Delicate Landing, Canada Jay, White Mountains
This placed in the Top 100 in the 2022 Audubon Photography Awards! https://www.audubon.org/news/the-2022-audubon-photography-awards-top-100
Below is my write up for this photo that appears on the Audubon website.
Behind the Shot: In winter, the world above 4,000 feet in the White Mountains is brutally cold but enchanting. Impressively, Canada Jays will mate, nest, and raise chicks up here between February and early April, when temperatures are still below zero degrees Fahrenheit, and the forest is buried in snow and encased in rime ice. I made the 6-mile roundtrip hike with 2,200 feet of vertical gain on a 10-degree January morning to photograph this bird. The biggest challenge was standing still in the biting wind, and I routinely stuffed my hands under my clothes to regain feeling in them. It paid off when this Canada Jay landed on the top of a stunted spruce tree, shattering delicate rime ice crystals.
Below is my write up for this photo that appears on the Audubon website.
Behind the Shot: In winter, the world above 4,000 feet in the White Mountains is brutally cold but enchanting. Impressively, Canada Jays will mate, nest, and raise chicks up here between February and early April, when temperatures are still below zero degrees Fahrenheit, and the forest is buried in snow and encased in rime ice. I made the 6-mile roundtrip hike with 2,200 feet of vertical gain on a 10-degree January morning to photograph this bird. The biggest challenge was standing still in the biting wind, and I routinely stuffed my hands under my clothes to regain feeling in them. It paid off when this Canada Jay landed on the top of a stunted spruce tree, shattering delicate rime ice crystals.
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Also in: White Mountains, New Hampshire
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