THE BONUS - A RED-TAILED HAWK

Red-tailed Hawk at Julien Dubuque Monument, Mines of Spain, Dubuque, Iowa

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head.   @ 600mm, 1/640s, f6.3, ISO800, image slightly cropped

This morning the Dubuque Audubon Society had invited for another birding event into the Mines of Spain State Recreation Area. Our guide Tony Moline, a very experienced birder, helped the group to find warblers, vireos, and other migrating birds and study them in the early morning sun. Most activities required binoculars for watching and identification but the distance for a decent photo was often too big. Nevertheless, it was very interesting to see at least a few of the migrators. I just read that tonight 426.7 Million birds are predicted to move south in the United States. A very impressive number!

Just before everybody was ready to say goodbye shortly after 10am we were treated with a bonus. This Red-tailed Hawk suddenly landed in a tree just in front of the group and on eye level with us. The camera was on tripod and pointed already in that direction and all what I had to do was to adjust quickly the exposure compensation for the existing light and lay down the hammer on the shutter release button. The bird gave us about one minute for that very enjoyable moment.

Thank you Tony for being such a good guide again and for sharing your knowledge with us!

FALL WARBLERPALOOZA, AND MORE

Philadelphia Vireo, Mines of Spain Recreation Area, Dubuque, Iowa

I haven’t been able to get out much with the camera lately but today I made up for that. The Dubuque Audubon Society had invited its members and the public for a field trip to the Mines of Spain Recreation Area in Dubuque. The ”Fall Warblerpalooza” was led by Tony Moline, who is a very active birder with very good knowledge about our feathered friends. Hence the name of the event, we were hoping to find migrating warblers in the tree tops early in the morning. We saw a few but none came in the range for the camera. But a number of other birds made it worthwhile to get out with binoculars, tripod, and camera. It was a nice field trip and while listening to Tony and other birders I learned some new things and was able to make a few clicks as well. Here is a first set of photos, maybe I post a few more during this week.

All images: Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head

For the first time I saw two female Scarlet Tanagers during fall migration. We can watch them almost every year in early May in our front yard after their return from South America but have never see them in the fall. They had a feast on the fruits of a wild grapevine.

A Common Nighthawk is not easy to spot when they rest during the day. They are long-distance migrants and fly in large flocks to reach their wintering grounds in South America.

BIRD PRESENTATION THIS WEEK

Migrating Snow Geese, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

Today I would like to invite everybody from the Tri-State area around Dubuque, who like birds or bird photography, to join us for a presentation about our feathered friends. The Dubuque Audubon Society has asked the Dubuque Camera Club to be the presenter for their January program. I’m a member of both and I’m honored to be part of this presentation, among four other nature photographers. We will show some recent work, a few of our favorite images, and will share the story behind them. I think it will be an exciting event for everybody who like birds, like to take pictures of them, or just enjoy looking at bird photography.

Date / Time: Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 6.00PM

Location: E.B. Lyons Interpretive Center, 8991 Bellevue Heights Rd, Dubuque, IA 52003

Ok, so don’t let the “cabin fever” take possession of you while you sit on your sofa 😉. Come out on Thursday, join us for the presentation, and have some fun!

DISCUSSING BLUEBIRDS

Tonight the Dubuque Audubon Society had a program about bluebirds. Jessica Carryer from the Joe Davis Conservation Foundation over in Illinois discussed everything from habitat, how to monitor a bluebird nest box, to all other aspects of conservation of this beautiful bird species with the audience. It was very interesting and gave me and other members of the Audubon Society new ideas for our own conservation efforts.

I thought this was a good reason to present you another photo from a shooting in July with my photography friend Kevin, who is also very active building and monitoring bluebird nest boxes.

This male Eastern Bluebird tried to lure the nestlings out of the box with a good size insect in its bill, but he little guys were not ready to leave that day. The location of Kevin’s bluebird box was perfect. The birds liked it obviously and it was very “photography friendly”, which allowed us to shoot with natural light from a safe distance, and without a bright sky or distracting background.

31ST BALD EAGLE WATCH , DUBUQUE IOWA

European Barn Owl

Yesterday I promised you to show some pictures from the 31st annual Bald Eagle Watch at the Grand River Center in Dubuque, Iowa. This family event celebrates the American Bald Eagle with bird programs, children’s activities, and a lot of information. I attended the event at the information table of the Dubuque Camera Club but also tried to educate myself and network with members of other conservation and nature organizations.

This year the World Bird Sanctuary from Valley Park, Missouri showed their program ‘Live birds of prey!’. Their mission is to preserve, protect, and inspire to safeguard bird species as part of the global community for future generations. They had a variety of owls, hawks, and eagles from Europe, Africa, and America. Most of them are unable to live on their own in the wild, mostly due to human interference in their earlier part of life. We heard stories about illegal animal trading and a mortality rate of 90% as a result. Much needs to be done to educate people about the fatal consequences of wild animal trading.

Bald Eagle

You can take as many pictures as you want during the program but using a flashlight is not permitted. I used the Nikon D750 with Nikon Nikkor 70-200, f/4 lens attached, wide open at f4 and camera set to ISO1600 the whole time. My shutter speed was between 1/15s and 1/80s for the most part. The young presenters of the bird sanctuary moved slowly around with the birds and of course the birds don’t sit still either. With other words, a great challenge and opportunity to practice handholding technique for photographers. I was at Bald Eagle Watch for the third time and it was again an interesting and joyful event. If you missed it, take your whole family next year…

NATURE CLICKS #369 - ALLEN’S HUMMINGBIRD

Male Allen's Hummingbird, San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Orange County, California ----

Last Saturday in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve I met a German pilot from Lufthansa, who did exactly the same like me, shooting pictures and enjoying it. He recommended another location that I wasn’t familiar with, the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary. This unique freshwater marsh is only a few blocks away from John Wayne Airport and as you can imagine not the quietest place on the planet. I changed my plans for Easter Sunday and decided to give it a try. All what I can say is that it was a great tip from the pilot. The checklist from the Audubon Society tells that over 282 bird species have been documented in the sanctuary. Before I even pointed my lens at any of the shore birds, I saw this Allen’s Hummingbird. This is a first sighting for me and I was eager to make a photo of it, perching high up in a tree.