Photographer Jean Fain captured these arresting images in recent weeks as spring blossomed toward summer.
A swan family takes a swim. They’re fairly camera-shy, Fain reports, but on this particular sunny day, the parents and the four cygnets struck a happy pose. Photo by Jean Fain
Jean Fain, a wildlife and photography aficionado who often trains her lens on our local flora and fauna, captured these arresting images at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, the Old Rifle Range, and Heywood Meadow in recent weeks as spring blossomed toward summer.
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Fain writes that she was fortunate to find this barred owlet, a.k.a. baby barred owl, in West Acton. “Its mother was a few trees back, keeping a watchful eye.”“Tree swallows are hyperactive aerialists — they rarely stand still for the camera,” Fain said, “but on this particular evening at Heywood Meadow, this tree swallow perched on a stump long enough for me to snap a picture.”“This beaver is so used to people, it freely munched on greens right next to the trail. I’ve never been this close to a grazing beaver,” she wrote. “Remarkable!”
“The yellow flag iris may be an invasive plant, but it sure is beautiful,” Fain writes. “This striking perennial with golden yellow blooms has been growing in the wild wetlands of Acton for over a century.”The swan parents and one of their cygnets brave the rain together. Look closely for a glimpse of the tiny cygnet getting a piggyback ride.
