FOLLOW UP

Yellow Warbler hunting for insects

I can’t resist to post another photo of my recent shooting of warblers in Bankston County Park. This Yellow Warbler didn’t care that I was nearby and concentrated on its real interest, to catch an insect above the water surface of the small river below this branch.

Today I was back in the valley again and finding a warbler that sits still for more than half a second was next to impossible. Mating season for this species is in full swing, and you know how that goes…

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.   @ 850 mm, 1/1250 s, f/9, ISO 2500, image cropped

NATURE CLICKS #577 - YELLOW WARBLER

It is one thing to shoot in a more controlled environment, like in the front yard of the house, and as I have done mostly last week. When the birds come to you it is not so difficult to adapt quickly and change your camera and speed light settings if necessary. With other words, it is somehow predictable. It is much more challenging to be out in nature and away from the home turf, as experienced yesterday again.

Since I have seen only one species of warblers in our woods last week I thought it is time to try something different. The valley in Bankston County Park is carved out by the clear water of the Middle Fork Little Maquoketa River. It is a great nature place here in eastern Iowa and it was a successful trip yesterday afternoon. I found a number of Yellow Warblers and another species (more about that in another blog post). They will most likely nest in the valley and raise their offspring. Right now it is all about eating and probably finding the right mate. The warblers perch often in the branches right above the water of the fast flowing creek and try to catch insects in flight, like flycatchers do it. Very soon all leaves will be out and pictures like I show you today are not possible anymore.

Many flycatcher species have one big advantage, they return quite often to the same perch after catching prey, making it easy for the photographer to get a shot. Not so the warblers, they land on a different branch, even in a different tree, most of the time. Following them with the camera was a challenge to say it mildly.

While at home I like to shoot with the speed light for better color rendering but this was not an option here. With the flash I shoot mostly in ”sniper mode”, a single shot each time the shutter release button is pressed. With the fast moving birds I worked without flash and used high speed frame advance rate with 10 frames per second.

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, @850 mm

NATURE CLICKS #428 - YELLOW WARBLER

Male Yellow Warbler, Green Island Wetlands, Eastern Iowa

I try to visit the Green Island Wetlands at least once a week and one thing hasn’t changed during the last few weeks, the extreme high water level. The main road is still partly under water and closed for all through traffic, making it a dead end. I used that to my advantage and drove slowly on the left hand side (yep, like the British do), the camera in my lap and eyes and ears wide open. Oh, there were many warblers singing in the trees but spotting them is not that easy. The leaves have full size now and even if you see a bird doesn’t mean you have a photo opportunity. This male Yellow Warbler sat in a dead tree and sang his heart out. I cropped the photo because getting closer was no option, the tree stood in the water.

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

CLOSE TO THE GROUND

Yellow Warbler, Mines of Spain, Dubuque, iowa

In spite of the fact that we still have an abundance of migrating birds around our house at the moment (I promise, I will show more pictures soon!), I went to the Mines of Spain yesterday, the wooded state recreation area south of Dubuque, Iowa. I was hoping to see some neotropical warblers, vireos, and gnatcatchers coming up the Mississippi River Valley and was rewarded with several species that will breed in eastern Iowa during the summer. However, watching them doesn’t automatically mean to capture an image. Warblers are very fast moving birds most of the time, giving the photographer only fractions of a second to frame, focus, and making the click.

The Mines of Spain have two ponds, just separated from the Mississippi River by the railroad tracks. The bushes and shrubs that surround them are an excellent home range for birds that rely on insects. With other words, it is a prime habitat for warblers and other birds and a good place to stick the legs of the tripod into the mud.

It was interesting to see Yellow Warblers, American Redstarts, Common Yellowthroats, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and Yellow-rumped Warblers gleaning for insects very close to the ground. The reason might be the relative low temperatures we have. Mosquitos, gnats, or little flies do still not perform much. We humans may like this, but the birds may struggle for survival if this would last. The good news is, the forecast for next week promises warmer weather…

WARBLER DAY

Yellow Warbler ------------

I have 3 photos of warblers for you today. All have the word “yellow” in the name but each is of course from a different species. As always, you can click on each photo for a larger image on your screen. It was a gray Sunday but the temperature started rising again. Early in the morning I saw a couple warblers here near the house and with warmer temperatures insects started flying again. I figured out it would be a good day looking for migrating or mating warblers around the Deere Marsh at the Mississippi River in Dubuque and at the end of the day I was not disappointed with my encounters.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Taking pictures of birds against a gray sky or with water in the background that reflects the sky is usually a no-no, but rules are there to be broken sometimes…😉 To bring out the colors of these little neotropical birds requires to send a hint of flash in their direction. The light will be reflected and this takes care of the dull appearance under an overcast. I used the trusted MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender (click the link if you like to see it http://www.exnerimages.net/gear ).

Common Yellowthroat

Some of the pictures were made from the tripod and a flash arm was used. Others were made out of my car and in this case I mount the flash directly to the hot shoe of the camera. This is a little awkward at times because of the limited height of the car window but I haven’t found a better way yet. Don’t take me wrong, I still think a gray background does not lead to a real good photo but going out shooting beats the alternative, staying home… 😊

NATURE CLICKS #376 - YELLOW WARBLER

The photos of the Trumpeter Swans in my post from yesterday were a bonus. We were actually out to find some warblers after several days with rain and very little sun. But here was the challenge, Joan recovers from a foot surgery and so hiking or walking was out of question. The search for the little neotropical birds had to be done by car only.

We saw some waterfowl that we didn’t expect to see but it wasn’t until we were on the way out of the Green Island Wetlands when we spotted this Yellow Warbler. It has a wider range than any other North American Warbler and there is a good chance that this bird will stay in the wetlands during the summer.

NATURE CLICKS #280 - YELLOW WARBLER

Finally I made my first photo of a warbler this year. During migration time in May we have not seen any of them in our valley here, although I paid utmost attention to any movement in the woods. Spring 2014 was so much better and I don’t know really why. However, this evening I went to the Mines of Spain, the wooded area south of Dubuque, Iowa, and tried my luck there. Sure enough I saw an American Redstart and found this beautiful Yellow Warbler under the canopy of the trees in an area with heavy brush thicket. Using the tripod is not very practical between the bushes and trees and so I handheld the D750 with the Sigma 50-500 and SB800 speed light attached. The warbler changed location every few seconds and it is a lot easier to follow the bird without the tripod. Working this way requires some faster shutter speed and I had the ISO pumped up to 1000 to make the click at 1/320s, f/8. The flash was used very subtle, just enough to make the colors of the warbler pop.