NATURE CLICKS #568 - RED-TAILED HAWK

Red-tailed Hawk, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

It was already the second time this year that I visited the Green Island Wetlands. In comparison to New Year’s Day last Monday, when almost nothing was frozen over, we saw a thin layer of ice on most of the lakes and canals today. As gray as the sky was again it didn’t make sense to point the lens at any birds in flight. However, there is a number of raptors that try to make a living between the fields and wetland areas and getting a shot with a background other than just plain gray sky was at least worth a try.

As always, some local Bald Eagles perched near open water and I saw a winter guest, a Rough-legged Hawk, in one of the dead trees. North America’s smallest falcon, the American Kestrel was present but this fierce little raptor didn’t let me come close enough for a photo. Flocks of American Tree Sparrows were feeding on seeds along the dykes in the wetlands and I wonder if the kestrel was preying on them or if he just looked for little rodents.

This Red-tailed Hawk was perched in one of the big cottonwood trees near the road and had some patience with my presence. The bird holds on to the branch with just one claw while the other one peeks out between the feathers from underneath its belly. I moved in a position with as little sky as possible in the picture but a bit of snow in the tree. Is it a perfect shot? No, but I came back with a photo from my trip and that’s all what mattered under the gray sky today.

NATURE CLICKS #469 - AMERICAN KESTREL

Female American Kestrel, Little Missouri National Grasslands, North Dakota

Here in eastern Iowa the American Kestrel can be found even during winter. Up in the northwest part of North Dakota the kestrel migrates south for the cold season. The picture was made just a few miles south of Theodore Roosevelt National Park’s North Unit. Whenever possible, most wildlife photographers try to keep the human made elements out of the frame. This is quite difficult with the American Kestrel because 90 percent of the time I find them perching on an electrical power line. This gives you no sense of location and who really loves these “wire shots”?

This female American Kestrel posed nicely on a bale of hey in a field beside the gravel road. Sure, this is a human made thing, but the difference to the “unknown wire” is that a bale of hey gives you a sense of location. Yes, grassland, fields, and prairie are preferred habitats for this bird. During summer time large insects, like grasshoppers, are their main diet, while during winter months small mammals, birds, and amphibians are on the menu.

32ND ANNUAL BALD EAGLE WATCH IN DUBUQUE

Bald Eagle

Dubuque, Iowa had its 32nd annual BALD EAGLE WATCH in the Grand River Center yesterday. I was again a member of the team at the information table of the Dubuque Camera Club. All the local nature resource agencies and organizations were present with educational displays and information. I always enjoy networking with park rangers, other nature enthusiasts, and photographers and it was again a day well spent.

I told you in my last blog post about the snow storm that hit our area and big parts of the Midwest the day and night before. To my surprise the event on Saturday had a very good attendance, despite not so ideal road conditions. Many people of all ages came for the educational programs with live birds of prey.

American Kestrel

The young lady of the University of Minnesota Raptor Center (I’m sorry, I didn’t catch her name) did an awesome job educating the public about four different species of birds she brought with her to Dubuque. I think she answered every possible question that came up during her presentation and you could tell she had a lot of passion about these birds and how to care for them. Very enjoyable! All birds on display had an injury in the past and were unable to live in the wild on their own.

Red-tailed Hawk

The photography was again a bit of a challenge. Very little light in the conference room required very high ISO settings in camera. Flash is not an option with these birds of prey. The presenter moved around most of the time, so everybody in the audience was able to see them pretty good. On the down side it made it difficult to obtain focus and produce a sharp image. As during the last two years at this event I used it as an opportunity to practice handholding of the D750 with the Nikkor 70-200, f/4 attached. The number of misses was of course much higher than usual with this camera / lens combination out in the open country.

Great Horned Owl