NATURE CLICKS #596 - SNOW TRILLIUM (TRILLIUM NIVALE) AND MORE

Snow Trillium, White Pine Hollow State Preserve, Iowa

It took us a while but we finally found this never common and often rare wildflower again during a late afternoon hike in one of Iowa’s wildest areas. In 2020 we found a larger patch in White Pine Hollow, but this time only these three blossoms greeted us from the forest floor at the bottom of a large tree. This rugged area is not easy to access for everybody and there is not really any trail that can lead you through the steep canyons and across the ridges. With other words, some skills to read the lay of the land are highly recommended if you want to come back safely.

Hepatica (also known as liverleaf or liverwort, German: Leberblümchen)

At our turn-around point at the end of a ridge is a cave-like sink hole. Too small for me to get in but I’m not a big fan of cave exploration anyway. While in our neck of the woods, above the Little Maquoketa Valley and only 20 miles away, not a single wildflower was spotted so far, we found several patches of Hepatica in full bloom around the sink hole. Maybe warmer air that comes out of the gap in the rocks creates a micro climate and the wildflowers have a slightly earlier start. I admit, it’s just a theory.

Where plants start growing insects find them as a food source. There is a little larvae in one of the flowers.

I have not used my macro lens, the Sigma 150/f2.8, in a very long time. I just don’t do a lot of macro anymore. It’s the oldest lens in my arsenal. On the mirrorless Nikon Z 6II this lens works only in manual focus mode but the sharpness of this lens is superb and I still like the outcome.

ICY ART, GALLERY ADDITIONS 2025

Art created by nature is the thought behind the gallery ICY ART, hosted here on my website since a few years. As every winter I try to add some pictures of ice formations that caught my attention during the cold season and triggered the desire to make a photo. Feel free to click the link right here for entering this gallery and check out the latest additions or the work from previous years: GALLERY ICY ART

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2025 #2 - THE ICE MAKES SOME NOISE (VIDEO)

While shooting the photos of the Trumpeter Swans I showed in my last blog post I suddenly heard a crunching noise behind me, coming from the main channel of the river. A really huge ice floe had broken loose and started moving, grinding, and crashing against the rocks at the Potosi boat landing. We had a cold snap the night before and much of the Mississippi had frozen over again.

I like the crunching noise and hit the video button on the camera to capture the powerful movement of the river. Turn your speakers on loud, click the video below, and feel free to watch the little show.

Mississippi River, Pool #11 above the lock & dam Dubuque, Iowa. Photographed from the Wisconsin side of the river

This photo was shot later a few miles further south, giving you an idea how the ice got jammed above the lock and dam in Dubuque, IA, which is located but hardly visible at the horizon line.

Photo info:

  1. Nikon Z6II, Z 600 / f6.3

  2. Video: Z6II, Z600 / f6.3

  3. Nikon Z6II, Nikon AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm f/4G ED VR, @ 19mm

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

Winter is the best time to dig out photos from the library to give them maybe some well deserved attention. During a paddle trip on Bear Head Lake in northern Minnesota in the fall of 2023 this eroded root system of a spruce along the shore intrigued me. Any time I look at this photo I see different things and a new story. Nature is always fascinating.

WAY TO GO

Fall has many ways to tell us that the growing season is over and nature gets ready for hibernation and all the other things we associate with the season before winter. I made this photo about two weeks ago up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. This was at a little pond, nestled between endless woods and next to a swamp. The trail cameras of a friend prove that deer, bears, and wolves call this area home, even if we hardly ever see them during the day.

The cattails I found at the shore are called ”Kanonenputzer” in the area where I grew up in Germany. This means loosely translated ”canon cleaners”. Maybe you agree that this name describes the plant as good as the english term ”cattail”.

Enough about names, it was the gorgeous side light that made the decaying cattails and grasses stand out. The water of the pond and the woods in the background are pushed back by a strong underexposure, letting the shapes and details of the plants tell the story of a sunny afternoon on a beautiful day in autumn. To me color meant nothing in this image, it was all about the light, contrast, and shapes of the subject. I thought Black & White was the way to go.

NATURE CLICKS #584 - CHINESE MANTIS (Tenodera sinensis)

Chinese Mantis, Mines of Spain, Dubuque, Iowa

Yesterday I promised you the photo of an interesting insect we found during a hike in the Mines of Spain. It was a species, commonly known as a praying mantis, just sitting in the grass on the trail. This one is a Chinese mantis, native to Asia and nearby islands, but it was introduced to America accidentally in 1896. They eat primarily other insects but females are also known to catch sometimes small vertebrates. This one was about 4 inches long (~11 cm), much bigger than the European mantis or the Carolina mantis, which can be found here as well.

I read September is there mating time and this can be a tragic time for some males because the females are cannibalistic and cannibalism occurs in about half of matings.

They have forelegs that are greatly enlarged and adapted for catching and gripping prey. Their upright posture, while remaining stationary with forearms folded, has led to the common name praying mantis. (source for all facts: Wikipedia)

I started taking some pictures from slightly above but it didn’t satisfy me. Laying in the grass and going down with the lens to eye level with the mantis made at the end for the better photo.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4

LABOR DAY HIKE

We used the afternoon of Labor Day last Monday for a hike in the Mines of Spain State Recreation Area, just south of Dubuque, Iowa. Yes, many prairie flowers and plants have passed their prime already, but there is still a lot of beauty on the prairie and in the woods above the Mississippi River at the end of summer. Here are a few photos I made along the trail during our hike, which led us to the most remote parts of the Mines of Spain. The Nikon Nikkor AFS 70-200 f/4 was the only lens on camera. I like this focal range for hikes or walks, allowing me to zoom in for details, but also still having the choice for a wider view on a landscape at 70 mm if necessary.

We had a nice discovery of an interesting insect, but this is for another blog post, maybe tomorrow. So please stay tuned…

All images: Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4

SUMMER AIN’T OVER YET

Giant Swallowtail

It is hard to believe that this photo was created already 40 days ago, when the purple cone flowers were in their prime and a food source for some Giant Swallowtails. Time is flying. Overall it wasn’t a good year for butterflies. It seemed we had not as many as other years. My biggest concern is about the Monarch butterflies. I saw only a single one in our yard all summer long and very few at other places I visit frequently. Most cone flowers have dried-up already and the seeds are eaten by American Goldfinches. Some of the trees loose their leaves already but summer isn’t over yet and the remaining butterflies find stilll other flowers with nectar in them.

WHERE THE RIVER MEETS THE SEA

It was low tide and these Double-crested Cormorants used this small island to socialize and took care of their plumage.

At the southern end of the Puget Sound is the Nisqually River Delta, a biological diverse and rich area with a variety of habitats. The freshwater of the Nisqually River combines with the saltwater of Puget Sound and forms an estuary, which was restored in 2009 and was set aside for wildlife. The Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1974 to protect the delta and its diversity of wildlife habitats. (source: Brochure Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge)

Last Saturday I joined a guided tour in the refuge. Rob, a volunteer and our guide took us more than four hours on all the trails and the boardwalk through the estuary, despite the rain most of the time. It was time well spent, we saw lots of wildlife, and learned much about the delta and its biological diversity.

The Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge is a great place for watching and photographing critters and birds. It is now on my list of places I like to revisit, with hopefully more time on hand when I travel again to the Pacific Northwest. Here are a few documentary shots I was able to make during the hike.

We saw several flocks of Least Sandpipers. It is the smallest shorebird in the world. The photo was made from above on the boardwalk trail that goes across the estuary.

Our guide knew where to find them. These tiny little chorus frogs blend very well into their environment. This is most likely the Pacific tree frog.

A bird I have seen here in eastern Iowa during migration very often before, the Greater Yellowleg. At low tide there is plenty of food they can find in the mud or in the remaining puddles.

Talking about wildlife diversity, a Great Blue Heron hunts for fish near a group of Harbor Seals in the background, while a cormorant just flies through my picture at the same time.

 

NATURE CLICKS #582 - BROWN-SPOTTED YELLOW-WING

The Mississippi River is still flooding and the water level is about the same as last weekend. With many frequently visited nature areas here in eastern Iowa still under water I decided to go over to the Illinois side of the river for some bird photography and drove down south to the old Savanna Army Depot, now home to the Lost Mound Unit of the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge. Most of this area sits a little higher and is not effected by the flood. The Lost Mound Unit has the highest (70ft / 21.3m) and longest (7.5 miles / 12 km) sand dune along the Mississippi River in Illinois.

I saw a number of different woodpeckers but the light sucked and I didn’t even bother to aim the glass towards their locations. While looking with binoculars at the trees that grow on the sand dune and also in the opposite direction across the sand prairie, this dragonfly caught my attention. I haven’t seen a Brown-spotted Yellow-Wing for a while and being me, I could not pass this opportunity without making a few clicks with the camera. With the macro lens at home on the shelf, <sigh>, I tried my luck with the Sigma 150-600. It was clear that the image needed a crop since I wasn’t able to get much closer, but hey, it’s better than coming home without a picture…😉

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S

THE TWO WE SEE FIRST

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

I’m a little behind the time curve with today’s blog post due to several reasons but I still like to share these two photos with you, despite they were created already two weeks ago.

These two butterfly species are the first ones we can find here on the bluffs above the Little Maquoketa Valley in spring. The Mourning Cloak sometimes shows up as early as the snow thaws and this year it was even in February. It’s not an abundant butterfly, but we see them every spring after they emerge from hibernation.

The Red Admiral shows up a bit later and although we don’t have a lot of their preferred larval food plant here, sting nettles, their larvae will probably find plenty of them somewhere else.

You might expect that this was created with a macro lens but I was actually out for some bird photography, with the 150-600 plus teleconverter on camera. Both butterflies used the same tree at the same time to get some exposure to the sun. Two easy shots of the two we see first every spring…

Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)

LUMINOSITY UNDER WATER

Pacific Sea Nettle, Oregon Coast Aquarium, Newport, OR

It’s tempting to just follow the actual time line and post only the photos that reflect what’s going on at the moment of publishing. I would follow the ”journalistic path” of the blog but many photos I create, especially those on the more artistic side, would fall under the table and never ever being shared with you.

Today’s image of a Pacific Sea Nettle is one of my favorites from our recent trip. It’s not wildlife and it was all about dealing with the circumstances of shooting through the thick glass in the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Oregon.

I pressed the lens tightly against the glass of the aquarium and the rest was done by the lighting source of the tank above the water level. A few years ago I would never ever had dreamed about using a sensitivity of ISO 16000 for a photo. Now, with the great handling of high ISO settings in mirrorless cameras and much better noise reduction features in our software, this is just a matter of employing all these tools. Don’t take me wrong, I still believe shooting with the lowest ISO settings as possible is the best way to go for a high quality image. This time ISO 16000 allowed to expose at 1/640s at extremely low light conditions and to get this pulsating jelly fish still sharp in the frame.

A public aquarium tries to tell the story about the life under water for a certain habitat, that most of us aren’t able to see in their life time. When I take a shot like this I try to keep any men-made items out of the frame and hope to continue their story telling.

Here in Dubuque, Iowa we have the Mississippi River & Aquarium, one of the best in the country, and practicing many times before at their beautiful fish tanks made it easier to nail down the photo I can present for you today. I hope you enjoy it!

LIFE IN THE TIDE POOLS

Sea anemones

I was at a conference in Dallas, TX this week and a busy schedule prevented that time was spent behind the camera. Luckily I still have a number of pictures from our trip to the Oregon coast I like to share with you.

Clams and snails in a color reach environment

It took a few days before we had the conditions that we were looking for to explore the life and beauty in the tide pools. It needs of course a low tide at a rocky beach and the colors can be revealed if the sun shines at least a little bit. A polarizing filter in front of the lens works great for eliminating most of the glare on the water and for revealing the colors on mussels, clams, sea anemones, crabs and whatever else we found.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4, Tiffen Circular Polarizer,  @ 200mm,

Hermit Crab inside shell of a gastropod snail

Sea star left on the rocks at low tide

GREAT LIGHT FOR QUICK SHOT WITH MANUAL FOCUS

Despite a busy life at the moment I try to take a few minutes for photography whenever I can. Spring is early this year and reveals beautiful things in nature and all what it takes is to have an eye on the light. I think it is important to have a vision for what would make a good subject already ahead of time, but wait until the light finally makes the difference between just a documentary shot and a photo that may please our senses.

I made this picture with my old macro lens, the SIGMA 150 f/2.8G. I haven’t used this piece of glass since quite a while, although the sharpness of this lens has always impressed. Since eye sight is not getting better with age I rely most of the time on the autofocus system of my NIKON Z6II camera. Older lenses that do not have their own autofocus motor, like the SIGMA 150, can only be used in manual focus mode on Nikon’s mirrorless cameras. The sharpness and rendering of this lens is still great but it takes a little bit longer, especially in an awkward position while lying on the ground. Sure, we can employ a low tripod for this kind of a shot. We can do focus stacking and all kinds of macro-voodoo these days, but I’m always afraid the great light is gone before the camera is even mounted on the tripod…😉

FALL COLORS, LATE OCCURRENCE

Maple tree, Dresden Neustadt, Nov 12, 2023, Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S

Hey everybody, I’m back from a trip to Germany where I spent time with family and friends, hence the silence here in my blog. Before the airplane even touched the tarmac in Dresden earlier this month I realized how many leaves were still on the trees and foliage just started to change colors. This is not common for early November but warm temperatures without any cold snap had delayed the changes that usually come with autumn.

The photo of this beautiful maple was made from a balcony in Dresden. The sun peeked from behind a cloud for a moment and revealed the brilliance of the leaves colors. The Nikon Z6II was set to ”vivid mode” to get the most out for this shot.