OZARK MOUNTAINS (4)

Grasses in the river bed, Haw Creek Falls, Ozark Mountains, Arkansas

Today I have something for the more art-minded viewers. In my first blog post about the Ozark Mountains about a week ago I mentioned the challenge to find interesting details in the landscape. Deep in the woods of the Ozarks we checked out a campground at Haw Creek Falls. The summer was dry, not just in this part of the country, and many creeks and rivers have still low water levels and the waterfalls of Haw Creek were not very impressive  to say it mildly. But a hike with the camera on the exposed rocks in the river bed seemed to be promising. Harsh light can be your friend sometimes and these grasses in the river bed, that obviously had not seen a flash flood this summer, stood out against the dark background of the river nicely. The curves of the rocks gives us an idea how the water has carved out this valley over a long period of time.

And here is one of the aspects I like about the Nikon Z 6II, the first mirrorless camera that I use since exactly a year now. I really love the ability to set the camera into a particular picture mode and see a preview of the photo right in the viewfinder before I even make the click. In this matter I set it to monochrome. My presets in camera include a red filter applied to the image and relatively high contrast and sharpening. I still shoot in RAW mode, and if I don’t like the final result, it allows me to go back to color because all color information is still stored in the RAW file. In this case, with “Grasses in the river bed”, it was exactly what I had envisioned and saw in the viewfinder when the click was made, except for the fact that I cropped the final picture slightly.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4, GITZO tripod GT2931 Basalt, KIRK BH-3 ball head  @ 200mm, 1/400s, f/4, ISO 100

A VISIT IN THE NOT SO WET WETLANDS

Green Island Wetlands, Mississippi Valley, iowa

It was overdue but yesterday I had finally a chance to make a trip to the Green Island Wetlands, 40 mile south and along the Mississippi River. As expected the water levels were at its lowest since a long time and many areas had no water above the mud at all. This is probably not a bad thing. The last few years have been very wet and much of the wooded land was submerged under the water. As a result most of the large trees and many shrubs died. All the dead wood you see in the above photo gives you an idea how bad it is. My hope is that during a dry year like 2021 some of the bushes can recover and become a nesting habitat for songbirds again. There is no hope for the trees…

Sandhill Cranes

As always, I was interested what kind of wildlife would be present. Only one Great Blue Heron and one Great Egret tried their hunting luck. Most of these stealthy fish hunters had probably moved closer to deeper waters along the river. A few Canada Geese and a female Wood Duck were about the only waterfowl I saw. But one bird species that obviously stood the ground and still found enough food was present and came within the range of my long lens, the Greater Sandhill Cranes. I saw six birds feeding and walking between grass and reeds. It is always a joy tho watch them and listening to their calls.

NATURE CLICKS #457 - TREE SWALLOW

Tree Swallow guarding a nest, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

I have many photos of Tree Swallows in my picture library, all shot during the last ten years along the Mississippi River. Tree Swallows on branches, on wires, or on the ground but the one that really tells the story about this bird was missing. A picture of the swallow guarding its nest in a tree cavity. Last weekend during one of our paddle tours in the Green Island Wetlands we came across this swallow at the nest in a dead tree. It was not too high above the water and the bird accepted my presence in the kayak below.

I really wonder how long a photo like this will be possible at Green Island in the near future. Tree Swallows need dead trees for their nest and there are probably thousands of dead trees at the moment. The problem is that they all die at the same time and fall apart very quickly. This is probably due to the high water levels we saw in the last few years. New growth does simply not happen. I visit the Green Island Wetlands, that are separated from the Mississippi by dikes, since more than nine years very regularly. Many groves have recently already vanished or are about to. The loss of biodiversity is easy to see. Species that thrive in dead woods and need them for nesting, like woodpeckers, wood ducks, or tree swallows benefit right now, but probably not for long. Others, who breed high up in the canopy of the trees, have already lost their habitat.

ON THE VOLGA RIVER AGAIN

Joan and I finally paddled one of our favorite rivers here in Iowa last weekend, the Volga River, a tributary of the Turkey River. It is a very scenic stream, with cliffs on both sides, and some very secluded portions. We actually didn’t meet any other people last Saturday during our trip. It isn’t exactly a novice river tour and has a few tricky turns, a couple rapids, and several portions with ripples that require some attention, as you can see on Joan’s face while she navigates a section with pretty strong current. Kayak-dog Cooper wasn’t always thrilled about some of the bumps we went over…

We have paddled this river in high water and another time in very low water before, but this time we enjoyed it probably the most, with a good water level after some rain. The smile comes back after a difficult section, just Cooper closed his eyes and seemed to say, not another one again…

I was brave and took the camera and a couple lenses in a waterproof bag on tour with me. Both photos were made with the Nikon Nikkor 70-200, f/4. This lens is light weight and shooting it wide open at f/4 allows to catch the action on the bottom of the canyon without cranking up ISO.

NATURE CLICKS #396 - GREATER YELLOWLEG

The water level in the lakes and marshes of the Green Island Wetlands is slightly lower than it was during the last few months. This is good at least for two reasons. If it stays that way the trees and shrubs that were submerged by water have a chance to recover and new growth is possible. The water level in this area is controlled and there are probably reasons, that may have to do with the adjacent Mississippi River, to raise or lower it. As a frequent visitor I noticed during the last years that many of the bigger trees have died, maybe due to a higher water level for too long. Woodpeckers and tree swallows may benefit for a while but in a long run their habitat can be threatened if few or no new trees have a chance to grow.

The other reason, the mud banks that were covered by water appear again and this gives shore birds, like sandpipers and plovers, a chance to feed and they may use the wetlands as a stopover place during their migration. My photo library reveals that I haven’t taken a picture of a Yellowleg during the last two years in the Green Island area.

Much to my pleasure I saw a single Greater Yellowleg foraging in the shallow water and on the mud banks yesterday. Unless you are in a boat, the shooting position is always from slightly above water level, due to the topography in the wetlands, and that makes it difficult to keep mud and old plant litter out of the frame. Yes, as a photographer I prefer the environmental picture of birds and critters and having part of a mud bank in the picture is considered part of the story for me. However, having an old plant stalk sticking out of the bird’s head is not very desirable. It took me a while to get a shot that I like of this beautiful Greater Yellowleg …

This post was altered April 14, 2018. In my first version I had identified this bird as a Lesser Yellowleg. After looking closer at more of the pictures I took and after consulting with a more experienced birder (Thank you Tony!) I came to the conclusion that this might be a Greater Yellowleg. They are a little bigger and have a slightly upturned bill. Other photos show this feature more pronounced than this one.

PADDLING ON THE VOLGA RIVER, IOWA

Volga River upstream from Albany Bridge ------

Joan and I had a wonderful weekend. Together with our dog Cooper we paddled the Volga River again. Someone was funny and asked on Joan’s Facebook page if we were in Russia! No folks, this river is right here in northeast Iowa! It is a gorgeous river valley that reminds me a lot of the Sächsische Schweiz (Saxonian Suizerland), back in Germany near my home town, a mountain area with sandstone bluffs, rocks, and steep valleys.

It was a different challenge this time. The water level was a bit lower than some weeks ago and we had to incorporate “a few” short portages into our kayak tour. Joan counted over 30, oh well, it was a great way to exercise getting in and out of the boat on this almost 14 km (8.5 miles) trip…

The photo above was made this morning about a mile upstream from our campsite. The water of the Volga River was very clear and some yellow leaves on the rocks tell already the story about fall will knock at the door very soon. 

Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-120mm / f4, @ 38mm, 1/6s, f/18, ISO100,

TURKEY RIVER, NORTHEAST IOWA

Turkey River, Motor Mill and bridge ---

As mentioned in a previous blog post I usually don’t take the camera with me while paddling a river with a good chance of whitewater passages. The Turkey River, and as well the Volga River in northeast Iowa, had a good water level last weekend. We didn’t feel like it would exceed our paddling skills and we went down with our kayaks safely and without any incidents (except our little dog Cooper jumped out of the boat a couple times when he wasn’t supposed to do it… 😆).

Today’s photos were taken at the Turkey River, at the old mill of Motor, a rural Iowa community that is now a historic site on the National Register of Historic Places. I always like to provide the sources of information that I use, so please click the following link if this is of interest for you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor,_Iowa

We have been at Motor Mill a couple times before and I always make a mental note if I want to come back to a particular site and shoot with the right light in place. Camping at the primitive campsite nearby allowed just doing this and working around sunset with the old buildings of Motor, and of course the Turkey River, led to some new photos that met the expectations . More to come…