RETROSPECTS 2023 - #1


Anvil clouds, Sage Creek Valley, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

As the year comes slowly but surely to an end I already look back and start analyzing what have been the best photography moments in 2023. During the short trip to Badlands National Park in early June I had definitely some good opportunities for wildlife and landscape shooting. These cumulonimbus incus, also called anvil clouds, moved towards the campsite rapidly, but the thunderstorm was mild and only little rain hit the ground. The bison trail in the grass leads the eye nicely along Sage Creek Valley and towards the clouds.

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 31 mm, 1/100 s, f/8, ISO 100, camera setting : Monochrome / red filter

VISIT DURING ”MOON WHEN THE GRASS IS UP”


View from Sage Creek Rim Road at sunset, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

The month with daylight longer than in any other one comes slowly but surely to an end. The Sioux called this period of time ”Strawberry Moon”, ”Moon of Making Fat”, or ”Moon When The Grass is Up” (source: Saga of the Sioux, by Dwight John Zimmerman). The visit in Badlands National Park, one of my favorite places to be, was certainly a highlight in June for me. In my younger years I read a lot of books about the Native Americans that called this place home. Their stories about dealing with all aspects of nature, surviving in all kinds of weather, and hunting for bison and other wildlife to make a living have always fascinated me. The tragedy how they were conquered by white people still touches me and this is one of the reasons why I feel very emotional when I’m out west in these places. This time I finally was able to visit the site of the infamous Wounded Knee Massacre, just south of Badlands National Park.

Although more than 130 years ago there was certainly no road here on top of the Sage Creek Rim, but I’m sure the view to the southeast wasn’t much different for a hunter or warrior who came up here.

STILL LOVE THE RED FILTER


Approaching thunderstorm, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

If you camp out west in a small tent it is mandatory to have always an eye on the weather. This approaching thunderstorm turned out relatively harmless. It came with a little bit of lightning, not even close, and some rain for the night. Letting this opportunity to make a photo pass by was not an option. The question was, how to capture the drama in the sky?

Back in the days of black & white film a red filter in front of the lens was the way to go. We made the click and then waited for the results until the film was developed. Today with a mirrorless camera things are a lot easier. While shooting always in RAW format, all what it takes is to set the camera to B&W and include the settings for a red filter (or any other setting you may have in mind). In the viewfinder or on screen in the back of the camera we can then evaluate the results immediately and decide if it matches our vision for the final image. If not, we can always revert to the color data embedded in the RAW file and let our creativity go in a different direction.

The results for this photo match pretty much the settings I had used already in the camera. I like the drama a red filter can produce. Very little is tweaked in post process on the computer at home. The landscape doesn’t take the stage, just gets a hint of light, while the clouds are clearly the subject that tells the story of this evening ten days ago in the Badlands.

NATURE CLICKS #562 - COMMON NIGHTHAWK


Common Nighthawk, Badlands, South Dakota

Shortly after the encounter of an Upland Sandpiper (see my last blog post if you missed it) I found this Common Nighthawk sitting on another fence post along Conata Road, just outside of Badlands National Park. The wide open grasslands are an ideal habitat for this bird, who feeds on insects. I read that one bird eats upwards of 500 mosquitoes in a single day. Its enormous mouth surrounded by bristles is perfectly suited for aerial capture.

The nighthawk wasn’t bothered by my presence and gave me plenty of time to come back with a number of sharp photos. I have seen Common Nighthawks before, mostly in flight, but it was the first time I was able to add this bird to my photo library and to share a picture with you here in my blog.

NATURE CLICKS #561 - UPLAND SANDPIPER


Upland Sandpiper, Badlands, South Dakota

The Upland Sandpiper is considered the ”shorebird of the prairie”. Most of other sandpiper species are usually found near water, this species calls the grasslands its home. I found this bird just outside the border of Badlands National Park. It had rained the day before my arrival in the area. The fence post the bird was perched on was next to a water filled ditch along Conata Road, a gravel road that cuts for fifteen miles through the grasslands of Conata Basin south of the national park. This road has been a good spot for bird watching and photography for me during spring time in the last couple years and it didn’t disappoint this year either. Upland Sandpipers spend the winters down in South America and even there they prefer the pampas and grassy areas of pastures and fields.

The wide open landscape allows for a nice and smooth background and while the sandpiper was not on the driver side, I carefully sneaked out of the car and made the click handholding camera and long lens.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG,….@ 850 mm, 1/1600 s, f/9, ISO400, slight crop

THE CUTENESS BONUS


Young Black-tailed Prairie Dogs, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

At every visit in Badlands National Park, South Dakota I have photographed Black-tailed Prairie Dogs but never the babies when they were the first days above the ground. The little ones are absolutely adorable and I enjoyed spending the early morning with them a week ago. The little pups remain up to seven weeks below ground and that’s why I probably never saw them during the month of May in other years. Prairie dogs are cute no matter what, but having their pups in the picture gives it an extra cuteness bonus…

I shot most of the time with the 1.4 teleconverter attached to the SIGMA 150-600, giving me a focal length up to 850 mm. For some pictures a slight cosmetic crop was applied.

All images: Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG

SPENDING TIME WITH BISON


American Bison, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

It’s all about knowing where to find them and predicting when the light is right for a photo of the iconic American Bison in Badlands National Park. However, once more I didn’t find the herd of female bison with their calves. I tried it since three years now but had again no luck to photograph new born calves with their mothers. It’s a big area and not every part is easy to access. Instead I took my chances to work with several of the big bison bulls that stay away from the herd at this time of the year. Some of them were testing their strength for the mating season already and displayed their pure power to each other by making all kinds of noise and even bumping heads occasionally.

There are different ways to tell the story about this majestic animal. Including the Badlands in the background, with early morning light touching both, animal and landscape, leaves no doubt about the presence of the bison out in the great plains. On the other hand a detail shot of the head gives an idea how powerful this wild animal is and a worn out horn gives evidence that many challenges are waiting in their daily life.

NATURE CLICKS #560 - PRONGHORN


Male Pronghorn, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Here is another reason to get up early in the morning. There is a good chance to get a Pronghorn, the fastest mammal in the grasslands out west, in front of the lens. The first light of the day put some rim light around the edges of the horns and other body parts and make the pronghorn stand out against the lush grassy background.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S,   @ 600 mm, 1/800 s, f/6.3, ISO 4000

A GORGEOUS MORNING


Early morning in Badlands National Park, South Dakota

I took the tent and camping gear with me last week on the business trip, spent the weekend in the beloved Badlands, and will continue tomorrow morning with more business in the wonderful state of South Dakota. Badlands is definitely one of my favorite places to photograph wildlife and landscape and it is the national park I visited the most so far.

Saturday morning I was out of my sleeping bag before anybody else and way before sunrise in the small Sage Creek Campground on the westside of the park. At sunrise time not much happened because a big cloud stood in front of the big light source, but a little later it slowly moved away and the Badlands were touched by the soft and warm light of the morning sun.

SONGBIRDS IN THE BADLANDS


Western Meadowlark

Hands down, spring is the best season to watch songbirds, either during their time of migration or while they are in the mood for mating. Badlands National Park has a great variety of songbirds and I was able to add three new species to the photo library during our recent visit.

We had no problems finding Western Meadowlarks, they were present in abundance. This very vocal bird can be found along the road sides in the grass, between sagebrush, or in the early morning perched on a traffic sign or fence post and singing its heart out.

Lark Bunting

Probably not my best photo of a bird but this male Lark Bunting was a first sighting for us. It was part of a larger group, males and females, and the males were in their full breeding plumage. The Lark Bunting is the only sparrow that completely changes between plain winter plumage and distinctive breeding colors (source: iBird Pro app).

Vesper Sparrow

Perched on the same fence as the Lark Bunting were a couple Vesper Sparrows. I have probably seen this bird before but it was the first time ever that I photographed this species.

Lark Sparrow

Coming back from a hike into the backcountry we found a number of Lark Sparrows feeding on the ground at the campsite. They walk on the ground rather than hop, unless during courtship. They are in favor of areas with bare open ground and scattered bushes, habitats that are more common in the West and Midwest than in the East of the country. The Badlands offer such habitats and it is not difficult to find them at this time of the year.

Black-and-white Warbler

When I saw briefly this bird gleaning insects from the bark of a tree, I knew immediately that I had a Black-and-white Warbler in front of the lens. I have seen them here in eastern Iowa before a couple times and they forage nuthatch-like on tree trunks. I was actually after another warbler species between some thick brushwood, probably an Orange-crowned Warbler, but I never got a real sharp shot. The photo of the Black-and-white Warbler makes me happy the same way!

Spotted Towhee

This photo was made between the same brushwood as the one before. I moved carefully with my tripod to find an open spot between all the branches of the tree and without scaring this beautiful bird away. When the click was made I thought I had an Eastern Towhee in front of the lens, a bird we can see occasionally here in our area. But the Eastern Towhee does not appear that far west and so it had to be a Spotted Towhee. From the front side they look almost identical. This was another first sighting and a welcome addition to my bird photo library.

I wish time wasn’t such a limiting factor for shooting wildlife in and around Badlands National Park. Two days are hardly enough to pursue all photographic ideas I have in mind. But with every visit we know the area a little better and that makes it easier to find the best spots during a next visit.

NATURE CLICKS #519 - LONG-BILLED CURLEW


Long-billed Curlew, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

I have seen the Long-billed Curlew only along the coast in Southern California before, always during winter time, and it was a little bit of a surprise when I found them last spring in South Dakota. The Badlands have a lot of grassland to offer, with a few marshy spots here and there, and they are actually a perfect breeding ground for this large sandpiper. It is an uncommon bird and to my surprise we found them again a week ago at the same area of the national park. With their extraordinary long bill they are able to to reach ahead and pick up insects or to probe just below the surface of mud or soil. They also feed on burrowing wolf spiders in South Dakota, with the curve even matching the general shape of a spider burrow (source: sdakotabirds.com).

Distance was closer than last year but still not enough for an uncropped image. We watched them using the car as our “mobile blind”. In these wide open grasslands you have no chance to approach them by going on foot. There is also a lot of other birds and critters to watch and the last thing we wanted to do is disturbing any of them. Overall we saw five curlews and it was highly interesting to watch them foraging after their migration from the south.

NO BADLANDS WITHOUT BISON


The question that came in was, why do you go back for more photography to an area you have been many times before (I was in the Badlands 8 times, Joan even more). After being six times in Badlands National Park, always in the fall and between 2005 and 2020, I just wanted to be there during spring time. Last year it was my first attempt. The story of spring can be told in many ways and making an image of a newborn bison calf is the photo I have in mind for this part of the season. While in autumn the herd of bison would always be around the Sage Creek Wilderness, near the campground we always stay. They are somewhere else in the backcountry during spring time. With other words, I have not seen or photographed a new born calf yet. Main reason is that during just one weekend you can’t hike into the backcountry with such a time limit.

Well, so how can we tell the story about spring with just a bison male in the frame? We saw many bison bulls , just by themselves or in small groups. It always amazes me, how can an animal eating nothing but grass and develop such a muscular body? And yes, there is power behind it. This is not just a grazing cow, bison can employ high speed if they feel threatened. Maintaining a safe distance to the critter is mandatory and it is the law! Even during my limited time out west over the years, I have seen some very, very stupid things people do just to get a snapshot of a bison. I can get excited talking about it…!!

So what else tells the story of spring? You probably have recognized the winter fur of the bison, shed off piece by piece. How do we get this all in one picture? First the eye of the bison bull had to be sharp. Blurry eye means, pic goes to the trash can. With a very narrow depth of focus (@ 600 mm, f/6.3), I figured out increasing local contrast on parts of the fur (which is not 100% in focus) may help to tell the story, while still keeping the focus point on the eye and horn of the bison. Not a perfect image of this resident out west, but I think the story of a male American Bison, roaming in the Badlands, at this time of the year, can be told.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S,   @ 600 mm, 1/1000 s, f/6.3, ISO 800

THOSE SUNSETS...


Sage Creek Wilderness, Badlands NP, South Dakota

After a mostly cloudy and very windy and dusty day the sky started to clear and the sunset did the rest to add to the story of this evening in Badlands National Park last Saturday. When a show like this is over, a glass of wine tastes twice as good and while having an interesting conversation with another camper, a great day in the wilderness winds down perfectly…

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 24 mm, 1/50s, f/5.6, ISO 200

THE GESTURE!


Black-tailed Prairie Dog performing the “jump-yip” call. Badlands NP, South Dakota

With all the pictures of Black-tailed Prairie dogs I made over the years there was still one missing, a photo of our favorite gesture. The famous “jump-yip” call can communicate alertness, territorial defense, or can be an “all-clear” signal. (source: https://www.prairiedoghoogland.com/vocalizations )

We just love watching the social behavior of prairie dogs and in the Badlands the numbers seem to increase with every visit we made since 2005. There is no problem to find them in Badlands NP and the photographer can be choosy about location and direction of light.

The “jump-yip” call lasts maybe a second or even less and you never know when they do it. However, a fast frame rate is the key to catch the action. The Nikon Z6II delivers 10 frames per second with my personal settings applied (14 bit depth NEF (RAW), shooting mode: Continuous High, extended). Shooting with 12 bit depth would even allow 14 frames per second, but I do not like to change and rather have more color data in my pixels.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head,   @ 600 mm, 1/1250 s, f/6.3, ISO 400

NATURE CLICKS #518 - BURROWING OWL


Burrowing Owl, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Just because the burrowing Owl is diurnal, means active during the day while most other owl species are nocturnal, it still remains a challenge to get close to one of them. It has been a thrill again during our visit in Badlands National Park to see and photograph this small owl. They find good places for nesting in abandoned burrows of prairie dogs, who are plentiful in many areas of the Badlands.

Two spots where I found the Burrowing Owl last year didn’t seem to have them this spring but we found several owls at other places. This photo is definitely my favorite picture of the whole trip. We were cruising with slow speed by car and looking for all kinds of wildlife, when I saw suddenly this beautiful owl sitting on a small ridge right above Sage Creek Road. This dusty gravel road connects the remote west entrance of the park with the famous Badlands Loop Road and with the town of Wall, South Dakota. While you may find some Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep along the Loop Road, for all the other critters and birds Sage Creek Road is the place to be, unless you hike into the backcountry.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S,   @ 600 mm, 1/640 s, f/6.3, ISO 200