Raptors, new glass.

Nashua river ospreys were very active last night. Went out in the canoe with my friend Alan, also a photographer from Hollis. With wind and light being a challenge, we were still able to squeeze off a few nice captures. In fact this is one below may be my personal favorite osprey images I have ever taken.

Mother and child, adult osprey have yellow eyes, while the juveniles have a copper colored eye.

 That leaves me to this morning. On my way to work I spotted a pair of redtails getting harassed by what I believe were European Starlings. This went on and on for 20 minutes. Would have stayed longer but had to get to work!

Im field testing a new lens, a F2.8 400mm with a 1.4 teleconverter. Its amazing how heavy and bulky it is. I am on day 2 of 7 that I will be using this lens. While the benefits of huge glass are very apparent in this test I did below.

On the left is my everyday wildlife lens, the middle is 'my' new one, also a 400mm, far right is the new one with a 1.4x magnification teleconverter.

Got him!

After several attempts to capture a quality image of a Common Yellowthroat it happened this morning. Remaining still, I was surrounded by mosquitoes and deer flies for about 15 minutes while I waited, staring intently into a pile of tangled weeds waiting for him to come out. I could hear it, but he was being very shy. When he did come out it lasted about 20 seconds, but I was ready!
Good start to the weekend!
-Bill

Light

 Old equipment barn at Woodmont Orchards, Hollis NH

I've never been so obsessed with light as I am these days. I realized this the other night when the National Weather Service warned of impending doom "frequent lightning and quarter-sized hail". It was a Monday night which I planned to keep it chill and relax after a long, hot day at work. Plans changed. I had already flipped the TV on and plopped down on the couch for a particularly funny episode of Two and a Half Men when I peered to the window and saw the sky evolving into an abstract set of colors and light. Right there I decided I need to go and find the tallest hill with a nice open skyline that was close to my house. I immediately  thought of an old apple farm called Woodmont Orchards. These orchards are part public land, part rundown apple orchards and part land that is about to be leased for agriculture in a creative way to save it from development.  The following photos are the result of walking around for 2 hours till sunset with no mission other than to wait for moments of particular beauty and try to capture them. While the true storm missed us to the south it was a surreal, almost dreamlike experience non-the-less.

-Bill

 The old abandon farm house

 Lightning off in the distance

 Old orchard in desperate need of pruning and love

Red-Tailed Hawk watching the approaching storm

Monday Morning Walk

I tried to beat the heat today and went for a nice short walk at Beaver Brook. The open fields are nice because the deerflies don't seem to venture out into them. The indigo buntings seem here to stay, every time I walk out there I see several male and females.

 Juvenile Cedar Waxwing

 Common Yellow Throat

 Unknown

Species seen
Indigo Buntings 6
C. Waxwings 12 (one juv PHOTO)
Yellow Throat 1 (Photo)
House Wrens 20?
Gold Finches 10
Pine warbler 3
Downy WP 1
Unknown Raptor
Unknown warblerlike bird (photo) 3-4


I would love some feedback on the unknown bird, there were at least 3 or 4 of them. 

-Bill

Ben and Sarah's Wedding

I was very excited when I was asked to shoot the wedding of my close friends Ben and Sarah. I'll admit it was the first time I have shot a wedding so it was a little bit nerve racking. But in the end it was an exciting experience and allowed me to check out a new part of the country I have never visited, Asheville, North Carolina. Here are a very small sampling of the images, go HERE to see a larger selection of the over 1300 images taken!
-Bill

click any image to enlarge

 To view more Images from the wedding click HERE.

Indigo Buntings

 I went for a early walk today before the temperature reached the 90's. On my walk I was happy to be surrounded by Indigo Buntings for about a half hour. I was trying out a new lens 28-300 F3, while I like it I think I prefer my 100-400 for focus accuracy and speed in a wildlife situation.

Male and Female Indigo Buntings

Yet another Barred Owl, and Ruffed Grouse.

Once again, in a matter of 4 weeks I have seen as many Barred Owls. This one appears to be young and was located less than 200 yards from the images I posted June 3rd. I will be checking the area frequently to see if it was a fluke or a regular hangout for these guys. On my way back to my truck this morning I flushed a Ruffed Grouse and blew a perfect photo opportunity, again. Next time!