Posts in Category: Photography
Tips, advice and philosophy on photography
More Adventures with Hank, Another Visit with the Eastons
There’s been a thick fog in the valley every morning for a while. I’ve been out, trying to get some moody shots of Hank, et al. And I visited the Eastons – their pond is above the thickest of the fog.
This Saturday, August 22, I’ll be giving my slideshow, An Uncommon Look at the Common Loon at Beaver Meadow Chapel at 1672 Beaver Meadow Road Norwich, VT at 7:00 p.m. Free and everyone welcome. I’ll have calendars and a few note cards along with me.
A couple posts back, I had a few shots of a bull moose. With lots of bug bites. Walt Cottrell DVM wrote to introduce me to the moose fly. Turns out, there’s a fly that feeds on moose. And possibly only moose. Walt points out that seems to be a risky evolutionary strategy. Not only do the flies have to worry about continuing their existence, they have to worry about the moose too. If you eat only moose and the moose go away, you’ve got a problem. I did a quick AI search and neither Grok or ChatGPT could find any papers suggesting they eat anything but moose. Photographers can breathe a sigh of relief.
We’ve got a couple apple trees in the yard, with a good crop this year. A couple times, I’ve caught a small murder of crows swiping our apples. Each time, there’s been a crow in the tree and several grabbing apples from the ground. I’m trying to catch them again, I wonder if the one in the tree is tossing apples to the others.
On to the critters. In my last post, Hank Heron was traveling with a great egret. The egret seems to have moved on. And it turns out there are two Hanks along the river. Both look to be first-year birds.
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A Visit to the Eastons and Hank Finds a Friend
The weather let me get out three times last week. I had a visit with the Eastons and a change of pace took me to the Waits River where it looks like Hank has found a friend.
The Beaver Meadow Chapel at 1672 Beaver Meadow Road Norwich, VT will be hosting me to present my slideshow An Uncommon Look at the Common Loon Saturday August 22 at 7:00 p.m. Free and everyone welcome.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by my setup at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s Fair. My next show is going to be local. I’ll be exhibiting in the Vermont North By Hand Open Studio Tour October 10-11, 2026. I’ll be set up at the Martin Farm on Route 5 right on the Bradford – Fairlee Town Line. Sue Martin is a very talented stained glass maker and has kindly offered me space to set up next to her. (I’d open my ‘studio,’ but my work at home is in a very cramped 6′ x 9′ office – mostly filled from floor to ceiling. There’s not much to see…) The map and details for the Open Studio Tour are here.
Last Tuesday, I made the trek up to check in on the Eastons. On my last several visits, Mrs. Easton had been facing a serious, ongoing challenge for the pond. On each of my visits, an intruding female arrived and a scuffle began.
When I arrived Tuesday, there was peace on the pond. Mom and Dad were foraging lazily. The chicks were sleeping in. Every so often, one of the parents would deliver a snack to the chicks, often having to wake them to make the delivery. The chicks would often take the snack, yawn then return to his nap.
Dad took over babysitting and Mom headed up the pond on her own. I went looking for Hank. Before I could find him, an intruding loon flew in. He landed not too far from the chicks.
The intruder seemed more interested in breakfast than fighting. Dad went to face off with him repeatedly. The intruder would dive and cover a lot of water before resurfacing. Dad eventually put on a wing-rowing display and the intruder took the hint and departed.
Peace returned to the pond. I poked around a bit more, without finding Hank. The female intruder didn’t show up while I was there.
On Wednesday, I headed down to the Waits River. There have been black-crowned night herons nesting there for several years and a least bittern has been a regular in the marsh. There was a thick fog when I put in and it stubbornly refused to lift. I explored around the marsh.
I was about to give up and head in. As I started upstream, a great egret flew in.
After a time, Hank flew a couple hundred yards upstream. The egret followed promptly and they went back to foraging near each other. They repeated this a couple more times.
I returned the next day and found them flying upstream together. They headed away from the River and I didn’t see them again that morning.
Both herons and egrets are solitary birds. The heron looks to be a juvenile, I have no idea how to spot a juvenile egret. I wonder if they’re used to having company in the nest and haven’t grown into the need for solitude.
A note on the type, I’ve tried to increase the font size on both the text and photo captions. Is this an improvement?
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Update on the Usual Suspects
OK, this one will be a bit long as I try to catch up on all the loon families and the heron rookery. Please keep going, we’ll check in with the loons, Hank Heron, our moose returned and a few of our other friends.
Thanks to everyone for all the kind words on the Tall Ships post. Perhaps I should give up on the critters and take up marine photography?
I’m looking for a field of sunflowers to try to get some shots of indigo buntings. If you know of one relatively near Newbury, VT, I’d love to know about it.
It is time again for the The 93rd Annual League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s Fair . It opens this Saturday, August 1 and runs through Sunday August 9. I won’t have a booth this year, nine days is just too much for me anymore. But, I’ll have note cards, my 2027 Wildlife Calendar and a few prints in The Shop At The Fair at the League Fair. And everything is available on my web site, www.IanClark.com. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, please send an email or give me a call. And, be sure to visit all the other craftspeople at the Fair – there’s lots of amazing work to see.
My 2027 Wildlife Calendar has arrived! They’re available on my site at www.IanClark.com. This year, I’ve added a couple photos of bears from my trip to Alaska last fall, including a cuddly-looking little first-year cub I wanted to bring home. But, while never specifically stated, I’m sure that would have broken at least one of my wife’s rules.
When we last checked on the loon families, the Westons had hatched two chicks, the Middletons had abandoned their first nest and were sitting on a second clutch and the Eastons’ chicks had hatched in the last days of June. The heron chicks were getting big.
I went to check on the Middletons on July 8. It was a chilly morning with thick fog.
On the 9th, I headed up to check on the Eastons.
I’m not sure what herons are doing when they open wide. They often stretch their necks high up before doing it. I wonder if it is a burp or a stretch or maybe trying to reposition food in their gullet. Sometimes they stand with their mouths open when it is warm, that would seem to be panting to cool. But they’ll often open wide for a few seconds and then return to what they were doing. And wildlife photographer jokes aren’t that funny.
I’ve heard back from the Loon Preservation Committee’s intern. Our banded bird this year is last year’s Mrs. Easton. They banded her late in the season after I’d headed to Alaska.
Watching the Eastons I was interrupted when I noticed a visitor to the salad bar at the far end of the pond.
I think the sores on his leg and flank are from botfly larvae. I wrote to NH Fish & Game’s Moose Biologist. I’ll update when I hear back.
There wasn’t any news from the nest by the time I had to head home. The next day, LPC emailed to tell me someone on the pond had spotted the Middletons with a chick.
All too early on the 13th I was up and driving two hours to check in on the heron rookery.
I didn’t get a chance to get back to the Middletons until the 16th.
But things soon took a turn for the worse.
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Tall Ships In Boston
A little different topic this time. I went to Boston to watch the tall ship Parade of Sail for Sail Boston, a celebration of the US’s 250th anniversary. Friends and I set up on Castle Island in South Boston to watch the ships enter the Harbor. It was a miserable setup for photography – it was hot and hazy day, we couldn’t move about easily and there were boats of all sizes coming and going in the sightline of the tall ships. Ship happens. The ships are beautiful and they have interesting histories. It was a great event.
The 93rd Annual League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s Fair kicks off next Saturday, August 1 and runs through August 9, 10 to 5 daily through Sunday August 9 at the Mount Sunapee Resort in Sunapee, NH. I will NOT have a booth this year. Nine days – not counting set up and knock down – is just too much for me anymore. I will have my 2027 Wildlife Calendar, lots of note cards and a few prints available in The Shop At The Fair. And even if I’m not there, there will be lots of wonderful craftspeople exhibiting amazing work.
My 2027 calendar has arrived. This year with over 200% more bears! The cover and September images are from my trip to Alaska to photograph the brown bears in the Chilkoot Valley last fall. There are also otters, a mink, fox kits and more. They’re $25 and shipping is $4.50 per order.
Onto the ships….
Sail Boston 2026 was organized by Sail Boston, Inc. as part of America’s Semiquincentennial celebration. They organized over 50 tall ships for the event. The ships sailed into Boston Harbor on July 11.
Along the way, I had to learn some of that nautical type talk to learn about the types of ships. Tall ships are sorted by the number of masts they carry and the type of sails on the masts.
A ‘full-rigged’ ship has three or more masts, with ‘square-rigged’ sails. That means they’re hung from horizontal yards perpendicular to the centerline of the ship. Yards are the horizontal crossbars on the masts.
A barque also has three or more masts, but only the after-most mast – the ‘mizzen’ mast – is ‘fore-and-aft’ rigged. That means the sails run lengthwise along the centerline of the ship. The other masts carry square-rigged sails. Apparently this is better for sailing into the wind.
Tall ships are traditionally-rigged sailing vessels that are mainly distinguished by the number of masts they carry and the type of sails set on those masts. A full-rigged ship has three or more masts, all of them square-rigged (sails hung from horizontal yards). A barque also has three or more masts, but only the aftermost (mizzen) mast is fore-and-aft rigged while the others carry square sails.
A barquentine reverses that arrangement. The forward mast is square-rigged and the remaining masts are fore-and-aft.
Brig and brigantine ships are both two-masted. Brigs have both mast square-rigged. Brigantines have the foremast square-rigged and the mainmast rigged fore-and-aft.
Schooners have two or more masts that are fore-and-aft rigged. Often the forward mast shorter than the ones behind it. Schooners may also have square topsails.
And woe to he who calls the cannons onboard cannons. To sailors, they’re ‘guns’ or ‘great guns.’
The Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship still afloat. (The British HMS Victory is older and still commissioned but is in permanent drydock.)
The Constitution was launched in 1797 and saw service against the French in the undeclared war from 1798 to 1800, the First Barbary War, the War of 1812. She was a training ship in the US War Between the States. She earned her nickname on July 17, 1812, in the War of 1812 when the HMS Guerriere fired her guns at the Constitution and the shot deflected off the Constitution’s side.
She’s a museum piece now, semi-permanently tied up in the Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, MA. To keep the wear even on her hull, she is turned yearly on the Fourth of July in Boston Harbor. The strain of sails on her masts may be too much for them, so these days she’s escorted by tugs. For this event, the Zachery Reinauer and the Harold A. Reinauer II escorted her out in the harbor and turned her.
To kids growing up in greater Boston, she was a regular field trip destination for schools and scouts. I went aboard on several tours in the late 1960s and 1970s.
The Martin Pierce is the Boston Fire Department’s newest primary fireboat. She’s a 2026 Metalcraft Marine 70-foot high-speed aluminum vessel that serves as the flagship of the department’s Marine Unit.
She’s 70’ with four 1,000 HP Caterpillar turbo-diesel engines with jet drives and capable of pumping about 12,000 gallons per minute for fighting fires.
She was built by Metalcraft Marine, Inc. in Kingston, Ontario. She was delivered by sailing her through Lake Ontario and Lake Erie to the Erie Canal and across New York to the Hudson River.
The boat is dedicated to both Firefighter Martin Pierce Sr. and his son, former Fire Commissioner Martin Pierce Jr. Martin Pierce Sr. joined the Boston Fire Department in 1943 and served 37 years on Ladder 17. Martin Pierce Jr. joined in 1969, rose through the ranks, and served as Fire Commissioner in the 1990s.
She’s 79’ long, built in 2011 by A.F. Theriault & Son Ltd. In Meteghan River, Nova Scotia. She has four Caterpillar diesel engines, two 1,450 HP and two 873 HP. She can do 24 knots and can pump 6,000 gallons per minute to fight fires.
She’s named as a tribute to the passengers and crew of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175—the two planes that departed from Logan Airport on September 11, 2001, and struck the World Trade Center. The vessel includes a memorial piece of steel from one of the towers inscribed “Never Forget!”
The Eagle is a Coast Guard training ship, serving as a seagoing classroom for cadets. In addition to training cadets, she serves as a goodwill ambassador, calling in foreign ports.
The Eagle was built in Germany as the Horst Wessel in 1936, to serve as a training ship for the German Navy. She was decommissioned by the Germans in 1939, just before the start of WWII. In 1942, she was recommissioned. The Germans added anti-aircraft guns to her and pressed her into service. She survived the war and was taken by the United States as war reparations.
In April 1945, she fled Germany with a group of refugees aboard. She made it to the port of Flensburg in the German State of Schleswig-Holstein, which was under British control. She surrendered to the British there.
After the War, she moved to the German port of Bremerhaven, tied to a pier and had much of her equipment stripped. The Allies drew lots to determine who would take each of the remaining German ships.
The ship the Russians won was stripped of her sails, masts and other equipment to repair the Eagle. She was commissioned into the Coast Guard as the Eagle on May 15, 1946. She sailed for America in June 1946 with a Coast Guard crew assisted by the German Kapitänleutnant Schnibbe and some of the German crew. She had an eventful voyage, weathering a hurricane before arriving in Orangeburg, NY.
She’s 295 feet long, her tallest mast is about 150 feet tall – about as high as a 15-story building. She has 23 sails with a total area of 22,227 square feet that require six miles of rope for her rigging. She can make about 17 knots (20 mph) under sail. And she’s beautiful.
That’s the Ernestina-Morrissey alongside the Eagle.
The Mayflower II is a full-scale, historic reproduction of the 17th-century merchant ship that carried the Pilgrims to America in 1620.
She was built in 1955 and 1956 using traditional materials and methods by English shipbuilders at the Upham Shipyard in Brixham, England. She sailed across the Atlantic in 1957 and was given as a gift to the U.S. She’s now owned by Plimoth Patuxet Museums in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Her home berth is the State Pier near Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, MA.
She seems far too small to be sailing about in the Atlantic. She’s only about 25 feet wide and 106 feet long.
Ernestina-Morrissey was built in 1894 at the James and Tarr Shipyard in Essex, MA. Originally named Effie M. Morrissey, she was a hardworking Gloucester fishing boat fishing for cod and halibut from the North Atlantic until 1924.
In 1924, she was purchased by famed Arctic explorer Captain Robert Bartlett. She made dozens of expeditions to the far North for institutions like the American Museum of Natural History and the National Geographic Society and even surveyed the Arctic for the U.S. government during WWII. She got as close as 600 miles to the North Pole.
In 1947, she was sold to Cape Verdean Captain Henrique Mendes, she was renamed Ernestina and spent decades plying the transatlantic waters, carrying goods, supplies, and immigrants between Cape Verde and New England.
In 1982, the Republic of Cape Verde gifted the vessel to the people of the United States. She was brought home to be restored and was named the official State Ship of Massachusetts. She was renamed to Ernestina-Morrissey in 2014.
She’s now managed by the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Her home berth is the New Bedford State Pier in Massachusetts. She serves as a sail training and educational ship for the Academy.
She was built in 2009 by the Derecktor Shipyards in Bridgeport, CT. She’s powered by two 16-cylinder Rolls-Royce MTU diesel engines delivering 5,400 HP.
She usually works handling ships in the Harbor or towing along the coast. She’s also equipped to handle salvage work and is a Class-1 fire-fighting boat capable of pumping 5,200 gallons per minute. She seems to be what we land-lubbers call ‘a big sucker.’
The Esmeralda is a 371-foot, steel-hulled four-masted barquentine that serves as a sail training vessel for the Chilean Navy. Affectionately known as the “White Lady,” she is the third-tallest sailing ship in the world and carries a crew of nearly 400 people.
She’s 371’ long, with a beam of 43’ and a draft of 23’. She displaces 3,673 tons. She has 21 sails, covering 30,892 square feet.
Construction began on her in Cádiz, Spain, in 1946. She was initially designed to serve as Spain’s national training ship, Juan de Austria. Tragedy struck in 1947 when a massive explosion devastated the Cádiz shipyard. The explosion severely damaged her hull and left the construction company on the verge of bankruptcy.
In 1950, Spain offered the unfinished ship to Chile as part of a debt settlement from the Spanish Civil War. Work on her restarted under the new owners and she was launched on May 12, 1953, in Cádiz, Spain. She sailed to her homeport of Valparaíso, arriving in September 1954.
Following the coup by General Augusto Pinochet on September 11, 1973, the Chilean Navy joined the military junta. The Esmeralda was put to use as a prison. Over 5,000 political prisoners were detained onboard.
After Pinochet stepped down, she transitioned back into her training role. She has visited over 300 ports in more than 60 countries. She set world speed records for her class, averaging 16 knots over a 24-hour run.
A former London shipwright, Mr. Digby, built the Virginia. She was originally designed as a fishing boat. But when the Colony was abandoned, she returned some of the colonists to England. She was then sold to the Jamestown Colony and recrossed the Atlantic.
A group of volunteers built the replica Virginia in Bath, ME, launching her on June 4, 2022. She’s 51’ long – which seems much too small to be crossing oceans if you ask me.
The story goes that Patton intended to sail the schooner around the world with his wife “when and if I return from the war.”
When and If remained in the harbor at Manchester-by-the-Sea in Massachusetts and was passed down through Patton’s family. Frederick Ayer Jr. donated it to the Landmark School in Beverly, MA in 1972, where she was used for sail training programs for children with dyslexia.
Due to the School’s financial difficulties, arrangements were made to share ownership with Jim and Gina Mairs. However, in 1990 she broke loose in a gale and was wrecked. Originally assessed as a total loss, she was successfully salvaged and towed to the Gannon & Benjamin shipyard in Martha’s Vineyard. After a three-year rebuilding process, she was re-launched in 1994.
Purchased by Captain Seth Salzmann in 2015, she has been a part of Tall Ships Festivals in both 2015 and 2016, and in 2017 When and If sailed with Sail Training International to Bermuda, Boston and on to all corners of the Canadian Maritimes. Her home port in the winter is now Key West.
Built in 1982, she serves as a training ship for Polish sailors. She’s the first tall ship built in a Polish shipyard. She serves as a sail training ship.
She was launched in November 1981 at the Gdańsk, Poland, Shipyard and commissioned for service in July 1982 at her home port of Gdynia, Poland.
She’s 311’ long and 205’ tall. She has a sail area of 32,000 square feet.
In 1987-88, the ship was invited to take part in a great rally for the 200-year anniversary of the settlement of Europeans on the Australian continent. It was decided that the ship would extend its journey to a complete circumnavigation of the globe. Over 274 days, the ship sailed a total of 36,352 nautical miles. In 2018-19 she again circumnavigated the globe to commemorate Poland’s 100th anniversary of independence.
She’s 123’ long and her home port is Rockland, ME.
In 1998, the Essex Historical Society and Shipbuilding Museum commissioned Essex shipwright Harold Burnham to construct a Chebacco boat to serve as the museum’s flagship. It measures 30 feet on deck and its hull, deck arrangement, and rig are typical of post-Revolutionary War inshore fishermen. The Story is named in honor of Essex shipwright, carver, designer, modeler, researcher and the town’s foremost maritime historian, Lewis H. Story, 1873–1948.
There were more ships to come, but it was time we headed home. We had a fun day and hope to go back in 2076 for the Tricentennial.
I’ve been out to check on all three loon families and the heron rookery. I’ll have another post up in the next couple days with the news.
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Checking in With The Gang
It’s been a busy couple of weeks since my last post. I’ve managed to visit the Eastons and Westons twice each, the Middletons once and the heron rookery once.
The trailer is all packed for an early morning departure to the Berkshires Arts Festival at Ski Butternut in Great Barrington, MA. We’ll be there Friday, Saturday & Sunday. I’d love to meet more of you, please stop by booth 212 in the air conditioned Upper Lodge.
When I checked the spot they’d been building, I found an empty nest and no loons.
I heard from another Weston Family watcher. She’d paddled the pond and couldn’t find the family. I headed up on the 28th to see what was up.
I checked the Eastons’ nest. There was an eggshell in the bottom of the nest, but no one was home. I went looking for them.
Before I found them, I found Hank out strutting his stuff looking for breakfast.
It will be late next week before I have a chance to get out again. I’ll let you know how all the chicks are doing.
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We Have Loon Chicks, Heron Chicks Getting Big
Another busy week visiting all three loon families and the heron rookery. The Westons’ chicks have hatched, the Eastons are sitting on their nest, the Middletons continue to look for a new spot. And the heron chicks are getting big. Very big.
The Berkshires Art Festival is coming up in Great Barrington, MA on July 3, 4 and 5. I’ll have note cards and prints large and small for sale. I’ll be in booth 212 in the Upper Lodge. Please come by and have a look. My 2027 Wildlife Calendar went to the printer. If all goes well, I’ll have them at the show.
The Westons laid their eggs sometime during a week I couldn’t visit. I’d expected the eggs to hatch last weekend. Monday morning I headed out early and found the pond in thick fog. I paddled up the pond and back down before running into Mr. Weston on his own. Mrs. Weston was still on the nest. And squirming regularly. (Dad is banded in this pair. When I can see a leg, I can tell who is who.)
Every spring, I get questions about my camera gear. I’m using a Canon EOS R5 with an 800mm f5.6 lens. 800mm lets me sit well back from the loons – and most of the images in my posts are cropped.
I went back Tuesday morning to see if I could meet the second chick. The fog was thicker than the day before.
The Westons have always pretty much ignored me until about time for the chicks to hatch. Then, everyone has to go. They’ll wail at people, beavers, any large bird flying over and even lots of small birds in the brush along the pond.
Wednesday morning I headed to visit the Middletons. On my last visit, I discovered they’d abandoned their first nest and were looking for a site to try again.
After a bit, he gave up and went to find a snack. Mrs. M tossed some vegetation herself before deciding a snack sounded good.
I went to check to see what the Middletons were up to.
Yesterday morning I called on the Eastons. On my last visit there appeared to be a pair of loons defending a nesting spot with a banded loon challenging one of them for the territory. The Mr. Easton we’ve been following since 2019 wasn’t to be found. Mrs. Easton isn’t banded, she may be back.
Saturday morning found a pair of loons with a nest. The banded loon I’d seen the last time has taken over the territory. There was at least one challenger on the pond. After a brief skirmish, the challenger departed.
The intruder returned and drew both of the home team to the far end of the pond. I snuck a look at the nest with my binoculars and they’ve got two eggs.
The intruder promptly left the pond.
I expect to dodge wildlife on the road in the early hours. This past week, I’ve seen bears, foxes, a racoon and an opossum along with deer, more deer and even more deer. To change things up this morning, I met a horse trotting west as I was going east.
Last week, it looked like a wren had taken over the bluebird box where they raised a family earlier this year. In the last couple days, the bluebirds have reappeared. Ownership of the box appears undecided. I’m kinda rooting for the bluebirds. The wren’s song was cute the first couple days, but she over does it.
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News from the Eastons and Middletons
The road to the Easton’s pond is again more or less passable and I got out to visit them and I made a call on the Middletons a couple days later. Let’s see what they’ve been up to.
And I’ve been printing and framing new images for the Berkshires Art Festival in Great Barrington, MA on July 3, 4 and 5. I’ll have note cards and prints large and small for sale. Please come by and have a look.
Tuesday morning well before dawn, I headed out to visit the Eastons. I’d stopped by the pond the last time I went past. The dirt road is passable, but grading would be a big help.
On my way to the pond, I passed a bear and her cub enjoying a meal from a curbside trash can. I’m not sure curbside trash pickup and bears are a good mix. The story won’t end well for the bears if they get used to finding breakfast in the trash.
There were three loons on the pond when I paddled out. Two were defending a territory on one of the islands, the intruder was holding back a bit. There were skirmishes throughout the morning.
Sometimes I get lucky and have a critter make photos easy. Wednesday, my dogs were out back and started making noise. That’s not surprising, they’re huskies and feel the need to talk about almost everything. I let them in and happened to look out the window.
Thursday morning I was on the Middleton’s pond before sunup. On my last visit, they’d been sitting on their nest. A friend on the pond had messaged saying she was seeing both loons together for long periods on the pond. When I arrived, I discovered they’ve abandoned their first nest. The water level has dropped several inches since my last visit. They probably don’t have enough water to come and go from the nest underwater and decided to give up on it.
The Weston’s chicks should have hatched this weekend. I’ll be off to visit as soon as we get a nice morning.
Our bluebirds are around the yard, keeping busy feeding the fledglings. A wren is working in their box this morning.
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A Visit to the Westons and Heron Chicks
A slower week this past week. I had a chance to visit the Weston loon family on a foggy morning and visited the great blue heron rookery.
I’ll be at the Berkshires Arts Festival at Ski Butternut in Great Barrington, MA on July 3, 4, 5. I’ll be in booth 212 lots of prints and note cards. Stop by and have a look.
Tuesday morning found blue skies over the hill in West Newbury and the Weston’s pond in deep fog.
An outsider loon flew over and called which set the Westons to tremoloing. The outsider flew on and the pond quieted. Very quiet. I paddled around looking for photos. Seems most of the critters had taken the morning off.
The outsider loon returned and landed well up the pond. All three loons started calling. The loon on the nest left the nest to join the other home team loon on the main part of the pond. They were well separated from the intruder. I snuck back into the cove with their nest to see if I could see how many eggs they have. I took a quick look to find two and turned around to leave the cove.
The loons mostly called at each other before a brief skirmish with some wing rowing before the intruder departed.
Thursday morning, I was up early and headed to see the great blue heron rookery. I’ve been inundated with requests for the location of the rookery. I think I’ve answered everyone. I’m reluctant to share locations with folks I don’t know. Most are likely to be responsible, but the internet has more than a few bad apples.
On three of the four nests with herons, an adult was standing on the edge of the nest. The fourth had a heron still sitting.
The fourth and fifth nests had parents return, but I didn’t see any chicks. Guess I’ll have to go back.
And we’ve hosted bluebirds in one of the boxes on our deck again this year. I haven’t been posting, it seems like many people have cameras in their bird houses now. And, something is amiss with mine, the video quality has degraded. But, here’s a clip of the chick’s final few minutes as our guests before they fledge.
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A Busy Week for the Critters
With a week with mostly nice weather, I was able to get out and visit both the Middletons and Westons as well as the heron rookery and a couple fox dens.
This week, you’ve got two chances to see my slideshow, Travels with Ian 2025, with some of my favorite images from last year. We’ll see lots of wildlife around New England and lots of brown bears from Alaska – including Brown Bear no. 925 who made ursine history last year. There are even images of a steam locomotive working in the incredible scenery along the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway.
The first show will be at the Bugbee Center in White River Jct. Wednesday May 27 at 1:30 pm. The second presentation will be at the Blake Memorial Library in Corinth, VT Friday May 29 at 6 pm. The Library would appreciate an RSVP sent to khotellingbml@gmail.com. Both are free and open to the public.
And I’ll be exhibiting at the Berkshires Art Festival in Great Barrington, MA on July 3, 4 and 5. I’ll have note cards and prints large and small for sale. Please come by and have a look.
A week ago Saturday, I called on the Westons. One was feeding at the south end of the pond, the other turned out to already be sitting on the nest towards the north end of the pond. I wandered off to see who else might be around.
Dad is hidden in the brush. His head is the dark spot in the brush above mom’s head.
Tuesday morning, I was on the road early to visit the heron rookery. I missed when they started sitting on the nests. I was hoping for chicks. No such luck, the latest they should hatch is early this week.
On the way home, I stopped to visit the foxes again. They weren’t to be found.
The next morning I headed out to see what the Middletons were up to. They’re sitting on their nest. They’ve moved from where the nest has been for several years. They’ve found a new spot on a hummock deep in the brush and are well hidden. I didn’t see the nest until Mrs. Middleton relieved Mr. Middleton.
A chilly Friday found me paddling down the Waits River before dawn.
Yesterday I headed back to check on the fox kits.
The clouds were moving in rapidly and the light was fading, I headed home.
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Birds of May
A quick post with some of the birds I’ve found out and about in May.
I’ll be giving my slideshow, Travels with Ian 2025, of my favorite shots from 2025 twice before the end of the month. There’s lots of wildlife from around New England and shots from my trip to Alaska to see brown bears and the steam locomotive on the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway. Both are free and open to the public. The first show will be at the Bugbee Center in White River Jct. Wednesday May 27 at 1:30 pm. The second presentation will be at the Blake Memorial Library in Corinth, VT Friday May 29 at 6 pm. The Library would appreciate an RSVP sent to khotellingbml@gmail.com.
And I’ll be exhibiting at the Berkshires Art Festival in Great Barrington, MA on July 3, 4 and 5. All the details here: https://americanartmarketing.com/blogs/news/berkshires-arts-festi-val-2025. I’ll have note cards and prints large and small with me. Stop by and take a look.
Back on May 8, I went out to visit the Westons and their neighbors. The Westons slept in and I went looking to see who else might be around.
I went back to visit them again the next day.
On May 11, I put the boat in the Waits River in Bradford, VT to see who might be around.
I’m watching the weather, looks like we’re going to have a nice weekend, I’ll be back out early.
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