NATURE CLICKS #540 - RED-TAILED HAWK

The red-tailed is probably the most common Hawk we see here in eastern Iowa. Their plumage can be highly variable. I saw this one several times today down in the Green Island Wetlands. Shortly after this shot was made the bird landed in another tree nearby and as I came closer I realized the hawk shared this tree with probably 200-300 Red-winged Blackbirds. They didn’t seem to be too concerned about its presence and the hawk knew he was too slow to get a healthy blackbird for dinner. The hope was probably to catch a bird that struggled or wasn’t able to move as quick as the rest of the flock. The temperatures were just slightly below freezing and to me it isn’t a surprise anymore to see Red-winged Blackbirds during winter time.

It’s not my best photo of a hawk. A gray overcast is always poison for a good bird image with the sky or water as a background. The gesture of the hawk came to my rescue. It was still enjoyable to be out in the wetlands today and better times for bird photography are just around the corner…

ONLY ONE

Rainy day deep in the woods, Forest County, Wisconsin

The last three days were spent in and around a friend’s cabin up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. I had high hopes to come back with a few photos that tell the story about a landscape “five minutes before winter”. It didn’t happen. The weekend was marked with rain and a uniform gray sky. I had an image in my head, with fog and maybe some good spot light that would help to draw the attention away from the bare deciduous forest that had lost its colorful leaves already. Again, it didn’t happen.

But at least there was this short moment, when the endless rain slowed down a little bit and the different layers of conifers in the background became visible. The trunks of the birches stood out and a few remaining leaves in the foreground left no doubt about the time of season. Only one picture in three days? Yes, getting skunked is sometimes part of the game in nature photography. Well, we stacked some wood for the winter, raked some leaves around the cabin, made repairs, had some good food on the stove, drove around in the rain in search for a picture opportunity, and stopped at the local bar. Yep, only one photo, but we had a lot of fun too…! 😉

OVERCAST DAY? HOW ABOUT DETAIL SHOTS?

Roots / Stones / Leaves, Backbone State Park, Iowa

Erosion on a steep slope has washed much of the soil and stones away that ones covered the roots of this old tree. A few rocks are still trapped between the roots. Fresh green surrounds the old tree trunk. The soft light reveals the structure on these exposed roots and let us wonder how old the tree might be.

Joan and I, and of course dog Cooper, went tent camping last weekend. We used Saturday for a couple hikes in Backbone State Park. With being it mostly an overcast day it wasn’t the right light for great vistas, although some leaves started changing colors. If a uniform gray overcast is good for anything, its for detail images in the landscape and that’s what I was going for.

Virgin’s Bower has many common names and I like “Old Man’s Beard” the best. The tails of the seeds are very feathery and inspired me to make this shot.

This is the flow of Richmond’s Spring in Backbone State Park. It’s water has a constant temperature of 48ºF (8.9ºC) as it comes to the surface. With 0,4 seconds exposure time I had the look I liked for the flowing water, not too milky, not too detailed…

NATURE CLICKS #531 - GREAT BLUE HERON

Great Blue Heron, Green Island Preserve, Mississippi Valley, Eastern Iowa

Can you tell why sometimes I like to go out in the rain and shoot with a heavy overcast? Yes, that doesn’t work well when there is a piece of gray sky or just its reflection on the water in the frame. But if you can eliminate any “sky related” things in the background of your image at this kind of weather, you may get a well balanced shot. The Great Blue Herons are kinda skittish and don’t like the photographer, even in its mobile blind, the car, nearby.

I shot this almost over my shoulder, using the brief moment the heron waited before it flew to a different spot. I knew if I would back up the car to get in a little more comfortable position, the bird would not wait for me. I just “hung” the lens barrel outside the car window and tried my luck. It is the kind of photo I like to pursue in my wildlife photography, the critter in its natural habitat. I love when the result comes out of a challenging situation…

DUCK DAY

Male Northern Shoveler, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

Today we left the rain finally behind us but an overcast made me scratching my head and wondering if it is worth to make another trip to the wetlands. Gray sky and bird photography do not always go well together, especially if the sky is reflected on water. I did it anyway and thought a scouting trip for shorebirds, like sandpipers, wouldn’t hurt. To answer that question first, I saw only one Greater Yellowleg and a group of unidentified sandpipers, all of them too far away for a photo.

The number of ducks has increased and the first Canada Geese were sitting on nest sites. It was fun to watch immature Bald Eagles, honing their skills for catching fish, and pelicans circling with great elegance above. I counted 14 Sandhill Cranes and some showed their elaborate courtship displays to either form mating pairs, or between mates to maintain their pair bond. With other words, it was still a great day for bird watchers.

Pair of Blue-winged Teal

It is mating season and some of the ducks don’t fly away immediately as soon they become aware of us. Other things are on their mind and while they look most beautiful right now, it is the best time of the year to capture their picture. The challenge today was to keep the sky and water with sky reflections out of the frame whenever possible. In addition the green of new grass and reeds helps to hide mud and decaying clutter from last year’s growing season. 

WATERFALL!! (OH NO, NOT IN ICELAND! 😉)

Waterfall at Apple Canyon Lake, Illinois

Today’s photo was made thanks to a call from my photography friend Kevin this morning. This waterfall is the overflow from Apple Canyon Lake in northwest Illinois. Kevin made me aware of some ice built-ups at the fall and he sent me a nice photo that was made yesterday. We expect much warmer weather for the next days and I knew the ice would not last too long. That’s why I didn’t hesitate to make the one hour trip across the Mississippi into the neighbor state this afternoon.

The photography was pretty straight forward. You shoot from a road bridge and decide how far left or right to move the tripod. The question is only about the focal length or how tight you like to frame the waterfall or its details. I started with the Nikkor 70-200, f/4 and never changed lens for the next 85 minutes. I like the water a little silky but not so much that it looks like it runs straight out of a milk cow. The BREAKTHROUGH X4 ND filter 1.8 (6-stops) was the tool that got me the desired results. Most photos were exposed between 4 and 8 seconds.

A thin layer of clouds made for very balanced shooting conditions. Just as I had shouldered my photo bag and was about to walk back to the car, the sun peeked through the clouds and changed the whole appearance of the waterfall. The colors looked nice, I started shooting again, but at the end I still liked my shots with the softener, called clouds, better. I guess this is personal taste and I’m just not a fan of the “postcard look”…

NATURE CLICKS #480 - AMERICAN TREE SPARROW

This photo is already two weeks old but it could have been made today because the landscape had a fresh layer of snow on top of the old one this morning. The American Tree Sparrow breeds in far northern North America but during the winter they migrate south and we may have a chance to watch them. They feed usually in small flocks, mostly on seeds, but here in our woods we only see one or two occasionally.

During these gray days, with little or no sun peaking out from behind the clouds, I still like to include a little bit from the “cold part” of winter in my visual storytelling. Blue is the color of cold and I try to keep the white balance around 5500 Kelvin. Gray clouds render gray snow and the idea is just to counter that by controlling the white balance in camera. A hint of flash helps again with the colors of the sparrow.

HOARFROST

Oaks, near Balltown, Iowa

I haven’t counted the days recently when we had a gray overcast, I just know it is always too many during the winter. But today was different. Some dense fog hugged the landscape and as a result we had hoarfrost clinging to trees and shrubs. All what we had  to do was go out and capture the beauty with the camera…

Near Bankston County Park, Iowa

Bankston County Park, Iowa

RETROSPECTS 2020 - #4

White-faced Ibis, Green island Wetlands, Iowa

April is another great month for bird photography. Many species use the Mississippi Valley as a migration corridor. One of my most memorable moments this year was a first sighting and an extensive shooting session with a congregation of eleven White-faced Ibises. I found them feeding along the banks of a dike in the Green Island Wildlife Area on a gray overcast day.

The Ibis probes with its long curving bill in the mud along shores and in wet soil, searching for earthworms and other invertebrates. This was probably one of the more difficult wildlife shootings I have done, although I shot from the comfort of my car, using it as a blind.

The “elements” were not favorable that day. Gray sky made for low light and muted colors. The worst thing to face was heat shimmer, very common at that time of the year in the wetlands. The water is still very cold while the air above is warmer and that creates heat waves, resulting in soft images and inaccurate autofocus. The long lens compresses this effect and if you are not aware about it, it makes you wonder why none of the pictures is sharp.

Although I made several hundred clicks that afternoon in April, the photo above is among my favorites. It is all about the gesture the ibis makes, with its eye turned up towards the sky and looking at a Bald Eagle. While the birds were busy probing their bills into the mud and feeding whenever they found something, every half an hour a Bald Eagle would circle above, probably looking for a good snack as well. When that happened the ibises would stop, freezing motionless for a little while, and finally take off and fly a circle to distract the eagle. After the eagle had enough and flew away, the eleven White-faced Ibises returned to the dike and continued searching for more food.

This year I had five first sightings of bird species that are now also part of my photo library, but the three hours I spent with the White-faced Ibises was one of the best times behind the camera. The Wildlife Management Biologist of the Iowa DNR for this area confirmed by email that they were very rare visitors in this area. I was back on site the next day but the birds had moved on.

TWO CONCEPTS FOR A GRAY DAY

Eastern Kingbird

Last weekend I spent some time again in the wetlands along the Mississippi River. It’s nesting time and except for the pelicans, egrets, and geese most birds are not so visible. The sky had an overcast for most of the afternoon and it even rained a few times briefly. I practiced a little handholding with the pelicans that circled above but birds against a gray sky, well it just ain’t pretty.

When I had this flycatcher, an Eastern Kingbird, in front of the lens, I decided to go for a black & white image. The bird is mostly black, gray, or white and shape and color of the dead branch it was perched on seemed to fit for this concept. The uniform sky made for negative space and supports this approach for a fine art print.

Here is another way to deal with the gray sky and its reflection on the water surface. The water lilies started to bloom and there was this spot without too much glare on the water. You may say, dude, why didn’t you use a polarizing filter in front of the lens? The answer is simple, I don’t have such a big one that would fit the 150-600 mm lens. Yes, the flower was a bit away and I had the long lens at hand anyway… In post process the vibrance was increased a bit more than usual and I used the dehaze-slider to give it a little more punch.

I know, there are better ways to make these kind of photos but photography should remain fun. Coming back home with something on the memory card on such a gray day counts twice… 😊

BACK TO BANKSTON

Great Blue Heron, Bankston County Park, iowa

Two rainy and gray days in a row but too many things happen out in nature right now and staying home all weekend long was not an option. Joan, dog Cooper, and I went back to Bankston County Park today. Oh, what a great sound from birds all around! Getting them in front of the lens, well, not necessarily a guarantee.

The ‘Middle Fork Little Maquoketa River’ (boy, what a long name!) was relatively clear despite the rain, and is stocked with trout. The Great Blue Heron was flushed by a trout fisherman downstream, flew right up to us, and posed nicely while we hiked down along the river banks.

American Redstart

The American Redstart is a warbler that can be found and will breed in Bankston Park. By the number of birds you can hear high up in the trees you may think it is easy to make a good bird portrait of this warbler, but they are fast and never stay in one spot much longer than a second or two. Insects were present after the rain and the redstarts came down to the river to make a catch. The short opportunities to make the click…

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2019 #15 - ICE PILED UP

Mississippi River, Mud Lake

When I took our dog for a walk to the Mississippi River this morning I was almost tempted to leave the camera at home. It was just a gray and cold day. I hardly ever go without a camera to the river and I was glad I didn’t change my habit today. The photo was taken from almost the same spot as the one in my last post, which I called “Dynamic in the sky”. Well, there was no dynamic in the sky at all today, but the cold temperatures we had earlier this week, followed by some warmer weather, had broken up some ice upstream and a lot of drift ice was piled up. The river is about 2.2 km (1.375 mi.) wide at this point, but the Wisconsin side looks much closer due to the compression effect of the 200 mm lens. 

Another occurrence that had an impact is heat shimmer. The cold air above the ice is mixing with warmer air and makes it impossible to see the ice on the other side of the river really sharp. I shot this with f/8 and focussed on the piled up ice on the Iowa side of the river. A smaller aperture, like f/16 wouldn’t help a bit in this matter. 

Snow, ice, and a gray overcast don’t go very well together and in order to make this image work I left the white balance a little more on the colder side. 

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4,   at 200 mm, 1/320s, f/8, ISO100

AUTUMN IN MINNESOTA #10

River Otter, Bear Head Lake, Minnesota

We didn’t come across with the big animals that have their home in northern Minnesota this time, like moose, black bear, or wolf, but we had a good number of wildlife encounters during our trip last month. The best and most memorable was a brief meeting with a River Otter at Bear Head Lake in Bear Head Lake State Park. I went for an early morning walk with the Nikon D750 and 70-200 attached. There were some deer in and around the campground and I was hoping to get a glimpse at them. As I approached the lake an otter just entered one of the logs in front of me. What a surprise! I have seen otters here in eastern Iowa before, but never had a wild otter in front of my camera. I made a number of clicks but should have dialed in an ISO beyond 1600. A shutter speed of 1/100 s was just not enough to freeze the action for a tack sharp photo of this fast moving beautiful otter.

Ruffed Grouse, Lake Vermilion State Park, Minnesota

Movement didn’t play a role with this Ruffed Grouse a couple days earlier, but it was the same kind of low light from a heavy overcast. The grouse just sat at the edge of a parking lot and let me get very close. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to keep the blacktop out of the frame.

White-tailed Deer, Bear Head Lake State Park, Minnesota

The deer are usually not very shy in and around many campsites. For them it is a relative safe place because predators, like wolfs or coyotes, stay away mostly from busy human places. None of the campsites were really busy in October anymore, some of them we had for ourselves, and the deer can graze pretty undisturbed before the snow covers everything up. This photo was made near our campsite from the kayak during a paddle tour on Bear Head Lake. I liked the environmental aspect of this setting, with the white bark of the birches, some fall colors, and the big pines on the right.

All photos: Nikon D750, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4G ED VR

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.

TODAY WAS THE DAY…

Baltimore Oriole

…we are always looking forward to every spring. Finally four more bird species arrived from the south. About three days later than usual we had “first of the year” sightings of male and female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, two male Baltimore Orioles, a male Scarlet Tanager, and a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird. After the snow last weekend I expected a delay in their arrival time and being away almost the whole week, I’m happy they waited for my return from a business trip. I had the camera out on the porch this evening and at least the oriole and the tanager gave me a chance to take their picture.

We had a slight overcast that sucked up a little bit of the light but at the other hand made it soft overall. The MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender came out of the photo bag and was the essential tool for making the colors of the bird’s feathers pop.

Scarlet Tanager

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender