Photo of the Month Awards

Three photographers shared the Eastside Audubon Photo of the Month Award in January. Morgan Sidoine was recognized for her shot of a Barred Owl; Jim Haas shared the award for his photo of a Kinglet; and Raghav Mehta, the winner of the December award, was also recognized for a Short-eared Owl photo.

Morgan Sidoine is in her second year at Bellevue College. She attributes her interest in the subject to her two mentors. One is an ecologist with a focus on birds while the second is her uncle, a professional photographer who specializes in sports photography.

Morgan graduated from the International School in Bellevue where she worked on a bird photography project during her senior high school year. “It was a great project to do at home in a pandemic,” she says. She also holds the distinction of being the only member of the Eastside Audubon photography group who has attended all online meetings since the group moved to Zoom some 18 months ago.

“I enjoy spending time outdoors and being in nature to see all types of animals, especially birds,” she says.

“I took this photo when I was heading back home from Newcastle Beach Park around dusk and I heard a strange noise coming from behind me,” she says of her award-winning photo. “I turned around to check out what it was and it turned out to be a Barred Owl that landed on a fence right next to me.”

Photo Details:

The photo was shot with a Nikon D7500 using a 70-300mm lens. The shutter speed was 1/40 of a second, ISO 800, and aperture setting of f/5.3.

To view more of Morgan’s work, see her Instagram page.

Jim Haas, also a recent member of the group, shot a Kinglet in flight from his kitchen window during the recent snowstorm. He only started bird photography some six months ago. “It combines a love of nature and hiking with the opportunity to learn about each of the birds I get a chance to photograph” he says.

Photo details

He shot the photo with a Sony A7iv camera and a 200-600mm lens. The shutter speed was 1/2000 of a second, ISO 12,800, and aperture setting of f7.1. He processed the photo with LightRoom and Topaz DeNoise.

Raghav Mehta once again proved that skill and perseverance pay off.

He spent some two hours at the Skagit Wildlife Area observing a Short-eared Owl sitting in the snow. At first glance, the bird appeared to be wounded. While he considered calling the bird helpline, the owl flew away with a vole in its talons.

“It had been hiding the vole from the eagles and crows nearby, and none of the other birds had understood that the owl had food till it decided to take off.”

“However, with the vole in plain sight dangling from the owl's talons, a bald eagle, as well as a crow, decided to give the owl a chase. The owl had to drop the vole, and the bald eagle stole the hard-earned food,” he adds.

“The big lesson we learned was not to assume that an owl is injured if it's sitting quietly on the ground. It is equally likely it has had a successful hunt and is hiding its prey from other predators.”

Photo details

The photo was shot on Canon EOS R5 with a Canon EF 600 mm f/4 IS III USM lens. The camera shutter speed was 1/400 of a second, ISO 500, and aperture setting of f/4.

To view more of his work, see his Instagram page.

The Photo of the Month award was instituted to recognize the work of the Photo Group Members. The group members meet monthly to show their latest photos and videos as well as share their knowledge of photography and wildlife. To attend the meeting, please join the group’s announcement list.