NATURE CLICKS #578 - AMERICAN REDSTART

As promised in yesterday’s blog post I show you another warbler that performed as crazy as the Yellow Warblers. Acting like a flycatcher, snatching insects mid air from, and being perched on the branches that overhang the river in Bankston County Park, the American Redstarts are just a delight to watch. As the Yellow Warblers, the redstarts nest here and raise their offspring. They spend the winter in southern Florida, southern California, and in Central America.

It sounds all technical but I have been really thrilled last weekend watching these two warbler species catching insects at the Middle Fork Little Maquoketa River in Bankston County Park, a place I can highly recommend to any wildlife photography friend in the Dubuque, Iowa area.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, 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, @ 850 mm

NATURE CLICKS #569 - AMERICAN KESTREL

American Kestrel, Green Island Wetlands, Mississippi Valley, Iowa

Here is another image from last weekend’s visit to the Green Island Wetlands. I was already pretty happy since I just had photographed the Rough-legged Hawk I showed in my last blog post. A few minutes later, on my way out on the muddy road, this American Kestrel just landed on a branch in front of me. With a slight turn of the car and the window down I was able to make a few clicks of this small falcon. I have written about in the blog before, the American Kestrel perches nine times out of ten on a utility wire between the poles. The bird gave me less than a minute and half of the time it looked away from me. Having the kestrel sitting actually on a tree branch is much harder to get and with the warm light of the setting sun, this is definitely a keeper.

NATURE CLICKS #553 - BLACK PHOEBE

Black Phoebe, San Joaquin Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine, California

Not much time this week so far for some new photos. Instead I go back in time a few weeks and present another image from my recent trip to southern California. Here in Iowa we can’t wait to see winter go away and hopefully soon see the arrival of songbirds, including several species of flycatchers. The Black Phoebe doesn’t belong to them, it has its range along the Pacific coast, the Southwest of the US, and Mexico. I watched the phoebe several times swooping down from a perch, catching insects mid-air or on the ground. It was a little chilly but the gravel along the ponds in the San Joaquin Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary warmed up from the sun and the Black Phoebe had no problem to find small insects.

It is sometimes a challenge to make a picture of birds with a black head and dark eyes. The Dark-eyed Juncos that we enjoy here during winter are a good example and using the edge between the black and white plumage as the point of focus is often easier than trying to find contrast for the autofocus system in the bird’s eye. The direction of the light plays an important role for getting a catch light in the eye and sometimes a small move of the head can make the difference. Without the reflection of the sun the eye becomes almost invisible. At the end I was happy to spent some time with this gorgeous Black Phoebe. One of the first birds that may arrive here from the south is the Eastern Phoebe. If we see them in our yard, than we really know, spring is finally here…

NATURE CLICKS #468 - MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD

Mountain Bluebird, Little Missouri National Grassland, North Dakota

In many locations we camped or visited during our trip there was a good chance to watch some Mountain Bluebirds. Quite often they forage from a perch, like a fence, twig, or rock. They drop down to the ground to catch insects but they also hover above their prey before they make a catch. Beside insects the bluebird takes also fruits and berries.

They like to keep their distance and many photos of Mountain Bluebirds I made during previous years had to be cropped. This female was perched on a young eastern cedar in our campground, just outside of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota. The light was soft and the background far away, ideal for such an image.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, @ 600 mm, 1/160 s, f/6.3, ISO250

PERFECT WEEKEND TO PADDLE

The only people we met on the water. A couple in its best age (like us! 😊) with their grandkids in a canoe.

I haven’t heard anybody complaining about the weather this weekend 😉. Moderate temperatures and lots of sun made it the perfect time to go on the water again and enjoy the Great Outdoors. Sun high in the sky creates contrast and that was pretty much the only thing that needed attention for making a few clicks while traveling by kayak.

Great Egret, Mississippi River, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa. They usually keep their distance but this one felt obviously safe while perching high up in a dead tree.

In my last blog post I published an image of a Map Turtle. The more common one here is the Painted Turtle. I loved what water and reflections do to make the photo of a very common critter a little more special…

NATURE CLICKS #456 - AMERICAN REDSTART

American Redstart ♂️, Bankston County Park, Eastern iowa

After several hours shooting from the porch today, sipping on a coffee, watching some rain fall, and enjoying the birds I had already made up my mind what to post tonight here in the blog. The rain stopped in the late afternoon and we decided to drive back again to Bankston County Park and see what nature would hold for us after the rain.

No surprises today but we found the most common warbler in this area, the American Redstart, catching insects at the banks of the river. While this male redstart perched several times on small branches and waited for his chance, I had my chance to get finally the image I had in mind since a long time.

NATURE CLICKS #452 - BALTIMORE ORIOLE ♀️

Oh boy, how much I love these sunny early mornings in May! The temperature is pleasant and the quality of light is awesome. We put some orange halves out and this attracts the orioles and other birds. The goal is of course to make the click while the birds carefully approach the food source. This young oak right in front of our porch is a perfect target to focus on. The food is between 6 -10 feet away and many birds use it as an observation point before they approach the feeders or for waiting in line while others, mostly bigger birds, take their turn.

The Baltimore Oriole is a great looking bird with wonderful sounding calls. Sure, they can chatter as well, but waking up in the morning to the sound of their calls is one of the best delights in spring…

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head,   @ 600 mm (DX mode 900 mm), f/6.3, 1/2000 s, ISO400,

SHOOTING FROM A BLIND

Male House Finch

I was invited this evening by my photography friend Kevin for some photo shooting behind his house on the south side of Dubuque, Iowa. He had set up a tent that served as a blind at the edge of his woods and minutes after we entered it, and had the tripods in place, our shutters were rattling. This is a great location with an abundance of birds. We had wonderful natural light (no flash needed today), and shooting with Kevin is always a great pleasure.

Male Red-bellied Woodpecker

I only have used my car as a mobile blind so far and shooting out of a tent blind was a first for me. The advantage is, you can get really close to our feathered friends. The downside is the partly loss of peripheral vision due to the tent walls and roof over the head. Not a big deal today. We had at least 14 species of birds on site and I was able to capture nine of them during our one and a half hour photo shoot.

American Goldfinch

Kevin chose the location for the blind very wisely in regards of the incoming light and had prepared the “backyard studio” with good perch facilities for the birds. A couple feeders were placed in a way that we were able to keep them easily out of the frame. Some big trees are in the background and allow to aim the lens at woodpeckers or nuthatches that crack a seed in a gap of the bark.

A pair of House Finches

No, it is no myth, our front or backyards can be some of the best places for wildlife photography. With relatively little efforts a lot can be accomplished within a short period of time, a fact that should be considered by everybody who tries to shave off time during a busy week. Special thanks to Kevin again for this opportunity today!

All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head.

YEP, WINTER IS FINALLY HERE…

Pine Siskin, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa

A couple notable things happened today. First, we got our first real snow storm of the season last night. About eight inches of the white stuff hit the ground here on our bluffs above the Little Maquoketa River Valley, followed by sunshine this morning and I bet there is no nature photographer that would complain about that. The second was ‘Eagle Watch Day’, one of my favorite educational events here in Dubuque, Iowa, and I will show some photos for this part of the day tomorrow.

With the fresh snow came all the birds to the feeders and the two bird baths we provide. Not always seen and only here in the winter is the Pine Siskin. This photo was taken in the ‘backyard studio’, to be more precise on our balcony. I didn’t scoop the snow on the deck because I want the gorgeous light from underneath for my bird photography. During the last few years we had actually an elm growing very close to the balcony in the backyard. This makes for a perfect perch for the birds before they enter any of the feeders and this fast growing tree has been quite often a great stage for bird photography. However, the little branch you see in this picture is mounted to the reeling of the balcony, right next to a bird bath and a feeder with sunflower seeds. Shameless trick? I don’t think so. The birds will come to the feeders no matter what, unless a hawk is around the house, but this little perch allows me to make a photo even through the glass of the balcony door with a good background. Ok, this may not be always exciting, but if we don’t practice long lens technique as much as we can, we will never make the click that we always hope to make one of these days…

OUT WEST #11

Red-tailed Hawk, North Tongue River, Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming

Two photos today that mark one of our best moments with wildlife in the Bighorn Mountains. After a long day, with early morning photography, a nice hiking tour, and scouting for moose and other critters, we stopped at the small parking lot where scenic and not very busy highway 14A crosses the North Tongue River. This is prime moose territory, with lots of small willows along the river and still full of leaves that moose like to eat. While we looked out for moose and mule deer some other hikers pointed out this Red-tailed Hawk, perching on a fence post. First the bird was too far away, but suddenly the hawk flew closer to us and perched on another post. It was clear it was on a hunt for ground squirrels or mice and didn’t pay too much attention to our presence. After a few minutes it changed location again and was even closer as before. 

The camera went on the tripod quickly and I was shooting away in the killer light before the sun sets. Although the sun was very low already the light was still very intense. I knew I had a great opportunity in front of the lens and didn’t want to screw this up. Exposure compensation was between -0.7 and -1 EV in order to keep the details on its bright chest. The hawk was concentrated on its hunting efforts and posed nicely for about thirty minutes. Ones in a while he took off but always returned to another fence post. On its last take off the Red-tailed Hawk flew right at me, as he almost wanted to tell me, you had your chance dude, I hope you used it…!

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head

OUT WEST #4

Burrowing Owl, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

It wasn’t until we left Badlands National Park that a long held dream became true. We stopped at the west entrance on Sage Creek Road because Joan wanted to take a picture of the National Park sign, and so did I. This entrance is not used by many visitors, there isn’t even a fee station, and traffic on this gravel road is very low.

Suddenly I saw a bird sitting on a post that marks and holds the border fence. We both couldn’t hide our excitement when we saw through the binoculars that this was a Burrowing Owl. We have tried to find this species since a long time in the Badlands and if we wouldn’t have stopped we would have missed it. This small ground-dwelling owl builds their nest in a burrow, either dug by the owl or been abandoned by ground squirrels or other small mammals. In the Badlands they find their housing mostly in the burrows of prairie dogs, who are literally their next door neighbors. It turned out that we finally saw at least five different owls. They often hunt from a perch, like this bison-proof fence post, and glide silently towards their target, which can be arthropods, mice, birds, gophers, ground squirrels, bats, reptiles, or amphibians. Burrowing Owls are most active at dusk and dawn but will hunt any time during day or night. (source: iBird PRO app)

They migrate to Texas for the winter and when we came back two weeks later for another visit at the end of our “OUT WEST” trip, they were all gone.

NATURE CLICKS #414 - EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE

My prediction about the departure of the young House Wrens from the nest I made yesterday was correct. Early this morning, still at dawn, the mother called them repeatedly and at 7:30AM the gourd with the nest inside was empty. We wish them well and can’t wait until next spring when the first males arrive back from the south. Our nest boxes will be ready again for another nesting season.

While I took the pictures of the young wrens yesterday afternoon another summer guest showed up in our front yard. We can hear the distinctive song “pee-ah-wee” and the calls “pe-e-e-e-e-e” of the Eastern Wood-Pewee all summer long. This small flycatcher feeds on flying insects, like flies, bees, butterflies, wasps, or beetles. They start mostly from an exposed perch to capture their prey in midair but take occasionally insects from vegetation or the ground. Most of the time they sit too high on a perch for a good photo but yesterday the pewee used briefly one of our shepherd hooks that holds a bird feeder. Pretty soon this bird will also head south to the tropics, where it spends the time during our cold season.

NATURE CLICKS #398 - YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER

In yesterday’s blog post I mentioned that I had another story for you. Yes, it was bird photography fun at its best Saturday afternoon and today I went again to the Deere Marsh, the wetlands behind the John Deere factory north of Dubuque. The Yellow-rumped Warblers migrate right now through the Mississippi Valley and they obviously like the supply of insects that came with the warm weather we have here since the last couple days and stay a little bit longer. The warblers use the trees and shrubs along the shore beside Riverside Road to perch and to catch their prey, almost in a flycatcher manner, There is also a lot of display going on. The males try to impress the females and the coloration of their feathers doesn’t get any better than this time of the year.

The Yellow-rumped Warbler is one of the most common Warblers in North America and because of their ability to digest wax-coated berries, like bayberries, they are capable of wintering farther north than any other warbler (source: iBirdPro App).

At this location having a good background is not a big problem. You either have water or the sky as your background and even if you, like me, don’t have the fastest lens in your arsenal, you can still render a background without clutter. The second image shows where the challenge lies. Getting a clean, unobstructed shot is not always easy. Lots of branches and wild growing vines can be in the way or just cast a shadow on the bird. I tried to make this a part of the story telling…

NATURE CLICKS #349 - BLACK PHOEBE

Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach, California ----------

The Black Phoebe is the other phoebe that we don’t see in the eastern part of the US (see my post from yesterday). It is a permanent resident in the southwestern states. The area in the ecological reserve where I found this bird doesn’t have any trees and the barbed wire fence was obviously the best perch the phoebe could find to look out for insects. It wasn’t my first sighting but this was the closest I have ever been to a Black Phoebe.

The sun was almost at its highest point when the click was made. A hint of flash helped to overcome the harsh light situation, not much different than shooting a portrait at the beach…

NATURE CLICKS #340 - EASTERN KINGBIRD

It has been a while since my last visit in the Green Island Wetlands, one of my favorite shooting locations along the Mississippi in Iowa. In August it is relatively quite there in comparison to spring or early summer, but I came never back with empty hands from the wetlands so far. It took me a while before I was able to make my first click today. This Eastern Kingbird was perched on a dead branch hanging over the duck weed covered water. I assume this was a juvenile because it seemed to be smaller than other Eastern Kingbirds I have seen before. We had some good wind today after the rain of the last couple days moved away and getting the kingbird in focus was a little bit of a challenge. I guess I’m a little “rusty” too, since the number of keepers after the shooting was below my expectations.