THE CRITTER AND A WORD ABOUT THE HABITAT

Striped Skunk, Upper Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

A little hike deep into the marsh of the Green Island wetlands in the Mississippi Valley started with a nice surprise. With my eyes mostly up and looking out for birds, I almost stumbled over this Striped Skunk that was obviously in search for food. After we discovered each other the skunk kept searching, had still an eye on me ones in a while but wasn’t bothered much by my presence. I kept my distance, knowing that they can spray their musk, with its very powerful odor, several meters from the two scent glands they have around their anus. If you look at this beautiful animal it is easy to understand why it was one of North America's most sought-after fur-bearers.

I took a new lens I just had acquired for the first time on a hike and wanted to learn how it performs and how it handles in the field. The Nikon NIKKOR Z 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 VR S is only since a few days in my bag and using 400 mm focal length was perfect for this shot, keeping the distance and not making the skunk feeling threatened. I still cropped the picture a little bit because at the end of winter there is a lot of dead plant material scattered everywhere in the marsh and I tried to keep as much as possible out of the frame, especially in the foreground.

Green Island Wetlands

The second picture is a view across the marsh at Green Island, with the Illinois side of the Mississippi River in the background. This was shot with the same lens at 100 mm. It was quite cold during the last few days and most of the water was frozen again. The photo shows also the dilemma we face in many parts of the Upper Mississippi Valley. Floodplain forests along the Upper Mississippi River are experiencing mass die-offs, with thousands of trees lost due to prolonged, intensified flooding caused by climate change and altered river hydrology. These "dead zones" are compounded by invasive species, specifically the emerald ash borer.

I have visited and photographed the Green Island Wetlands since 2011 and even if I shoot mostly wildlife pictures, the landscape images from the past document some of the wildlife habitat loss we can see.

ABOVE AND BELOW LOCK & DAM 11

Frozen Mississippi River, Mud Lake Park, Iowa

I start with one of the last photos I made this weekend. The Mississippi River is about 1.5 miles (~2.4 km) wide at this point and was still completely covered with ice. No chance for any duck to find food here, about 6 miles north of lock & dam #11 in Dubuque.

Male Common Goldeneye, Lock & dam #11, Dubuque, Iowa

That was different below the dam. There was quite a bit of open water yesterday and even more today with the temperatures way too warm for February right now.. Hundreds of ducks were on the move. The male Common Goldeneye, with their white body, dark head, and the yellow eye, is one of the prettiest ducks we can see at the moment. I shot this picture right below lock #11 and distance was a little bit a problem. Most goldeneyes preferred to dive for food away from the shore and despite using the 600 f/6.3 lens with the teleconverter, I still had to crop the image a bit.

Mallards, Mississippi River, A.Y. McDonalds Park, Dubuque

It’s not difficult to find Mallards any time of the season. On a sunny day and with the colors of their feathers really popping it is fun to photograph them while they do their thing along the shore. Beside what I can show today I saw Ring-necked Ducks, Lesser Scaups, and Common Mergansers, unfortunately not close enough to make a good click. Maybe next time…

A SUNSET INSTEAD

I was out in the Green Island Wetlands today in search for a certain raptor but didn’t have any luck again. The usual suspects showed up but not the one I was looking for. While cruising slowly on the gravel road, with my eyes in the trees and the camera with long lens and teleconverter in my lap, the sun was about to set at the horizon. I never shot a sunset with 840 mm focal length and thought to give it a try. The compression effect of the lens makes it look like the sun sets right between the trees on the ridge. That a bird flew into the scene was a bonus, although it wasn’t the owl I was hoping for…

A BEAUTY IN THE COLD

Apple Canyon Lake Falls, Jo Davies County, Illinois

The tip came from my photography friend Kevin, who sent me a photo of the frozen waterfall last weekend. I have photographed the falls before, five years ago, but had almost forgotten about this great photo opportunity that may occur after a period with very low temperatures. Not much water came down from Apple Canyon Lake this time but it was obviously enough for some nice built-up of ice.

Apple Canyon Lake Falls is most of the day in the shade but there is a small time window in the early afternoon when the waterfall is hit by the sun. The high contrast reveals the texture of the ice and rocks. To be honest, it took me three days to decide if I share the color version of the image or this black & white photo with you. There was a nice color contrast between the deep blue sky and the orange and yellow of the rocks but at the end I thought the ice lost a bit of its impact. Finally I opted for this monochrome version and let the ice formations stand out from the rest of the scene and tell  the story of a really cold winter day.

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S, GITZO tripod GT2931 Basalt, KIRK BH-3 ball head,   @58mm, 1/125s, f/20, ISO100

WINTER IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY

Mines of Spain, Dubuque, Iowa. View to the Southeast. The Mississippi River is almost completely frozen over.

Up on the bluffs above the Mississippi River is the location of Julien Dubuque’s resting place and monument. He was one of the first European men to settle in this area. In 1788 the Meskwaki people that lived here gave him permission to mine lead. Dubuque was the first city in what later became Iowa and was named in honor of Julien Dubuque. (source: Wikipedia)

During winter time the road that leads to the monument is closed but I used the gorgeous weather today for a hike in the Mines of Spain and up to the monument.

I’m really not a big fan of the classic ”postcard view”, especially if there is nothing but a bald blue sky, but I have been asked by friends from other parts of the world to show how the cold winter looks like in the Mississippi Valley these days. So here we go…

Julien Dubuque Monument, Mines of Spain Recreation Area, Dubuque, Iowa

View to the North with the city of Dubuque. The Julien Dubuque Bridge connects Iowa with the state of Illinois. The road bridge to Wisconsin is behind the bend in the river and can’t be seen from this vantage point.

All images: Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S

OUT ON THE ICE

Fay Lake, Florence County, Wisconsin

Coming back from the annual ice fishing trip with friends I found some fresh snow covering the landscape here in the Little Maquoketa Valley yesterday afternoon. However, it was by far not as much as up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, where everything looked like a Winter Wonderland. Unfortunately the sun was covered almost the whole time by a thick layer of clouds. Ice fishing out on the lake can be very busy at times (and it really was!), but the fish did not bite always and gave us enough time to watch the development of the weather. When finally the clouds opened up for a brief moment, I took the camera out of the bag and made the click.

WITH A BLUE TINT

Fog in the valley, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wildlife Refuge, Iowa

I came across this moody landscape with some fog in the Mississippi Valley today. The compression effect of the long lens, including the Z1.4 teleconverter, got me all the subtle layers of gray in the distance. The picture was processed in monochrome mode but at the end I wasn’t completely satisfied, the image seemed to be too gloomy, and maybe too depressive. I gave it a little bit of a blue tint and that changed the appearance to something I like much better, at least for today…

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

QUIET AND PEACEFUL

Mississippi River, Deere dike, Dubuque, Iowa

The warm weather of the last few days made the snow disappear and cleared the Mississippi River from its ice cover for the most part. Rain and a gray overcast kept probably most people at home today and so I didn’t meet a single soul during a hike on the Deere dike that stretches far out into the river. No trains moved on either side along the shores and so it was quiet and peaceful.

I guess I may have been too late for some fog banks above the water, but the overall mood across the Mississippi Valley made me searching for a picture that reflects exactly the peace in the valley I found today.

This navigation light in the river has been more than once my subject and anchor for the eye. Color was literally not present this morning and so it was an easy choice to process the photo as a black & white image. The view goes north, where all the water comes from, the bluffs on the left mark the Iowa side of the river, while the Wisconsin side on the right remains only as a gray band at the horizon.

As I’m writing this the winter comes back again with strong wind, snow, and a considerable temperature drop. Tomorrow things will be different…

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200 /f4.  @ 135mm, 1/400s, f4.5, ISO 200

WINTER SOLSTICE

Bankston County Park, eastern Iowa

Today was the shortest day and longest night in the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice. I went out for a walk to Bankston County Park this afternoon, hoping to make some photos along the creek and using the low sitting sun that sent some rays into the valley. It’s not the prettiest place to be at the moment because some restoration measurements are in process, but of course this had to be kept out of the frame.

I wanted to challenge myself today and took only one lens with me, my old, but still fantastic Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 2/35 ZF. It’s has only manual focus and I admit I have neglected this lens recently and didn’t use it very often. The second challenge I put in place was to shoot only in black and white mode, which requires a different approach to visualize the image in the head before the shutter release button is pressed. I felt it was a good choice for catching the mood I found along the river on this shortest day of the year, with no other people around. What do you think?

Nikon Z6 III, Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 2/35 ZF, Nikon FTZ adapter

AFTER THE RAIN

Historical stockyard in Fort Worth, Texas

This photo may leave the question, what is really the subject here? Is it the remains of the old stockyard in the foreground, the impressive clouds in the background, or even the rainbow that appeared while the rain front moved out of the area? For me it is the overall mood of the weather, combined with the warm light from the low sitting sun on the wood of the livestock pens. None of each mentioned element in the frame would stand out on its own, it’s the light and colors that bring it all together for a memorable image.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2025 #7 - AURORA BOREALIS

Aurora borealis over Wisconsin, near Balltown, Upper Mississippi Valley, Iowa, @11:25PM

According to many posts in social media, It wasn’t the big show of the aurora borealis like as the day before, but at least we were able to get out Wednesday night and see the Northern Lights. The view goes across the Mississippi Valley over to Wisconsin. Although the area isn’t densely populated but every farm up to the horizon had their lights on and due to low humidity we had a really clear view into the sky and across the country.

I had the white balance in camera set to 3200 Kelvin. With the lens wide open (f/4) I found that exposure times between 3-6 seconds worked well. The light on the grass in the foreground was welcome and came from a car that drove by. I think it gives the photo a little more depth, even if it is just a hint of light. The most difficult part is obtaining a sharp focus in the dark. Autofocus is of course not working and with manual focus I did a number of test shots until I found the sweet spot with the stars at the infinity point.

Noise reduction for such an image is a must but I do not any noise reduction in camera. It was done in Topaz Photo AI and even some additional tweaks in Adobe Lightroom.

This photo session was a great learning experience for me and I can’t wait until I hear the next rumors about the possibility of seeing the Northern Lights from our area.

Nikon Z6 III, Nikon Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4, Nikon FTZ adapter, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head,    @ 16mm, 3s, f/4, ISO 10000,

BEAVER MOON

Moonrise over the Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa

Today the full moon was at its closest point to the earth this year in its orbit, making it look up to 14% larger and also brighter than a typical full moon. In November it’s called the Beaver Supermoon.

The interesting part for the photographer was the fact that moonrise and sunset were pretty close together. At the location where I made this photo moonrise was at 4:38PM and sunset was at 4:50PM. It takes about 12-13 minutes before the moon appears over the bluffs on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River, with other words it was almost identical with sunset time. Why was that important to me? It leaves some light on the landscape, at least a little glow. I exposed for the moon in order to keep the details alive and not to blow out the highlights. The woods on the other side of the river appear at first darker, but there is enough dynamic range in the RAW file to bring back the light in the trees as the human eye sees it. In this situation there is no need to make a composite out of two shots, one for the moon and another one for the rest, it all is the result of one click.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head,    @ 200mm, 1/20s, f/8, ISO100

AUTUMN LIGHT IN B&W, MORE IMPACT

Autumn light at the Popple River, Forest County, Wisconsin

I shot at this location for the first time in January 2014 and since I have done it several times over the years. It is in the middle of nowhere, deep in the woods of northern Wisconsin, where a small bridge crosses the Popple River. I have paddled it this summer for the first time and wrote about here in the blog, and it was an incredible experience. In 2014 the ice on the river was covered with a real thick layer of snow and any time I have been there a different photo was made from the bridge.

Last weekend the sun shined some warm late afternoon light into the bend of the river, but with most leaves already gone, and a bald and boring blue sky, the color version of the picture didn’t really speak to me. With the reflections of illuminated trees on the water I knew a black and white version would be a possibility and that’s what in my opinion made for a fall photo with more impact at the end.

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 70 mm, 1/400 s, f/8, ISO 400, image slightly cropped

EARLY MORNING MOMENT

A short view through the window this morning made me run for the camera. The settings for this shot are simple, f/22 for the sunburst and 7000 Kelvin for the white balance. There wasn’t enough time to set the tripod up for a long exposure of 0.4 seconds and so I just put the camera body on the railing of the balcony. A little breeze made the leaves moving slightly but I don’t think it hurts the mood of this moment during the early morning.

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 37 mm, 0.4 s, f/22, ISO 640

BIRDING IN THE NORTHWOODS OF WISCONSIN

Bastile Lake, Forest County, Wisconsin

I spent an extended weekend at a friend’s cabin up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. Much of the area belongs to the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest or is private land and is the home of White-tailed Deer, Black Bears, wolves, and other critters. Although I saw a young bear in August this year, my aim was to find a small bird again, some Snow Buntings migrating south. However, luck was not on my side, a flock of these fast moving birds came in sight a couple times, but never close enough for a photo. The picture below was shot already in 2023.

Snow Buntings, near Newald, Wisconsin, October 28, 2023

A few American Tree Sparrows were more cooperative and posed nicely while foraging for seeds in the vegetation beside a gravel road.

American Tree Sparrow,

Nikon Z6 III, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S, Benro MSDPL46C SupaDupa Monopod, Monopod Gimbal Head