It has been a strange winter. More like three months of mud season. Now that Spring has arrived, we are getting some serious snow. But back to Winter 2023-24.
Lebanon at Night
I don’t often post night photos, so I decided to start with these from Lebanon. For me “night” is normally early morning. The photos here were all taken between 6:30 and 7 am on two consecutive days in December 2023. Night photos are generally better when there is color in the sky, instead of a pure black.
I approached Colburn Park from the east and made some wide photos of downtown.
I moved in to show the Opera House and City Hall.
Here are a half dozen photos from Colburn Park.
Bohemian Waxwings
For most of the winter I was frustrated trying to find Bohemian Waxwings. I put many miles on my car and came up with few photos. Then in early March they magically appeared less than a mile from our home. I have seen them in past years feasting on high-bush cranberries in the area. They stayed for less than 30 minutes, but I was able to get some photos. Here is most of the flock. I only saw Bohemians, no Cedars.
It was nice to see these nomads from the north. Here are a dozen photos.
Birds in Flight
It is fun and challenging to photograph birds in flight. Here are a few photos from March. If you missed my more extensive Birds of Winter blog you can click this link to open it in a separate tab.
Purple Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
Black-capped Chickadee
European Starlings
Red-tailed Hawk
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Peregrine Falcon
Walking around Norwich
Jann and I have a favorite loop in Norwich that includes Elm and Hopson Roads. In winter, opportunities for photography on this loop are limited. Often I carry a camera but take no photos. The most interesting scenes are the two crossings of Blood Brook. Here are some photos, all from 2024.
Walking around Occom Pond
Similarly, we also have a favorite loop in Hanover that circles Occom Pond and extends somewhat beyond it.
Along Rope Ferry Road we watched the creation, name change, and melting of Mister Snotato Head.
In January the ice on Occom Pond supported some animals, perhaps deer, that made tracks across the pond.
Here are two more photos of the pond from January. See, we did have some snow this winter.
Along Occom Ridge Road we saw three deer in a yard very close to the road. I only had a short lens, but that was all I needed. The deer were unperturbed by people walking by.
In mid-March we saw what appeared to be small gasoline spills along the road.
I took a photo of one zooming my lens during the exposure.
Sunrise, Sunset, and Sun
Sunrises and sunsets are popular subjects for many. Me too. Camera manufacturers and many others warn to never point your camera at the sun. So naturally what do I do often? I have always believed it is safe to take photos that include the sun as long as you use a mirrorless camera, Live View on a DSLR, or a phone camera, since you are looking at a monitor image and not the actual sun. But don’t blame me if you damage your photo sensor.
Partly to prepare for the solar eclipse, which I hope will not be clouded out, I took a few photos of the sun. Here are two, the first has some iridescent clouds.
On February 10, I arrived at Mascoma Lakeside Park well before sunrise to find the parking lot nearly full with trucks. What was going on? Turns out folks were taking advantage of one of the only Saturdays of the winter when ice fishing was possible on Lake Mascoma. I took advantage of the slight fog creating interesting soft light before the arrival of the yellow glare of the risen sun.
Here are more sunrises and sunsets from Enfield and Etna.
Ice
We didn’t have much snow to play in and what ice we had was not good for skating. But some of the ice made interesting photo subjects. Here are a dozen photos of ice from Norwich, Lebanon, and Enfield.
Hiking
Norwich and the Grand Canyon
Four of us started at Parcel 5, looped through the UVLT Brookmead Conservation Area, and then returned via the Upper Ballard Trail, passing the Grand Canyon of Norwich. I then returned on an overcast day to take more photos of the Grand Canyon. Photography of moving water in bright sun rarely works well.
We walked past some vernal pools, found an old maple sap bucket, and walked through a nice white birch grove before crossing Beaver Meadow Road.
We entered Upper Ballard Trail just west of a parking area below Tucker Hill Road. Bill Ballard, conservationist, Dartmouth biology professor, and leader of nature expeditions, created the Ballard Trail to protect his land from development.
Eventually we reached the Grand Canyon of Norwich, a scenic cascade, named (with tongue in cheek) by Bill Ballard. This photo from the bottom of the cascade was taken on my first visit.
I returned six days later and took these photos of the Grand Canyon.
On my second visit I parked near Tucker Hill Road. On our earlier hike we left the Upper Ballard Trail near the start of the lower section and crossed back to our cars at Parcel 5.
Norwich along the AT
The same group headed out from Newton Lane in Hartford in early February after a snowfall. We passed Cossingham Farm, an UVLT site conserved by my mountain biking friend of years ago, Liz Russell.
We then turned east along the AT and hiked back down Elm to a car at the PO in downtown Norwich. Here are a few photos.
Bog Mountain Afternoon
A small group hiked Bog Mountain in mid-January hoping for some sunset photos. It was a strange day. Dark clouds, a snow squall, some sun, and then dark clouds spoiling any chance for a nice sunset. I drove home in the dark during a blinding snow storm. Here is Mount Kearsarge from part way up. Black Mountain is to its right.
It was a fun hike up a beautiful mountain.
Devil’s Half Acre Pond
Three of us hiked with snowshoes up SRK Greenway Trail 5 in New London to Devil’s Half Acre Pond in Wilmot. Along the way we passed some beautiful parts of Great Brook. At the Upper Cascades the snow was yellow, likely from a mist of wind-blown tannin. Here are a dozen photos.
Zebedee Wetlands with UVLT
Ted Levin lead a short hike around the Zebedee Wetlands in Thetford. In the spring and summer it is a nice spot to see birds. We had a few tricky stream crossings.
We had some hot chocolate and cookies near a nice spot overlooking the wetlands.
Bear Pond with UVLT
Also with the Upper Valley Land Trust, I did my third winter hike into Bear Pond. Each time we took a much different route in. I’ve been there many time in the spring and summer photographing birds. Snowshoes came in handy on this trip. After some bushwhacking, we finally found the pond and experienced a brief snow squall while enjoying refreshments.
French’s Ledges
Three of use donned spikes and hiked to French’s Ledges in Meriden. It was a beautiful winter morning, cold and clear. I enjoyed shooting into the sun and creating sunstars with a small aperture on a wide angle lens, which results in a small lens diaphragm and hence much diffraction to bend the light beams. Here are half dozen photos from our hike.
Moving Water
Following a very rainy March 6, I headed out to photograph moving water. Both brooks I visited were roaring violently.
True’s Brook
The True’s Brook Natural Area in Lebanon is a small area with a popular swimming hole in summer. Not this day!!! One definitely did not want to get too close to the edge of the three overlooks.
Before switching to my larger camera and tripod, I took a photo of Oakmoss Lichen with my iPhone. It has a great macro capability. The presence of this lichen indicates a healthy forest.
Photos from each of the overlooks follow.
Bicknell Brook
Bicknell Brook in Enfield is another UVLT site. Its cascades, both upstream and downstream from Boy’s Camp Road, are favorites of photographers.
I wasn’t wearing spikes, and it was somewhat icy along the Colette Trail upstream, so I did not stay long. This web site is already full of photos from this wonderful spot. Here are a half dozen I took this day.
Mountain Views
It is fun and interesting to see which mountains can be viewed from the Upper Valley. Nothing spectacular like Nepal, but they are ours and are right at hand.
Mount Cardigan from Enfield
Mount Moosilauke from Thetford
Smarts Mountain from Thetford
Mount Killington from Etna
Mount Killington from Meriden
Mount Ascutney from Etna
Knox, Butterfield and Signal Mountains from Etna
Mount Ascutney from Etna at the Adams Farm
The Adams Farm seen below at dawn is a new Hanover Conservancy site (conservation in progress).
And then I chased that flat cloud to Wilson’s Landing …
.. and to Lyme along the River Road.
Simple Photos
Capturing a detailed natural vista or object-filled image can be exciting and rewarding. But also is photographing in fog or snow or with a distant background to render a simple photograph reduced to a few bare elements. Many simple photos lack color, but not all. Here is a collection from Wilmot, Canaan, Enfield, Etna, and Lebanon.
Simplified Photos
It is possible to use software to transform an ordinary scene into something that looks more like a painting by simplifying details in the image. Here is a recent favorite where the side of Moose Mountain in the top right is not simplified.
Here are a half dozen more from VT and NH.
Barns
Unlike some photographers, I do not have a passion for barns. They make nice subjects, but I normally do not go out of my way to photograph them. There are three nice red ones a few miles from our house, and a photo I took of one was used on a Mascoma Bank Holiday card a few years ago.
I found it interesting to see how the light changes the look of this barn. When the sky is blue, so is the shade because it is the blue sky that the shade “sees”.
These three barns come from both sides of the river. Mount Killington is in the background of the red one.
Wandering Around Etna
The old “Favor Johnson” farm, memorialized by Willem Lange, now has some Shetland Highlanders. I took these two photos one morning.
Late another day the setting sun was very red.
Out Wolfeboro Road is the Moose Mountain Forest, a new Hanover Conservancy site (conservation in progress). The photo below is from that spot in early February. The second photo was taken in early March.
Below are more photos from Etna this winter.
Spring arrived and brought with it snow. This photo was taken March 21. Our home is somewhere up on that hill in the background.
As I type this we have well over a foot of new snow in our yard and much more is coming the rest of today and tonight. So winter might be officially over, but the winter we mostly missed is back.