AT THE MARTIN TOWERS

Purple Martin tower at Mud Lake Park

I had an opportunity this morning to watch the counting of eggs and nestlings of the Purple Martins down at Mud Lake by the Mississippi River. Together with some staff from the County Conservation and their kids we were invited to see how the nest gourds are maintained and kept clean during and after the time of incubation.

Ry, on the right, had lowered the gourd rack to the ground and then opened each one briefly. The kids helped counting and put the results in a tracking list for later evaluation. I was allowed to point the camera into the opening of one of the gourds so I can show you now how it looks inside with most of the martins already hatched.

Some of the chambers required a little more maintenance. When the nesting material was infested with bugs and possibly parasites, Ry carefully placed the young Purple Martins in a bucket for a short time, emptied the gourd, and replaced the old infested nesting material with new wood chips, or sometimes uses pine needles. This all happens calmly and relatively quick, so the gourd rack can be cranked up and the parents are able to feed the hungry bunch in the nests again.

It was an exciting experience, including some good conversation with everybody who was there. Thank you to Ry for a good explanation of the process and to Mike for inviting me!

Purple Martins at Finley’s Landing, 07/15/2025

SOCIAL LIFE AT THE MARTIN TOWER

Male Purple Martin returning to the nest

This is the photo I was hoping to get during my last two visits at the Purple Martin tower at Finleys Landing down by the Mississippi River. The Purple Martins are beautiful looking birds, elegant flyers, and it is very interesting to watch their social behavior. The young martins have hatched and it is such a great joy just to watch the interactions at a breeding tower.

For most of my wildlife photography I try to keep any men-made elements out of the frame, but here I make an exception, supported by a note I found on the Cornell website (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Purple_Martin/) :

Native Americans hung up empty gourds for the Purple Martin before Europeans arrived in North America. Purple Martins in eastern North America now nest almost exclusively in birdhouses.

With other words, we enjoy wildlife that has adapted to men-made nesting places since a long time. The towers hold 18 chambers for a Purple Martin nest and at Finleys Landing it looked like almost all were taken. These towers with their plastic gourds may look not very pretty, but the practicality for maintenance (cleaning after the breeding saison) and doing research studies (counting eggs, etc.) is proven. Well, most importantly the Purple Martins must like them and it is so exciting to see how quick the birds accepted the relative new tower at this location.

The nestlings peak out of the box but after the female on the left departed for catching more food, the male on the right pushed them back into the box with his head, I guess using his parent authority…

It seemed like some of the juveniles had already left the nest but this is a matter of interpretation. The juvenile Purple Martins look almost identical to the females that tend them. I’m not sure if this is a jealous female or a young one begging for food. Its clumsy behavior made me believe the latter.

Purple Martins are supposed to be monogamous but that doesn’t mean they can’t be jealous. The male in the center had a happy life until another male didn’t like it, flew in and used its bill vigorously to end the affair. It took less than two seconds and I shot this scene in high-speed shutter release mode with about 14 frames per second. Everybody left the scene uninjured… (June 28th, 2025)

TENDING A SECOND BROOD

Male Eastern Bluebird

It’s exciting to report that our pair of Eastern Bluebirds at the edge of the woods behind the house is working on a second brood. The first one in June contained 4 eggs and I saw three of the juveniles in the backyard on June 28th. I read in the book ”Bluebirds!” by Steve Grooms & Dick Peterson that about 65% of the eggs hatch. With other words, counting three fledgelings after they left the nest seems too be a success.

Shortly after the first brood I had cleaned out the nest box but a few days later one of the male House Wrens had filled it with small twigs and sticks to claim it for himself. I cleaned out again and and a couple days later the female bluebird had built another nest from grass and other soft material. About a week ago I checked the nest again and four eggs were laid. This morning another check revealed that five eggs are in the nest box and none had hatched yet. Looking inside takes only a few seconds and I only do it when both parents are not present.

Female Eastern Bluebird

This was a good reason this afternoon to sit in a camping chair away from the box and watch the bluebirds tending their nest. It was quite warm again today and the female retuned to the nest every 15-20 minutes and spent about 1-2 minutes in the nest box. The male bluebird guards the place from nearby trees and sometimes comes to the roof of the box. The incubation of the second brood takes about 13 days and I’m sure we are not far away from having the babies cracking the egg shells.

Nikon Z6 III, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S, Nikon Z Teleconverter TC-1.4x Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Westscott FJ80 II speed light,   @ 840mm (1260 mm equivalent in DX mode), 1/125s, f/9, ISO1600

It was a great opportunity to work with the ”Small Bird Rig” again (see my blog post from June 8th for details on this new setup). The Westcott FJ80II speed light was set to manual mode (range 5) and this very subtle hint of flash reveals the colors beautifully in this ambient light situation with the sun muted by the canopy of the trees.

I have been asked by a photography friend a little while ago about the sharpness of the Z 600 f/6.3 lens combined with the Z 1.4 teleconverter. Well, here is a photo I created today with this combo and also shot in DX mode, means with a smaller part of the sensor. This makes it an equivalent with a focal length of 1260 mm. The photo was shot at 1/125s from a tripod and is not cropped. The low resolution image here in the blog may not reveal every detail but comparing the original RAW files with each other I can’t see any decrease in sharpness by using the teleconverter. This was not always the case with older equipment I used to own.

NATURE CLICKS #612 - COMMON LOON

Common Loon, Beers Lake, Maplewood State Park, Minnesota

During our recent trip to Minnesota Common Loons were present on almost every lake we paddled, mostly one pair, sometimes even two. As you can imagine I made a lot of clicks from the kayak, which is a very unpredictable process. Loons hunt for fish under water and you never know where they will show up again after a dive. Quite often it was further away and the process of a slow approach with the boat starts all over again. Well, and sometimes the loons lift their head out of the water right next to the kayak, too close to make a picture with the long lens. The reflections on the water play also a big role how a photo may turn out. With strong reflections from the sky it is easy to underexpose the image. Last but not least, a sky with an overcast will lead to nothing but gray in the picture. Some people may say, leave the camera at home if you aim for birds in flight or on the water during an overcast… However, I was determined to come back with some reasonable photos of the Common Loon and there were a few moments when things worked out well. What I can’t present is the remarkable call of the loon that sounds beautiful and very loud across the lakes, but I’m sure you can google for it if you like to hear it.

GEAR TALK: TESTING A NEW ”SMALL BIRD RIG”

Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Little Maquoketa Valley, eastern Iowa

I haven’t done a blog post about a piece of gear in a long time, but I designed and built this addition to the wildlife kit and just started testing today. Hummingbirds are the ”ice on the cake” from late April until October and I really love the tiniest of all birds we have here in our woods. Well, today they became my ”test dummies”. There are always new ways to improve photography and the Ruby-throated Hummingbird was a perfect subject to test my new, what I will call ”Small Bird Rig”. Below is a picture of this combination and actually there isn’t that much new in the essential setup. The Nikon Z6III is combined with the Z600 f/6.3 and it is mounted on tripod for this photo. The Westcott FJ80II speed light with dome diffuser attached has been in my arsenal also since awhile. The new part is the flash bracket, designed to fit my already existing equipment. It is very light and allows shooting handheld, on a tripod, or on a monopod. The position of the flash will not change if the camera is turned quickly to portrait orientation or back. Flash works on the inverse square law (remember physics!) and getting it closer to the subject let the light wrap around the birds much better. No, I don’t employ the flash of the FJ80II as the main source of light. The only purpose to use it for small bird photography is to push the colors of their plumage. The light is reflected by the feathers and the colors of the bird become more natural and accentuated under a lush green canopy of the trees or during a day with heavy overcast. Make two pictures, one with and and one without flash of the same scene, and you will be surprised what beautiful difference this can make.

The other change to my previous setup is the use of a Westcott FJ-X3M wireless trigger on top of the camera. This eliminates the cable connection between camera and speed light, which has been often a big limitation for action when out in the field.

Today’s test shots with hummingbirds were all about finding the right settings for camera and speed light. A lot more needs to be done. I know this article is mainly written for my fellow wildlife photography friends and not so much for the visitors that give a dam about the technical part of photography. I hope you still enjoy the photos of this very first test!

NATURE CLICKS #611 - EASTERN PHOEBE

Eastern Phoebe, Maplewood State Park, Minnesota

Eastern Phoebes winter further north than most other flycatchers and they are one of the earliest returning birds after the cold season. Many of the pictures in my library were made in April, some even in the month of March, over the years. Having a pair of phoebes in front of the lens during their breeding time was finally a wonderful experience last month in Maplewood State Park, Minnesota.

I photographed for the first time from a stationary blind, a cabin-like structure above a pond in the woods. While watching the birds on this little lake below the hill was quite interesting, the distance was a bit to long for decent photos. Instead many song birds in the surrounding trees gave me plenty of opportunities for a good shot. The back side of the blind was open and all what I had to do was turning around for the show a pair of Eastern Phoebes gave me during one evening and the next morning. Light, color, and the gestures of these flycatchers made for two great shooting events and it was hard to select a picture for today’s blog post… (I wished I could say that all the time I publish a photo 😉)

CHECKING THE GRASSLANDS

Male Bobolink, Technology Park, Dubuque, Iowa

Hard to believe it has been a month ago that I photographed Bobolinks in the grassland patches at Dubuque’s Technology Park south of the city. Despite the heat and humidity I spent almost an hour in this area yesterday afternoon and saw at least half a dozen male Bobolinks. Most of the time they were too far away for any consideration of a picture but the one I can present today didn’t mind my presence at the edge of the field, came close, and continued feeding in the grass.

Male Red-winged Blackbird

Here in the Midwest of the US most people don’t think too much about the Red-winged Blackbirds because they are here in abundance for most part of the year. The sighting of a blackbird in late winter is often seen as a sure sign that spring is not very far. During the last few years, with its mild winters and a change in climate, I have seen them even in January in certain places here in eastern Iowa. With a bird in abundance it’s easy to forget how pretty these birds really are. They are very adaptable to their environment and any time a strip of grass is available, either along the roads or just like here in the meadows of an urban area, the loud noise of their calls is in the air.

BUSY PURPLE MARTINS

Male Purple Martin, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa

I still have a few photos from our recent trip to Minnesota but today I like to share some actual pictures that were made yesterday. I had received an information about the current breeding activities of the Purple Martins (Thank you Mike!) and went down to Mud Lake at the Mississippi River. Three days ago both breeding towers had more than 75 eggs and almost 30 nestlings had hatched already. The parents were very busy to feed and to guard each nesting chamber. I believe each tower holds 18 chambers.

Female with her latest catch at the martin house

I have plenty of pictures with martins sitting at the entrance of a nest box but I really wanted some shots with a bird in flight, approaching the nest or just hovering in front of it.

However, the second image shows a female with a dragon fly in its bill and waiting in front of the entrance hole of her nest. It took about four minutes before she turned around and entered the box to feed the offspring.

Female Purple Martin

If you are not familiar with the habits and biology of our largest swallow, you can find a lot of information about these birds on the websites of the CornellLab or the Purple Martin Conservation Association.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Purple_Martin/

https://www.purplemartin.org

The Purple Martin is a very interesting bird and it is fun to watch how they catch all their food in flight and get their drinks by scooping water from the surface of the river or pond with their lower bill.

NATURE CLICKS #610 - RED-NECKED GREBE (FIRST SIGHTING)

A pair of Red-necked Grebes with two juveniles, Star Lake, Ottertail County, Minnesota

Remember, in my last blog post I mentioned a ”few surprising moments” during our last paddle trip in Minnesota a week ago. Here is the second one. When I came slowly around a bend in the canal between the reeds into a little more open space, I immediately recognized a bird species I had never seen before, a pair of Red-necked Grebes with two juveniles. While some of the clicks I made just a few seconds earlier showed the young one behind the adult on the left, this photo reveals that the chick had jumped onto the back of the parent and took shelter in moms or dads plumage while the family moved out of sight. As you may imagine I was tickled about having a first sighting in such a nice way! Yes, the light was very harsh but having this special moment out in the wild, and in addition a second lifer this year, matters more than a perfect photo to me.

Nikon Z6 III, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S,    @ 600 mm, 1/1600 s, f/7.1, ISO 400, image slightly cropped

NATURE CLICKS #609 - YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD

Yellow-headed Blackbird, Star Lake, Ottertail County, Minnesota

The last kayak trip of our little Minnesota adventure had some wonderful surprising moments. We wanted to explore a new body of water outside of the state park and paddled Star Lake in Ottertail County, one of the larger lakes around. But size doesn’t matter, the water was crystal clear as at any smaller lake we paddled before. First it was not really exciting because homes and cabins along the lake shore didn’t leave much space for natural habitats. It wasn’t until we went deep into a big field of reeds and cattails on the other side of the bay when the fun of bird watching started. The call of a male Yellow-headed Blackbird is slightly different than the omnipresent Red-winged Blackbird (they were of course present as well) and before we even reached the reeds, we knew they were in there somewhere.

Today’s photo is the result of patience and quite a few paddle maneuvers for a view without too much obstruction by the reeds. It has been a long time that I had this beautiful bird in front of the lens and I was thrilled to see and finally photograph them again.

Nikon Z6 III, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S,    @ 600 mm, 1/1250 s, f/6.3, ISO 400, image slightly cropped

SEEING THEM IS THE CHALLENGE

Yellow Warbler, Southern Lida Lake, Maplewood State Park, Minnesota

Unfortunately I do not always have enough battery charge on my computer to work on photos and write something for the blog. However, birds, trees, and flowers. are abundant here in Maplewood State Park, Minnesota. We make a kayak trip every day and enjoy this very quiet and beautiful nature place.

We have never heard so many different warblers around our campsite and along the shore of the lakes before. Seeing them is a different story, they know how to hide under the lush canopy of the trees.

This Yellow Warbler was visible for a few seconds and I tried to catch it with the camera from the kayak.

A SYMBOL OF THE NORTHWOODS

Common Loon, Beers Lake, Maplewood State Park, Minnesota

Two fantastic paddle trips are already behind us . We had great opportunities to watch and listen to birds, often in our campsite, were we use the Merlin App to identify them even if we can’t see the birds high up in the canopy of the trees. On the water I’m always thrilled to see the Common Loons, the Minnesota state bird, and we saw them and heard their distinctive calls on almost every lake so far. I have been in Norway, Sweden, and Finland many times and it is easy to understand why so many Scandinavians have settled in Minnesota after they came over to America years ago. The glacier shaped landscapes with thousands of lakes and dense forests are very similar in many parts of the country and the settlers must have felt right at home.

I have been brave despite Beers Lake was a little choppy yesterday and took the camera and long lens with me in the kayak. Well, I forgot to take the teleconverter off but that turned out not to be a bad thing with and 840 mm focal length allowed to fill the frame quite often with the beautiful Common Loons.

Nikon Z6 III, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S, Nikon Z Teleconverter TC-1.4x…@ 840mm, 1/1250s, f/9, ISO 1000

TALKING ABOUT THE ”CUTENESS FACTOR”

Double-crested Cormorant, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands, Eastern Iowa

Let me start with some thoughts before I come to today’s image. In the Dubuque Camera Club we participate in monthly competitions with other camera clubs in different categories with our photos each month. We also have the duty of judging a competition quite often. In the month of May it was for the ”Nature” category, means wildlife, flowers, or anything else that falls under the umbrella of nature. This is all good and helps many beginners and advanced camera owners to become better photographers.

Over the years, since I’m a member of the club, I made an observation that still keeps me wondering. Nobody can win a competition if the subject doesn’t have a certain ”cuteness factor”. For example, if you post a real blurry photo of a cat (I mean house cats, lions, tigers, you name it…), not even very well composed, and as boring as a piece of wood in the bright sun, sometimes it still may be judged higher than a tack sharp, well composed, and properly exposed picture of a beautiful snake. It doesn’t matter anymore if the story a photo can tell is good, when the ”cuteness factor” kicks against it. I understand, it’s all subjective and the three judges never have an easy job to find a fair winner. It just still amazes me what role the ”cuteness factor” can play how we can feel about a photo.

So, here we have a Double-crested Cormorant and I know this bird is considered by some people as ugly. I guess the ”cuteness factor” may be ”a bit” less than i.e. for the Great Egrets I posted yesterday. However, this very adaptable bird is an elegant diver, swimmer, and flyer an I personally think they just look great. Due to their black plumage, making a well exposed photo is often a challenge.

The Double-crested Cormorants have a home in the Green Island Wetlands during the season with open water and they are abundant. I see them quite often, but making a photo without cropping the picture to death seems to be not so easy. It was the first time this very skittish bird was within the range of the lens and in decent light. I admit, the ”cuteness factor” doesn’t play a role in my wildlife photography. All animals need our utmost attention for their protection in their still shrinking habitats.

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

DIFFERENT PREY

Great Egret, Upper Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

The Great Egrets in the Green Island Wetlands have no problems to find and catch food at this time of the year. The metamorphosis from a tadpole to a frog was not yet completed for the prey the egret had in its bill, but I can see the legs of the frog already in a different photo of this shooting sequence.

Tadpoles or frogs were not the only items the Great Egrets had on their menu this afternoon. Another one caught a young Northern Pike and gobbled it down into its throat within a few seconds. The interesting thing to observe was the behavior of the egret after it had the fish in its beak. The Great Egret was smart enough to know that it can loose the pike during the attempt to swallow it and the bird just jumped onto the shore where it could pick up the fish again if the prey was accidentally dropped.

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

SCOUTED A NEW LOCATION

Dickcissel, Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge, Pine Creek Unit

I got this tip from Mike, a gentleman I met last week at Mud Lake below the two nesting towers that are provided for Purple Martins. It turned out that he monitors not just these two towers, but some more at other locations in the area. Pretty soon we had a very good conversation about birds and nature habitats. Mike told me about the Pine Creek Unit of the Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge and mentioned it as a good birding location. This area is located near Colesburg, Iowa, actually not very far from here, but I didn’t know about it. Thank you again Mike!

Orchard Oriole, male in its 1st summer

Well, yesterday I checked part of it out and although I spent only an hour and a half in this habitat with grassland, brush thicket, and forest, I had quite a few bird encounters and came back even with some photos. Be forewarned, there are not really any trails or roads in this area and I would recommend hiking boots and a good look at the map by the kiosk in the small parking lot at the end of the road.

American Tree Sparrow, this was a surprise for me since I have never seen them here except during winter time. Their breeding grounds are in Alaska and northern Canada.