Moose on the Loose at Moosehead LakeIn the search of moose, I took a long weekend trip up to the Moosehead Lake region of Maine. In this very rural area of Maine, moose outnumber people 3 to 1. Dusk and dawn, especially in the spring and fall provides the best chances to see moose, so I was hopeful my trip would be a success and it was! I found 8 moose on my own and then 7 more while getting a guided tour by van and in a canoe. I was also hoping to see a mother with her calf, but the guide told me that none had been born yet and sure enough we saw a number of pregnant moose and no calves. In the spring moose are very thin and they have shed most of their thick winter coat. In the summer and fall the moose will fatten up, grow back their thick fur coats and the males will grow their antlers in. Here is a bull moose feeding in a pond with a female watching me in the background. This was photographed from a canoe during my guided tour. Here is a moose checking out the beautiful views of the nearby mountains. Here is a bull moose playing peek-a-boo near Kokadjo, Maine. Here is a moose mountain landscape photo. Sunset on Blair Hill overlooking Moosehead Lake.
Some other scenes at Moosehead Lake:
Patriots' Day - The start of the American Revolution
Patriots' Day is not widely celebrated outside of Massachusetts but even in MA it is most commonly called "Marathon Monday", the day of the Boston Marathon, which began in 1897 and is the world's oldest annual marathon. Patriots' Day commemorates the Battles of Lexington and Concord which occured on April 19, 1775, the first battles of the American Revolution. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow made the fairly unknown Paul Revere into a household name when he penned the poem "Paul Revere's Ride" in 1860, although he used some poetic license in the poem since William Dawes was not mentioned or that Revere was captured. Today, Patriots' Day reenactments are held annually in the month of April in the towns of Lexington, Bedford, Lincoln, and Concord. There are parades, marches, educational programs, and reenactments commemorating Revere's capture, the battle of Lexington, and the Battle of Concord. The Battle of Lexington is held at 5:45am on Patriots' Day morning on the Lexington Battle Green and it is one of the most popular events to attend. The reenactors show the scurmish that occured at sunrise on April 19th, 1775 that would end up being the first battle of the American Revolution. Below you will find my photographs from a few of the events held in 2014.
Listen my children and you shall hear
He said to his friend, "If the British march - An excerpt from "Paul Rever's Ride" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This is a photo of the Paul Revere statue in the North End of Boston with the Old North Church in the background. The sculptor Cyrus Edwin Dallin began working on it in 1883, and he needed to make several versions before the design was finalized in 1899, and even then it was not presented to the public until September 22, 1940.
Stand your ground -Captain John Parker at the Battle of Lexington The Lexington Militia confronts the British regulars on the Lexington green. British Soldiers marching towards Lexington Green
The shot heard 'round the world
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
To see the entire album, CLICK HERE 2014: The Winter of the Snowy Owl
If you like snowy owls, the winter of 2013-2014 was a record breaking year to see them in New England and many other locations across the northern part of the US. The majority of the invading owls are young birds, hatched this year, so evidently snowy owls had very good breeding success in the Arctic. The popular belief is that a population boom in lemmings, the top food for Snowy Owls in the arctic, caused this irruption year for young snowy owls. Snowy Owls spend summers in the northernmost parts of Canada, Scandinavia, and Siberia nesting and feeding on various animals, but relying mostly on lemming. Even in winter, most snowy owls in North America stay near the Arctic Circle, with only a small percentage going to southern Canada and northern United States. The amount of Snowy Owls seen in New England this year was the most seen in over 50 years according to The Audubon Society. Snowy Owls were spotted on beaches and airports throughout New England this winter. At Logan Airport in Boston, MA, where Snowy Owls are captured and released each winter, March 15, 2014 marked the 100th snowy owl captured and released. I live in southeastern Massachusetts, so I took every opportunity I could to visit local beaches looking for snowy owls. I found snowy owls at Salisbury Beach, Plum Island, Duxbury Beach, West Island in Fairhaven, Gooseberry Island in Westport, Horseneck Beach, and beaches in Rhode Island.
This snowy owl was sitting on the rocky beach of Gooseberry Island in Westport, MA. This bird had very dark markings and seemed to be eating quite well. I spotted several duck carcasses along the beach that day.
Here is a snowy owl in flight at Duxbury Beach. Duxbury Beach is a very popular spot for snowy owls and it is one of the locations that snowy owls are released after being captured at Logan Airport in Boston.
I walked by this snowy owl several times before another photographer pointed it out on the top of a cedar tree. This snowy owl seemed to be really enjoying the sunshine as it napped in the midday sun. He or she never opened its eyes as photographers took its picture and walkers went by unaware of it in the tree.
I visited this snowy owl several times over the course of the winter. He or she spent the winter at the campground at Horseneck Beach in Westport, MA. The campground is closed in the winter and with the rolling sand dunes, grasses, and shrubs, it makes a great place for a snowy owl and for photo ops. The snowy owl flew parallel to a paved path giving me a perfect chance to photograph it flying by.
Here is the Horseneck Beach owl watching me from the top of a sand dune. Below are a few other snowy owl photos.
© Ken Conway Photography
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