TWO SPECIES

Garter Snake, Green Island Road, Iowa

Usually when I make a visit to the wetlands along the Mississippi River I have something to report about birds. Sometimes great news and sometimes not so good news. Last weekend I found not much to get excited about our feathered friends but two encounters of different critters made me wondering if we have larger numbers of snakes again after other people seem to see more this year as well.

Brown Snake

Both were stretched out on the gravel road in the Green Island area and seemed to enjoy a bath in the sun. I usually get out of the car, make a few clicks with the camera, and force the snakes to go off the road, mostly with the leg of my monopod. It took me awhile this time, both snakes didn’t like to give up their sunny spots. Unfortunately too many of these critters get killed by people just driving over the animal, quite often intentionally. Thinking about that just makes me mad…

Garter Snakes are non-venomous and play a vital role to keep the ecosystem they live in healthy. Snake fungal disease is attributed to the decline of snakes in recent years but habitat loss may play a big role as well. Garter Snakes are recognized with 37 species and 52 subspecies but they are usually easy to identify.

Brown Snakes are also harmless and very docile. Their diet includes mostly earthworms, insect larvae and slugs.

Nikon Z6 II, Nikon NIKKOR Z 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S,    @400mm

NATURE CLICKS #503 - HOODED MERGANSER

Female Hooded Merganser, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

This female Hooded Merganser was as calm as a bird can be. I was really wondering if there were some ducklings nearby. I have photographed the offspring of Hooded Mergansers May 1st already a few years ago, but it didn’t seem like this female was too worried about any juveniles. However, we can’t expect to see the male Hooded Mergansers around the females this time of the year. Once the female begins to incubate, the male abandons her.

The water level in the Green Island Wetlands is the lowest I have seen in years right now. This is not always pretty for a photographer that looks for a nice background, but it is probably good for the wetlands. The high water level of the last few years has killed lots of trees and shrubs and has a huge negative impact on many birds, except maybe for geese and some ducks. There are still some dead trees that make a home for a few woodpeckers and tree swallows. But where do they go when the last tree trunk is not standing anymore? I have watched that and it is amazing how fast a whole grove of trees is nothing but a flat pile of decaying wood in the water. Some land is finally getting dry right now and maybe some of the shrubs may recover. I’m definitely not an expert on the biology of this ecosystem, but my picture library tells me exactly what birds I have not had in front of the lens lately…