WHERE THE RIVER MEETS THE SEA

It was low tide and these Double-crested Cormorants used this small island to socialize and took care of their plumage.

At the southern end of the Puget Sound is the Nisqually River Delta, a biological diverse and rich area with a variety of habitats. The freshwater of the Nisqually River combines with the saltwater of Puget Sound and forms an estuary, which was restored in 2009 and was set aside for wildlife. The Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1974 to protect the delta and its diversity of wildlife habitats. (source: Brochure Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge)

Last Saturday I joined a guided tour in the refuge. Rob, a volunteer and our guide took us more than four hours on all the trails and the boardwalk through the estuary, despite the rain most of the time. It was time well spent, we saw lots of wildlife, and learned much about the delta and its biological diversity.

The Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge is a great place for watching and photographing critters and birds. It is now on my list of places I like to revisit, with hopefully more time on hand when I travel again to the Pacific Northwest. Here are a few documentary shots I was able to make during the hike.

We saw several flocks of Least Sandpipers. It is the smallest shorebird in the world. The photo was made from above on the boardwalk trail that goes across the estuary.

Our guide knew where to find them. These tiny little chorus frogs blend very well into their environment. This is most likely the Pacific tree frog.

A bird I have seen here in eastern Iowa during migration very often before, the Greater Yellowleg. At low tide there is plenty of food they can find in the mud or in the remaining puddles.

Talking about wildlife diversity, a Great Blue Heron hunts for fish near a group of Harbor Seals in the background, while a cormorant just flies through my picture at the same time.

 

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

NATURE CLICKS #492 - EASTERN PHOEBE (AND UPDATE ON OTHER MIGRATORY BIRDS)

Eastern Phoebe, Mississippi River, Finley’s Landing, Iowa

The Eastern Phoebe is usually the first of the flycatcher family that arrives here in spring. My records show that some years I have them photographed already in late March. Today I had a pair in front of the lens, the first ones I saw in 2021. The phoebe catches insects mid-air, flying out from atop low tree branches and other perches. They are easy to identify with their black bill, legs, and feet and when perched they wag their tail in characteristic motion.

The Eastern Phoebe wasn’t the only bird that showed up since yesterday. Last night I heard an Eastern Whip-poor-will down in the valley. This morning the first House Wren started singing and probably inspecting the bird boxes, and later the first Rose-breasted Grosbeak arrived from South America.

Despite a gray cloud cover I drove down to the Green Island Wetlands this evening and found four different sandpiper species. About two dozen Pectoral Sandpipers, 15 Lesser and probably 2 Greater Yellowlegs, and for the second time since 2018 a number of Dunlins. Not close enough for a frame filling photo, but sometimes we have to accept that relaxing and watching the birds is more joyful than trying to make a picture when there is not really a picture opportunity present…

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, @ 600 mm, 1/1000 s, f/6.3, ISO200

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…