New Hampshire Coyote

 click image to enlarge

This photo marks my most succesful photo of a Eastern Coyote to date. Amazing how much larger they are than their Western counterparts. I have read more than once that this has to do with the migration of the coyote eastward. As they moved east coyotes would mate with wolves produceing a lager mix breed animal that has a bigger skull and body size much like a wolf. I love the light and expression in the photo above. Once again he has began feeding on a deer that had been killed by him and his friends a few weeks ago. The feeding stopped once the temperatures froze it solid. With the weather in the mid 40's this week he has returned almost every day, and this one time during day light for over an hour and a half.

 

  

 

After the snow

I got a nice look at this big Red-Tail this morning as he hunted a small field. I was able to set up and take this photo as a HDR or ( High Dynamic Range) photo that is the combination of 3 differently exposed shots fused together. It creates depth and tonal range that almost becomes surreal. I have also been experimenting with super tight sharp focus like on this Chickadee and  Nuthatch below. Click images to see at full size and best sharpness.
-Bill

Snowy Owl

After threes attempts to locate and photograph a Snowy Owl, I finally got it. This bright white  owl was located on Plum Island about 100 yards away napping on the salt mash ice. Im very excited to have seen this for the first time, was also able to add a Cooper Hawk to my lifetime bird list!

Coyote Attacked deer *UPDATED*

***Look below as I update this post.***

New image updated Feb 8th

This fox has been a nightly visitor to the carcass, where are the coyotes?

Feb 5th ( scroll down to see updates)

Its hard to say if this is the same deer I photographed last week with the injured leg,  but I'm willing to bet it is. It was found dead at the teeth of coyotes Monday morning.

The deer is a one and a half year old buck that has shed its antlers. Its amazing to think how fast the coyotes ate basically half this deer in one night, the same night they brought it down.  Since the deer was found its carcass was reported to the DNR and moved to the back of the property. Here, I fastened my motion activated camera pointed right on it and plan to leave it for a week to see just how many coyotes are traveling in the local pack that is responsible for this. It is said that 1/3rd of a coyotes diet in the Northeast consist of deer meat. This is the third deer in as many years that has been found dead from coyote attacks in the same orchard. The previous two had fought so hard for life that in the battle they actually shed their antlers, and they were found next to the carcass. Wow. Check back int he next few days to see more as this story unfolds .

***UPDATE Feb  8th**
The deer has been dragged about 100 yards by the coyotes. You can see in the background of the second image , a trail of hair from the drag. Its amazing to think how the coyotes were able to drag the deer this far, it must weight about 100 lbs. It must have been a team effort? I cant imagine one coyote can drag an entire deer, or can it? I have had the motion sensor camera on the carcass about a week now, so far the only visitor has been this beautiful healthy fox. To keep the deer in one place we have driven some steel rebar into the frozen ground and fastened its legs with wire. Since then, the coyotes have vanished. I can only think that the human sent at the site has kept them back. I will be checking the cameras tomorrow.

stay tuned!!

Northern Harrier

I took a trip to Plum Island this weekend off the coast of Newbury, Mass in seach of a recently reported Snowy Owl. No luck with the snowy owl (yet)  but I was able to not only see, but photograph a Northern Harrier. A first for me!

This image below captured just before sunset, shows a doe with some sort of leg injury. The land owner has told me he he has seen her around a few times, and also that he has seen a several coyotes in the past few days.