A photograph taken in Newtown has earned its photographer an honor from The National Audubon Society.

Erin Boisvert of Southbury created “Barred Owl” in December 2022, when she was in town for a birding visit. Boisvert picked up photography during COVID, she told The Newtown Bee, and quickly focused her new interest on birds.

“I live in an area where a lot of eagles are, so I’ve spent an embarrassing amount of time watching them,” she said with a laugh.

A few years ago she bought her first camera, “a cheap one,” she said, “and set out to practice. The next step was to get a longer lens. After that I was truly hooked.”

Fast forward about 18 months, and Boisvert celebrated a promotion by buying a better camera: a Sony a7 Mirrorless Digital Camera. She combined that with a Sony FE 200-600 mm lens during a visit to Newtown on a blustery day in December 2022.

According to notes Boisvert supplied to Audubon, she had been in the woods for a few hours when she saw a Barred Owl “swoop through the trees.” She was in the Deep Brook area, and watched two Red-Tailed Hawks fly in the same direction.

“Screeching erupted, and I followed the sound to find the birds fighting over a squirrel impaled on a tree branch,” Boisvert’s notes for Audubon continue. “The owl came out victorious, and the hawks retreated behind me. I watched in awe as the owl moved with the ease of an Olympic gymnast to keep an eye on the hawks and its dinner, and I captured this photo as it looked in my direction.”

The resulting photo is simply stunning. The owl is looking directly at the viewer, a squirrel in its talons, perpendicular to the ground. Only the pop of a few red berries and the squirrel’s bloodied, broken neck punctuate a scene otherwise populated with whites, tans and browns.

The National Audubon Society announced the winners of The 2024 Audubon Photography Awards on June 20. Now in its 15th year, the contest presents work by professional and amateur photographers, highlighting “the beauty of birds and the joy of capturing that through photography and videos.”

Looking at anonymous entries, judges reviewed more than 8,500 submissions this year. Their criteria was technical quality, originality, and artistic merit.

Eleven photographers earned honors. Boisvert’s image picked up Amateur Honorable Mention.

Additional honors were Grand Prize Winner, Professional Award Winner, Amateur Award Winner, Plants for Birds Award Winner, Youth Award Winner, Video Award Winner, Female Bird Prize, Birds in Landscapes Prize, Fisher Prize, and Professional Honorable Mention.

Judge Daniel Dietrick, one of seven judges to select winners in eight of the above categories, called Boisvert’s photo “an incredible moment caught by the photographer.” Judges comments were shared with the announcement of winners.

Dietrick complimented Boisvert for responding to “the challenges of photographing birds through thick branches. The photographer found the right line to have minimal branches blocking the subject and prey while capturing the position of the owl, which was likely hanging from the prey momentarily.

“Sharp and raw in nature, this image is a winner,” his comments continued.

Boisvert said she loves using her photos to show others things they don’t ordinarily see.

“The more people see the nature around them, the more they want to protect it. The conservation side of this is very important to me,” she said. “Being careful to not get too close to birds, but in their normal habitat and environment. We’re not disrupting that at all. It’s a code for a lot of birders in the area too — watch and admire from afar.”

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Managing Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.