Trying something different today; a story with some background on one of my favorite shots.
Since my last post, I’ve had more excitement than I need. The circus-style tent at the Stowe Foliage Art show came down and destroyed my booth. Thankfully, it collapsed early in the morning and no one was injured. I’ll be doing the Celebrate Vermont show at the Doubletree in Burlington November 22-24 2024 using a booth borrowed from one of my competitors, Jonathan Hart. Thanks Jonathan!
The circus-style tent in Stowe at the start of the show.
What we found when we came back for the second day of the show.
The remains of my set up. It will take awhile to figure out who’s insurance is going to cover what. I was luckier than many of the artists.
In happier news, my 2025 New England Wildlife Calendar is now available.
The calendars are large – 9″x12″ with 13 of my favorite wildlife images. They’re $25 and $3 shipping per order. You can get one on my site: www.IanClark.com/
Let’s go way back to 2013, the year after I met the loons. On a visit to the Middleton’s pond, I was exploring a cove where they like to breakfast. They were still off in the main part of the pond and I settled in to wait for them. While I waited, I noticed a painted turtle in the lily pads.
The turtle was cruising along with his head out of the water. He? must have seen me, but wasn’t concerned. He swam over to one of the lilies. I missed the shot, but he took one – just one – bite out of the flower.
He continued on to another lily….. and again took one – just one – bite out of the flower.
He move on again. This lily was too high and he examined it for a bit before moving on to the next lily.
This one took a stretch, but up he went. And took a bite – just one bite – out of the flower. The next lily was low to the water. He grabbed hold….
And moved around the flower before he took one – just one – bite out of the flower. Was it too hot? Was it too cold? I looked over my shoulder to make sure there weren’t three bears in the neighborhood.
Off he went to the next lily. Looks like his buddy already took his bite out of this one. Could this be the one that’s just right? Nope, he took one – just one – bite out of the flower. And here’s the shot I love. He’s found the lily that is just right! And I got the shot.
I’ve never seen a turtle take a bite out of a lily before or since. I’ve seen a couple that have taken insects from the flowers or lily pads, but never the flower.
Looking back at the files from this morning, I didn’t get any remarkable shots of the Middletons. But, I did photograph a cow moose and her calf, several turtles and eastern kingbird nestlings getting fed. But, I remember the turtle.
Thank you for another wonderful post!
Love the turtle photos, Ian! And so sorry about tent in Stowe.Hope insurance gets figured out quickly.
Thanks!
Beautiful photos with such wonderful colors. Thank you.
A natural storyteller, on top of such amazing images of nature, thank you Ian!
Thanks!