PURE GRACE

Sandhill Crane

My expectations weren’t very high during a visit this week in the Green Island Wetlands but mother nature is always good for a surprise. At this time of the year water levels are commonly low and most of the birds have finished their breeding activities and do not much of a display.

While cruising slowly on the dyke towards Fish Lake I spotted a pair of Sandhill Cranes next to the road. It’s pure grace when these beautiful birds move through the fields or marsh land in search for food. They are not picky eaters and their diet includes grains, berries, small mammals, insects, snails, reptiles, and amphibians.

The distance of the critter to the road dictates what you may or may not have in the frame. By knowing this I had the teleconverter on the Z 600 f/6.3, giving me 840 mm focal length. The crop left and right in this photo was made finally for aesthetic reasons, not for the lack of focal length.

I hate to make up my mind when people ask me in the field about what my favorite bird is, but the Sandhill Cranes are at least among the top ten. I hope the photo puts as much of a smile in your face as it did for me 😊

NATURE CLICKS #626 - HUMMINGBIRD MOTH

They are slightly smaller than a hummingbird but they sip the nectar from deep, tubular flowers and hover mid-air almost the same way like the birds. We are very happy to see one or two every summer in our yard. The Hummingbird Moth would not go to a hummingbird feeder, at least I have never seen one doing it. Unlike most other moths they are day-flying insects and mimic the hovering flight and appearance of hummingbirds.

All images: Nikon Z6 III, Nikon NIKKOR Z 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S,

THE ANNUAL BATTLE

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

No summer without hummingbird photography. While the early summer was a little slow and it seemed we didn’t have as many hummers as other years, right now many birds participate in the annual battle about who ”owns” one of the three hummingbird feeders. Quite often adult males dominate but the young immatures stand their ground already. It is such a great fun to watch the merciless battles for the best spot. Each bird has its own character. It starts each day with the first daylight and doesn’t end until dusk. I have been out on the porch with the ”small bird rig” during the last few days and tried to capture some of the action. Everything happens fast and as you probably can imagine, there are quite a few missed shots.

All images: Nikon Z6 III, Nikon NIKKOR Z 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S, Benro MSDPL46C SupaDupa Monopod, Monopod Gimbal Head, Westscott FJ80 II speed light, Westcott FJ-X3 M Universal wireless flash trigger, and self built flash bracket,

Immature male

LONELY SAILOR

American White Pelican, Upper Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wildlife Area

American White Pelicans are pretty common in the Mississippi Valley and mostly we can see them acting together in small or larger flocks, catching fish or soar overhead. When a lonely bird quietly swims by and there is a reflection on the water, and finally the light is just right, I can’t resist and have to make the click. It’s such a majestic bird.

Nikon Z6 III, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S, Nikon Z TC-1.4x

AMAZING APPETITE

Last Sunday I came across this little story that is told by today’s photos. I just love to see nature taking its course and we as humans can only stand by and watch in awe.

I entered the scene in the Green Island Wetlands and witnessed what you can see in the picture below. A Great Blue Heron had just speared a bowfin, also known as a dogfish in our area, with its long bill. It took the bird some efforts to wade through the mud and weeds to carry the fish to shore. I spare you the pictures where the fish got tossed around and punctured some more, making sure there was no life in it anymore.

Suddenly a shadow entered the scene in my viewfinder. I looked up and saw this Bald Eagle circling a couple times overhead. Stealing a fish from another bird isn’t new for an eagle but it obviously had learned a lesson before and knew the heron wouldn’t let him have it. The eagle turned away.

So, how does a Great Blue Heron brag about its catch? Well, this one shook his feathers several times and gave me a great show while the bowfin was laying dead in the water.

Time to eat. The heron shook the fish a few more times and finally gobbled it down, head first.

A few seconds later the bird stood at the edge of the water like nothing had happened. I was just wondering how the heron’s ability to fly was affected with such a heavy meal in its belly…?

I shot all pictures with the Z600 / f6.3 with the Z1.4 teleconverter attached, giving me 840mm focal length. However, the distance between me and the bird was still too wide and so I cropped the photos a bit.

NATURE CLICKS #625 - EASTERN KINGBIRD

Eastern Kingbird, Mississippi River, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

The Eastern Kingbird is one of the larger flycatchers we can find here in the Upper Mississippi Valley but they have a big range and can be found in most of North America as well in Central America and much of South America. Eastern Kingbirds can be highly aggressive toward nest predators and they don’t hesitate to attack a much larger bird, like a crow or even a hawk.

They have no problems to find enough insects during the summer along the edges of a field and along roadsides, or like here, at the water of the lakes in the Green Island Wetlands. I saw three kingbirds today and they all perched on plants or stems, dove for insects to the ground, and quite often returned to the same perch after.

It wasn’t as quiet as it looks in these pictures. The perch plants swayed in the wind and so the birds were in constant motion and tried to hang on. Normally a shutter speed of 1/1000s is not always necessary for a sitting bird but in this matter it was required to freeze the action and get a sharp image.

Nikon Z6 III, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S, Nikon Z TC-1.4x,    @ 840mm, 1/1000s, f/9

RAGBRAI 2026, LAST MILES

RAGBRAI 2026, the annual bicycle ride across Iowa is history. The weeklong journey started this year in Onawa, near the border to Nebraska, on July 19 and ended last Saturday in Dubuque, Iowa. Roughly 20,000 registered cyclists completed the tour but I read that including day-pass riders and unregistered participants the numbers fluctuated between 25,000 and 40,000 on any given day. 391.4 miles (630 km) were behind those riders who made it to the Mississippi River in Dubuque and could happily dip the tires of their bicycles into the river. It was very hot and humid, especially the first couple days, and I think everybody was happy to have an overcast on the last day.

I positioned myself with the camera near the small town of Centralia, just a few miles west of Dubuque, Iowa, and tried to capture the joy, pain, and determination I saw in the faces of the riders not far from the finish.

Some riders go really fast…

…others take it a little more easy.

Even a family member made it to the finish line. Congratulations Evan!!

NO SUMMER WITHOUT

Female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

No summer is complete without the appearance of butterflies in the yard. After some much needed rain earlier this week the numbers suddenly went up and it wasn’t difficult to spot quite a few. The master of the show for me is often the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. The female in the photo above took a little time on each purple cone flower and gave me some good opportunities to point the lens at her. Other than the Giant Swallowtails. Three of them were feeding in the flower bed in front of the house erratically with fast beating wings. A fast shutter speed is key for freezing the action and getting a sharp shot.

I’m not a real macro photographer but still like some storytelling about summer with butterflies or other insects and often try to include a bit of their habitat.

Giant Swallowtails

For the first time I used the Nikon Nikkor Z 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 VR S lens for this kind of shooting. Very little or no cropping is a big benefit for me. The zoom range of the lens allows to go wider quickly if a scene requires it, while 400mm gives you enough distance to stay away and not disturb the insect.

Red Admiral

Giant Swallowtail

All images: Nikon Z6 III, Nikon NIKKOR Z 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S

AS EVERY YEAR…

North American T-6G Texan and AT-6D Texan waiting for take-off.

@ 600mm, 1/50s, f/22, ISO100

Socata TB30 Epsilon, a light military trainer aircraft produced in France during the Eighties

@ 600mm, 1/80s, f/32, ISO100

This week is the EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the largest airshow and fly-in convention in the world by number of participating aircraft and attendees. It draws approximately 10,000 aircraft and over 600,000 to 700,000 aviation enthusiasts each summer. As every year the Regional Airport in Dubuque, Iowa hosted a number of pilots and their planes for their preparation and training for the air shows the week before.

Every year I try to spend some time at the airport to practice my handholding technique of a long lens and simply enjoy watching the mostly historic airplanes. I was out on Saturday and didn’t come back with a lot of pictures this time. The shooting conditions were just miserable. The heat and very high humidity made for strong heat shimmer on the ground and it was almost impossible to get a sharp shot of an airplane taxiing to the runway. In addition a lot of haze in the air from many wildfires added to the problem. Well, you can’t set really a better schedule, the pilots have their own, and if you like to watch the aircrafts you need to be there when they take off or land…

FOUND THEM AGAIN, AND SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT SAFETY

Yellow-headed Blackbird, Star Lake, Minnesota

During a recent trip to western Minnesota I had high hopes to find Yellow-headed Blackbirds again. And it was at the same lake, at the same location where I first heard their calls and later had a chance to get one of them in front of the lens. However, it was definitely one of the more challenging paddle trips with the kayak. The wind was blowing hard already when we crossed Star Lake, which is not a small lake by any means. Later, within a big field of cat tails, it didn’t feel so bad and I forgot all about the weather while maneuvering the boat and trying to find a good position for a shot of these beautiful Yellow-headed Blackbirds. Luckily Joan stayed with her kayak more on the outside and sensed that the wind was increasing. White caps on the water indicated rapid changing conditions. Time to paddle back to the boat ramp! Earlier I saw a Marsh Wren between the reeds, an Osprey up in the sky, and would have loved to make some pictures of these bird as well, but safety is more important than any photo in the world. On the way back the gear was stowed in the photo bag and tied up to the kayak. We really fought the heavy wind but this time paddled closer to the shore. Some waves crashed into the kayak but the photo gear stayed dry and more important, we made it safely back to the boat ramp where the car was parked.

Every outdoor lover knows that it is not always easy to make a decision about when to make a change to the plan or route, no matter what it is, hiking, bicycle riding, mounting climbing, backpacking, or paddling. Any time you can talk about your adventures, reflect on impressions, brag about accomplishments, or just share your thoughts about a recent trip, you made it home safely, and that’s more important than anything else!

BACK AT THE PURPLE MARTINS

Purple Martins, Mississippi River, Mud Lake

It was about time to check on the Purple Martin population down at the Mississippi River. A third nesting tower has been erected this year at Mud Lake Park next to the entrance to the marina and I was wondering how much the numbers of birds had increased. What can I say, the air was filled with martins catching insects mid air and parent birds feeding their offspring or teaching them how to hunt for prey. It looked like all three towers were well occupied. Unfortunately I wasn’t in town during a recent public event to witness counting of birds and care measurements of the breeding chambers like I did last year. However, it was nice to be back with the camera on site and try to get a few shots that tell the story about these beautiful birds of the swallow family.

Three towers at Mud Lake Park now make for 54 possible nest sites.

On a side note, you don’t have to bring mosquito spray while shooting below a tower filled with Purple Martins. These birds will keep you happy. I shot with the Nikon Nikkor Z 100-400, f4.5-5.6 S the whole time, and I think it is a perfect lens for this kind of story telling with the camera. While a little wide for a single sitting bird on the toower, it leaves all possibilities open for birds in flight.

A juvenile Purple Martin sitting in the grass below one of the nesting towers. It may have left the nest a little too early but most likely the parents will still feed it and hopefully the bird will be up in the air soon, unless a predator may get a hold of of it… I hope not!

DAYBREAK

Daybreak at Five Lake, Minnesota

It was supposed to rain today but so far only clouds moved in. Instead the sky put on a nice show shortly after sunrise. A good reason to get out of bed!

Nikon Z6 III, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 65 mm, 1/1000 s, f/8, ISO 1000, image slightly cropped

THE ”SCANDINAVIAN FEELING”

Five Lake, Minnesota

We are back in western Minnesota, with its thousands of lakes, and already on the second day the cloud formations and the gorgeous light gave me that ”Scandinavian feeling” that I had many times in Norway, Sweden, Finland, or Denmark. With dramatic clouds that roll by and that create some spot light on the landscape my choice is mostly black & white. This is the view from our cabin and with the fast changing scene the only decision that needs to be made is when to press the shutter release button of the camera…

TWO SPECIES

Garter Snake, Green Island Road, Iowa

Usually when I make a visit to the wetlands along the Mississippi River I have something to report about birds. Sometimes great news and sometimes not so good news. Last weekend I found not much to get excited about our feathered friends but two encounters of different critters made me wondering if we have larger numbers of snakes again after other people seem to see more this year as well.

Brown Snake

Both were stretched out on the gravel road in the Green Island area and seemed to enjoy a bath in the sun. I usually get out of the car, make a few clicks with the camera, and force the snakes to go off the road, mostly with the leg of my monopod. It took me awhile this time, both snakes didn’t like to give up their sunny spots. Unfortunately too many of these critters get killed by people just driving over the animal, quite often intentionally. Thinking about that just makes me mad…

Garter Snakes are non-venomous and play a vital role to keep the ecosystem they live in healthy. Snake fungal disease is attributed to the decline of snakes in recent years but habitat loss may play a big role as well. Garter Snakes are recognized with 37 species and 52 subspecies but they are usually easy to identify.

Brown Snakes are also harmless and very docile. Their diet includes mostly earthworms, insect larvae and slugs.

Nikon Z6 II, Nikon NIKKOR Z 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S,    @400mm

BIG BOY NO. 4014 IN IOWA

Big Boy No. 4014 is the world’s largest operating steam locomotive. Of the eight remaining Big Boys in existence today, No. 4014 is the only one still in operation. This marvel of mechanical engineering journeys this summer for the first time as part of a historic coast-to-coast tour to celebrate America's 250th anniversary. (source: website of Union Pacific railroad) Yesterday it traveled from Cedar Rapids, Iowa to West Chicago, Illinois and people here had a chance to see this beautiful locomotive crossing the state of Iowa.

I grew up with steam engines pulling trains in Germany and had even an apartment across from a rail yard that maintained steam locomotives still during the Eighties. I have always been a big fan of railroads and with other words, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this and wanted to see Big Boy No. 4014.

The train stopped in the small town of Grand Mound, Iowa and my first shooting location was about two miles west of town at a railroad crossing to catch it before No. 4014 rolled into town. After that I relocated to a railroad crossing near De Witt, Iowa, hoping for another chance to create some video footage and of course shoot a few pictures.

Before you click the videos below I recommend to turn the level of your speakers all the way up to get an even better sense about the marvelous Big Boy No. 4014. You won’t regret it…! 😉