Photographs by Frank

13 June 2014

Birds & Plants In the Rain

Filed under: Birds,Spring,wildflowers,Wildlife — Tags: , — Frank @ 1:00 PM

Yesterday, Joan had some PCV* business to attend to over in Hinsdale, NH. I planned to tag along and use the time to hunt for “big river” odes on the Connecticut River.

The day dawned cool and gray… not ideal weather for odeing. I decided to make the trip anyway, figuring that there would always be birds to photograph.

We arrived in Hinsdale in a light rain and the temperature was in the mid-50s. Joan met up with her fellow PCVs and, as they headed off to search for rare plants, I headed off  to the Hinsdale Setbacks, along the river, to photograph.

Completely ignoring the “ode rig” (that I had optimistically brought along), I mounted Big Bertha on the tripod and headed out the causeway towards the power line towers in the rain and fog… great weather for photography!

It rained with varying intensity for the roughly three and a half hours I was out. As one would expect, given the weather, I saw no dragonflies or damselflies.

As for birds, there was an osprey on its nest atop one of the powerline towers… way too high for a photograph.

I also spooked a great blue heron from the edge of the main channel of the river as I walked by… I was too slow for a photograph.

Groups of tree swallows appeared during intervals when the  rain let up a bit. They disappeared into the thickets of shrubs whenever the rain picked up. I hoped to photograph them on their way in or out of the vegetation but they do not seem to pause on the surface of the thicket… ever!

Also present in and around the thickets were small groups of song sparrows. They spent most of their time either in the thickets or feeding on the ground. Some of them were kind enough to pause on various perches, as they traveled between protection and food, long enough for me to photograph them.

I was also able to photograph some of  many red-winged black birds that were present in and near the cattail beds.

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While waiting for birds to appear in the proper places, I noticed the photographic possibilities present in wet vegetation. Thus, I was able to fill the intervals between birds by photographing said vegetation.

A long telephoto lens is not the usual tool for this type of photography but it does allow one to nicely isolate subjects against the background. Besides, it was the only lens I was carrying!

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* Plant Conservation Volunteer, a group organized by the New England Wildflower Society.

10 June 2014

“Down Back”

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Odontates,Spring,The "New" Yard & Environs — Tags: — Frank @ 12:00 PM

Still catching up…

Saturday afternoon I spent some time “down back” at the beaver-made wetland (a large wet meadow and small pond) on our property.

I was expecting to find Hudsonian Whitefaces back at the water to mate. They had been present up near the house for a couple of weeks but the numbers have fallen off in the past ten days or so.

Also present were the first four-spotted skimmers of the year and a few female chalk-fronted corporals. I saw, but did not photograph, a single damselfly… a sprite, probably a sedge sprite.

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Willard Pond & Loverens Mill Cedar Swamp

Filed under: Audubon Sanctuaries,Monadnock Region,Nature Conservancy properties,Odontates,Spring — Tags: , , — Frank @ 11:00 AM

I am just a little behind in my blogging…

Last Friday, I headed out to see what was up ode-wise at two different habitats.

My first stop was the Audubon Sanctuary at Willard Pond. I was specifically interested in seeing what was up at the Mill Pond there. In the past, I have observed the Kennedy’s Emerald there.

On this trip, I did see a few dragonflies in flight over the pond that may have been emeralds but none perched so I did not get any photos. of them.

I did spend some time in the woods along the Mill Pond trail photographing wild flowers… there were literately many dozens of lady slippers along the beginning section of the trail. I also photographed odes in a number of small clearings. (All of the photos below, except for the last one, were made at Willard Pond.)

My second stop was the Nature Conservancy’s Loverens Mill property*. The rare cedar swamp at this site often has some unique odes, but this trip was earlier in the season than I have been in previous years.  I did observe small numbers of dragonflies in constant flight as well as small numbers of jewelwings, mostly river jewelwings; it is early in the season.

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* Joan’s father donated a parcel of land which is incorporated into this preserve. Her family calls it the “Windsor Bog”.

 

4 June 2014

Bradford Bog

Filed under: Odontates,Spring,wildflowers — Tags: , , — Frank @ 11:00 AM

On Monday, I spent a few hours exploring the Bradford Bog. I parked the truck at the Bradford Springs site* and began my exploration by walking up the road of the adjacent tree farm. This road skirts the edge of the bog and then gently rises into the uplands surrounding the bog.

There were small numbers of odes present along the road. Most common were baskettails (either beaverpond or spiny). Each individual was patrolling a section of road and hunting. Most never paused in their flight, but every once in a while one would perch briefly allowing for a “photo op”. Along the open patches of water in the bog, were a few teneral individuals of a dragonfly that I have not identified yet.

Although the walk along the road was not long (maybe half a mile one way), it was  hot and dusty.  I was glad to get back to the truck for some water and a snack before heading off towards the boardwalk into the bog proper. I saw exactly zero odes along the boardwalk and at the observation tower. However, I did find some nice wildflowers to photograph instead!

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* I was interested to learn from the sign here, that the Bradford Springs Hotel which once stood at this site was moved to Antrim where is is known as the Maplehurst Inn!

1 June 2014

The Progression of Odes

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Odontates,Spring,The "New" Yard & Environs — Tags: — Frank @ 11:00 PM

The ode season began here about two weeks ago with the appearance of yellow Hudsonian Whitefaces in the yard; both females and immature males are yellow. Over time, as the males matured, red individuals appeared and then the numbers began to decrease as they moved back to the water to reproduce.

Today, as I roamed the neighborhood, I did not observe a single Hudsonian whiteface; I guess that it is time for a trip to our wetland “down back”… Tomorrow!

The Hudsonian whitefaces in the yard have been replaced with large numbers of common whitetails (both females and immature males). There were also smaller numbers of chalk-fronted corporals of both sexes present this afternoon. (I first observed females of this species about a week ago.) I also saw a single male four-spotted skimmer.

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Athol Bird & Nature Club — Ode Institute

Filed under: Birds,Odontates,Spring,wildflowers — Tags: , , — Frank @ 10:00 PM

Some months ago Dave Small, the president of the Athol Bird and Nature Club , put out call on the NEODES email list looking for folks to present at the group’s 2014 Dragonfly Institute.

After a bit of back-and-forth by email, Dave & I agreed to display my “Life Cycle of Dragonflies and Damselflies”  exhibit for the duration of the institute and that I would present a session on “ode photography” (scheduled for 12 July).

Last Wednesday, I made the drive to Athol and with the help of Dave and three volunteers (whose names I am unable to remember at this juncture… sorry!), we had the exhibit hung in short order.

Yesterday, I again made the trip to Athol, to attend the inaugural session of the Institute. Dave gave an introductory lecture and then the group headed out to the nearby Tom Bog (located within the Harvard Forest) for some field work. The weather was iffy for odes (the temperature was around 60 F and the skies kept changing from bright sun to light sprinkles). We struck out as far as odes went! However, we had a nice walk, had fun looking at birds and plants and ended up at the Petersham General Store for lunch.

When I got back home Joan was in the garden. There, within minutes of arriving home, I was able to photograph both a male Eastern Forktail, the first of the year, on the asparagus in the garden! Moments later, a yellow-bellied sapsucker appeared in one of the oak trees along the road. I certainly don’t need to go far for wildlife!

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20 May 2014

Spring Migration at Star Island

Filed under: Birds,Spring — Tags: , — Frank @ 3:00 PM

Last Friday at about 10 AM we packed up the car and headed to New Hampshire’s extensive coast. Our eventual goal was Rye Harbor and a boat to Star Island  at 5 that afternoon. We spent the early part of the afternoon at Odiorne Point State Park.

The weekend at Star Island, one of the Isles of Shoals, was arranged for the peak of the Spring bird migration by Eric Masterson, author of Birdwatching in New Hampshire.

It was raining lightly when we left the house, but we out ran the weather system and had decent weather up to the time we had to head for the boat. We had a rather exciting six mile trip (on four foot swells) out to Star. It rained much of the night and on Saturday morning. Thus our first couple of bird walks (on Friday evening and Saturday morning) were a little damp. However, by lunch time on Saturday the weather cleared up and the rest of the weekend was spectacular. The boat arrived way too early (about 5:30 PM) for the trip back on Sunday.

I won’t go into all of the details, but coastal islands have the effect of concentrating migrating birds when they stop to rest. Thus, the high density of birds (both in numbers of individuals and species) combined with a preponderance of low vegetation and sparse spring foliage usually makes for some good birding and photography. We were not disappointed!

I spent much of my time on the island standing near various thickets trying to photograph small birds as they appeared on the “surface” or in any space that offered a clear view of a bird. The birds spend the majority of time in these thickets preying on small insects to “fuel up” for the next leg of their trip north.

Here are the “keepers” of some of the various migrants:

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In addition to the migrants there are a number of birds that are residents of the islands. Although these were not goal of the trip, I was not going to pass up an opportunity for a nice photo of the locals!

In addition to the expected seabirds (gulls and ducks) there were large numbers of swallows (both tree and barn swallows). The barn swallows nest under the porch of the main hotel building on the island.

Herring gulls were most common and there were also black-backed gulls present. Common eiders were the most common duck present. There were also a few mallards around.

It was mating season for the locals. There was much nest building and courtship/mating behavior evident.

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The boat ride back to Rye Harbor, on calm seas, was much less exciting than the trip out. However, we did see two large groups of white-winged scoters  winging their way north. All-in-all, we had a great time.

Thanks to Eric (for making the arrangements and being an amazing fount of ornithological knowledge) and to the Island staff (who allow this trip in the “pre-season”, i.e. while they are still getting all of the systems ready for the regular season). Thanks, also, to the roughly two dozen other interesting folks who were along for the ride.

12 May 2014

The Weekend’s Work

Filed under: Amphibians,Birds,Monadnock Region,Spring,Wildlife — Tags: , — Frank @ 9:00 AM

After a wet Friday, Saturday dawned clear and sunny and brought a number of red efts to the yard.  This was the start of a good weekend for photography.

On both Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, I spent some time down by the north end of the lake. There were at least three species of warblers (yellow rumps, common yellow throats and I third that I could not identify or photograph)  present. Chickadees, pheobes, and kingbirds were also present.

I concentrated on the birds which spend time down low in the bushes along the waters edge… mainly the warblers and the chickadees. These birds will be present all summer but the become next to invisible when the shrubs leaf out. Even without the leaves they are difficult to photograph as they spend most of the time in the thicket of branches. Usually one get a single chance to trip the shutter when a bird appears at the “surface” of the thicket.

Late Saturday afternoon, we put kayaks in the water at Eva’s Marsh WMA in Hancock. I don’t think that we visited Eva’s Marsh last year.  Yesterday, we discovered two big changes since our last visit.  There is now a very long (200 feet or more) beaver dam bisecting the marsh. Thus, the mud flats that used to support foraging sandpipers here are now well under water. Additionally, there is now a single great blue heron nest on a snag in the back section which was not present on our last visit.

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6 May 2012

A Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Spring,The "New" Yard & Environs,wildflowers — Frank @ 9:00 PM

This afternoon, I took a stroll down back to the beaver pond to look for odes. It was cool and mostly cloudy and I was not expecting to see much in the way of odes so I took only my binoculars.

The black flies were not too bad! There were painted turtles sunning on a log in the beaver pond. There were swifts or swallows (one of these days I’ll figure out which!)  foraging from the tops of the snags and there were other birds about.

But, as I expected, there were no odes in flight. However, I did scare a single Hudsonian Whiteface (either a female or an immature male) up out of the vegetation as I walked through the wet meadow.

On my way back up the hill I found a painted trillium, so I headed back out with the camera gear to photograph it. There were also some very small ferns beginning to emerge in the woods. The trillium blossom is less than the size of a quarter and the fern is maybe the size of a nickel.

It was good the get out and photograph. I am looking forward to the next few months.

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16 May 2011

Apple Blossom Time

Filed under: Spring,The "New" Yard & Environs — Tags: — Frank @ 8:04 PM

Even though it was a cool damp weekend, spring is clearly here and progressing… the black flies are out in full force and the apple trees are beginning their show.

I spent a bit of time on Sunday morning between the showers photographing one of our two apple trees.

Here are the results:

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