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