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