Fall Spectacular!

 I have been lucky enough to photograph and enjoy some of the best peak foliage in the East ( Vermont, New Hampshire) and more recently the West, ( Utah).  Here are some of my favorite shots from the past 3 weeks.

-Bill

Acworth, NH

Old Friends

Near Bennington, VT

Class 6 Road

Bennington, VT

Uinta Mountains, Utah

Uinta Mountains, Utah

Kestral

Benninton, VT Fine Art show

This weekend I will be headed to Bennington, VT to join artist from across the country to see my painting in the Impressions of New England art show. This nationwide annual exhibition will include images captured in paint and bronze. Seashores, rolling hills, foliage and New England wildlife will be depicted in over seventy fine works of art. Participants have included Elizabeth Apgar-Smith, Kathleen Kennedy, Gerald Lubeck, Pat Parkinson, Ian Ramsay, Carolyn Walton, and Timothy Thies.

I am super excited to be part of this amazing show, and ready to see Vermont at its finest at the PERFECT foliage weekend!

 

Owls, Owls Owls

I had a great time this past weekend attending the live owl educational show called " Eyes on Owls" put on by Marcia and Mark Wilson. All of the owls that they featured were permanently disabled physically or mentally. Amazing to be so close to such amazing creatures.
-Bill

 Eurasian Eagle Owl

 Saw Whet Owl ( in focus) Eastern Screech Owl Red Phase

 Eastern Screech Owl Red Phase

 Snowy Owl

Fall Art Shows!

2 of my acrylic paintings are now on exhibit in Bennington, Vt at the Bennington Center for the Arts. If your in the area Please stop by to check them out. Show runs September 11 - November 28, 2010

On another note,  2 photos and one painting will be showing at the Beaver Brook Association's "Forever Nature" show in Hollis, NH. Show dates are October 3&3rd. Please stop by and check out Beaver Brook, allow some time to check out the amazing trails and foliage.

Amazing Video from the BBC

What an amazing experience to be able to film one of these guys up close at will. Enjoy!
-Bill

Broad-Winged Hawk Migration at Pack Monadnock

 Broad-winged Hawks forming a 'kettle' as they rise on the warm thermals to continue migration south

After reading Pack Monadnock Raptor Migration Observatory's amazing 3000+ hawk report from Saturday I decided to go check it out. On Sunday I headed to Peterborough and join a great group of birders from all walks of life. Although we did not see any birds for the first few hours things changed quickly!
The official counter Henry Walters posted a days total ( from 6:15am-4:45pm) of 1792 birds, 1727 of them were broad-winged hawks. An amazing experience I will not soon forget!

Lone Broad-Wing passing by.

Turkey Vulture on a thermal


2011 Calendars!! 
2011 Calendars are ready for pre-order and will start shipping in 2 weeks. This 13 month calendar contains my favorite shots from the past few years. They make a great gift!

 

Surf and Turf

 2 for the price of one!

At the time I took these images earlier today I had no idea what I captured. Once
I opened these photos up on my computer I noticed this Blue Heron caught a frog AND a crayfish in once bite. As the high speed shots continued,  the crayfish shook free and fell into the water. The frog became lunch. After watching this heron for about a half hour he ate an amazing 6 frogs!

Action shot

Here is a video clip from today, I still have a lot to learn about video, somehow it got cropped in to much and you loose the heron a bit. Still cool to watch!

The velvet peels..

Each year the antlers of a white-tailed deer fall off and regrow. This time of year (early to mid September) the outer layer of skin and hair called 'velvet', will peel from the now hardened antler. It will appear bloody but research seems to indicate this is not a painful process for the deer because the nerve endings have turned off with the calcification. For years I have spent a lot of time trying to witness this amazing event with no luck. Things changed this year. What makes this such a rare experience is that the very small time frame when this actually happens. From my reading it seems that this event happens in 10-24 hours until all the velvet is totally peeled off. Many times the deer will eat the skin for many reasons from nutritional value, to cleaning up its own scent to help avoid predators.

Also got some great shots of this little bird which I THINK is a Black-throated Green Warbler. Cute little guy.

Lifestyle Photos

Recently I have been spending a fair amount of time developing a 'style' for some upcoming life style photo shoots for NEMO Equipment. I feel like I am settling in on this saturated, high-contrast, tilt shift feel. This treatments helps convey emotion and sense of place while leaving the door open for imagination and an almost dreamlike feel. Hope you enjoy!

-Bill

Trip to Peaks Island, Maine

Sunset over Portland, Maine

I took a trip to Peaks Island off the coast of Portland, Maine this weekend.  While I didn't take very many pictures I think I made up for it in quality. This has become a new effort driven by the size of the files this new camera takes take less but better pictures, I can get used to this! Also saw a Black and White Warbler ( have not seen one for a few years) Great weather, friends and lobster, yes..VERY fresh lobster!

Young Osprey on the pier.

Black Crowned Night Heron, first sighting for me.
 

Beautiful, old sailboat heads back to port

Merlin, another first for me.

Another Osprey come in for a closer look

3 Stooges

I have seen these guys a bunch recently...I call them the 3 stooges!

The good with the bad.

Sometimes things happen for a reason. This weekend I dropped my camera on the pavement. Ill keep the details out. It was not a good feeling. Picking up its fractured body off the road I had one clear thought, "UPGRADE" Here is my first video. Heck I might start doing some video post regularly. Lots of new images on the way from this weekend!

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