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