WATCHING MIGRATORY BIRDS

Sandhill Cranes, Mississippi River, New Albin, Iowa

Last weekend I made the two-hour drive along the Mississippi River into Minnesota. My destination was the Brownsville overlook, a place where ten-thousands of birds take a rest on their way to the south. Every November you have a chance to see thousands of Tundra Swans, who take a break on their journey from the arctic to their wintering grounds along the Atlantic coast from the Chesapeake Bay to North Carolina. Beside that this refuge in the river is a great place to see many Bald Eagles and ten-thousands of ducks.

Just before crossing the Iowa - Minnesota border I checked the road that leads east from New Albin, Iowa to the boat landing at the Mississippi River. This is usual a good spot for bird watching but it has been flooded for a big part of the year. The water had just receded and it was still quite muddy. To my surprise I heard the call and saw about two dozen Sandhill Cranes taking off and flying south through the Mississippi Valley. After all the snow we had, I thought they were long gone already.

Tundra Swans, Mississippi River, Brownsville overlook, Minnesota

The two overlooks along the road between New Albin, IA and Brownsville, MN are a popular destination at this time of the year. You can meet many like minded people that enjoy bird watching or want to make some pictures. Not always the best place for a great image, due to the distance between the birds and the overlooks, but always worth the trip, if you like to witness the wonders of nature and for feelings of pleasure.

There was educational material on display and a naturalist on site, who was happy to answer the questions visitors had. She told me that the first Tundra Swans were already here three weeks ago. The backwaters were already partly frozen last weekend but this bay had open water. With the warmer temperatures right now you may still have a chance to watch them this week. If the river freezes over, the birds have to move on…

My pictures today are not really for “gourmets”, but since my blog is about nature and photography I like to share my observations with other nature friends and photographers in the area.

NATURE CLICKS #402 - SORA

Sora, Mississippi River, Pool Slough, near New Albin, Iowa -----------

I drove to the extreme northeast corner of Iowa today, to New Albin, just south of the Minnesota border. At first came a little disappointment due to the fact that the gravel road across Pool Slough, a wildlife sanctuary in the backwaters of the Mississippi, was partly closed because of high water level. I guess the snow melt from the last few weeks comes down the river now. The road ends at a boat landing that is usually very popular among fishermen but the water made me stop a mile earlier already. With water, marsh land, and mudflats on both sides, the road is a great place for bird watching and photography not only at this time of the year. I didn’t give up and scanned the area with the binoculars. There were ducks and geese, eagles, coots, egrets, and herons but no small wading birds, as I was hoping for. The mudbanks were covered with water and that changes the food supply for sandpipers and other shore birds.

The real fun started when I heard the “whee-hee-hee-hee-hee” call of a Sora right next to me and it was answered from other places around. These rails are very small and it is not easy to spot them. For the next hour I was busy to capture the story of this little bird, how they walk with their big feet on floating debris, how they feed, and how good they can hide. The Sora feeds mainly on insects, mollusks, snails, seeds of plants, and duckweed. They rake floating vegetation with their feet and even pull it aside with their bill and search for food visually. Well, no sandpipers today, but I still have images from yesterday that I may post during the upcoming week. So please stay tuned…! 😊

STILL INTRIGUED

Tundra Swans, Mississippi River, between New Albin, IA and Brownsville MN ----

I admit, I’m still intrigued by yesterday’s wildlife experience. Watching ten-thousands of Tundra Swans on the Mississippi isn’t an everyday occurrence even for us that live near the Mississippi Valley and enjoy bird migration every year one way or the other.

Between all the noise created by the Tundra Swans I heard, and it was confirmed by other birders, the french horn like call of at least one Trumpeter Swan.

The Tundra Swan is smaller than the Trumpeter Swan and most adult birds have a yellow spot at the base of their black bill, while the Trumpeter Swan has an all black bill. The yellow spot varies in size and shape as I realized by studying the pictures from yesterday’s photo shooting. The photo above shows the distinct field mark very well. I had the focus on the juvenile bird in the back while they took off, hence it has better sharpness than the swan in front. It is not difficult to distinguish an adult from a young bird, and there were lots of families with one to four juveniles.

NATURE CLICKS #387 - TUNDRA SWANS - LARGE NUMBERS

Mississippi River, between New Albin, Iowa and Brownsville, Minnesota ----

When I watched Friday night about 150 Tundra Swans resting on a mud bank across from Mud Lake, and far away in the Mississippi River, I knew it was time to go up north. Today I made the trip to New Albin, IA, crossed the Minnesota border, and stopped finally at the viewing deck just south of Brownsville, MN. What I found was one of the most spectacular wildlife experiences I ever had. Today’s estimate by birders that had an information desk out there was 30,000 Tundra Swans. The swans take a rest along the Mississippi during their long journey from the arctic all the way to the mid-Atlantic coast. The sound is incredible beautiful and seeing so many swans in one location was a sheer delight.

Click on photos for larger view!

After a gray and foggy morning the sun came out and awarded everybody with a piece of optical glass in their hands or on a tripod with quality light. I’m not sure if four photos can tell the story completely but I hope they make you want to go out and see this. It looks like the temperatures will stay on the moderate side this week and there is a chance that the Tundra Swans will be in the area for a few days.

MIGRATING GEESE, STILL COMING THROUGH

Snow Geese, Mississippi River, near New Albin, Iowa

This is a late photo from our trip along the Mississippi River last weekend. I was traveling this week and had planned to post this on Monday already, but made the “beginners mistake” of leaving my card reader at home. A good reminder to pay more attention while packing the photo gear for a trip…

We saw several hundred White-fronted Geese near the boat landing in New Albin, just south of the Minnesota border. Among them were about a dozen Snow Geese, feeding in the marsh land that surrounds the road to the main channel of the river. I have watched these species since several weeks along the Mississippi and was surprised to see still so many of them. I thought they were all gone already and they would be way further north on their journey to the arctic region of North America. A look on the migration map reveals that especially the Greater White-fronted Goose travels from as far south as Mexico.

Greater White-fronted Geese

I shot most of the pictures from my car, using the DX-crop mode, equivalent to a 900 mm focal length. Another photographer told me that a little earlier they were so close that he had to zoom out to 150 mm focal length. I wished I was that lucky…

NEW ALBIN TOWN HALL

I wanted to photograph this old town hall in Iowa’s farthest northeastern town New Albin since I saw this building for the first time about a year ago. The absence of some good clouds made me always hesitate during several previous visits. Well, today I finally was happy with the clouds.

What bothers me is that big advertising sign on the side of the building. Whoever made the decision to hang this monster there had little sense for the heritage of such an old building…

All images: Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4