Christmas Vacation...

Hello and welcome back, or if this is your first time here, thanks for visiting. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and was able to share time with their families and friends as I did.

I wanted to post a few photos taken over the past few days. Lots of hawk sightings around noon time, ( I took the whole week off from desk work so that I could paint, hike, take photos and do yoga) I was also able to get some close shots of a Great Blue Heron. It seems to be the same one from the previous post with the goose, he has been in the same spot a lot and takes his time before flying off giving me time to snap some pictures. For the doubters I took a photo of an oak tree with leaves still attached, a red tailed hawk flying off the branch. This is a reminder to enter my CONTEST. Winner will be announced January 1st.












Last but not least, how many deer can you count in this photo? Take a guess!











I will be painting all week and will have updated images for the Birth Of a Painting series. Also, I will possibly be able to post images of a Zelda, a private commission I have been working on for the past 3 days.

Cheers for now!
Bill

Barred Owl Sketch

Barred Owl

(Strix varia)

Average Height: 16-24 inches

Average Weight: 1 1/2-2 pounds

Wingspan: 3-4 feet

Lifespan: 10-15 years in wild, up to 30 years in captivity

Description: The Barred Owl is a large brown owl without "ear tufts." Adults have dark vertical streaking on the chest and belly and white underparts with brown barring in the neck. The Barred Owl has dark brown eyes.

Call: The most common sound of the Barred Owl is "hoo HOO hoo hoo, hoo HOO hoo hooaaahhhhh." This is often interpreted as "Who-cooks-for-you-- who-cooks-for-you-all?" Barred Owls have many vocalizations, however, and also include a "bark."

Range: Barred Owls are found throughout the Eastern and mid-western United States, as well as in the Northwestern states such as Washington and Oregon, and in Canada. It is a very common owl in Connecticut.

Habitat: Barred Owls prefer dense conifer or mixed coniferous and deciduous forests, wooded swamps and river valleys.

Diet: The diet of Barred Owls consists mostly of mice, but also includes squirrels, rabbits, smaller birds, crayfish, amphibians, reptiles and insects.

Source: http://www.sharon.audubon.org/

Birth of a Painting #4 and bonus**

Happy Monday...I had a chance to do a little painting this weekend. I worked on the 'wood pile barn' (need a name for it) and started a new painting of a friends dog Zelda. I am considering posting it as I paint it as well.
Although I went on several hikes, I didn't take too many pictures. This one of a Blue Heron and Canadian Goose was the best of the bunch. I took it on my way back from Jo's house on Chestnut Ridge Rood in Redding. Usually Blue herons wont let me get this close, but I was struggling with enough light to get proper sharpness and exposure. This one however seemed to have a unique feel to it. Cheers
Bill

Click to enlarge

Birth of a Painting #3

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Birth of a Painting #2

Click on image to enlarge!

The Birth of a painting.

A New painting is born!! I have always wanted to keep a record of a painting as it progresses, snapping pictures every few hours. Starting with this first image ( a rough pencil sketch) I will be updating a as I make progress. This painting is based on a photo I took this summer. The subject is a small stack of wood inside of a barn with a strong orange light on the wall as the sun set behind the barn. The location is in Redding Connecticut located on the corner of Topstone Rd. and Umpawaug Rd. I do not know the owner of this building but may drop them a postcard. Every time I drive past this place I feel like I should see a fox or a owl in the barn. It has not happened yet so I decided to make it happen with paint. Although the photo I am working from was taken in summer I will change the season to fall/early winter. Enjoy, check back soon for progress!

click to enlarge image

A Perfect Morning

Sometimes things just happen, all at once. This morning was one of those times. 6:45 am I headed out into sunrise in search of a great photo. I had no idea what was waiting for me in the woods. Being seasonably cold I bundled up for the hour I planned to sit motionless before I had to go to work. As I started into the woods I turned on my camera and did a quick light meter check, the results proved I barley had enough light to take a picture. I continued up the hill and took a side trail to a rock formation where I planned to sit. All at once I noticed a LARGE 8 point buck standing right in front of me, before I could lift my camera he was gone...never stopping once. As he exploded out into the dense brush above me a very large Barred Owl dropped out of a pine and came to rest on a branch to see what was going on. I was shaking from all this action and managed to squeeze out a few shots of him before he too fled to the safety of the deeper forest. I regained my composure and trudged on up the hill towards the rock. As I approached the crest of the hill I noticed the wind was more south west than expected so I changed plans and sat down behind a old pile of wood and began to rattle some antlers for 30 seconds. I waited about 10 minutes and spotted 3 doe running off in the distance, this was a good sign. About 5 minutes after that right ahead of me, coming straight for me was a nice 7 pointer that I know all to well. I maintained frozen as he approached. I watched as he nonchalantly sniffed and browsed without a care in the world. I began snapping a few shots, he continued on past me so close that I could not even fit him in the camera frame. Then he went up to a rub tree and began to rub his antler on the tree and licking it. I continued shooting. He continued off. Two minutes later another buck came along and this one was on to me. A small 5 pointer stood frozen looking right at me waiting for me to make a mistake. I did and off he went. I looked at my watch and realized I had to head back so I could get to work. I think I literally skipped out of the woods in great satisfaction for all the events that took place in such a short period of time. I feel like today mother nature gave me my Christmas present early. I have NEVER seen a barred owl while hiking and this is by far the closest a buck has ever walked to me. Here are some of the pictures. Click to enlarge.
Stop back soon and don't forget to enter the contest in the post before this one. The value of the grand prize could be upward of $150!!!