LOVE IS IN THE AIR

Lesser Yellowlegs, Maskunky Marsh, Iowa

The American Avocet wasn’t the only bird at the Maskunky Marsh yesterday. A number of Lesser Yellowlegs had chosen this wetland area for a rest stop on their way to the north. They breed in the meadows and open woodland from Alaska across Canada, all the way to western Quebec. The Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs are birds we see during migration quite often. The month of May is the peak time for their appearance here in Iowa. This pair didn’t care about my presence in the ”mobile blind”, of course my car, and there was a lot of action going on in the Maskunky Marsh.

Distance was again the biggest setback for the photographer and so I cropped the photos again for a decent display here in my blog.

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 #490 - LESSER YELLOWLEG

Lesser Yellowleg, Green Island Natuer Preserve, Iowa

My digital photo library reveals that I try to shoot pictures of the Lesser or Greater Yellowlegs since ten years. What many of them have in common is a background consisting of old plant material from the season before, a water surface that reflects gray sky, or just muddy banks and shores. That is all part of the story while these birds use the Mississippi flyway for their migration to the breeding grounds up north in early spring, but it is nevertheless not the most satisfying outcome from a photographer’s standpoint. 

After spending more than six hours in the Green Island Wetlands yesterday, the stars finally lined up and a couple Lesser Yellowlegs finally hit the shore and started feeding. The perfect moment for a photo comes when they take a short break. This log in the water was a great spot for the bird to look out for food and for me it was the setting I was hoping for since a long time.

Sandpipers are not always easy to identify but the Yellowlegs, the ‘Lesser” as much as the ‘Greater’, have their trademark, the yellow legs. Having the legs in the picture is a good part of the storytelling. The dark log and the water in the background made them standing out. Can’t ask for much more…

NATURE CLICKS #404 - LESSER YELLOWLEG

Green Island Wetlands, Eastern Iowa

Here is a couple pictures from last Friday. I’m not 100% sure about my identification. Could have been a Greater Yellowleg, at least in one of the pictures. It doesn’t really matter since both images represent the environmental portrait I prefer for my wildlife photography. Means the bird is shown in its habitat and the behavior is captured as it would occur even if I was not there.

NATURE CLICKS #396 - GREATER YELLOWLEG

The water level in the lakes and marshes of the Green Island Wetlands is slightly lower than it was during the last few months. This is good at least for two reasons. If it stays that way the trees and shrubs that were submerged by water have a chance to recover and new growth is possible. The water level in this area is controlled and there are probably reasons, that may have to do with the adjacent Mississippi River, to raise or lower it. As a frequent visitor I noticed during the last years that many of the bigger trees have died, maybe due to a higher water level for too long. Woodpeckers and tree swallows may benefit for a while but in a long run their habitat can be threatened if few or no new trees have a chance to grow.

The other reason, the mud banks that were covered by water appear again and this gives shore birds, like sandpipers and plovers, a chance to feed and they may use the wetlands as a stopover place during their migration. My photo library reveals that I haven’t taken a picture of a Yellowleg during the last two years in the Green Island area.

Much to my pleasure I saw a single Greater Yellowleg foraging in the shallow water and on the mud banks yesterday. Unless you are in a boat, the shooting position is always from slightly above water level, due to the topography in the wetlands, and that makes it difficult to keep mud and old plant litter out of the frame. Yes, as a photographer I prefer the environmental picture of birds and critters and having part of a mud bank in the picture is considered part of the story for me. However, having an old plant stalk sticking out of the bird’s head is not very desirable. It took me a while to get a shot that I like of this beautiful Greater Yellowleg …

This post was altered April 14, 2018. In my first version I had identified this bird as a Lesser Yellowleg. After looking closer at more of the pictures I took and after consulting with a more experienced birder (Thank you Tony!) I came to the conclusion that this might be a Greater Yellowleg. They are a little bigger and have a slightly upturned bill. Other photos show this feature more pronounced than this one.

IT’S ABOUT GESTURE

Northern Water Snake, Mississippi River, Deere Dyke, Dubuque, Iowa ---------    

Wildlife photography was not on the priority list during the last two days. Joan and I had Anthony and Teegan, our twin grandsons, at our house this weekend and that was a lot of fun. Today we went on a walk to the Deere dyke at the Mississippi River. The weather doesn’t get any better than today here in the Upper Mississippi Valley. I debated with myself about taking camera and long lens with me, but the only way not making any pictures is leaving the gear at home or in the car… Sure, the bright light of a Sunday afternoon without any clouds is not a favorite, but for the first time I had a Sora and several Lesser Yellowlegs in front of the lens at this location.

I got very excited while watching the Lesser Yellowlegs, a sandpiper that I have photographed at the Green Island Wetlands before during spring migration. When this Northern Water Snake, resting on a sun flooded log in the shallow backwaters of the Mississippi, lifted its head, my attention shifted immediately. It’s mediocre light but it is the gesture of the critter that makes the difference between a documentary shot and a photo that is worth to be shown.

A DAY ON THE WATER

Lesser Yellowleg

Joan and I finally opened the kayak season yesterday (better late than never  ;-)  ) and spent several hours paddling in the backwaters of the Mississippi in the Green Island Wetlands. It is the time of the year when many birds incubate their eggs or have already young ones, like some of the Canada Geese. We had some wonderful wildlife encounters, like a mink swimming to shore, a Northern Watersnake, and lots of waterfowl, herons, and egrets. Not every sighting leads to a photo but it was just great to be out in the wild and enjoy the nice and warm weather

Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM, SB 800 speed light

After the paddle trip we went on “bird patrol” by car to all the places in the wetlands that I visit frequently. We saw this Lesser Yellowleg foraging in the shallow water and it surprised us still seeing one of them since their breeding ground is in Northern Canada. I’m aware that my identification of a bird species can be wrong, this is especially true for shore birds, but in this matter I don’t have a better suggestion. Usually I have more images that I show here in the blog and even if they may not be always good enough to be published, but they help me quite often to identify a bird. However, if you read this and have doubts about any of my identifications, I will be very happy to hear from you

Wilson's Snipe

This photo of a Wilson’s Snipe was taken earlier this season, although we saw one yesterday evening. We are at the southern edge of their breeding range and so it is not a surprise to see them still around. More to come…

WHERE DO YOU WANT TO HEAD WITH YOUR WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY?

Lesser Yellowleg

There are several reasons why I chose this particular photo to tell a little part of the probably long story about spring migration of the Lesser Yellowleg. First, I like the gesture of the bird, looking at the sky for a Bald Eagle that soared above our heads. Second, it is the concept of using negative space, the space that surrounds the bird and that emphasizes the main subject. And third, it is very difficult to find a spot in the Green Island Wetlands that is not cluttered with stumps of old reeds or just mud hills that stick out of the shallow water. It would have been easy to clone out the reed stumps in the upper right corner of the photo, but I think it gives the image a little more dimension.

If you would ask me, where would you like to head with your wildlife photography, I would say, I really like the combination of light and story telling, and I enjoy a claim for artistic expression in a photo. With other words, I don’t care so much for the last detail in an eyeball of a critter, although sharpness is still important, but gesture will play hopefully a bigger role in my future images. I may answer this different sometime in the future, but as of now, this is it, and that’s why I like today’s image…