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Gold and Ice
Deanneart

Gold and Ice (Carduelis tristis)

We had a terrible ice storm last night and lost electricity about midnight. The sound of cracking branches and whole trees crashing down from the weight of the ice reverberated through the night and morning. There was probably about to an inch of ice coating everything. Ive never seen it this bad in all the years Ive been here. Weve had quite a bit of damage to the back gardens including my lovely tree hydrangea that Ive used as a backdrop for my bird photographs for the last three winters. An enormous White Pine limb crashed down onto it and there is only the trunk and a couple split branches left. Im brokenhearted about it but just have to look at is as an opportunity to do something new and creative with that part of the garden. We also now have a new hole in the garage roof where another large branch came down. Grrrr..

Half of the population of the state of NH is still without power tonight and they dont believe they are going to be able to restore service until Sunday or Monday. Fortunately we have a generator so we still have heat and some lights.

Anyway, whats the saying, When life hands you lemons make lemonade! So after picking up a ton of broken branches and stacking it all ready to take to the dump tomorrow I got out the camera and got some photos of the birds in the ice covered branches. The ice is lovely but too much is deadly!
Habitat
Garden
Location
Southern NH
Date taken
December 12, 2008
Scientific name
Carduelis tristis
Equipment used
Canon 40D - Canon 500 F4 IS + 1.4
Great image Deanneart!! sorry to hear about the damage and the power cut and no doubt frozen pipes, but at least you have heating and light. The camera still works well i see.

Cheers.
 
Deanne..sorry to hear about your misfortune but glad that you are OK....this is a beautiful image...thanks for sharing!
 
Well Deanne, what have you done to upset the people upstairs??? I echo Ken's words, as long as you and yours are safe, the rest can be replaced, sometime, somehow. What a beautiful image to come out of the situation, and cant wait to see more like this un, it could be your christmas card, really beautiful as always!!!!!!!
 
Good grief, sounds terrible Deanne :eek!:
Brilliant shot though, the icey perch looks fantastic o:)o:):t:
 
Supporter
BuuuRRRRRR that is a chilly looking shot, very nice. Saw the news tonight and look like you have it pretty bad. I hope all is well with you and your family and you get you electricity back soon.
 
A truly brilliant image Deanne, in any circumstances, but doubly so today for the optimism it highlights! :t: A beautifully taken photo, and a splendidly handled natural event - congratulations on both counts! :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

I'm so sorry to hear about the damage - I'll miss your hydrangea too - but you've bounced back to join us today, and that's all I really care about. :loveme:
 
Staff member
Opus Editor
Supporter
A beautiful shot you've got here under dire circumstances Deanne.

Was watching the news this evening and the ice devastation is tremendous in your neck of the woods.
 
So sorry to hear about the ice storm Deanne and I am glad you are OK. I can only imagine what is like, not only for folk, but these creatures that have to survive the misery of finding food locked in a layer of icey rock.

A nice image Deanne.

Good luck.
 

Media information

Category
North America
Added by
Deanneart
Date added
View count
500
Comment count
47

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