Photos, Paintings, Portraits & Prints by Cynthia Crawford
Today, March 20th, the Spring equinox, awoke us with about 2 feet of snow on the ground. Aaah, Vermont. It was beautiful, anyway, just a bit late in the year. An exploration along the Connecticut and Ompompanoosuc Rivers nearby produced 2 pairs of Hooded Mergansers, a lone Killdeer foraging along the “Pompy” River, 15 crows, and a flock of 35 Wild Turkeys in a cornfield, digging in the snow. Turkey in the Straw?
The Barred owl in my last post appears to be a regular visitor. It was here from 4PM until too dark to see- it might still be sitting outside my house, waiting for night mice. Funny-we have not trapped any mice in our attic lately! Here’s a video during a little snow squall.
Click on the name below- it may take a while to show up.
I glanced out the window this afternoon to find a big surprise. A Barred Owl was sitting right on the bird feeder support not more than 30 feet away. Grabbed my cameras , opened the window and got some shots. Went outside and was able to get fairly near. It flew a short distance and perched again. Then again, finally flying into the woods.
Click on the pictures to enlarge.
Click to enlarge
On Monday, February 11 at 7 PM I will be giving a talk and slide show called “Birding with a Camera”. It will be at the Mayer Room at the Howe Library in Hanover, N.H. Sponsored by the Mascoma Chapter of the New Hampshire Audubon Society. I will cover camera basics, then show slides of photos on location in various situations , followed by a Loon show with some of my original harp music and field recordings of Loon calls. The bottom photo is a juvenile Loon.
I was called by my vet (Norwich Regional Animal Hospital aka NoAH), this past Friday to visit and photograph a Barred Owl that had been brought in by the local police. Got some nice close-up photos- the owl was very calm . Veterinarian Jennifer Lesser (pictured) was in charge until someone came from the Vermont Institute of Natural Science to take it to their Avian Rehab. facility, where the owl, a female, is recovering from a small wing fracture.
The Quechee Area Camera Club (QACC!) has a show up at the Hotel Coolidge in White River Jct., Vermont, with an opening reception on First Friday, Dec. 7 , 5-7 PM. Hope to see you there! I have some photos in the show. The duck picture is our mascot (photo by me). Below is a poster for the event:
We have been seeing huge flocks of Redpolls here in Vermont and New Hampshire-very unusual and early for this species. These berds came from a flock of about 150 Redpolls in Windsor, Vermont at Lake Runnemede.
We have an unusual number of Pine Grosbeaks in Vermont-an early November irruption. These were right near where I live.
This picture seemed a little dull, so I converted it to a “photo-painting”
Immature Cooper’s Hawk, Wilder Vermont, at the Wilder Dam.
There has been an immature Broad-winged Hawk hanging around our house lately, so when I heard some jays calling, I went to see what was going on. Sure enough, they were mobbing a young Broad-wing, high in a tree. The hawk seemed un-ruffled, but a Northern Flicker came along a little later and sassed the hawk. Eventually it flew off, with the brave Flicker in hot pursuit. (Note-these photos are about 1/16th of the frame-not great , but they do tell a story).
Found this Green Herin in Windsor Vermont near Lake Runnemede.
I was watching this female belted kingfisher flying around and diving in a local Vermont beaver pond. Caught this action as she was taking off for another dash and dive around the pond.
The first picture is my original photo, and the second is “painted” in Photoshop. The third picture is kingfisher as “Phoenix Rising”
This is a sequence of photos taken at the North Springfield Dam, in Springfield Vermont. There were 3 Great Egrets there- these two took off together, seemingly in a chase.