SUDDEN SURPRISE

Cooper’s Hawk, Mines of Spain, Dubuque, Iowa

With all the snow on the ground that finally made for a ”real” winter here in eastern Iowa any place where birds are attracted to feeders would have been a good place for some wildlife photography today. I went to the E.B. Lyons Nature Center in the Mines of Spain, where the feeders are filled regularly by Ken, a photography friend and active birder. People of all ages can watch the birds from inside the nature center or like me, just stand outside between the trees and wait what happens.

While I watched a flock of Dark-eyed Juncos and American Tree Sparrows a much larger bird came suddenly from behind, flew right by me within a 3-4 feet distance, and finally landed in a nearby tree. This one was bigger than our Sharp-shinned Hawk and its rounded tail tells me it might be a Cooper’s Hawk. They are hard to tell apart from each other and I wasn’t able to see its chest pattern. Since all the little birds were long gone, the hawk didn’t waste any time and moved on after a few seconds.

Dark-eyed Junco

It didn’t take very long and all the woodpeckers, finches, nuthatches, chickadees, and sparrows came back to the bird feeder area at the nature center. The Dark-eyed Juncos feed mostly on the ground or seek shelter in the dense branches of nearby bushes. They scratch the loose snow or leaf litter with their feet and try to find something to eat, often little pieces of seeds other birds have dropped below the feeders.

1.  Nikon Z6II, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S,    @ 600mm, 1/1600s, f/8, ISO 800, image cropped,

2.  Nikon Z6II, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S,    @ 600mm, 1/3200s, f/8, ISO 800, image slightly cropped,

SHARPI STRUCK AGAIN

Sharp-shinned Hawk

We received quite a bit of snow today, the first time this season worth to talk about. The numbers of birds visiting our feeders increased with every snow flake that hit the ground. The first thing I saw this morning while looking at the birds was our Sharp-shinned Hawk sitting in the snow of the driveway. I knew immediately what had happened because I witnessed it before at other times. The hawk had caught some prey midair and just rested with its kill for a moment. When the Sharpi finally took off I saw a small bird in its claws, probably a poor junco or a finch that wasn’t fast enough to hide.

The photo above is not from today but it lets us imagine what a fierce predator the Sharp-shinned Hawk is. With their distinctive proportions, long legs, short wings, and a long tail they can move in an acrobatic manner between trees and at top speeds in pursuit of small birds or mice.

NATURE CLICKS #538 - SHARP-SHINNED HAWK

Sharp-shinned Hawk, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa

Life isn’t always easy for the birds that come to our feeders and heated water bowls near the house. Yes, they have food and water but it also attracts predators, like this Sharp-shinned Hawk. When most of the birds suddenly hide in panic in nearby bushes and the woodpeckers freeze motionless on a tree trunk, it is a sure sign that a hawk is somewhere in the trees or is gliding through the woods.

Today the sound of a little bird hitting a window made me aware that something was going on outside. The hawk was perched just above some of the bird feeders. I believe it is a female “Sharpie”. The bird was fifteen minutes in that tree and gave me plenty of time to change the lens on my camera, open the window, and start shooting before she took off. Who knows, this might be my last “Nature clicks” blog post for 2022, but nature is always full of surprises and we have still seven days left this year…

A SUCCESSFUL HUNTER

Sharp-shinned Hawk

There was some turmoil in the air but let me start with the story before the drama unfolded this morning. Part of my morning routine is to check on bird feeders, water levels of the heated bird baths, and just watch the actions of our feathered friends from behind the balcony door. As seen other times before, there was a moment this morning when every bird either went away or just froze any movement. All the woodpeckers and nuthatches stopped moving and looked like sculptures and no sparrow, junco, finch, titmouse, or cardinal was really visible. This is a sure sign that our Sharp-shinned Hawk is in a nearby tree and on the hunt. I looked into the woods behind the house for ten minutes but couldn’t see the raptor. I just knew the hawk was there. Suddenly hell broke loose and some of the 25-30 Northern Cardinals that were hiding between tree branches panicked and among them was the hawk. He caught one of them mid-air and dropped immediately to the ground. And this was where both photos were made. You can’t see the poor cardinal under the snow but you get a picture of a successful hunter. The hawk spent a few minutes sitting over its prey before it took off and flew into a grove of eastern cedars and out of sight.

Sharp-shinned Hawks are pursuit hunters and catch their prey, mostly small birds, often by surprise, either mid-air or on the ground. They can navigate dense woods at high speeds and are agile and acrobatic fliers.

I was lucky to find an unobstructed view between the trees and the hawk gave me enough time to calm down and handhold camera and long lens while shooting from the balcony deck.

NATURE CLICKS #482 - SAME HAWK, SAME LOCATION, DIFFERENT DAY

I thought I give it a try again today and went back to the same location as yesterday. Sure enough, the Rough-legged Hawk was present again, this time perched in a tree, a little further away from the road. They are known to perch sometimes on very slender branches on top of a tree and I have watched this behavior at the dark morph of a Rough-legged Hawk lately at a different location. This time the bird waited for me and gave me a few seconds to make some clicks before she flew away. You can see how the feathers cover her whole legs. The name “Rough-legged” refers to that. In North America only Golden Eagles, the Ferruginous Hawk, and the Rough-legged Hawk have feathers all the way down to their toes. We expect another snow storm tomorrow and I wonder sometimes how these birds manage to survive these often brutal weather conditions…

NATURE CLICKS #481 - ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK

These are my lucky shots today. On my short trips to the Mississippi River during lunch break I drive quite often with the camera on the passenger seat or in my lap and look for wildlife. Rough-legged Hawks spend the summer up on the arctic tundra and come down to southern Canada and the U.S. for the winter time. Up north they feed mostly on lemmings and voles, while mice and other rodents are on their diet here during the winter. This hawk is a light morph but I have watched a dark form as well during the last two months only a couple miles away from this location. This Rough-legged Hawk is possibly an immature female but I’m not an expert enough to say that with certainty.

Rough-legged Hawk, near Sherrill, Iowa

She was perched on a utility post, a perch they like to hunt from. They need open habitats, such as fields or prairies. The procedure is always the same. I make sure nobody is behind me, slow down the car, roll the window down, take the hands off the steering wheel, grab the camera, stop the car, and start shooting. I have trained this many times on gravel roads without traffic but it still needs a bit of luck to get the picture. The hawk took off right before I came to a standstill but she flew towards me and I was able to fire five shots. I thought I missed the focus completely but later at home I found out that two shots were at least usable, although they are not tack-sharp.

It was not a first sighting of a Rough-legged Hawk, but I’m very happy because it was the first time I was able to come back with a picture that is more than just a documentary shot for the records. 

Both images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, …@600 mm, 1/1600 s, f/8, ISO400. Shot in full frame mode (FX) but cropped in post to DX dimensions, which delivers an angle of view like with 900 mm focal length.

NATURE CLICKS #364 - NORTHERN HARRIER (FINALLY!)

Green Island Wetlands, Iowa  --------   

I don’t know how often I have aimed my lens at a Northern Harrier in the Green Island area over the years but never came back with a result that was more than a “private documentary shot”. This hawk has hoaxed me many times but a week ago I finally made a couple shots that can be shown in public. No, this is not the photo I have in mind, there is a lot of room for improvement, but hey, the jinx is broken…😉

Northern Harriers use their sense of hearing to help locate their prey, which is unusual among hawks. Their owl-like facial disk helps with directional hearing.

HAWK ON THE HUNT

Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

Everywhere where prairie dogs are present in the grasslands of the Dakotas there is also a good chance to make a photo of one of the predators that have prairie dogs on their menu. Beside coyotes, black-footed ferrets, or rattle snakes there is probably always a raptor not very far away. We didn’t see any ferrets or snakes but many birds of prey. This one here is probably a Red-tailed Hawk. There are several subspecies of the Red-tailed Hawk and the differences between an adult and immature bird can be quite remarkable. This is the reason why I don’t put this post in my “NATURE CLICKS” series. I’m simple not a hundred percent sure about the identification of this raptor. However, it is always exciting to get close and watch them, and this counts more for me than any photo in the books…

VALID QUESTION AND MOOD OF AN OUTGOING WINTER

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

A valid question to ask is what one finds out there in the Green Island Wetlands when everything is frozen and covered with snow? It’s a simple answer, it just needs a little more patience to find the critters during the winter. I don’t always come back with a good image, not even in the summer, but I never came back without seeing any wildlife.

Yesterday this beautiful Red-tailed Hawk soared above and finally landed in a tree just in front of me. I talked about the snow as a big reflector lately a few times and in this photo you can really see what I mean. The sun creates a nice catch light in its eye, but the snow below bounces the light off and makes the use of a speed light needless.

Nikon D300s, Nikkor 24-120mm / f4

On my way back home I paid a visit to the Mines of Spain, the wooded and prairie land just south of Dubuque. There wasn’t as much snow as here at home anymore but still enough to provide a nice color contrast to the almost golden looking prairie grass that swayed in the wind just half an hour before sunset. Love the mood of an outgoing winter… :-)

NATURE CLICKS #253 - DOWNY WOODPECKER

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM, Nikon SB800 speed ligh

Every bird goes on high alert here in our woods if a bird of prey shows up. They either fly away panicky or they just freeze absolutely motionless, like this Downy Woodpecker just outside our window. A Sharp Shinned Hawk hunts here quite often, and even if we can’t see the predator always, we know it is around by just watching the other birds behavior.