FRONT AND BACK

Bobolink, Dubuque, Iowa

Usually we call it a failure when we just get a shot of the backside of a bird but sometimes there is an exception from the rule…

Habitat loss is the main reason why we don’t get the Bobolink more often in front of the camera and when I have a chance I try to make a few clicks. They are one of the few songbirds that go through two complete molts each year. After breeding they change to a more camouflaged plumage.

As you can see, this male is still in full display. When they show you the front side, it is not easy to get a sharp picture from a distance. Most of the time I use the eye or the chest as my focal point, but here both are pitch-black and there is no contrast to lock focus on.

Well, here is the butt shot! Isn’t this angel-shaped pattern of a white rump and white wing patches interesting? And it is much easier to make that photo! The sensor in the camera just wants to stay on that black and white contrast…😉

LOCATIONS: BACKBONE STATE PARK / IOWA

In my last blog post I mentioned a location here in eastern Iowa we hadn’t visited for a while but a nice hike last Sunday made me considering it more often for future wildlife or landscape shootings.

Backbone State Park is a heavily forested area, mainly oaks and maples, measuring over 2000 acres (8.1 km2). As part of the driftless area it was left unglaciated during the last ice age. It has an interesting geology with ancient dolomite formations dating from the Silurian period. A large ridge of rock divides the park, resembling a spine, and lends its name to the park and adjacent forest. The area is characterized by active springs, caves, sinkholes and karsts. (source: Wikipedia)

A lake was created by building a dam across the Maquoketa River in 1933/34 and during my hike along the shore I found ducks, geese, a pair of Hooded Mergansers, and finally saw three Eastern Phoebes catching insects by perching on branches hanging over the water. The phoebe is a sure sign that spring is just around the corner, despite the fact that we had some light snow again today…

It was the pattern of old snow below one of the rock formations that made me push the shutter button. At this time of the year (no sign of any green yet) and with last Sunday’s gray overcast it was not so easy to “romance” the landscape. I tried to combine the textures of the grass, snow, rocks, and the trees on the slope and let the river guide the eye through the image.

Nikon D750, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4G ED VR, @ 200 mm, 1/320 s, f/8, ISO 200

FROSTY PATTERN

This photo is a week old and there was no way to make something similar during the last few days. It is very warm here in Iowa for this time of the year (61ºF / 16ºC) and there isn’t even frost early in the morning. 

The reeds down at the Mississippi lie flat from the snow we had in November and the hoarfrost and dappled light created the pattern I tried to capture.

Winter Wonderland

 

This is how the morning greeted us today. Before I swung the snow shovel for a couple hours I had. to make a few clicks from the balcony of our house. It was the wonderful pattern the snow had created in our trees that I was after. As Joan always says with a twinkle in her eyes…”Ich liebe Winter!!”… ;-)