YESTERDAY WAS WORLD WILDLIFE DAY

Downy Woodpecker

Yesterday was World Wildlife Day and everybody but me posted a nice wildlife photo on Instagram or other popular websites. I simply forgot about it 🙄. By writing this blog on my website I try to create awareness about wildlife since 2010 and maybe you can forgive me. The photo is actually from yesterday evening and this Downy Woodpecker posed nicely on the old cedar tree trunk in the last bit of sunshine. This winter we had up to six of North America’s smallest woodpeckers here and they are usually not as shy and skittish as their larger cousins. I always enjoy having them in front of the lens and the Downy is my choice to celebrate World Wildlife Day this year, even if it is belated… 😊

NATURE CLICKS #422 - JEWELED SHOOTING STAR

Joan and I took a trip along the Mississippi all the way up to Lansing, Iowa. The islands and many banks along the river are still flooded and with more rain in the forecast there seems no end in sight. 

I had a tip from another photography friend about a good wildflower location here in the driftless area along the river. We went there already three weeks ago but this was a little too early. Today we found a number of wildflowers, including the Jeweled Shooting Star (Dodecatheon amethystinum). This plant has its habitat in moist shaded areas on north and east-facing dolomite and limestone bluffs in deciduous forests. It is on the list of Iowa’s threatened plant species, a reason why I don’t reveal the location here in the blog.

As you know, I’m not really a flower photographer but wildflowers are part of our natural heritage and they deserve our utmost attention, if we still want to have them around for future generations. Creating awareness is one reason why I make the click anyway.

GOOD FEELING

Northern Flicker  -----------      

Yesterday I gave a presentation at the Swiss Valley Nature Center. The County Conservation’s program “Lunch-N-Learn” is targeted for adults and seniors but it was a mixed audience and even some young students participated. Under the title “Creating awareness by visual story telling” I talked about how I approach wildlife photography, introduced some good locations, and gave some tips how we can tell a story with our images. I didn’t include many technical aspects of photography, but talked about passion and how we can create awareness about our natural resources and wildlife, even by using just a cell phone camera. I used about 80 of my photos for the story telling. At the end I was able to answer questions that came up, followed by good conversation with participants after the presentation.

It was the first time that I did something like that and I have enjoyed every minute. I know I still have a long way to go with my photography but creating awareness and being a tiny part of conservation and protection efforts is a damn good feeling…

BALD EAGLE’S STORY, GOOD REASON FORE EVEN MORE AWARENESS

Living here in eastern Iowa and having Bald Eagles present all year long may dull our sense of appreciation for this majestic bird. But as real friends of nature we will probably never get tired of their presence. Not everybody is aware that this bird was almost at the brink of extinction not that long ago, but the time is luckily over when we had to make any possible shot to prove that the Bald Eagle is still among us. Instead we now can relax and focus on its sheer beauty and the stories our images may tell. Creating awareness about our natural history and heritage is what my photography is about. Seeing large numbers of eagles soaring above our heads doesn’t mean we have reached a safe heaven. There are many other critters and birds that need our attention, and your photos, yes, yours, may help to create awareness about the struggle for survival of a particular species that is confronted with shrinking habitat and / or global climate change.