User: `Rhododendrites`

Long-time Wikimedian who decided, a few years ago, to try to take better pictures to contribute to Commons. I feel like I've learned a lot from this community, and continue to do so. Always welcome photography tips/constructive criticism.

Though I take pictures of lots of things, a few areas of concentration are the New York City area in general, protests, conventions (not so much in 2020), and birds (much more so in 2020). If you're in NYC (or coming to NYC) and want tips or to plan a photography outing, let me know. There are several Wikimedian photographers here.

My main camera is an Olympus OM-D E-M5 mark ii (micro four-thirds format). I like it, but don't know if I can recommend the format any longer. Olympus announced in 2020 that they plan to get out of the camera game. The future of its camera business seems unclear at the moment, possibly being transferred to another company, and Panasonic is the only other company making the gear (with some compatibility issues around the way they do their image stabilization). I hope it'll look up, but we'll see.

This is my main account for contributing to Wikimedia projects. From March-July 2021, I contracted with the Wikimedia Foundation, researching the impact of Suggested Edits on Commons. My WMF account is User:Rhododendrites (WMF), which is now inactive. Edits I make through this account are strictly as a volunteer.

Rhododendrites

rhododendrites AT gmail DOT com

(FP-VI-QI)

 
Featured Pictures - the birds
Image 1Snowy egret in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 2Northern rough-winged swallows in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 3Northern flicker looking out from its nest in the Central Park North Woods
Image 4Ovenbird in Prospect Park
Image 5Apricot Mandarin duckling in Royal Lazienki Park
Image 6Eastern wood pewee in Central Park
Image 7A rescued American kestrel that couldn't be released so is now serving as an "ambassador" bird
Image 8Yellow warbler in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 9Tufted titmouse floofed up in Central Park
Image 10Pine siskin in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 11Fish crow cawing in Red Hook, Brooklyn
Image 12Marsh wren singing at Hammonasset Beach State Park
Image 13Scarlet tanager eating a berry in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 14Common grackle showing off its iridescence in Central Park
Image 15Western kingbird at Bush Terminal Park
Image 16Semipalmated sandpiper at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 17Lincoln's sparrow in Brooklyn, NYC
Image 18Mute swan and cygnets on a duckweed-covered pond
Image 19Tufted titmouse perched in Central Park
Image 20Cedar waxwing in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 21Chipping sparrow on a grave in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 22American coot in Prospect Park
Image 23Lesser yellowlegs wading at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 24Black-capped chickadee at a feeder in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 25Blackpoll warbler in a flowering dogwood tree in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 26Blue jay in Prospect Park
Image 27Gray catbird in Prospect Park
Image 28Immature cooper's hawk in Prospect Park
Image 29First-winter American herring gull, Brooklyn
Image 30Winter wren in Prospect Park
Image 31Great blue heron lurching its head back to swallow a brown watersnake in Green Cay Wetlands
Image 32Western kingbird at Bush Terminal Piers Park
Image 33Immature herring gull manipulating a clam in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 34Pine warbler in Brooklyn, NYC
Image 35Brown thrasher (snow-nosed variety) in Central Park
Image 36Male brown-headed cowbird in Prospect Park
Image 37Pine warbler perched in Prospect Park
Image 38Broad-billed motmot at the Arenal Observatory
Image 39Northern mockingbird on a fence in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
Image 40Piping plover chick in Queens
Image 41American tree sparrow in Central Park
Image 42Northern mockingbird in a "tail up" display in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 43Gray catbird in Central Park
Image 44European starling in Central Park
Image 45Green heron in Prospect Park
Image 46Male house sparrow in Prospect Park
Image 47Northern cardinal female in Central Park
Image 48Female American redstart in Brooklyn, NYC
Image 49European starlings on a birdhouse on Staten Island
Image 50Mourning dove perched in Prospect Park, Brooklyn
Image 51Western tanager which popped up in NYC, far from its usual range
Image 52Red-tailed hawk, fearsome predator
Image 53Tree swallow on a nest box in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 54White-throated sparrow in Prospect Park
Image 55Rufous motmot, Costa Rica
Image 56White ibis in Ocean City, New Jersey (I kind of prefer the uncropped version)
Image 57Short-billed dowitcher in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge East Pond
Image 58Redhead in Central Park
Image 59Killdeer at the South Cape May Meadows
Image 60Eastern kingbird
Image 61Golden-crowned kinglet
Image 62Northern shoveler pair "shoveling" together in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 63Golden-crowned kinglet at a banding station
Image 64Field sparrow in Central Park
Image 65Great blue heron on frozen pond in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 66Bay-breasted warbler in Central Park
Image 67White-breasted nuthatch on a suet feeder in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 68Purple martin in flight in Cape May, New Jersey
Image 69Wood duck drake vocalizing in Central Park
Image 70Dark-eyed junco in Brooklyn
Image 71Juvenile eastern kingbird
Image 72Ruby-crowned kinglet in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 73First winter laughing gull in Riverhead, New York
Image 74Semipalmated plover in Queens, NYC
Image 75Least sandpiper in breeding plumage in Queens, NYC
Image 76Lesser yellowlegs in Queens, NYC
Image 77American woodcock in Bryant Park
Image 78Close-up of a white-throated sparrow in Central Park
Image 79Rehabilitated eastern screech owl
Image 80Male northern shoveler in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 81Downy woodpecker foraging in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 82Juvenile yellow-bellied sapsucker in Prospect Park
Image 83Glossy ibis in Queens, NYC
Image 84Marsh wren singing at Hammonasset Beach State Park
Image 85Black-and-white warbler in Prospect Park
Image 86Gray catbird watching a hawk fly overhead in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 87Female northern cardinal in Central Park
Image 88Snowy egret
Image 89Semipalmated sandpiper vocalizing in Queens, NYC
Image 90House sparrows in Central Park
Image 91Ring-billed gull in Red Hook, Brooklyn
Image 92Baltimore oriole (immature/female) in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 93Warbling vireo singing in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 94Mute swan cygnet pontoon on a duckweed-covered pond
Image 95Piping plover in Queens
Image 96Western gull sitting on a boat in San Francisco Bay
Image 97American robin making a dog whistle-like alarm call in Prospect Park
Image 98Common grackle in Prospect Park
Image 99Ospreys in a nest on Sandy Hook, New Jersey
Image 100Palm warbler perched in Prospect Park
Image 101Canada goose gosling in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 102Male black-throated green warbler in Prospect Park
Image 103Red-tailed hawk yearbook photo, class of 2022, Central Park
Image 104Female brown-headed cowbird chattering in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 105Great blue heron in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 106Eastern wood pewee in Prospect Park
Image 107Female wood duck
Image 108Male northern flicker in Manhattan, NYC
Image 109American robin
Image 110Yellow-bellied sapsucker in Central Park
Image 111Male northern cardinal in Central Park
Image 112Black-crowned night heron in Prospect Park
Image 113Red-tailed hawk rescue
Image 114Northern waterthrush in Central Park
Image 115Downy woodpecker with a leaf on its nose in Prospect Park
Image 116American avocet fishing in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 117Cape May warbler in Prospect Park
Image 118White-breasted nuthatch doing its nuthatchy pose in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 119Three ring-billed gulls in Red Hook
Image 120Blue jay fledgling calling for its parent in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 121Great kiskadee in La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Image 122Black-capped chickadee eating seeds in Central Park
Image 123Great black-backed gull in Quogue, NY
Image 124Hermit thrush at Brooklyn Bridge Park
Image 125Ring-billed gull in a rainbow over Niagara Falls
Image 126Gray catbird with a chokeberry in Prospect Park
Image 127Ring-billed gull in flight over Red Hook, Brooklyn
Image 128Male yellow-rumped warbler singing in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 129House finch with a sunflower seed at a feeder in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 130Tufted titmouse with a seed in Prospect Park
Image 131Palm warbler in a meadow in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 132Red-necked phalarope at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 133House sparrow mother with chicks
Image 134Lesser yellowlegs at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 135American goldfinch in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 136Juvenile Forster's tern calling for its parent in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 137Palm warbler in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 138Tropical kingbird in the rain by Lake Arenal
Image 139Veery in the Central Park Ramble
Image 140Juvenile American robin
Image 141American oystercatcher family portrait on Fort Tilden beach
Image 142House wren doing its best eel impression guarding its nestbox.
Image 143Brown creeper about to be released at a bird banding station in the United States
Image 144American avocet
Image 145Dark-eyed junco at Bush Terminal Park
Image 146Huge flock of gulls just after they were spooked by something during a horseshoe crab feeding frenzy in Cape May, New Jersey
Image 147Cedar waxwing in pokeweed in Prospect Park
Image 148Song sparrow on Lookout Hill in Prospect Park
Image 149Immature mute swan in Prospect Park
Image 150Ring-billed gull coming in for an unwelcome landing
Image 151A rescued Eurasian eagle-owl
Image 152Mandarin duck drake in eclipse plumage in Royal Lazienki Park
Image 153Female hooded merganser resting on the Central Park Reservoir
Image 154Ring-billed gull preening/bathing in Marine Park
Image 155Great egret stabbing the water in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 156Blue-gray tanager in La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Image 157Female Blackburnian warbler in Brooklyn, NYC
Image 158Juvenile yellow-crowned night heron at Plumb Beach
Image 159Anna's hummingbird in Pacifica, California
 
Featured Pictures - everything else
Image 1Moschino fall 2014 ready-to-wear ensemble in the Camp: Notes on Fashion exhibit at the Met
Image 2Saint Christopher Street in Valletta
Image 3Female Huron sachem in Brooklyn, NYC
Image 4Red-legged grasshopper feeding on a flower in Tennessee
Image 5Sukkah at Congregation Emanu-El of New York
Image 6American lady butterfly on a purple coneflower
Image 7Eastern amberwing
Image 8Great golden digger wasp in Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 9Juvenile Nubian ibex on a wall at the edge of Makhtesh Ramon
Image 10Monarch butterfly
Image 11Composite of a clementine with/without peel
Image 12Ash tree behind a columbarium in Mount Auburn Cemetery
Image 13Hell Gate Bridge
Image 14Salix catkins
Image 15The Dyker Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn is known for lots of elaborate Christmas lights, earning the nickname "Dyker Lights"
Image 16Defunct Chestnut Hill Pumping Station in Boston
Image 17Sarracenia leucophylla
Image 18Lower Manhattan panorama
Image 19A mural of patients in the long-defunct Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital
Image 20Optical illusion on the floor of the Florence Cathedral
Image 21Chinese mantis ootheca in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 22Fulton Center skylight
Image 23Memorial to the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting, taken just after Stonewall Inn was designated part of a National Monument
Image 24Triq San Patrizju facing the Basilica Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Valletta, Malta
Image 25Eastern chipmunk with stuffed cheeks in Prospect Park
Image 26Pond sliders (red and yellow) and a river cooter fighting for basking space
Image 27Nine-banded armadillo in Costa Rica
Image 28Mantled howler monkey with baby in Costa Rica
Image 29Blue dasher with Arrenurus water mites in Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 30Glass blower. This was moments before he accidentally dropped it. Heartbreaking (and vasebreaking). Talented folks here, though, and I actually went back a while later and took a class. Got a piece of lit up frozen spaghetti to prove it.
Image 31Cattlianthe Gold Digger ‘Orglade's Mandarin’ orchid
Image 32Rooftop farm on the Lower East Side
Image 33Common buckeye in Eagle Creek Park, Indianapolis
Image 34Open Ocean exhibit at Monterey Bay Aquarium
Image 35Two juvenile Nubian ibex
Image 36Twice-stabbed stink bug on meadow anemone
Image 37Familiar bluet in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 38Razor clamshell dress from spring/summer 2001, in the Sleeping Beauties exhibition at The Met
Image 39Abandoned building in Floyd Bennett Field
Image 40Large milkweed bug
Image 41Female eastern amberwing
Image 42Boston Public Garden
Image 43Baird's tapir mother with baby in Costa Rica
Image 44Black Lives Matter mural in Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Image 45Eastern gray squirrel in Central Park
Image 46Prospect Park Vale of Cashmere covered in lesser celandine, with a leucistic white squirrel in the distance
Image 47Castle Square, Warsaw
Image 48Male elephant seal resting between fights in Ano Nuevo
Image 49Quogue Village Wetlands Preserve
Image 50Immature male blue dasher
Image 51California sea lion in La Jolla. My first experience seeing wild sea lions in person. It was ... loud. This one just looked downright majestic in the sun.
Image 52Arenal volcano
Image 53Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Katowice
Image 54Bow Bridge in Central Park (panorama)
Image 55Red admiral butterfly on purple coneflower in Brooklyn Bridge Park
Image 56Pond sliders in Prospect Park
Image 57White (leucistic) eastern gray squirrel with a peanut
Image 58TWA Hotel
Image 59Male eastern amberwing dragonfly in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 60Jun Takahashi dress for Undercover in the Sleeping Beauties exhibition at the Met
Image 61Algal mat in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 62A cavapoo dog chasing a malipoo dog with a ball
Image 63A [pretty dodgy] bridge along a cliff path at the edge of Makhtesh Ramon
Image 64Hudson Yards in New York, taken from the top of Hudson Commons (9-frame panorama)
Image 65Abandoned car in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 66Camp: Notes on Fashion at the Met
Image 67Quarry in Makhtesh Ramon
Image 68Sasheer Zamata at a Time's Up event during the Tribeca Film Festival
Image 69Wonder Wheel sign on Coney Island
Image 70Ship in the San Francisco Bay fog. Got lucky with the dramatic fog on this one, which opened up just enough to frame the ship in light.
Image 71Condenser at the defunct Chestnut Hill Pumping Station
Image 72Meadow in the morning in the Great Smoky Mountains (with namesake smoke)
Image 73Tiger bee fly
Image 74Coleus
Image 75Maroon Bells. Easily one of the most awe-inspiring natural scenes I've experienced.
Image 76Duomo Firenze terrace
Image 77Bluebells in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 78Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge East Pond
Image 79Maroon Bells
Image 80Toronto Reference Library interior from the top floor
Image 81Sunset sky over Governors Island, NYC (panorama)
Image 82Group photo of four pears
Image 83Monarch butterfly
Image 84Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco (18-frame panorama)
Image 85Manhattan at night, looking north from Rockefeller Center
Image 86Crook Point Bascule Bridge in Providence. It's been stuck in the open position for 50 years. A local landmark, but slated for destruction soon.
Image 87Monarch butterfly caterpillar on butterfly weed
Image 88Pearl crescent on purple coneflower
Image 89Lincoln Center during Pride at dusk
Image 90Northern flatid planthopper nymph
Image 91Pier 66 and Hudson Yards
Image 92Strawberry poison dart frog in Costa Rica
Image 93One World Trade Center through the Oculus
Image 94Proboscis bats in Alajuela Province, Costa Rica
Image 95Coney Island Mermaid Parade
Image 96Left by Gucci/Dapper Dan, 2018. Right by Louis Vuitton/Kim Jones, autumn/winter 2018-19, Camp: Notes on Fashion exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Image 97Waldemarsviken in Stockholm
Image 98Green iguana panorama in Palm Beach County
Image 99Abandoned van by Gerritsen Creek
Image 100Fork-tailed bush katydid close-up in Walland, Tennessee
Image 101Staszic Palace, Warsaw
Image 102Bee balm seedhead
Image 103California sea lion nap time at La Jolla Cove
Image 104Burberry rainbow cape at the Camp: Notes on Fashion exhibition
Image 105Bigfin reef squid at Monterey Bay Aquarium
Image 106Red squirrel in Lazienki Park
Image 107A mural of patients in the long-defunct Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital
Image 108An island (with ospreys) in Trustom Pond in the fog
Image 109City Hall Station in Manhattan, abandoned since 1945 because it looked cool but didn't
Image 110Crocuses in early spring.
Image 111Eldridge Street Synagogue
Image 112Moss-covered oak trees in the Bothe-Napa Valley State Park
Image 113Male zabulon skipper in Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 114Raccoon in Central Park
Image 115Hell Gate Bridge walking path on Randall's Island
Image 116Florence seen from the Duomo terrace
Image 117Panorama of the Apennine Colossus in Tuscany
Image 118White (leucistic) eastern gray squirrel perched on a tree in Brooklyn
Image 119Male monarch butterfly on Tithonia
Image 120Male familiar bluet
Image 121Makhtesh Ramon
Image 122Eastern cottontail portrait in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 123Window in a cafe in San Gimignano, Italy
Image 124Pipevine swallowtail
Image 125Comme des Garcons at the Met
Image 126Eastern cicada killer perched on a black-eyed susan
Image 127Rice paper butterfly with light shining through in Butterfly World, Florida
Image 128Oculus
Image 129Frizzle sizzle
Image 130Redbeckia occidentalis
Image 131Panorama of the once-active waterfront of Sunset Park, Brooklyn
Image 132Small milkweed bug in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 133Clouded sulphur in Brooklyn, NYC
Image 134Alexander Hamilton Custom House Collector's Room ceiling. Had to be a bit obnoxious to get this one, setting up a little tripod in the center of a crowded room and actually getting down on the floor to frame it. Who doesn't like a nice ornate ceiling with a nautical theme, though?
Image 135Daubeny's water lily
Image 136The Seaside Sanatorium in Connecticut
Image 137Male tiger swallowtail butterfly in Central Park (missing its tails)
Image 138Hell Gate Bridge, with a scow being towed along the Hell Gate section of the East River
Image 139Coney Island Mermaid Parade (no, this is not a picture of Rhododendrites)
Image 140Orchard orbweaver
Image 141Stata Center at MIT
Image 142Northern elephant seals in Ano Nuevo, California
Image 143Magnolia x veitchii bud
Image 144Northern dog-day cicaca exuvia on a flower in Green-Wood Cemetery