Continuing the Adventures

West Quoddy Light Station Viewed from Liberty Point

We left the motel at 4 AM to travel onto Campobello Island and went to Liberty Point, which is the southern most tip of the island, to photograph the sunrise.  However, nature was against us, and we had fog.  But, there was still a lot to photograph.  Across Lubec channel, the candy striped West Quoddy light station could be visualized through the fog.  A portion of a cliff, rock face was made up of a rhyolite dike of iron pyrite which gave it a reddish color.  Looking at the scene, I decided I I saw the water flowing over the rocks and decided to photograph the scene with a slow shutter speed to blur the water.  Exposing the scene, so my histogram was to the right without touching the right edge and when I looked at the picture on my computer, I decided to utilize Topaz Impressions and convert the picture as a watercolor.

Rhyolite Dike and Water

Harebells

Beachhead Iris

Because Liberty Point gets a lot of fog and salt air, which cause the trees to lose their leaves/needles and turning the trunks and limbs white.

Trees

We next drove down to Con Robinson Point, and as we were slowly driving in I noticed a snowshoe hare feeding in the grass.  Stop the cars, the participants got slowly out and were able to to photograph the very cooperative hare.

Snowshoe Hare

The Path at Con Robinson Point

In the afternoon, we was supposed to go on a whale watch.  It was canceled supposedly due to high winds and thunderstorms (never occurred).  So after lunch we drove down to Truscott Maine, where on the side of the road, there was an old house and then front of the house was a large stand of Fireweed.  This presented many different opportunities for photographs.  We finished the day down at Beal Island, which contains the lobstering fishing village of Beals.  I also spent some time talking with Merle Beal, who was a lobstermen all his life.  Despite a slight drizzle and clouds, everybody had a good time.

Old House with Fireweed and Lupines with Seed Heads

Lobster Traps

Lobstering Equipment

Lobster Trap

Merle Beal

Next morning, we left again for Cutler for a second trip to Machias Seal Island.  I have to give you some information about Machias Seal Island.  The island is about 10 miles southeast from Cutler Maine and the sovereignty of the island is disputed.  Both United States and Canada claim the island.  Ambiguities in the Treaty of Paris which ended the Revolutionary war along with the Treaty of Ghent in 1814 left Machias Seal Island in a gray zone.  The Canadians to maintain their interest in the island keep the lighthouse manned.  In fact, it is the only manned lighthouse on the Atlantic coast of Canada.  The island is also a sanctuary for seabirds and the Canadian wildlife service administers the refuge.  The number of visitors daily to the island is limited.

We traveled out on a calm sea and in the fog to Machias, where after we landed, the fog cleared and presented great light for photography.  We changed which set of blinds, we utilized to give everybody a different perspective from the first day.  Besides the Atlantic puffins and razorbills, the blind that I was in also had a large number of common murres around it.

Lighthouse Keeper

Machias Light in the Fog

Northern Gannet

Northern Gannet, Razorbills and Common Murres

Atlantic Puffin Landing

Photographing in the Blind

Arctic Tern

Common Murres

Razorbills and Common Murre

Common Murre Landing with a Fish in Its Mouth

Atlantic Puffins

On leaving the island, the fog returned and we traveled first around the island and then to not rock to photograph the seals in the fog.

Gray Seals

After returning back to Cutler, we went to the motel where we rested until suppertime and then travel to West Quoddy light for sunset.  Again, it was very foggy, so that was no sunset.  We were able, after it got dark, to photograph the light beams coming from the lighthouse.  We also had a pair of visitors, two American porcupines.  So ended another great day in Down East Maine

West Quoddy Light and the Flags Whipping in the Wind

West Quoddy Light Beams Shining through the Fog

American Porcupine

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Razorbill Antics

Razorbills On the Rocks at Machias Seal Island

Besides all the Atlantic puffins that are on Machias seal island.  There is also a large colony of razorbills probably numbering up to 4000.  A number of the razorbills were putting on a show or either talking to one another or squabbling.  Since I can't speak razorbill I do not know what they were saying.

I captured two photographs of one pair of razorbills yakking with another razorbill on the side of them.  The first picture, I like how this third razorbill was looking at the other two razorbills with its mouth open, possibly saying stop it or whatever.  The second picture had the third razorbill, looking away from the other two razorbills, but, the two other razorbills to me had a better pose.

Razorbills, picture number one, I like the way the third bird is looking at the other two birds and has its mouth open

Razorbills, picture number two I like the way the two birds have their mouth open, but don't like the third birds, looking away

So what to do?  I decided to use Photoshop to see if I could combine both of the pictures into one which expresses my feelings on the scene.  Here's how I did it, I I took the first picture and edited in Lightroom to give me the look I wanted.  Next I utilized Topaz clarity and detail to enhance the picture.  After this, I took the first picture without the Topaz enhancements and in Lightroom synchronized the second picture, then I took the second picture and enhance it also with Topaz clarity and detail settings.  Now the fun begins.  I opened the two images in Photoshop, created a new image with the same dimensions as the original two images.  Under the Windows Menu> Arrange> Float All in Windows.  Then I selected the first of the two images and dragged it onto the new image file, repeated the same action again with the second image.  The layer panel now will contain two new layers, one for each of the original pictures.  Now you select both of the layers and in the Edit Menu , choose Auto-Align Layers and check Reposition Only then click OK.  Click on the top layer and in the layers panel Choose Layer> Layer Mask> Reveal All and add a layer mask to the chosen layer.  Using a black brush.  I painted to reveal the image that I wanted.  When I had the image looking like the way I wanted it to.  I flatten the image and saved it.  Here is the result.

Razorbills, the composite picture, I like this picture because all the birds have their mouth open.

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Additional Photographs from Thursday's Birding Trip

Common Goldeneye - female

Here are some photographs of some of the birds that that we saw during our Thursday birding. On a Thursday birding trip we stopped and birded Jenney pond in Plymouth, Plymouth harbor, Ellisville State Park, Cape Cod Canal both on the Sandwich side and the Scuesset beach side.

Horned Lark - male  I was down low on the sand to take this picture

Horned  Lark - female

"I am resting but keep in my eye on you"  Female Red-Breasted Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser Flapping Wings

Red-breasted Merganser - male sitting on a seaweed covered rock

Female Common Eider

Common Loons

Razorbills, there were at least a dozen razorbills feeding in the canal, when we were on the Sandwich side, they were across the way on the Scuesset side and when we went to the Scuesset side they were on the Sandwich side.

Lesser Black-backed Gull feeding

Initially when we visited Plymouth harbor, the tide was extremely far out and there were no birds in the parking lot, not even rock doves. However, as we made our way back home we re-stopped at the harbor and were able to add the Iceland go to our list (no picture however).