Raven, Coyote

Spent the morning at the Maine Wildlife Park in Gray, Maine.   This was only my second trip there, though it was a bit sleepier than I remembered. The sun was so bright it was difficult to see some of the birds from behind their cages.  Not the best for taking references photos but an enjoyable walk all the same. 

The Eurasian Red Squirrel

As the majority of my readership is American, you may have though the squirrel from yesterday's update to be more than a little odd.   As half of the imagery in this series is invented, you may have thought it to be a bit of artistic invention or fantasy.   While I agree that there's nothing wrong with an artist taking license by painting a gray squirrel red and adding some devil ears for good measure, I am writing to assure you that this squirrel is very real and indigenous throughout much of Eurasia and, in particular, Poland. Among other things, the Kracow cycle is about the bridge between Poland and and other cultures, with the portrait from acting as a vehicle for this projected fantasy.   A traveler to another country is first struck by all the differences, and I was always particularity interested in the new varieties of small animals in the cites and woods.  The ubiquitous crow, the gray squirrel, both are absent.   Magpies, Jackdaws, Rooks, and this curious little red fellow abound.  Like it's American cousin, the reds are very fond of nuts and can be quite friendly if you have a pocket full of almonds. 

The Portrait-with-an-Owl Racket

I was cruising through Kittery today, totally unaware that it's annual Septemberfest is in full swing.  Other than the carnival atmosphere, I was attracted to this huge sign advertising "Birds of Prey."  I am so glad I stopped.  It turned out to be "The Raptor Project, "  an amazingly large traveling bird show with 15-20 birds of prey just hanging out for your inspection, an artist's paradise! For $10 you can have your picture taken with an owl, which I must admit is much more affordable than one of my paintings.   The birds are all rescue animals, and all proceeds go to supporting the project.  They are only in town for two more days, but will back for Yarmouth Seaside Festival in October.   Given that I was caught without my good camera, I may have to be some sort of bird groupie and catch these guys next time they are around.

Crow Park

For my first three years in Portland, I lived on lower Mellen street near Deering Oaks park. I called it "crow park" as it always seemed full of crows and mostly lacking in the enormous seagulls that dominate the rest of the town. I liked to imagine it was their little bit of hard-won turf in their underdog struggle for the garbage of Portland. I rarely get over to this area of town in the mornings anymore, but I headed over to the park in the morning and set up station on a park bench. There was a cool fog over the park, just below 40 degrees, my actual idea of perfect weather to be outside for a couple of hours. I was able to take over 200 photos of them though they were still very skittish.

Crow Hunting

I've been photographing corvids (crow family) regularly in Poland, but I realized recently in the studio that I was lacking the good old American variety. So, I’ve spent the last month here walking to the studio with my big heavy camera, and no luck. I ran across some last week in Deering Oaks park at dusk and tried my luck there again tonight, but they were all flying west. I followed them around town with my car and was very surprised to find them down by the cove near the 295 on ramp. They really hate being photographed and tend to fly away. I tried to entice them with bargain parrot-seed I bought at Target, but it just drove them back further. The last picture is from the Western Promenade, which is where the scared ones were flying to from the beach. I think I finally frightened them back to the interstate before going home for the night.