First of the Year

Got a nice shot of a Green-Winged Teal this morning in Hollis. Love these ducks.

New Painting stage 3

New Painting!

Stage 2

Its been ages since I have painted a deer, this guy come from a vivid memory from Connecticut a few years ago. As I was walking out on a morning hike felt something looking at me from the brush, as I glanced over my shoulder, there he was one of the biggest deer I have ever seen 15 feet away just frozen looking at me. Within seconds he disappeared like a ghost. I was amazed how he could even navigate through the thick brush with the huge set of antlers on his head. On the following day same place same time I was headed out into the woods again, guess who was in the same place.  I would guess i'm about half way done with this little painting, I plan to add a lot of branches and dried goldenrod int he foreground. I didn't take any picture in the very beginning..

Stage 1

Spring Turkeys, Chickadee painting officially done

I was very happy to see these two large tom turkeys already in battle and actually in a standoff over this hen, come on guys its only March! The rest of the hens and jakes stayed well out of the way up in the tree branches about 40 feet off the ground. Also added a few finishing touch to my Chickadee painting, done!
5x7 $150

First shed of 2010!!

Sure, its not a huge 6 point antler that weighs pounds not ounces..., but its fresh and beautiful, and I have a photo of the deer it came from! The photos where the deer still had the antler attached was taken on the frigid night of January 30th. The shed antler was found just after the snow melted Monday morning March 8th at the edge of the orchard. Time to find the other side, and hopefully many, many more ( and maybe a huge matching set....fingers crossed. Stay tuned for more antler hunting madness!! I hope I can pull off another 2008.

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 This is a photo shows the untouched antler.

Taken January 30th, 2010

New Painting!

I had a lot of fun creating this small painting from a photo I took last week. These little chickadees kept me company while I was layed up with the flu. I feel my creative juices flowing again! Ready to start the next painting.....what should it be,...hmm maybe a deer...

 

Black Capped Chickadee, 5"x7" Acrylic March 2010 

New Hampshire Coyote

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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.

5 miles from my house!!

For now I will keep it the location secret, more to follow. Stay Tuned!

 

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Winter Wonderland

Checking the weather forecast last night I had a very strong feeling we were info an amazing sunrise. I preset the coffee maker and got all my camera gear ready for and early departure. With fluffy snow still falling I headed to bed anxious to see what the new day would bring. I was not let down by the sun gods this day. All these photos were taken within a mile of my front door in Hollis, NH.

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Hollis Red-Tail with rabbit

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Spotted this hawk Sunday evening in Hollis, NH. This red-tail is one of the largest I have ever seen. I have seen it about 5 times in the same small area, he is very timid and flys off very quick once he spots me. I watched him nail this rabbit as I was driving by, then watched for about 8 minutes before he had split and taken half of it up into a tree. Hope to see more of this guy closer with better light!

Eastern Screech Owl

Hello again,
I am very happy to share some photos taken yesterday along the New Hampshire seacoast of a Eastern Screech owl. With sightings of this guy becoming pretty regular in a very specific location, my friend and fellow photographer Kevin Klasman and myself headed to see if we would be lucky enough to get a few photos. The screech owl is a bird that I have been wanting to see for years, I jumped at the chance to not only see but to be able to photograph this little guy. The 20 or so minutes we watched him he never opened his eyes, although he would move around a bit here and there. We left him undisturbed very happy with the shots!
Enjoy
Bill

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Kevin, very happy with his first screech owl photo!

Tree Sparrow and winter barn...Happy New Year!

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 I hope everyone is enjoying the recent snow. It seems like it should be coming down through the weekend, I am very excited about this. I have been reading a lot of bird list recently, a bird list is essentially an on-line list that updates everyday.  Members will keep a on-going log of birds they have seen in their area. Birding is an amazing hobby that can be done very casual, of very intense. What is so interesting is that some rarely seen birds are showing up within my area, including a bird I want to photograph more that any bird at the moment, the Snowy Owl. Click here for a link to the New Hampshire birdlist to see how it works. Hopefully some updates on that to follow. For now I have a nice shot of an American Tree Sparrow and a Black Capped Chikadee. Finally, the light and scene was set up just right to shoot this barn that is just a few houses down from mine.  Every time I drive by I look at this barn, actually I think its more of a woodshed. Enjoy!

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Bill

New Drawing

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I created this pencil sketch of my niece and nephew for my sister as a Christmas present. I was really happy how it turned out!