Photographs by Frank

22 April 2014

Spring Progress

Filed under: Birds,Early Spring,Mammals,Monadnock Region,Wildlife — Tags: , — Frank @ 11:00 PM

After getting off to a late start, spring is progressing nicely.

The last of the ice on Gregg Lake  finally disappeared over the weekend, the daytime temperatures have been in the fifties and sixties and even though it has been getting down around freezing at night we have not been lighting the stove every evening.

The chipmunks have become active over the past few days and “new” birds are appearing regularly.

I spent a couple of hours down by the lake yesterday morning watching a trio of wood ducks wend their way around the lake north of the bridge. The female spent most of her time feeding. The males spent most of their time jockeying for position and posturing.

Yesterday evening, I watched a pair of loons fishing near the public beach. They were too far away for good photos.

Lastly,  chipping sparrows and juncos have appeared in small numbers around the feeders by the house. They are mixed with all of the “year rounders”.

8 April 2014

Signs of Spring… Finally

Filed under: Birds,Early Spring,Monadnock Region,Wildlife — Tags: — Frank @ 12:28 PM

Spring is very slowly coming to our neck of the woods. The snow is getting patchy and the lake is beginning to thaw around the edges. I saw a bufflehead in the small patch of open water near the bridge this morning and there have been Canada Geese in the same spot over the past week or so.

The other morning at breakfast we noticed two mourning doves “interacting” atop the large rock just off the deck. I made some photos from inside the house but, as one might expect, the quality though two layers of glass is not great.

Over the past few  days we have noticed juncos on the ground by the feeder and robins in the yard. There were also purple finches at the feeder; coming and going among all year round residents.

On Sunday, I spent some time practicing with “Big Bertha” (i.e. the 600 mm f/4 lens) again. I set up a downed pine branch as a perch about a foot from the feeder and a chair roughly twenty feet away (Bertha”s close focus distance is about 6 meters). By the time I got the camera set up on the tripod the birds were already using the perch and I was good to go.

Here are the results:

31 January 2014

Conowingo Dam

Filed under: Birds,Winter — Tags: , , , — Frank @ 7:00 PM

This past Monday morning, Joan and I pointed the car south and headed to Maryland. Photographically, our destination was the Conowingo Dam. We also visited Katrina (our daughter) in Baltimore as well as my sister and her family and my parents, all of whom live in suburban Washington. We arrived back home early yesterday evening.

The Conowingo Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Susquehanna River just north of where the river enters the Chesapeake Bay at Havre de Grace. The dam is ‘famous’ for the birds, especially bald eagles, which hang out there in the winter. The Harford Bird Club maintains the Conowingo Dam Site Guide with much useful information about the site.

We intended to arrive at the dam early enough on Monday afternoon to get in some photography then. However, complications of the dental kind conspired against us and we did not arrive until dusk. We spent a short while reconnoitering the dam and its environs before before heading off in search of dinner and a motel.

We were back at the dam a bit before 9 on Tuesday morning. The temperature was about 10 degrees and there was an intermittent breeze blowing… so much for heading south! Dressed appropriately things were not bad as long as the wind was not blowing. Conditions were good for photography with a light overcast diffusing the sunlight. We arrived at the tail end of a release of water from the dam and the concomitant flurry of activity.

Although we stayed until after 1 PM, we did not see another release. Thus, although there were plenty of birds around the action was somewhat subdued.

Here are the results:

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5 January 2014

The Usual Suspects

Filed under: Birds,Monadnock Region,Winter — Tags: — Frank @ 10:00 PM

Today was the first day above freezing in about a week. I took advantage of the tropical conditions to head out the back door and, again, photograph the birds attracted to the feeder. It was so warm and sunny that, a one point, I headed into the house to doff a layer, as I was over-dressed.

In the past couple of days, we observed a flicker and a red-breasted woodpecker at the suet feeder. Thus I was hoping that they would make an appearance while I was out. Alas, only the usual suspects appeared… chickadees in abundance, smaller numbers of titmice and nuthatches and a couple of downys.

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14 December 2013

Backyard Birds, Again

Filed under: Birds,Monadnock Region,The "New" Yard & Environs,Winter — Tags: — Frank @ 8:00 PM

About 1:15 this afternoon, I headed outside to photograph birds attracted to the feeders again. My goal was to get some more practice with these difficult (i.e. small and fast moving)  subjects. I also wanted to try out some new cold weather gear (insulated boots and pants); it was 11 degrees when I headed out.

The new gear worked well. My toes and nose were only mildly cold at 3:30 when I finally called it quits because the light got too low for good photos of flitting birds; the rest of me was still nice and toasty! It was 10 degrees when I looked at the kitchen thermometer after doffing all of the outerwear!

Present, were the usual suspects: lots of chickadees, smaller numbers of tufted titmice and a few nuthatches and downy woodpeckers. On two occasions a flock of goldfinches, a couple of dozen strong, descended en mass on the feeders only to fly a way a short time later, again, en mass.

There were also three or four blue jays in the area. They were very skittish and hung out mainly high in the trees. Occasionally, one would make a very short, tentative foray down near the feeders.

Again, juncos were not present.

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5 December 2013

Salisbury Beach & Parker River NWR

Filed under: Birds,Winter — Tags: , — Frank @ 8:13 PM

Yesterday was predicted to be a warmish for December (highs in the mid-40’s) and calm-ish day on the coast.

Thus, with all of the recent reports of snowy owls along the New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts coast, I made plans to head east yesterday morning; I left the house at about 7:30. It is a two and a quarter hour drive each way. Even though I only saw one snowy owl, from a very long distance away, I had a good time anyway!

I did manage to photograph a few other birds.

I found the gull and the sparrow at Salisbury Beach.

There was a large group of gulls on the pavement in the parking lot and only one or two on the beach. I refuse to take photos of gull on black top, but I compromised and got this one sitting on a sign! I found a small group of sparrows along the campground road, near a juniper full of berries and the shelter of a small grove of conifers. I assume that the combination of shelter and food was responsible for their presence here. There was a group of common eiders in the water near the boat ramp but they were too far out for good photos.

It was almost noon by this time and I was getting hungry. I headed towards Plum Island and, along the way, I grabbed a sandwich to eat in the truck later.  The rest of the photos were made at Parker River NWR.

A short way past parking lot #1 as I entered the refuge, I came to a group of vehicles pulled over. As I rolled to a stop behind them, my thought was “Great! An snowy owl already!”. It turned out, the crowd had gathered for a red-tailed hawk in the tree tops just off the east side of road.

The snow owl I saw was way, way out in the salt marsh on the west side of the road. It was barely visible from the spot where the hawk had been.

After a quick lunch at parking lot #2, I drove the length of the refuge road stopping at every parking lot for a short walk except for one. At lot #5, there were a half dozen or more cars parked and I decided to pass up the crowd there… this was a big mistake!

Driving back towards the entrance, I again stopped at each parking lot. This time I decided to “brave the crowd” at lot #5. I was about three quarters of the way down the 0.2 mile trail when I met a woman who said that there was a snowy owl present. Another couple of hundred feet down the trail I encountered a group of ten or twelve folks all carrying tripods with scopes or cameras with long lens. They were all headed towards me… i.e. back towards the parking lot. The bird had flown off five minutes before! Lesson learned; when looking for rare birds go where the crowds are! Hopefully, I won’t have to re-learn this lesson too often!

A bit later, I was at the end of one trail “glassing” the salt marsh for snowy owls with my binoculars, when I caught a glimpse of something coming in low over my left shoulder. It was the northern harrier flying low and lazily as is their habit. I was able to get three frames exposed before it was out of good photo range.

Many of the ponds on the marsh side had groups of ducks, mainly mallards with a few diving ducks in the mix, in them. These birds were too far off for good photos.

I also encountered a number of rafts of diving ducks on the ocean side. In addition to the eiders I was able to photograph, I observed buffleheads and mergansers as well.

I stopped at parking lot #1 on the way out to “de layer” for the drive home just after 3:30, the light was fading fast.

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3 December 2013

Bald Eagles in Peterborough

Filed under: Birds,Monadnock Region,Winter — Tags: , — Frank @ 4:42 PM

At 12:45 this afternoon, the phone rang. It was my CWS* calling with news that she was pulled of to the side of US 202 in Peterborough (just north of the EMS store) and that she was watching a pair of bald eagles (an adult and a juvenile).

Of course, I decided that the fire wood I was in the process of hauling inside could wait and immediately headed off in the truck, with “Big Bertha”  on the passenger seat, to meet the CWS. I arrived on the scene about 20 or 25 minutes after answering the phone. I was half expecting a call during my drive saying that the birds had flown but they were still there when I arrived.

I was able to make eleven exposures (in just over three minutes) before the birds took off. I had the camera packed up and was back in the truck at 1:30.

Joan also observed a second juvenile fly low across the road between her phone call and my arrival.

If you look very closely at the second photo you can discern why the bird had assumed this pose.

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*CWS… chief wildlife spotter; AKA,  my wife, Joan.

26 November 2013

Backyard Birds Redux

Filed under: Birds,Monadnock Region,November — Tags: — Frank @ 9:05 PM

There was a bit of snow overnight and the low temperature was in the mid-20’s. However, by mid-afternoon the temperature was a few degrees above freezing and the wind was calm.  The light was not great as the sky was a dull, dark gray but I headed out the back door to photograph the birds in the backyard anyway.

As usual chickadees were most abundant. In addition to the chickadees, there were good numbers of both nuthatches and tufted titmice. Interestingly, I did not see a goldfinch or a junco in the ninety minutes I was out.

There was also a pair of downy woodpeckers present. This pair spent as much time watching and chasing each other as they did foraging for food. Watching their antics was quite entertaining.

By 4:00 PM, the light was too dim to photograph fast moving birds and I called it quits for the day.

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15 November 2013

Backyard Birds

Filed under: Birds,Monadnock Region,November — Tags: — Frank @ 10:00 PM

Earlier in the week, I put out the bird feeder (both seeds and suet) in hopes of attracting photographic subjects.  I need to take it in every night to avoid attracting bears… I have only forgotten once so far!

It took a few days for the birds to find the feeder but by this morning things were hopping! Thus, after I finished a few chores, I headed out to get some practice with my new photographic tool*.

In addition to the four species (junco, chickadee, gold finch, and white-throated sparrow) I photographed, there were two other species  (nuthatches and a downy woodpecker) that I did not get good photos of.

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*All of these photos were taken with my new-to-me Nikkor 600 mm f/4 lens. Joan says “toy” but I am sticking with “tool”!

6 November 2013

Early November Olio

Filed under: Birds,Monadnock Region,November,Odontates,Uncategorized,Wildlife — Tags: , — Frank @ 9:00 PM

I was surprised to see male Autumn Meadowhawks around the yard on the weekend (2 and 3 November) since we had some cold nights (temperature in the low twenties Fahrenheit) last week. I only saw one or two individuals at a time but they were still flying strong.

On Sunday (3 Nov) Joan was raking leaves when she disturbed a very cold and torpid red-backed salamander nestled among the leaves. As I moved him from the spot where we found him, he became a bit more active. I grabbed the camera which was rigged for odes and made a couple of exposures. I then headed back into the house for the macro lens… all for naught, as he was gone from the rock where I had placed him by the time I got back. I searched the area in vain for some minutes but he was not to be found.

Tuesday evening (no…  make that late afternoon, as sunset is about 4;30 these days), I headed down to the lake in hopes of a nice sunset to photograph. I was rewarded with less than five minutes of nice pink colored clouds but this was enough to make a nice photograph.

Today (Wednesday, 6 Nov) I headed up Pack Monadnock for some more raptor watching. I arrived just before noon and stayed until about 3:30. We saw a number of raptors including two golden eagles, but none were close enough to photograph. (Henry’s full report is here).  I did, however, make a few photographs of smaller birds which alit briefly nearby.

There is another week and a half of  the raptor watch season remaining, so hopefully I still have time to get a “portfolio quality” photo… if not, there is always next year!

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