NATURE CLICKS #583 - COMMON YELLOWTHROAT

Male Common Yellowthroat, Whitewater Canyon Wildlife Area, Dubuque County, Iowa

Yes, I made a picture of a Common Yellowthroat exactly a week ago but felt I still had some unfinished business. I wanted to get closer to this small but magnificent warbler and  really wanted a shot without any men-made items, like the wire cage around a young tree, in the frame. Well, I went back today to the Whitewater Canyon Wildlife Area to try my luck again.

The light situation was very similar than a week ago, with a slight overcast, perfect for photographing grassland birds. The difference was, it was much, much warmer than last week and the sweat poured out of every pore in the body. There were quite a few Yellowthroats making their calls in the prairie grass. The male’s wichety-wichety-wichety song, which they sing frequently during summer, is easy to recognize. It just takes some patience to get them out of their cover and in front of the lens. The Common Yellowthroats spend their winter in some of the southern states and in the tropics.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head

BIRDS AND WILDFLOWERS - A SHORT PRAIRIE EXCURSION

McCarthy Wildlife Area, Dubuque County, Iowa

We concluded the first weekend in July with a little excursion to a couple prairie and grassland areas here in Dubuque County. The first one, McCarthy Wildlife Area, located near Bernard IA, is a former cultivated row crop field and was planted with native grasses and flowers in 2023. Although quite new it had already developed a gorgeous habitat with lots of prairie flowers and we saw or heard Eastern Meadowlarks, Eastern Kingbirds, Dickcissels, of course a number of Red-winged Blackbirds, and others. A rain cloud moved eastwards south of the area and made for a nice background while I tried to capture the essence of this nature area.

Dickcissel, Whitewater Canyon Wildlife Area, Dubuque County, Iowa

Not far away is Whitewater Canyon Wildlife area, which we have visited many times before. This time we hiked only on the upper part between prairie and grassland and didn’t walk down into the woods and the canyon. It didn’t take very long to get a male Dickcissel, one of the beautiful grassland birds, in front of the lens. We came at the right time to enjoy big patches of Wild Bergamot in full bloom and at the end of the walk a Common Yellowthroat posed nicely on the metal cage that protects a young oak tree that had been planted near the parking area.

Wild Bergamot, Whitewater Canyon Wildlife Area, Dubuque County, Iowa

Common Yellowthroat, Whitewater Canyon Wildlife Area, Dubuque County, Iowa

NATURE CLICKS #562 - COMMON NIGHTHAWK

Common Nighthawk, Badlands, South Dakota

Shortly after the encounter of an Upland Sandpiper (see my last blog post if you missed it) I found this Common Nighthawk sitting on another fence post along Conata Road, just outside of Badlands National Park. The wide open grasslands are an ideal habitat for this bird, who feeds on insects. I read that one bird eats upwards of 500 mosquitoes in a single day. Its enormous mouth surrounded by bristles is perfectly suited for aerial capture.

The nighthawk wasn’t bothered by my presence and gave me plenty of time to come back with a number of sharp photos. I have seen Common Nighthawks before, mostly in flight, but it was the first time I was able to add this bird to my photo library and to share a picture with you here in my blog.

THE CUTENESS BONUS

Young Black-tailed Prairie Dogs, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

At every visit in Badlands National Park, South Dakota I have photographed Black-tailed Prairie Dogs but never the babies when they were the first days above the ground. The little ones are absolutely adorable and I enjoyed spending the early morning with them a week ago. The little pups remain up to seven weeks below ground and that’s why I probably never saw them during the month of May in other years. Prairie dogs are cute no matter what, but having their pups in the picture gives it an extra cuteness bonus…

I shot most of the time with the 1.4 teleconverter attached to the SIGMA 150-600, giving me a focal length up to 850 mm. For some pictures a slight cosmetic crop was applied.

All images: Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG

NATURE CLICKS #519 - LONG-BILLED CURLEW

Long-billed Curlew, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

I have seen the Long-billed Curlew only along the coast in Southern California before, always during winter time, and it was a little bit of a surprise when I found them last spring in South Dakota. The Badlands have a lot of grassland to offer, with a few marshy spots here and there, and they are actually a perfect breeding ground for this large sandpiper. It is an uncommon bird and to my surprise we found them again a week ago at the same area of the national park. With their extraordinary long bill they are able to to reach ahead and pick up insects or to probe just below the surface of mud or soil. They also feed on burrowing wolf spiders in South Dakota, with the curve even matching the general shape of a spider burrow (source: sdakotabirds.com).

Distance was closer than last year but still not enough for an uncropped image. We watched them using the car as our “mobile blind”. In these wide open grasslands you have no chance to approach them by going on foot. There is also a lot of other birds and critters to watch and the last thing we wanted to do is disturbing any of them. Overall we saw five curlews and it was highly interesting to watch them foraging after their migration from the south.

NATURE CLICKS #499 - HORNED LARK

Horned Lark, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

I wished this photo was made in Eastern Iowa. I have seen the beautiful Horned Lark a lot less during the last few years here in the Mississippi Valley. However, I had no problems finding them in Badlands National Park. They are mostly foraging on the ground in grassland, but I don’t mind a shot when the lark is perched on a barbed wire and the light is just right…

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG

NATURE CLICKS #474 - ROCK WREN (FIRST SIGHTING)

Rock Wren, Little Missouri National Grasslands, North Dakota, September 2020

It has been two months already since we enjoyed the sighting of a Rock Wren, which was the first time ever that we saw this tiny bird. We had the remote Wannagan Campground, located just west of the border to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, for ourselves and it allowed me to walk around with camera and tripod wherever I wanted to and without disturbing other campers. Actually I was after some Mountain Bluebirds (Click HERE for a picture I took earlier that day) but when an unknown bird call sounded from some nearby rocks, my attention shifted immediately.

The Rock Wren lives in the western part of the US and southwest Canada and the location we found it is pretty much at the eastern border of its range. I just read that male Rock Wrens can have a large repertoire of more than 100 song types. I think that’s remarkable! This bird is not known to drink water, but gets the liquid it needs from food. Their diet consists insects and spiders and they hunt for them between and around rocks. Winters are pretty cold up in North Dakota and the Rock Wren migrates to the warmer regions in the southwest of the US and to Mexico.

Photographically not all wishes became true. The topography of this location did not allow  to get closer with the tripod and so I applied a crop to both photos. The location itself was perfect. Having a Rock Wren on top of a rock, surrounded by some grass stems and sage brush, tells a great story about its habitat in the badlands of North Dakota.

GRASSLANDS, BADLANDS, AND BIG SKY

Sky after sunset just outside of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

Hi, we are back from a trip to the Grasslands and Badlands that stretch from South Dakota  into North Dakota and eastern Montana. Our tent was pitched most of the time in remote locations with no or very few people around, making social distancing easy. We watched lots of wildlife, small and big, and enjoyed some “Big Sky”. As time allows I will post some photos that hopefully tell stories about all this during the next few weeks and I’m glad if you find the time again to stop in here in my blog to read about nature and photography.

NATURE CLICKS #459 - EASTERN MEADOWLARK

Eastern Meadowlark, Dubuque, Iowa

Finally!!! It took me over ten years to make a photo of an Eastern Meadowlark that is more than just a documentary shot. I have them on utility wires, on fence posts, behind grass stems, and of course some butt shots… A photo of the meadowlark singing in its natural habitat, like a meadow, prairie, or grassy field, was simply still missing until yesterday evening.

Same area at the edge of town as the dickcissel a few days earlier. Normally I would hope for a lesser busy background. But for this image the prairie like flower meadow is perfect and becomes really part of the story.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, @ 600 mm (DX mode 900 mm), 1/800 s, f/6.3, ISO200

NATURE CLICKS #458 - DICKCISSEL

Our little patch of grass around the house is not enough habitat for the Dickcissel. They prefer open grassland or larger weed patches. Luckily I know a place at the edge of town where it is not difficult to find this highly vocal bird. The males sing their heart out at the moment and if they are high enough from the ground, you have your chance for a shot. Well, they have nothing better to do than to eat and attract a mate. The female Dickcissel builds the nest in the grass, incubates the eggs, and even feeds the offspring all alone. Maybe that’s the reason why it is so much more difficult to get them in front of the lens? 😉

I use my car as a blind and can easily move, back and forth, if the birds fly to a different location. In this habitat I’m looking not only for the Dickcissels, but also for Bobolinks and Eastern Meadowlarks. The meadowlarks have been the least cooperative birds so far, but I guess I probably haven’t spent enough time with them… After a couple days of rain it looks like we have some nice, moderate weather coming up in the next few days. Should go back to the grasslands at the edge of town!

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, @ 600 mm, 1/1000 s, f/6.3, ISO200, cropped in post

NATURE CLICKS #429 - BOBOLINK

Breeding male Bobolink

A year ago I wrote about my first sighting of a Bobolink at a patch of grassland at the outskirts of Dubuque, Iowa. They are in decline due to the loss of their habitat, large fields with a mixture of grasses and broad-leaved plants. Yesterday I saw at least two males and a female at the same location like last year and it looked like they were feeding their brood in a nest somewhere on the ground between tall grass and wildflowers. Bobolinks have a long journey behind them after they arrive here. They travel about 20000 km (12500 miles) from South America.

Female Bobolink. Non-breeding males look almost the same.

We had a light overcast yesterday. Beside the fact that it takes a little bit of light away, I really liked it because it allowed me to point the lens to the southwest in the afternoon. If you have tried to take a picture of a black bird you know already it can be a challenge to balance the black feathers and a light environment. While shooting again from the car I was able to get really close this time. Wind was probably the biggest problem. The grass and plants swayed the whole time and the birds don’t sit still either. With other words, lack of sharpness was the main reason for throwing out some of my photos at the end of the day.

NATURE CLICKS #408 - SAVANNAH SPARROW

Savannah Sparrow, near Dubuque, Iowa

While on the “hunt” for the Bobolink during the last couple evenings I also came across a Savannah Sparrow. Not a first sighting but I never have made a photo of this summer guest in a natural setting, means without a wire fence in the picture. The prairie like grassland is the perfect habitat for this small sparrow. They feed on seeds, insects, and spiders. The yellow eyebrow makes it easy to identify and distinguish from other sparrows that make eastern Iowa their home for the summer.

NATURE CLICKS #407 - BOBOLINK (FIRST SIGHTING)

Male Bobolink, near Dubuque, Iowa

I promised you yesterday another bird encounter and first sighting. The Bobolink has been on my “most wanted list” since a long time. They feed mostly on the ground and in low vegetation and their habitats include prairie and grasslands. Before I saw them I could hear them and it was not very often that a Bobolink was visible between the grass and wildflowers on this patch of grassland just at the edge of town.

Same bird as above but showing its white wing patches and rump

Yesterday evening I saw several males and two females but never got really close to the ladies. I wasn’t really thrilled with my photos from the male Bobolinks and so I went back again today to give it another try. The only chance to get close to a bird is by staying in the car and use it as a blind and invest some time and a lot of patience. There was no easy click to make this time. Many factors play a role for getting a sharp image. The grass is swaying in the wind and so does the bird. If you just see one doesn’t mean you have a clean view and moving the car in the right position was important. The roads in this area have no or very little traffic. They were built for future economical development, which I seriously hope will never happen. Larger areas with undisturbed prairie or grassland are a scarce commodity here in Iowa and if these remaining areas become a big parking lot with a store behind it, these habitats will be gone forever and so will the birds.

NATURE CLICKS #406 - DICKCISSEL (FIRST SIGHTING)

Dickcissel, near Dubuque, Iowa ------

The last two evenings have been great for bird watching and as a result I had four birds in front of my lens that are not very common anymore and two of them were first sightings for me. So let me start with today’s best encounter.

One big reason to be a member of the Dubuque Camera Club since last fall is the fact that networking with other like minded photographers benefits everybody involved. The small group of wildlife photographers stays in really close contact with each other and we all try to share locations and shooting opportunities when they occur. This time my big thank you goes to Ken, who gave me a hint last Monday about a location in Dubuque, Iowa where another bird I found today as well, but will report about later, is present. I’m sorry, I will not reveal breeding bird locations in public for utmost protection of these birds, but if you are a serious birder or wildlife photographer, please feel free to contact me through the contact form on my “ABOUT” link here in the blog, and I may share this information with you.

As already hinted, I was out for another bird but the first one that drew my attention was this male Dickcissel, singing like crazy from different perch locations. I used my car as a blind and was able to get relatively close. This was a first sighting for me and I’m more than happy about the encounter and photo opportunity. The Dickcissel prefers open habitats, hay fields, and weed patches. They feed on seeds, grass, and insects, while younger birds consume more insects. They spend the winter in southern Mexico or even further south.