NATURE CLICKS #542 - DOWNY WOODPECKER

Male Downy Woodpecker

It was not very busy around our bird feeders during the last three days. Spring is not here yet but warmer temperatures made the snow from last week melting quickly and the energy demand of the birds has obviously slowed down. This may change tonight and tomorrow. Another winter storm warning has been issued. The bird we can always count on to show up is the Downy Woodpecker. Up to nine ‘Downys’ have been here at the same time while we had the last cold snap. It is a great bird to practice bird photography, even for beginners. The contrast around their eyes makes it easy to focus and get a sharp picture in comparison to many other species. While males and females stay separate in fall and early winter, they form pairs during late winter. Both sexes take turns drumming loudly on dead limbs in the trees and that sound has started already around here.

BACK AT THE LIGHTHOUSE

Manitowoc Breakwater Lighthouse, Lake Michigan, Wisconsin

I’m back from probably my last business trip this year, this time to the western shore of Lake Michigan. Native Americans, who called this place home in the days before European settlement, named it Manitowoc, home of the good spirits. I have been there before in September 2021 and came back with some pictures of the Manitowoc Breakwater Lighthouse that marks the entrance to the marina. (Click HERE for a link to my blog post from last year )

This time the image was was created from a different angle and different light. The late afternoon sun was muted by a layer of clouds but the building stood out against the darker clouds over the lake. A little snow on the ice in the foreground and tweaking the white balance towards a colder tone give this photo the peaceful wintry mood I felt yesterday at the lake shore. Maybe this was just the prelude to a big snowstorm and arctic temperatures that are expected here in the Midwest still before Christmas…

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4,  @ 200mm, 1/400s, f/5.6, ISO 400

“DIRTY SUNSET” BEFORE THE STORM

Whenever I book a hotel for a business trip I try to get a room on the highest floor, which here in most smaller cities is only third or fourth floor. As soon I enter the room I check out if there is a picture opportunity from the window. Maybe not immediately, but perhaps the next morning before sunrise. It doesn’t happen very often but yesterday night I was able to see a magnificent sunset just shortly after arrival in my hotel in a small town in central Illinois. I call this a “dirty sunset”. Clouds and colors just tell you, something big and bad is coming. A winter storm warning has been issued for the areas south and southeast of here and I was happy to head back home this afternoon before it all starts.

I shot this through four panes of glass, not even clean on the outside, and was amazed how little flare or ghosting I had even when the sun was still visible. The Z 24-70 did a great job for these images. Sure, all the glass in front of the lens may soften the image slightly but it is at the end not very noticeable. The only question that was left, what photo should I use for this blog post…

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 68 mm, 1/160 s, f/8, ISO 100, WB 6000 K

IT’S HERE NOW

First snow fall, shot from my office window. 

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, FTZ adapter, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head,   @ 145 mm, 1/30 s, f/16, ISO 1000

Finally we got our first real snow fall this season today. It was later than ever before within the last 18 years since we live here on the bluffs along the Little Maquoketa River Valley. It took me a while to find the right exposure time that makes the fast blowing snow visible and make it part of the story. I started in the woods behind the house with exposure times, between 1/10s and 5 seconds, and this was definitely too long for making the snow trails visible. The golden medium was found at about 1/30s, while the snow fall had intensified and I was shooting from my office window. Winter and snow means cold and the color that carries this message is blue. I played with white balance settings between 4000 and 5000 Kelvin and for this picture ended up with about 4150 K, giving the scene a nice blue tint.

BRAVING OUT ANOTHER STORM

Another winter storm hit the area again a couple days ago. I tried to capture a photo with some storytelling about and how the birds brave it out. It doesn’t really need much to give the viewer an idea. The snow covered branch and the snow trails in the background set the stage for this male House Sparrow. Shutter speed had to be slow to make a trail and here 1/50 second at f/8 was used to make the click. Some people don’t think it is worth their time to aim the lens at such an ordinary bird but I strongly disagree. They are part of our natural heritage and just because they are abundant doesn’t mean they are less important. And look at at this guy, isn’t he pretty?

SNOW, AND MORE SNOW

Deciduous forests without their leaves are not always the prettiest thing to photograph, except after a storm that makes the snow cling to trees and branches. Suddenly all kinds of lines and shapes are revealed and we are reminded how beautiful winter can be. All photos were made just in the neighborhood, here on our ridge above the Little Maquoketa River Valley. I hope you enjoy!

All images: Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4

BRAVING A WINTER STORM

As I’m writing this a big snow storms still goes over the country and of course doesn’t spare our neck of the woods. I tried to make some storytelling photos as the storm developed during the late afternoon. All the birds that spent the winter here try to get some calories from our bird feeders and woodpeckers, cardinals, nuthatches, chickadees, dark-eyed juncos, and tufted titmice are always good candidates for a photo. 

Since about a couple years we have a gang of House Sparrows using the mountain pines around the house for protection and also benefit from food and water we provide in our heated bird baths. Today’s best storytelling photo in my books was this shot of a female House Sparrow, braving the storm. Oh yeah, the books and smart websites say, don’t use a flash if you have any kind of precipitation. I don’t disagree and there might be some  misses, but if the trails of snowflakes support a sharp image, without being “nuked” by the flash, well, the story of a tiny bird in a winter storm can be told….