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.

NATURE CLICKS #421 - COMMON MUSKRAT

Juvenile Common Muskrat, John Deere Marsh, Mississippi River, Iowa

Here is another image from last weekend. This was shot at the John Deere Marsh, right beside the road, and about a kilometer away from the main channel of the Mississippi River. This young muskrat had absolutely no fear and kept chewing on fresh grass tips even after I just parked my car right beside it. 200 mm focal length was enough to make this picture and I employed the Nikon Nikkor 200 f/4 on the D750. I made a slight crop in post for esthetic reasons. Too many bleak sticks after the winter distracted from the subject, this beautiful little muskrat. Their fur looks great when it is dry. I saw and heard an adult calling from down below the river bank but this little bugger gave a dam and kept chewing on the first fresh grass. Some people are put off by anything that is called a “rat”, although this rodent is not a member of the genus rattus. Muskrats are smaller than beavers and they share quite often the same habitat. Their diet is 95% plant materials.