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