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| Hillary, Keene NH, 2018 |
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| Rye Harbor 2014 |
During the last couple of
weeks Keene, New Hampshire has been honored by the presence of a majestic Snowy
Owl. These Artic creatures occasionally venture south, tending to arrive
in occasional “eruptions”. They are most frequently seen along the
seacoast and my first encounter was during a particularly intense visitation
back in the winter of 2014. On that occasion I had to travel to Rye New
Hampshire and Salisbury Beach, but was rewarded with several sightings.
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| Male Salisbury Beach, 2014 |
My first encounter was on a rooftop in Rye, but later I caught a couple of
birds in more natural habit at the entrance to the beach. These birds are
amazing in any situation, but the holy grail is to catch them in trees or
settled into the grass, and most notably when in flight. In 2014 I was
lucky to shoot the Snowys in all of these situations, although my one “in
flight” picture was only a partial capture on take-off.
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| Salisbury Beach, 2014 |
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| Salisbury Beach 2014 |
The Snowys were definitely
worth the long, early morning schlep to the seacoast, but this winter I was
thrilled to hear that a Snowy Owl had taken up residence right next door in
Keene. Given the fact that I am primarily a landscape photographer, I was
initially able to assume a nonchalant attitude. After all, I had
photographed snowys in the past, and they probably hadn’t changed much in the
last four years. But I kept seeing great pictures in social media and, since
she was only fifteen minutes from my house, I had to check it out. Most
of the observations centered around the Monadnock Market Place and the
industrial park on the opposite side of Route 9. Both developments are built on
marshy lowlands on the west side of Keene, and was the focus of my search.
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| Red Tail Hawk |
My first drive-by was
unsuccessful, but since these locations were conveniently placed on my normal
route home from Keene, it was easy to return. I was successful on the
second visit. Snowy owls are famously easy to observe, first because they
are calm birds and not easily disturbed and secondly because, unlike most owls,
they tend to be out during the daylight hours. All you need do is scan
the light poles and telephone poles for small blobs of white. My first sighting turned out to be a lovely, although quite common, Red Tailed Hawk, but I spotted my first white blob on a light pole in the Subaru parking lot. When I returned later in the day
, she had moved across the lot to the Hundai Dealership.
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| Resting at the Days Inn Keene 2018 |
Two days later I caught the bird
on a telephone pole across route 9 next to the Days Inn. The Snowys are
wonderfully photogenic when seated imperiously surveying the fields. She was easy to approach and I
got some nice shots perched on human created poles, but I was
disappointed that I didn’t get a chance to catch the bird in natural habit or
in flight. So I decided to have some photoshop fun and try to place the
bird in a nicer setting - otherwise known as cheating horrible with Photoshop.
I searched my archives for
winter photos which matched the lighting and which provided somewhere for the
snowy to perch.
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| Hillary 2018 |
I ended up with a shot from several years ago of a
pasture fence in a snow storm and combined it with the snowy image at the top of this article. I wasn't trying to fool anyone, but the challenge was to make the
images blend together naturally. I had to adjust the snowy’s color to match
the warmer tones of the scene and then I blended in claws from another image to
make the bird appear to be more naturally perched. Finally, I made a
highlight selection to capture some of the snowflakes and layered them over the
“unsnowy” Snowy. Ok it was all “fake news” but it was a fun activity, and
not fake as long as I admit the deception.
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| Magical (And Make-believe) Snowy in the Storm |
Over the last few days I have
not seen our Snowy. I fear that all the attention might have sent her to
parts unknown, but I’ll keep looking, as I continue to search for that prefect
airborne image. Regardless, I felt honored to spend more time with these remarkable creatures
*** My Mistake ***
As of last evening 1/15, Hillary was still with us.
Keep looking!
Someone Has to Name Her
Did I mention that, since no
one else has done it, I have taken the liberty of naming Keene’s 2018 Snowy
“Hillary”. Let me assure my conservative friends, that Hillary is just a
name. The bird ia apolitical and IS a female, and I refused to call her “Kelly Anne”. I
promise, if we get a male next year we can name him “Sh**hole”.
Jeff Newcomer, NEPG
www.partridgebrookreflections.com
