New Walkway!

Our big spring project turned out to be not much work at all, we let someone else do it! I am glad we did too. This took almost 5 full days of major excavating and stone setting. Hope you enjoy this little animation I created.
Bill

Click to see full size

The Prairie Warbler

With temperatures warming up, the spring migration of birds from south to north is well underway. I wanted to highlight one of my first warblers that I heard this year, as well as some photos I captured yesterday. Birds like the Praire Warbler travel long distances this time of year from Central America all the way to northern New England to nest.

The Prairie Warbler to me means one thing, powerlines. As much as people tend to dislike the look of these huge wooden structures strung with hundreds of miles of cables that cross the state, they do provide very important habitat for many forms of wildlife. With the disappearance of active farmland, powerlines create the perfect habitat for these migrants.

The first clue that you may have found a prairie warbler is is song. It stand out as very distinct among the other songs you may hear this time of year.

The second clue is the bright yellow feathers with jet black stripes and a chestnut patch on its shoulders. This bird is know for bobbing its tail.

If your out and about this time of year keep your ears open for its zeee zeee zeee zeee zeee zeeee ascending call.

-Bill

Photography Enrichment Class

I had an amazing time the last 6 weeks working with ten students in the Upper Elementary program at The Cornerstone School. We learned the basic foundation of what makes a great photo. From composition, framing, and negative space, to balance and experimentation, we covered it. We looked at timeless examples of classic photos and then applied what we discussed out in the field.

Here are some of my favorite images from the class.

I am so proud of them and how much they learned in such a short amount of time.

We finished the last class with an art show to share with other classes, the students explained each of their photos like true artist!

This was my favorite part! Thanks guys!!

Signs of Spring!

Nothing says spring like the annual show the male wild turkeys put on for the hens. We have been lucky enough to have them in our yard just about every morning.

As the snow melts it reveals our lawns ...

...and the forest floor, one of my favorite spring treasures is finding antlers shed by the white tailed deer during the coldest winter months. True luck happens when you find a matched set!

The sugar maple trees are giving forth one of my favorite treats, maple syrup! I have tried the first batch this year and it is amazing, a nice medium amber.

Even the goldfinches are putting on their best attire ready to show the brilliant yellow they are known for!

Hope everyone has a great Easter weekend!
-Bill

Winter Sunrise

Here are a few shots from the morning after a recent storm here in Barrington, NH. It pays to get up early!

Bald Eagles on Ice!

While Ice fishing this weekend I had some nice close encounters with a mature ( full white head) bald eagle. NOt only was he close the light was amazing right at sunset! These were shot on Great Pond in Belgrade Maine.
-Bill

First Antler of 2013!

I love this time of year. Winters been hanging on, wildlife is surviving on the last remains of stems, acorns and anything else that provides basic calories and nutrition. Just a few weeks from now spring will rear it head and life will again return to the forest.

Still has fresh blood drops on it!

Part of this annual cycle as far as white tailed deer are concerned is a subject I have written about many times, the shedding of the antlers. I always think of Feb 1 as the true beginning of this process that can last for the next 4 weeks.

 Look at his right antler and compare it to the imag eof it ont he ground. The same!!

I went to check my trail camera last weekend and had a few deer walk by with antlers still hanging on. When I went back this weekend to check it I was super excited to stumble across a small very fresh antler about 50 yards from my camera. Then I realized the photo my trail camera captured the week before was the deer who had dropped the antler while he was still holding onto it. very cool!

Here are some more outtakes:

 If I had a dollar for every time i took my own photo on a trail camera....

-Bill

Eagles and Ice fishing

A  yearly tradition that happens right about now, ( especially with the nice cold streak we have had) is ice fishing. Yesterday I headed out to South Berwick, Maine, about a 20 minute drive and had a blast with one of my old fraternity brother Eric. We were catching so many fish traps we going off 2 at a time. It was actually making it difficult to even cook the venison because the traps kept going off!

Well it was not only a great day of fishing and being with friends but we also got some amazing views of a juvenile bald eagle.  This was good practice for our big trip up to Belgrade in a few weeks!

Thanks for stopping by!
Bill

A few more bird paintings complete!

These little paintings have been a blast. Here are a few more recently completed. First is a Northern Cardinal, and that is followed by one of my favorite visitors, the Cedar Waxwing!

My Facebook Page

Hello everyone. I wanted to remind you that if you are on Facebook you should LIKE my Facebook page. I do a photo of the day and share some more of my small adventures and art than I do here. Hope you are well and thanks for stopping by!
-Bill