Hillary the Snowy Owl Visits Keene

Hillary, Keene NH, 2018

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.

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.  

Salisbury Beach, 2014

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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

Bagging My Snowy

 

The Magic of the Snowy Owl
I resisted it for as long as I could. All winter I have enjoyed watching the flood of dramatic pictures on Facebook of the Snowy Owls that have invaded our New England coast in record numbers. These beautiful birds are usually a rarity this far south, but every 4-5 years there is an “irruption” as the supply of Lemmings, their staple food, rises in its normal cyclic pattern. This year the Snowies have launched a full scale invasion. It is estimated that this is the biggest irruption in the last 50 years. Facebook in general and the New England Photography Guild FB site in particular have been overflowing with fantastic images of Snowy Owls. It seemed that every other picture on the site was of an adorable white raptor fluffed up against the cold. I haven’t seen any Snowies in the Monadnock region, but it became apparent to me that I can’t call myself a New England photographer unless I have a Snowy in my portfolio. So I finally surrendered and headed to the coast last Monday to try to catch a Snowy before they made their springtime retreat to the northern tundra.

Failed Search

Two years ago I had made a similar attempt, but came up empty. I had taken the two hour trek to the New Hampshire coast on a cold February morning and searched the coast for several hours before I

Hampton Beach Sunrise

had to give up. I had to fulfill my responsibility to photograph the Cheshire Medical Center's participation in the "Penguin Plunge". The plunge is an annual fund raiser to Benefit the Special Olympics in which otherwise sane individuals pointlessly dive into the ocean at Hampton Beach. For several years I came along to record my friends in various shades of blue as they emerged from the frigid Atlantic. The Plunge was a great success and everyone survived, but I saw zero snow owls. I did get some nice images of a clear and frigid coastal sunrise.

This year I decided to improve my odds. Several of my fellow New England Photography Guild members are world class bird photographers and I sent out a general email looking for recommendations about where I would have the best chance to bag a Snowy. John Vose got back to me with two suggestions which turned out to be perfect. It helped that the birds seemed to have settled into favorite locations and were not wandering a great deal. Also Snowy Owls are easier to find since, unlike most other owls, they tend to be active during daylight hours.

Roof Top Snowy

My first location was at the State Park on the northern side of Rye Harbor. I pulled in at about 9am and a quick tour revealed no owls

Up On the Roof

in sight. A park Ranger, who was parked in the lot, told me that a female Snowy had been hanging out around the Park for several weeks, but he had not seen her for the last few days. My hopes fell, but then he mentioned that she occasionally perched on the roof of a white house on the opposite side of the road from the Park. Again I saw nothing, but then, as I scanned further up the road, I spied a white smudge on the roof of a pink house. A glance through my telephoto revealed that I had found my Snowy! I approached the house slowly and in stages. I didn't want to spook her and even a distant picture would make the trip worthwhile. I was eventually able to approach close enough to capture close-up images of this magnificent bird. It was clear that she had become used to seeing crazy photographers and John had told me that she was quite imperturbable. I was able to capture sharp images with my Canon 100-400 zoom and a 2x tele extender. Fully extended I had 800mm to work with. The extender meant that I had to focus manually and was limited to an aperture no wider that f11, but it was a bright day and careful manual focusing was necessary anyway to deal with the shallow depth of field of the long lens. Of course my position on the side of the road with a ridiculously long lens drew passersby. I initially felt sorry for those who only had a cell phone to capture the scene, but then I realized that no photograph was necessary to capture the majesty of these birds. I felt incredibly lucky. I finally had a chance to experience a Snowy. I could have returned home happy, but I had one more of John’s locations to try and I wanted to see if I could catch a bird in a more natural environment. Roof shingles were not the most dramatic backdrop for my images. 

Salisbury Beach
I headed south to Salisbury Beach and the entry road turned out to be a bonanza of Snowies. I saw at least 3 different owls, including one in a tree, another in the grass of an adjacent marsh and one that seemed attached to a telephone pole just outside the park entrance. On weekends this road tends to be packed with cars, but on his cool Monday morning I shared the owls with only a few birders. I have read that the males tend to be mostly white while he females have more dark spots. The owls were easy to find. All I needed to do was notice where the other photographers were pointing their cameras. It was all too easy and, given how hard I worked last time, I felt a bit guilty. The one thing that I missed was good pictures of the birds in flight. They mostly seemed comfortable on their perches. I kept my camera trained on the birds, leaving room to the side toward which I expected them to take flight. Invariably I was glancing away at the moment they took wing and only caught one just as it was flying out of the frame.

Taking Flight

How can I complain? The 4 hours of driving to and from the coast was well worth the effort. I not only bagged my Snowy, but I got to see these magnificent birds in a variety of locales and activities. I now feel that I can hold my head up among my fellow New England photographers and settle back into my usual role of shooting trees, rocks and streams. 

Passing Seagull