Old foxes want no tutors.

I always knew fox were smart. But last night when I witnessed this behavior of this Grey Fox on my way home from work, I was really impressed. Seems like this fox ( the first Grey version I have ever photographed!) learned that when the farmer mows the field the cutting equipment prepares all sort of tempting treats.

Although he was far off I saw the fox eat 3 times in 3 locations in a matter of minutes so I can only assume that he was picking up pieces of mice and other critters that met their fate a short time ago. In fact it had looked like the farmer had just shut off the tractor and walked in for dinner.

-Bill

It worked almost too good!

Last night I headed out to the Christmas tree farm to try out my new predator call. (below)

This call had been suggested to me by a buddy who had some great luck with it after only a few uses. The general idea of this call is that it makes sounds that attract predators, fox, coyote, bobcat who come in close looking for an easy meal. Because it is wireless you are able to place the speaker part up to 150 yards away UPWIND so that when the animal come in to see whats going on, you can be hidden out of sight. Unlike my old call I had to hold in my hand, this call has clear advantages. The other great part besides its very reasonable price ( about half the cost of other systems with the same set up) is the fact that you can change the sound cards for different uses, from turkey, deer, moose, elk, crows, you name it!


So back to last night. I walked quietly and slowly to the edge of the field, hung the speaker in someones future Christmas tree and backed away and hid along the edge of the field. I began a calling sequence that mimics and injured rabbit. Its a terrifying crying sound that is supposed to work amazing, sure enough in less than a minute I could hear something running through the woods headed straight for me...not the plan. I looked quickly at the spot where it seemed the animal would pop out, I crouched down and aimed my camera at the small opening. This locations was less than 20 feet away from me, in fact i did not even have to zoom in, i shot these images at 100mm.

Blurry due to his shock of seeing me.

Sure enough, withing seconds this beautiful coyote poked his head out, at the same time I hit my shutter release. I am blown away with the speed which he identified me and spun around and vanished. It was a fraction of a second, hence the blurry photo. I still feel like this was a success and look forward to trying to get more shots of one of my favorite subjects our local predators!

And that was that, keep in mind this second photo was taken 1/7th of a second after the first! That's fast reflexes!

Sharp Shinned Hawk, FINALLY!

 

Since moving to Nottingham, NH, I have had the pleasure of having a resident sharp-shinned hawk that calls my property home. I have tried at least 5 times to get a photo of him with no luck, that is until today.

I was headed out on a nice Sunday morning scouting  mission, as I pulled out of my driveway there he was, just relaxing on the wire digesting a recent meal of some sort of bird. You can see the down feathers still in his large talons ( Napoleon Dynamite reference)

From what I can tell it seems to be a sub adult, but I would be open to any other thoughts, I know they color and patterning can vary greatly depending on age and sex, then throw in the coopers hawk and you got yourself a true puzzle. My favorite resource for convincing myself what I am looking at is Allaboutbirds.org THIS link helps to identify the differences.

Enjoy!
Bill

A new tree!

Still getting the hang of this but finished my second wire tree this weekend.

A new medium. Wire Trees

I have recently been trying out some new ways to create art, most of the intention is to make objects for decorations around my home.

This past weekend I saw some amazing sculptures at a gallery in Portsmouth, NH made of wire and was very inspired to go out and try it right away. Last night on my way home from work I stopped at home depot and bought some copper wire. Bare in mind this is my first go at it. I must say it is very rewarding and I plan to go back to the 'depot today to get 500' more wire. ( I started with 40', this tree is 20'. ) I already feel like I learned a lot and cant wait to make the next one.

Started with this.

Although I have a lot more work to refine this tree to the way I want it to look, I am thinking about leaving it outdoors for a few weeks to let the copper oxidize...green patina would be amazing!

Let me know what you think!
-Bill

Sun Valley Photoshoot

I just got back from a trip to Sun Valley, Idaho. Sun Valley is one of those places that is just so unique, and hard to get to! This time we decided to fly to Salt Lake directly to avoid 14 hours and 3 flights/ layovers. This one direct flight also entailed a 5 hour drive, but I would take that any day over more time on a plane.

This is a first round of many photos taken while there, this photoshoot was for NEMO and will probably be found in next years catalog and other places.

Thanks to Adrien, Vanessa, and of course Toby!

Barred Owl Release

I was looking forward to last night for weeks. Working with members from the Center For Wildlife in Cape Neddick, Maine was invited to photograph the release of 2 barred owls that were injured this past winter by cars. The center nurses the owls back to health then using a special cage, they determine if it is ready to be released into the wild. Once they are ready to be back in nature, the owls are released as close to the location that they were found as possible. In this case the first release was in York, Maine, the second was in Kennebunk, Maine.

I met with Jane Kelly to capture the release. Although the lighting conditions for action photography were more than a challenge I learned a lot. Watching these owls fly off back to where they belong is an amazing feeling.

If you love animals and want to help support the Center that makes this kind of recovery possible, please visit their website and donate.
-Bill

 Happy to be home!

American Kestrel, Great Bay NWR

Now that things have somewhat settled down with my relocation, we had a chance to check out my new surroundings and go look for birds at Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Although I will miss my old stomping grounds, I am very excited about all the new areas to explore. Now that I live 15 minutes from the ocean many more opportunities are right around the corner.

Today I wanted to share these images of the American Kestrel, one of about 5 that we watched for about 20 minutes. They are very entertaining and I plan to head back to see them very soon.
Enjoy!

The Last Drive through Hollis.

This morning I left my house with a little bit of sadness. I grabbed my camera bag just as I have so many times over the last 2 years living in Hollis, patted my Kitty on the head and made my way downstairs out to my truck, it was 6:45am.

Today marks the last morning for me to drive the back roads on my usual route looking for birds, or animals to photograph before having to head into work. A route I have performed over a a hundred times in the past 2 years. Although I am very excited about my move tomorrow to Nottingham, and the amazing times that await me there, I will always remember the special times in Hollis.

Although I have put a pretty substantial amount of effort and time into wildlife photography while living here 2 species have eluded me. Coyote, and Ruffed Grouse.

Sure I have had a quick glimpse of both of them from time to time I can think of a handful of occasions just after sunset, a yote has run in front of me. Similarly I'd guess I must have flushed a grouse over 50 times, never a photo, until today!

Enjoy these photos, they feel like a gift! As always, click to enlarge.
-Bill

Return of the Osprey

I woke up to a very foggy morning today, every now and then the sun would just barley squeak through the clouds giving very brief glimpses of what heaven must look like. I figured this would be a good day to bring the camera on the way to work. Although I have not been shooting much recently with a very busy schedule, I figured it would not hurt to bring the camera, just in case. I have learned the hard way too many times. If in doubt, bring the camera.

On my commute to work I drive past one of those cell towers that try VERY hard to look like a pine tree. With it's awkward, stunted,  comical attempt to be branches, one must wonder if it were just a regular tower would it be less of an eye sore?

Apparently this breeding pair of osprey do not mind. I spotted one of them perched on the tower and pulled over, grabbed my camera focused in to make sure it was not a hawk or a crow, it wasn't!

Today marks my first osprey sighting of the year.  This is the same tower I reported a pair in last year. I can't help but wonder if it is the same pair as last year, or if it maybe one of the other 2 pairs that nested withing a 1/4 mile of this location last spring.

I had only a few minutes to watch as one of the osprey flew off, assuming it may be the male, I had a good idea he would be right back with a stick. Sure enough within 3 minutes the mature bird flew back over my head towards the nest. The size of the branch (or tree?) it was carrying was remarkable. Looking at the images I estimate 7-7.5 feet. As I continued to shoot these photos I could not believe it was actually gaining altitude with this log. Flapping hard and determined it struggled to continue its ascent. 

Just as the thought of "what would happened if he dropped that spear from the heavens and it hit a car, person, or house?" I saw one leg break loose from the tree. Within a second the bird released its' over sized payload sending the tomahawk missile plummeting downwards, as it gained velocity I peaked from behind my zoom lens to look at the landing zone. CRASH! the stick smashed into the metal roof of a storage facility and exploded onto pieces. No one else saw it.

This made me wonder how often this must happen, and thought, this must lead to some unexplained happenings around the world. Anyone ever hear of a stick falling from the sky with no trees around?

Barred Owl in Rain

 

On a rainy hike yesterday morning deep in a pine forest of Hollis, NH I startled a Barred Owl who was very low on a branch perfectly camouflaged. He flew a very short distance and landed on another branch a little higher up. Although I have seen barred owls several times in this area over the past year, I still consider them to be my ultimate find. Cameraless,  I watched it for 10 minutes and marked it on my GPS.

Then I tried to determine how long it would take me to get back to my truck. My thought was, based on an experience I had last summer, Barred owls tend to stay put for long periods of time during the day. So maybe, just maybe I could hike back to my truck, drive a few miles home, get my camera, drive back, hike back to the spot with help from my GPS and get a great opportunity to photograph such an amazing animal.  It worked! Forty minutes later...I relocated the owl and photographed it for about 45 more minute from 20 feet away! 

checking out a small noise below

 Got to be careful how you itch your ear when you have claws like that!

 

 I was relieved and out of breath after putting in that kind of effort to get shots like these.

 

I even had a chance to try some HDR techniques 

Thanks for stopping by, come back soon to check out some shots of the peregrine falcons I have been watching.

-Bill