neck and Ferry Beach State Park are on the opposite shore.

The map below shows the location of Pine Point. Map is interactive.

Bundling up against the cold, I walked out onto the upper dock and immediately saw Horned Grebes, Long-tailed Ducks, Common Loon and Common Eider. Although skies were clear, the temperature was in the single digits with a stiff NW wind. Beard icicles instantly began forming and I began to worry if the batteries in my Canon 40D would hold up against the frigid temps.

Female Long-tailed Duck (Old Squaw)

I quietly made my way down the ramp to the water level dock and used a stack of lobster traps as cover. I flushed just one bird, a male Red-breasted Merganser, which took off with a large fish in its mouth.

The Merganser had trouble flying with such a large fish and it landed on a lobster boat in the harbor and began eating the fish. I watched with the binoculars as Gulls swooped in to torment the duck. He would have nothing of the commotion and went under a tarp and finished its meal in peace.

I watched Long-tailed Ducks feeding in the harbor, hoping a few would come close enough to be photographed. The Eiders seemed to know that I was hiding among the lobster traps and kept their distance. A single Horned Grebe got close enough and put on a wonderful show for me.

The biting wind was taking a toll on my bare face. But the batteries in the camera held up! I shot nearly 200 photos in the 1/2 hour that I stood on that cold, icy dock.

Enjoy the photos. The Titmouse, Red and White-breasted Nuthatch photos were taken at home. The rest at Pine Point. All thumbnails can be clicked upon for a larger view, or when viewing the larger sized image, use controls at bottom of photo to go to next photo. Comments and criticisms are encouraged and appreciated.

Camera: Canon 40D
Lens: Canon 100-400mm IS L
Handheld with BushHawk

Happy birding!

Fighting the flu and watching birds

John Briggs — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 20:01:48 +0000

Did you ever get the cold/flu bug and it just seemed like it did not want to go away? Welcome to my world, I’ve had it for almost a week. Fever, coughing, congestion, head ache…. blah! Drink plenty of fluids, eat chicken soup, keep warm. Watch birds!

I have the comfort of sitting in my recliner wrapped in a blanket beside a picture window. One of my bird feeding stations is only 3 feet away. I can sit here sipping hot tea and watch the activity. My wife has been keeping the feeders full, allowing me to enjoy the bird show.

Instead of placing our Christmas tree out for pick up, we placed it upright near one of the feeding stations. We decorated it with bagel halves, smeared with peanut butter and dipped into bird seed. The birds love it! Birds use the tree as shelter during snowy weather.

I am awaiting the day to feel better and have sunny weather so I can use my Christmas gift from my wife. A camouflaged blind, with a “snow tangle” cover to use during the winter months. It has plenty of room for a swivel chair, my tripod and camera. For now, I occasionally pop open a window and take a few pictures of the birds visiting our feeders. The following photos were taken over the last several days while I recuperate.

Simply click a thumbnail for a larger view.

Happy birding!!