LOVE IS IN THE AIR

April 30, 2023

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.

WINTER SPARROW VARIETY (4 CHOICES)

January 23, 2023

I have been an advocate for paying attention to the more common species of birds since wildlife photography became part of my life. It means, the ones we may see almost every day or the kind of bird that doesn’t draw the attention as much as a more exotic looking species. Sparrows are mostly overlooked. They are small and because many of them are not so rare makes us thinking, a sparrow is just another sparrow. You know what I mean. Last weekend the appearance of a couple species, that are here only seasonal, made me focus with the camera on this agile ground feeders. You can decide which one you like the best. I just love all of them!

American Tree Sparrow

They have their breeding grounds high up in northern Canada and Alaska but during winter time the American Tree Sparrow spends its time here, in particular in trees and shrubs along streams. Most of the time I see them along the Mississippi River but this photo was made just on our snow covered balcony.

Another sparrow that breeds up in Canada, northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. It seems there is always one that hangs out with the local bunch of house Sparrows during the cold months of the year.

Although it doesn’t have the word ‘sparrow’ in its name, they belong to this family. I recently reported about this species here in the blog. The Dark-eyed Junco is our best “winter indicator”. If they show up, you can be sure temperatures below freezing are not far away. In late winter, when the Dark-eyed Juncos suddenly disappear, we just know, the snow shovel can be put away for the season (exceptions are possible! 😉)

We have a little flock here every winter. They like the cover beneath the mountain pines we planted next to the house years ago. This one is obviously a young male sparrow. However, he doesn’t look right! It’s obvious that his tail feathers are missing. We only can guess if our local Sharp-shinned Hawk got a hold of him, but the most common of all sparrows escaped…

SURPRISES

July 21, 2022

It’s always nice to see some birds that don’t visit us every day. During the first days in May we always celebrate the arrival of some Baltimore Orioles. Some just stop here to feed on orange halves during their migration and others have their breeding grounds here in eastern Iowa. As the summer gets closer we don’t see them much anymore because they are busy raising their offspring and are found mostly higher up in the canopy of the trees. This year we didn’t really hear any and thought none of them had a nest nearby. To my surprise a few days ago this beautiful male oriole just showed up and checked out our front yard. I guess they are around somewhere here…

Only fifteen minutes earlier two juvenile Rose-breasted Grosbeaks came to the seed feeders. We probably saw their parents every day but it is good to know that a new generation has left the nest. Good times!

GEESE MIGRATION

March 6, 2020

I was afraid I would miss the migration of the Greater White-fronted Geese while I was out of town this week. Luckily they were present in the wetlands this evening and during the last hour before sunset thousands flew through the Mississippi Valley and finally away from the river. Unfortunately they didn’t land in the fields that border the Green Island Wetlands like last year, when the fields were mostly flooded.

I chose a position on the west side of the bird sanctuary, with the sun in my back, but wasn’t close enough for the majority of the geese. The waxing moon had good visibility and my hope was to make some pictures with geese flying in front of it. Well the photo above was the closest I got for this goal. With the moon as an anchor point and a thin wave of Greater White-fronted Geese flying away from it, negative space fills most of the frame. Not a bad thing in my books…

Greater White-fronted Geese, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands

Still a long way to go. Their breeding ground is in Alaska and far-northern Canada.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS

December 18, 2019

Greater White-fronted Geese, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa, March 2019

When the year comes to an end I like to browse through my picture library and recall the good moments I was able to capture over the last twelve months. What did I learn, what did I miss? Sometimes I find a decent photo that didn’t draw my attention right after it was taken or shots get deleted because with hindsight I find that they are not that great.

One evening in mid March I was finally able to watch thousands of Greater White-fronted Geese flying in for the night in the Green Island Wetlands at the Mississippi River. They were on the way to their breeding grounds up in northern Canada. Before they landed the birds circled around and with the setting sun in my back, gave me the chance to make some clicks. Other years I missed this spectacle because I wasn’t there at the right time. I love moments like that, when things in nature come together, not just for a good photo but for a lasting memory.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, at 600 mm, 1/1250s, f/6.3, ISO200

NATURE CLICKS #400 - BONAPARTE’S GULL

April 26, 2018

Bonaparte's Gull, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa --------

I’m celebrating my 400th “NATURE CLICKS” today. What was thought as a category for the “occasional” blog post about little details in nature became quickly the platform for my story telling about critters and birds, especially about sightings that don’t happen every day. It is hard to believe that Nature Clicks #1 was posted over 8 years ago!

Today I had to choose from six different stories my photos are telling and I decided to show another migrator here today. We had gorgeous light before sunset down in Mud Lake at the Mississippi River but I was not able to use it for a bunch of Bonaparte’s Gulls who flew north along the shore. The sun was already too far behind the walls of the Mississippi Valley and the low flying gulls were already in the shade.

Here is a little trivia. Bonaparte’s Gulls are named after a nephew of Napoleon, Charles Lucien Bonaparte, who was leading ornithologists in the 1800’s in America and Europe. The Bonaparte’s Gull is the smallest gull over North America and it is the only gull that regularly nests in trees (source: iBirdPro app).

They breed in subarctic North America from Alaska to the Hudson Bay, with other words, these gulls still have a good distance to fly before they reach their summer range.

NATURE CLICKS #374 - DUNLINS

May 6, 2017

Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach, California ---------

These Dunlins were still thousands of miles away from their breeding grounds along the arctic coast. Something seemed to scare them once in a while and they took off from the island in the background, but they always returned shortly after. Their coordinated aerial maneuvers are stunning and fun to watch. Another photo I made revealed that at least two birds were already in their breeding plumage, recognizable by a conspicuous black belly patch.

NATURE CLICKS #353 - REDDISH EGRET

November 26, 2016

Almost every birder and photographer I met in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve three weeks ago asked me, did you see a Reddish Egret? Yes, I did, I saw two of them! It wasn’t my first sighting of this bird and I have posted here in the blog about it exactly five years ago. I learned that a pair of Reddish Egrets had raised their offspring in the wetlands this year and people were just eager to see them.

I admit that this image was shot in “DX-mode” and in addition it is cropped. Unfortunately it is also not real sharp, with other words, a larger print is out of question. I had no chance to get closer during the short time I had the egret in front of my lens. There was too much water between me and the bird. If it was for a Great Egret, or even a Snowy Egret, I would not post this image here but this bird deserves an exception. Southern California is about as far north this egret goes on the west coast. The Reddish Egret is North America’s rarest heron and is usually confined as a breeder to the Gulf coast (source: National Geographic Complete Birds of North America).

A DAY ON THE WATER

May 24, 2015

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

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…

NATURE CLICKS #260 - GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE

March 15, 2015

One of the birds I was hoping to see again last Friday in the Green Island Wetlands during their migration is the Greater White-fronted Goose. Their breeding grounds are in Alaska, far-northern Canada, and Greenland. And I was not disappointed. Several hundred geese, if not more, rested on the wet fields and near the ponds and puddles left from the snow melt. The Greater White-fronted Geese migrate often in large flocks during the night and I saw many of them taking off during the hour before sunset

All images: Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM — All images: *Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM*

I have been closer to the birds than last year but still not close enough to make an image where the bird fills the frame. It just wonderful to see them and hear their distinctive laughing flight call during the short period of time, when they migrate north and rest here along the Mississippi River.