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

Owl Nesting Box Construction

Tere Mills

Its almost nesting time, and I missed the window to do this project last winter. With the rainy and dreary weather I took advantage of the garage wood shop to make 3 owl nesting boxes this weekend. One is BIG and designed for larger barred owls, the other 2 are smaller and made for screech and saw whet owls. It was a little tough getting them high up in the tree but they are all hung now. I started with common white pine board, one 8' x 1' board will make one screech owl house

I added a small inside perch to help owlets get to the hole to look out. 

Although I was not thrilled about spending $7 on cedar shavings I think the comfort aspect will make this house very attractive to a owl about to nest. 

Screech owl box hung high in a hemlock near my back swamp

Barred owl Box hung as high as I could get it ( almost fell off ladder) just above our vernal pool

Screech owl box high over our garden. I have a feeling this one is a winner, it gets great sun and will keep the owls warm in the cold late winter days. 

Now we wait!
Let me know if you would like the plans I used, heck, I might even make you one if you are really interested!

Happy Sunday
-Bill

Pine Grosbeaks

Although considered a fairly common winter visitor, I have never really identified these beautiful winter visitors until just yesterday. Fortunately we have a mob of them on the tree right in front of my office. Today I saw over 20 in one tree alone!
-Bill

I think this is a male

amazing feather detail!

Apparently I am not the only one who noticed all the birds in the area

Love this pose showing the coloration perfectly