PURE ELEGANCE

Greater Sandhill Crane, Mississippi River, Deere Marsh, Dubuque, Iowa

During my short ”lunch walks” with our dog Cooper I spotted this pair of Greater Sandhill Cranes several times during the last couple weeks. If I didn’t see them, I heard at least their distinctive calls. The marsh between the big John Deere factory and the Mississippi River is an ideal habitat for this most elegant bird. Frogs have started to send out their vocal messages and beside that I’m sure the omnivorous cranes find plenty of food. Chances are not bad that this pair of Sandhill Cranes may nest in the area.

While one of the cranes was constantly searching for food, the other one watched out for predators. One of the numerous muskrat mounds in the marsh was an ideal place for this job.

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

The key for today’s photos was to keep the gray sky and most of the water surface out of the frame. I had the Nikon Z6II with the Sigma 150-600 S on a Blackrapid Sport sling strap around my shoulder. This allowed to move fast with the heavy lens and still have my hands free if I needed to interact with the dog.

A CROW, BUT WHICH ONE?

Crow, Mississippi River, Potosi Landing, Wisconsin

Just because the crow had the tail of a fish in its bill and tried to eat it doesn’t mean I watched a Fish Crow last Sunday at the Mississippi near Potosi, Wisconsin. The more common American Crow and the Fish Crow are nearly identical. The books and apps say that the best way to identify them is by listening to their calls. To be honest, I didn’t pay attention to the call and so I may never find out if this is a Fish Crow or not. Both bird species are omnivores and eat almost everything.

I’m still happy about this shot. Even the ubiquitous American Crows don’t let you get close for a picture quite often and many settings along road sides don’t qualify for a good background. With other words, I don’t have very many reasonable photos of crows in the library…