THE LONELY GUY

Greater Sandhill Crane, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

During yesterday’s trip to the Green Island Preserve I found only one Sandhill Crane. This is not really a surprise, we are stopover territory and most cranes breed further north and have probably moved on already. We do have some breeding pairs here in eastern Iowa but this bird had obviously no mate yet, maybe it is still a bit too young. Since I saw a Sandhill Crane already two month earlier in the same area I wonder if this is the same bird and it may have some impairment. I haven’t figured out that yet since I can’t be there every day to keep track.

Photographically it was the same approach as in yesterday’s image. The 1.4x teleconverter was employed and the camera was set to DX mode, delivering the same angle of view as a 1275 mm lens. I cropped the picture a little bit on the left and right hand side to keep more of the muddy mess around the bird out of the frame.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG, @850 mm (1275 mm DX mode), 1/2500 s, f/9, ISO0800

UNTIL THE LIGHT WAS GONE

Greater Yellowleg, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

The weather this week was not very pleasant, with temperatures around the freezing point, rain, even a little bit of snow, and almost no sun in the sky.This changed finally today and I could realize my plans going for some wildlife shooting to the Green Island Wetlands in the Mississippi Valley this evening. All the clouds disappeared and the best thing was that the air stayed relatively cool, means it was clear and the often feared heat shimmer above the surface of the wetland didn’t occur. With other words, great shooting conditions.

I saw lots of ducks, mostly Wood Ducks and Northern Shovelers, of course Canada Geese, Bald Eagles, the local Northern Harrier, and a small number of Tree Swallows. But the most exciting encounter were three Greater Yellowlegs. These migrating sandpipers were feeding in the shallow water at Green Island but they were quite a bit away. By attaching the 1.4x Teleconverter to the lens my focal length went up to 850 mm. This seemed still not close enough and I set the camera to ”crop mode”, which uses a smaller part of the sensor only, but gave me the equivalent of 1275 mm focal length. I thought without heat shimmer, as often present at this time of the year above the water surface, I can try it and had indeed quite a few sharp images.

Before driving back home I headed to the gravel road on the westside of the wetlands and found another Greater Yellowleg foraging in the water that covered the field below after the rain. The sun was setting behind me and the bird still searched for food and flew away only after all direct light was gone.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG, @850 mm (1275 mm DX mode), 1/1250 s, f/9, ISO800

GET IT RIGHT IN CAMERA (PART 2)

Eastern Gray Squirrel, 1/800 s, f/9, ISO 400, @850 mm, DX mode (1,275 mm)

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head

Although with a totally different aspect, I’m picking up from my last blog post today, “Get it right in camera”. All photos are from last weekend. Way too many times I do have to crop some of my wildlife images, mainly because of too much distance between the camera and the animal. There has been progress over the years but it remains a challenge and I’m not always up to it.

Black-capped Chickadee, 1/400 s, f/9, ISO 400, @850 mm

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head

Well, there is a piece of gear in my bag that can help to get closer and fill the frame without cropping, but I admit, it hasn’t seen the light of the day much lately. I’m talking about the SIGMA 1.4 teleconverter that compliments the SIGMA 150-600, f5-6.3 and can extend its focal length from 600 mm to 850 mm. On a camera with a half size sensor or in DX mode on a full frame camera, like the Nikon D750, you can even get the angle of view of a 1,275 mm lens. Wow, this is a lot more than the naked lens can provide!

Red-bellied Woodpecker, 1/1250 s, f/9, ISO 400, @850 mm

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head

Of course there is a downside. With a maximum aperture of f/6.3 at 600 mm the SIGMA isn’t the fastest lens anyway, but with the teleconverter attached it becomes a f/9! This needs a lot of light for a good function of the autofocus system. But if the focus locks on, this lens / teleconverter combination delivers a sharp picture. It’s not the perfect solution for “low light” wildlife photography. But if the sun comes out and you have the great contrast, colors, and light this time of the season has to offer, you might be suddenly closer to your subject and after a while you don’t even know where the “crop-button” of your photo editing software is located…😉

NATURE CLICKS #460 - WARBLING VIREO

Warbling Vireo, Mississippi River, Finley’s Landing, Iowa

Go out without your longest lens and you'll come back short. I forgot who quoted that in one of the books I own, but this became exactly true today. It seems I make it a habit to take dog Cooper during my lunch break and spend a few minutes at one of the boat landings or marinas along the Mississippi River. Today it was a short trip to Finley’s Landing, a public access with beach, little marina, a campsite, and a boat ramp. A small creek meets the mighty Mississippi and there is always a chance to watch some birds. 

A number of harsh “eeaahh” calls made me looking up into the canopy of the trees and pretty soon a Warbling Vireo was discovered. Now back to the long lens, which of course was left at home. 200 mm at the long end of the 70-200, f/4 was simply not enough for this photo, not even in auto crop mode (Nikon’s DX mode). Additional crop in post allows to have a picture that is ok for a blog post like this or for other social media. A real one to one print will reveal the flaw, because too much detail gets lost.

The Warbling Vireo is not uncommon during the summer but it is not a bird we see even every other day. They prefer deciduous woodlands, often along streams, and spend the winter in the tropics. I should go back and try it again, but this time with 400mm more focal length…😉

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4…@ 200mm, 1/1600s, f/5, ISO400, cropped

NATURE CLICKS #446 - GREATER YELLOWLEGS

Not my sharpest image of this Greater Yellowlegs from last weekend’s visit in the Green Island Wetlands, but it is the one that tells the story the best. This guy was foraging in the partly drained pond at the Iowa DNR maintenance facility. It was obviously a great place for the bird because I caught him twice making a catch between the algae in the water. This bird feeds on aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates, small fish, frogs, seeds, and berries. It was a very windy day but to my surprise I found two more Greater Yellowlegs on little islands along the dyke. They still have a long way to go to their breeding grounds in Canada and finding enough food in a place like the Green Island Wetlands is essential for a successful journey.

Although already in DX mode with the Nikon D750 (cropped in camera), I did an additional crop in Adobe Lightroom to keep more of the algae and mud out of the frame. I was already pretty close to the edge of the pond and the bird didn’t want to come closer. I hate cropping but for this image it was my last resort…

NATURE CLICKS #437 - BALD EAGLE

Bald Eagle, Mississippi River, Sabula, Iowa

This is pretty much straight out of camera, just the usual treatment of the RAW file including the sharpening process. The SIGMA lens was zoomed all the way out to 600 mm and by setting the camera to DX mode (using only a part of the sensor in camera) the angle of view for the lens is equivalent to a 900 mm focal length. There was no way to get closer to the Bald Eagle. I shot this from the “mobile blind”, my trusted Subaru, in Sabula, the only town in Iowa that is located on an island in the Mississippi.

It was about time to check out again my favorite wildlife watching areas, the Green Island Wetlands and the area around Sabula. I had to go that far south to have finally an animal in front of the lens. The only thing to mention from Green Island was the presence of a Sharp-shinned Hawk, who suddenly came out of the trees and crossed the road in front of the car. No Trumpeter Swans or any four-legged critter.

The sun had just started to come out from behind a thick layer of clouds, was still a little muted, and gave the scene a nice and soft touch. Sure, I would have liked to be a tad closer and a Bald Eagle on the ice without a great gesture is not the most exciting story. But there was open water and that means business for the eagle. Waiting for the moment to hunt for a fish is the biggest part of an eagle’s day and part of the story.

FINALLY, SOME BALD EAGLES

Crows picking up what’s left of a an eagle’s meal, Mississippi River, Sabula, Iowa

I talked to other wildlife photographers today during a meeting of the Dubuque Camera Club and everybody agreed, it wasn’t the best winter season to photograph the iconic Bald Eagle along the Mississippi River. The reasons may vary. December last year was very mild and they may have stayed up north but even during January and February we didn’t see very many, except for the ones who stay here all year long. However, last weekend, with the ice on the Mississippi breaking apart, it was no problem finding eagles along the river. This makes me believe that the birds who went further south just move back to Minnesota or Canada again, following the receding ice.

These two photos were made at the boat landing in Sabula, Iowa. Earlier, an hour before these pictures were taken, I drove over the bridge to Savannah, Illinois and saw a number of Bald Eagles feeding on the ice, or at least arguing about who owns the fish. The fish was long gone before I came back and aimed my lens at the one eagle who was still there. Two American Crows owned the spot now and ate what was left of the meal.

I used the DX mode on the Nikon D750 for the first picture and still cropped the image slightly to frame the scene closer. Not ideal, but I liked the storytelling in the photo and thought a closer crop would work better. The second pic was shot full frame (FX mode) but was cropped slightly for esthetic reasons.


All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S

FIRST GLIMPSE

Great Horned Owl  ------------   

It looks like I show you the same image at this time of every year. Yes, a Great Horned Owl sits again in the nest at Mud Lake Park, just a stone throw away from the Mississippi River. 2017 is the fifth year in a row that the Great Horned has chosen this nest site. A couple other photographers have emailed me during the last days that they saw the owl and even the male was spotted in another tree (Thank you Linda and Ken!). Incubation takes about 28 to 35 days and is mostly done by the female.

 I was there yesterday afternoon but the bird was out of the nest. Today I used my lunch break to drive down to Mud Lake again and was even able to make a few clicks. Distance is always a bit of a problem and I used all my technical means to overcome it. First, the Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG was mounted between the Sigma 150-600 mm lens and the camera to extend the focal length to 850 mm. Second, the D750 was set to DX crop mode, which gave me the equivalent angle of view of a 1275 mm lens. I still cropped a little sliver on the right and top to keep a few distracting branches out of the frame. At that time of the day I had to shoot against the sun but a thin layer of clouds didn’t make this a big problem. Dialing in exposure compensation of +1 1/3 EV delivered the best results today. 

‘FULL SNOW MOON’

1/160 s, f/11, ISO 100, 850 mm (1275 mm DX mode)   -----------    

Beside the ‘Full Snow Moon’ (the traditional name for the full moon that occurs in February) observers across North America had a chance to see a penumbral lunar eclipse tonight. I may have been a little too late for watching the eclipse and we had still a hazy cloud cover when I went outside. A penumbral eclipse is rather subtle, however, I didn’t see really any unusual shading of the moon. 

Tomorrow night comet 45P/ Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková makes its closest approach to earth. The comet has been visible for months but tomorrow night is supposed to be the best view. Lots of things going on in the sky this weekend… ;-)

I haven’t done any photography of the moon since a long time but tonight I thought it would be a good reason to do it again. By mounting the Sigma 150-600 mm plus the 1.4x teleconverter to the camera I had a focal length of 850 mm. I could have cropped the image but I like to get it right in camera. By selecting the DX-mode in the Nikon D750 (using only a part of the sensor) I have the viewing angle of a 1275 mm lens. With other words, the photo reflects what I saw in the viewfinder tonight. I shot from our balcony but this wooden structure vibrates with any movement that occurs. To minimize vibrations a cable release was used and the camera was set to ‘Mirror-up’ mode. I tried manual focus as well as autofocus and both worked good. I started with a fixed white balance of 4000k but found it was a little to bluish. Setting the camera to Auto-White Balance resulted in about 4750 K and I think that looks more natural.

NOT WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR, BUT…

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, Better Beamer flash extender

I haven’t made a single click since two days <sigh>, because an indoor project kept me grounded. However, I have very little regrets, the weather has been really miserable the last couple days.

More birds have arrived here. Our House Wrens sing already since 4/16, the Whip-poor-will was heard the first time during the night of 4/20, and a female Scarlet Tanager landed briefly at a bird feeder on 4/25. That is the earliest we have ever seen a tanager in our woods. Finally the first male Rose-breasted Grosbeak showed up last Thursday, together with two Ruby-crowned Kinglets.

While trying to catch the kinglet this male Northern Cardinal posed for me briefly in a tree nearby. It was already 6:30pm but I still wanted a little bit of daylight in the background. To make this happen I shot this in DX cropping mode at 600 mm (900 mm FX) with 1/80s. The flash is still used as a fill flash, but only to reveal the colors of the cardinal. Sure, I could “nuke” this with 1/250s, and it would be tack-sharp, but the background would have been totally black and the photo would scream nothing but “FLASH!!”

The cardinal is an all-year-around bird here on our bluffs but it was its pose and gesture that make this image work for me.