NATURE CLICKS #614 - YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS

Yellow-rumped Warbler, Frenchtown County Park, Guttenberg, Iowa

A bunch of Yellow-rumped Warblers spent the Sunday afternoon feeding from berries (Bittersweet?) and cleaning their feathers at the banks of the Mississippi River in Frenchtown Park near Guttenberg, Iowa. The one in the first photo must have taken a bath in the river. His feathers were wet and the bird cleaned and dried them in the sun.

I was out practicing with a new piece of equipment I got as a gift last month, a monopod with a small gimbal head. I want to use it mainly for small bird photography in locations that are difficult to access with a heavier tripod. I will report about it in a later post sometime.

The small ramp at Frenchtown County Park is hardly used for boat access anymore. I have seen Yellow-rumped Warblers there before but was surprised how many were present this time.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2024 #4 - PEACEFUL SUNSET

Sunset in the valley, Mississippi River, Abel-Essman Island, Guttenberg, Iowa

I really rushed down the hill into the Mississippi Valley, hoping to reach the outlook before the shadow of the bluffs would cover the island, on my way home last night. Just as I pulled into the parking lot beside the road the shadows already crept up on the west side of the island. When I jumped out of the car with the camera in hand a small airplane just took off from the landing strip between the buildings on Abel-Essman Island. Too bad, I missed that rare opportunity but I’m happy with this peaceful sunset scene in the river valley.

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 49 mm, 1/500 s, f/10, ISO 200

WARBLER SHOW

Can’t resist to show a few more photos from last weekend’s shooting at the Mississippi River. I chose my position near some dead trees the Yellow-rumped Warblers seemed to prefer for catching insects. It also increased my chances to get some clean shots with a blurred background and no distracting leaves or branches sticking out from the head of the bird.

All images: Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, 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,

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2022 #8 - STOP AT THE BEST MOMENT

Thunderstorm moving out, Mississippi River, Guttenberg, Iowa

My thank you goes out to our friend Mary, who drove the car while this beautiful scene with clouds was visible over in Wisconsin across the Mississippi River last weekend. She stopped safely without any hesitation, so I could get out of the car and make the photo. Some wet roads further south told us later that this thunderstorm had mad its impact also on the Iowa side of the river. This was taken just above lock & dam #10 in Guttenberg, Iowa, about 30 miles north of our home.

There is very little to do in post process since I import my monochrome settings right out of camera into Adobe Lightroom. As in this case, what I saw on the screen at the back of the camera after the click was pretty much what I wanted to see in the final image. Another great summer day we were able to share with friends. Thanks again Mary!

CHANGING WEATHER

Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4

I followed the Mississippi River north to Guttenberg, Iowa today. Temperatures above freezing made the snow pretty slushy but the next blizzard is already on its way. The clouds tell the story of changing weather…

The photo was made from the overlook just south of Guttenberg and you can see that the ice on the main channel of the river is not very solid.