Birding in Maine» birds

Photo of the Day: Snowy Egret – Flying Away

John Briggs — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 13:39:56 +0000

Snowy Egret - Flying Away | Click thumbnail for larger view

It was Wednesday morning, and several Snowy Egrets were feeding in the marshy area of our cove, but they were just to far away to get photos. I hoped that they would fly to an area closer to where I was standing, and being low tide, I fully expected this to happen. What I didn’t expect was a flyover of an adult Bald Eagle, causing the Egrets to scatter. All of the Egrets flew away from me, except this one, which flew past where I was standing. It was soon out of sight, but I captured the moment and it became the essential image of the story that I am sharing with you. Enjoy!

Happy birding!

Photo of the Day: Northern Cardinal Portrait

John Briggs — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:56:58 +0000

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) | Click thumbnail for larger view

While hiding in the shadows of our home trying to get a photograph of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, I was surprised when this beautiful male Northern Cardinal landed about ten feet from where I stood. My camera was at my side, and not wanting to spook the bird, I slowly raised my rig. I silently prayed that the bird would stay put. I quickly got off two shots before the Cardinal fled. The first photo was completely out of focus, but the second one was great. Enjoy!

Happy birding!

BPW: Birds and Critters

John Briggs — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:22:20 +0000

I had the opportunity this week, between bouts of studying Anatomy and Physiology, to take my camera to the backyard and points close by to photograph some birds and critters. The activity at our feeding stations is high, with adult male and female birds taking suet, grape jelly and seed back to their nests. I am patiently waiting for fledglings to show up at our feeding stations. A noisy House Finch family are the only species to have fledged so far.

I am also watching two Bald Eagle nests and several Osprey nests, hoping to capture some images of the young leaving the nest. Several families of Mallards and Canada Geese have been motoring around our cove with young in tow, but never close enough to get any worthwhile images. I noticed that one particular goose family has 3 less goslings than the week before. Could be the Bald Eagles feeding their young.

Enjoy the photos of the birds and critters that I have submitted for this weeks edition of Bird Photography Weekly. A note on the Red Fox kit: the image was taken through the windshield of my car, thus the strange looking background. The kit was startled when a tractor came down the dirt lane where it was standing on a pile of old lumber. The background looks strange, but I like the image never-the-less.

Some of the following images are tall. Tap your f11 key to open your browser to its fullest size before viewing. Simply click a thumbnail for a full-sized view.

Happy birding!

Photo of the Day: Tree Swallow In Flight

John Briggs — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:08:25 +0000

Egg on my face! Thanks to Ed Hess for the correction on this species. This is an EASTERN KINGBIRD.

Tree Swallow in Flight | Click thumbnail for larger view

I am not one who tries to get flight shots of such a tiny bird as the tree Swallow. They are fast and hard to get focused. All this said, I was in the backyard a few days ago and saw several of these birds flying around. It was a relatively quiet morning and I decided to give it a try. It was all over in less than a second. One shot…. I got it!

Happy birding!

Photo of the Day: Plunge into water

John Briggs — Thu, 20 May 2010 17:19:07 +0000

Osprey in water | Click thumbnail for larger view

Are you tired of the Osprey photos yet? I’m not! Yet another photo of Osprey catching alewives at Damariscotta Mills, Maine. In this photo, the Osprey is in the water, talons locked onto an alewife and ready to take flight. Shortly after this photo was taken, the Osprey took flight, paused in mid-air to shake water from its feathers and continued on to its nest to share the fish with his mate.