WAITING FOR THE TANAGER

Female Scarlet Tanager

I have good news and bad news today. The good news is that I finally was able to make some photos of the female Scarlet Tanager during the last couple days. The bad news is that I didn’t like any of the pictures taken in the trees or bushes around, mostly because of light quality or sharpness. With other words, I show you my best two shots made at a suet feeder. I know, this doesn’t really say wildlife but I hope I get some better pictures during the next couple days.

The male Scarlet Tanager did a better job and landed a few times on my bird perch before it entered the feeder. I know, I showed a photo of the male a few days ago here in the blog, but both, the male and female Scarlet Tanager are too pretty for keeping these pictures in the drawer…

Male Scarlet Tanager

NATURE CLICKS #274 - BALTIMORE ORIOLE

Female Baltimore Oriole

Although we had a couple relative cold and windy days in Eastern Iowa but it didn’t stop the migrating birds to show up here. Today I saw the first Indigo Bunting. The Scarlet Tanager keeps visiting the yard. I have seen three male tanagers but no females so far. The Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and the male Baltimore Orioles are here since May 2nd. The female orioles seem to follow the males always a few days later but as you can see they arrived now as well. 

With many bird species it is not easy to distinct between particular individuals, but it seems that each Baltimore Oriole, males and females, have a slightly different pattern of colors and spots, which makes it easier to count them. I don’t make a secret out of the fact that we provide orange halves for them to feed on. They take this offer especially shortly after their long journey from the south. In a few weeks they won’t touch them anymore and feed primarily on caterpillars, moths, beetles, bugs, and other insects.

NATURE CLICKS #273 - NORTHERN CARDINAL

Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM, tripod, gimbal head, SB 800 speed light

I talked yesterday about what it needs that a picture of a less attractive bird works well. The Northern Cardinal makes it a lot easier. It is a pretty bird any time of the year and people like to see them. I don’t know about other parts of the country but here it is quite difficult to get close to this very skittish bird. Of course, I can shoot endless pictures at a bird feeder or in the grass, but I really like to make the image with the bird on a branch, or at least on a perch, like this stick in the flower bed that we use for decoration. It is the time of courtship and they move around fast, well, except when they eat at the bird feeder or in the grass below ….😉

NATURE CLICKS #272 - BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD

Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM, tripod, gimbal head, SB 800 speed light

The female Brown-headed Cowbird doesn’t come to mind quickly if we think about an attractive bird. It needs something different to tell a story about this bird. I used the texture of the fresh leaves in a bush of peonies to make the gray of the cowbird’s feathers stand out. The bird had just landed on the metal ring that holds the flowers together and started spreading its tail and feathers. That little gesture makes all the difference between this shot and several other ones I took with the bird hopping on the ground.

We see the Brown-headed Cowbird only occasionally. They are nest parasites and go around and lay one egg in the nest of another bird species. I read that up to thirty-six eggs are laid per nesting season. They hatch usually first and outcompete the young birds of the host. (source: iBird Pro app)

THE CHIPMUNK WITH THE D750

Eastern Chipmunk

The Eastern Chipmunks that call our yard and the surrounding timber home are a great subject for testing and learning everything about the new Nikon D750. They are used to my presence and as long as I move slowly they stick around and do what they want to do (mostly eating sunflower seeds dropped from the bird feeders ;-)  ). 

During the first two weeks since I bought the camera I pressed the shutter release button more than 3,000 times already. No, this camera is not more complicated than my beloved Nikon D300s, in fact many functions are identical or very similar, but I like to implement some of the new features into my shooting habits. One of the reasons I chose the D750 is its professional controls. Unfortunately it has some features a pro would probably never use, and neither will I, but it is easy to ignore them. However, this camera allows to control and change all the important settings, like aperture, exposure, exposure compensation, ISO, white balance, focus mode, focus sensors, flash compensation, virtual horizon, and others without taking the eye away from the viewfinder. It lets you customize the way many of the controls and buttons act, and this is where the “fun” starts. It is ok if I miss a shot of a chipmunk or one of the birds that we have here all year long. But how about if you see a bird or critter that is here only once a year and your chance to nail the shot lasts less than two seconds (like with the Scarlet Tanager from yesterday’s blog post)? Well, this is the moment when you don’t want to fiddle with your settings. The technical aspects have to become secondary because composition and background is what matters at this brief moment. If you know and understand the settings you have dialed in while waiting for a shot, it is easy to make a quick adjustment at the camera if the situation requires it. And that’s why I try to practice on a daily base, and it doesn’t matter to me if it is an “ordinary” critter like our chipmunks or squirrels

Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM, tripod, gimbal head, SB 800 speed light

The first image is my favorite photo of an Eastern Chipmunk so far. It has everything I wanted. It tells the story about the critter eating in the grass below a bird feeder (nothing exciting but that’s what they do in spring after a long winter). The eye is tack sharp and the settings (1/125 s, f/8, ISO 100, FX mode, no crop) would allow for a large print without any compromise.

The second picture is the result of a situation which unfolded very quickly. While focussing on a bird I suddenly saw the chipmunk climbing up this stick in our flower bed. The flowers were obviously the dessert, because in the following photo one of the blossoms is missing. Turning the camera on tripod into a different direction, refocus, and make an adjustment to flash compensation was all necessary to make the click. The photo was cropped in post on the right hand side, not because I wasn’t close enough, but on the left hand side is a bush that would have knocked off the balance of the composition. Taking out some empty space on the right is a good compromise in my books.

NATURE CLICKS #271 - SCARLET TANAGER

One of the best treats we get in the spring here on the bluffs above the Little Maquoketa River Valley is watching the Scarlet Tanager. This beautiful bird spends the winters in northwestern South American tropical forests. Yesterday I spotted the first male of the season and today I was able to make this photo of the tanager in our big maple. They usually feed on insects, fruits, berries, and buds high up in the trees but come to the ground occasionally. They built the nest on a horizontal branch 20 - 30 feet above the ground. I will keep my eyes open for a female Scarlet Tanager during the next days. They are green-yellow colored and not so easy to spot between the fresh leaves on the trees.

UPSIDE DOWN

Is this a shot I could have made any time during the winter season because the White-breasted Nuthatch is always present here in eastern Iowa? Perhaps, but it is the light and the colors that are different in spring. The gesture of the nuthatch, after going down on a tree trunk, is typical, but still unique. Don’t know any other bird who does it this way…

NATURE CLICKS #270 - WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW

Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM, tripod, gimbal head, SB 800 speed light

I was very happy to see another migrating bird in our yard this morning. A pair of White-crowned Sparrows made an appearance several times during the day. Their breeding ground is in northern Canada. We had them on our balcony below a bird feeder once in January 2010 and we have seen this sparrow before in other parts of the western US, like Colorado and California. 

I was able to make several shots, most of them with the birds foraging in the grass. This was ok but I was hoping for more. When one of them flew into a bush I finally found a background I liked even better. The sparrow did me the favor and tilted its head towards me. A nice gesture which makes the white crown a part of the image. This part of the yard was still in the shade but a carefully dosed fill flash brings out the colors. I guess it’s time to replace my blurry “balcony picture” from 2010 in the BIRD GALLERY. If you haven’t checked it out yet, click on the link in the sidebar of my blog or click the COLLECTIONS tab at the top of this page.

BOOSTING COLORS WITH FILL FLASH

White-throated Sparrow

I used my lunch break today for some practice with fill flash in the front yard and the local birds served as my models. Suddenly I saw a “new face” showing up and recognized immediately a White-throated Sparrow, the first one migrating through. It rested briefly in the shade of our big maple, on a boulder that sits between the spring flowers. There aren’t many birds that are better for practice and testing than this sparrow with its white throat. The bird has black and white that provides good contrast for focus and it has colors, ideal for checking the results of using fill flash for color enhancement.

Without fill flash the second photo, made in bright sun around 1PM, would not turn out the way it is. The White-throated Sparrow, which sat in the shade under a feeder, would have been very dark or the highlights of the surrounding flowers and grass would have been blown out. I hope to see this bird again in the next few days... :-)

Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM, tripod, gimbal head, SB800 speed light

TIME FOR BRANCH HOPPING

Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM, tripod, gimbal head

My website and blog has always been about sharing knowledge with other people that own a camera and try to get the best out of it. Sharing wildlife encounters and the locations where to find wildlife is part of it. Other photographers do the same and so we all benefit from each other one way or the other.

Last night I received an email from my photography friend Linda, telling me that the little owlet had left the nest at Mud Lake down at the Mississippi River. After a young Great Horned Owl leaves the nest they usually stick still around for a while. During this period of so called “branch hopping” they are still fed by the parents but it is not necessarily the same tree where the nest is located. And here starts the problem for the avid birder or photographer. The fresh leaves on the trees come out at the moment and every day it becomes a little more difficult to find the tree and the branch where the young owl spends the day.

My neck got already soar after wandering around and scanning every tree near the nest with my eyes for 45 minutes. Almost ready to give up for today I finally discovered the owl in a tree near the nest I had looked at several times before. They really blend in well. For the next 50 minutes I had an unobstructed view to a subject that turned the head once in a while and opened and closed its eyes for the most. Other than that, it was all about watching the light of the setting sun and playing with every possible setting on my new Nikon D750.

It always amazes me how fast they grow. I discovered the female Great Horned Owl sitting on the nest February 15th, saw the young owl March 16th for the first time, and now it has left the nest already. As I wrote here in the blog before, this happened for the third year in a row, but it is, at least for me, one of the most fascinating wildlife stories that unfolds here in the Mississippi Valley. Special thanks to Linda for sharing the information with me!

WAITING FOR THE LONG SHADOWS

Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

After some days with cold and very windy weather conditions we finally got the spring back here in Eastern Iowa. I used the sunny day for a visit in the Green Island Wetlands. Not every picture turned out like this one. I struggled a little bit with the high contrast from the very powerful sun, especially during the early afternoon. The long shadow of the Killdeer may tell you that this photo was made not too far away from sunset. It pays back to stay and wait for these long shadows, the light is just so much better...

The Killdeer did its usual trick, pretending it was injured, to lure me away from this particular spot. It may want to use it for breeding sometime soon. More to come…

PRACTICE WITH PAINTED TURTLES

Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM, tripod, gimbal head, DX-crop mode

A Painted Turtle is a great subject to practice wildlife shooting or to test new equipment, like I do right now with the new Nikon D750. If the turtles move, they move slowly (with one exception I will talk about in a minute), or they don’t move at all. The yellow lines on its head provide good contrast to lock on focus, which is important for a sharp image. And as a bonus, the turtles are always good for a unique gesture. The first one was not my sharpest shot of this critter but the gesture with the open mouth makes all the difference for me. It looks like the turtle is yawning, but what you don’t see in the first photo is a second turtle, just climbing up the log on the other end. Well, the meet and and greet on the log went well and after some butt sniffing (yes they do that like dogs!) both finally ended up taking a sun bath together.

You may think taking these shot is much easier than photograph a bird at the same distance, but this is not true. If the Painted Turtle senses danger, because you walk right up to them, they will drop into the water as fast as a bird will take off. The good thing is, most of the time, especially when the sun is shining, they will climb back up on the log again after a few minutes. The short break while they are in the water allows to establish a good shooting position near the log. If you are carefully and make your own moves as slow as a turtle  ;-) , they may accept your presence and you get a second chance to make the click.

Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM, tripod, gimbal head, FX-mode

I switched back and forth between FX and DX crop mode on the D750 while shooting the action as just described. Full frame (FX mode) served very well to make the images with both turtles on the log. For isolating the turtle on the left, like in the first image, I used the DX crop mode. Back in the days of shooting slides on film, rule #1 for having a keeper was ‘Get it right in camera’. I enjoy photography as a form of art and as a craft. Get it right in camera is part of the craft.

WILDLIFE AND A LARGER SENSOR

Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM, tripod, gimbal head

A filled travel schedule and business meetings in between prevented me from doing serious shooting during the last couple days again. Feels like torture when you have a new camera and no time to work with it… ;-)

This shot of the Great Horned Owl juvenile is from last Friday and pretty much straight out of camera, except for the usual sharpening process. By using the full size of the 24 MP sensor in FX-mode on the NIKON D750 a 500 mm focal length is just what it is, 500 mm, like in the days of film photography. However, the camera can be used in two different crop modes and the DX-mode with a crop factor of 1.5 provides the same angle of view for a particular lens as it is on my NIKON 300s DX camera. With other words you have, kind of, the equivalent of 750 mm focal length. And here lies the big challenge that comes with the change to a full frame camera. You have to get physically closer to your subject in order to use the full potential of the sensor. As mentioned before this is not always possible, like with the owl high up in the nest, but for shooting many other critters I just have to get better. That means to learn more about their biology and behavior and invest more patience and time so that finally the wildlife comes to you. Long way to go… :-)

GROWING OWLET

I have been traveling the last few days but finally had a chance to check the nest of the Great Horned Owl again this evening. As you can see, the light was perfect and the little owlet sticked its head out of the nest, as if it would greet me at my arrival. Most of the time I spent there today the young owl had its eyes closed and you could only see the upper part of the head. The third year in a row I’m amazed how fast a young owl is growing. I have not seen the mother at any of my visits lately but I’m sure she does everything to feed the juvenile owl and is out on the hunt for prey.

NATURE CLICKS #269 - GADWALL (FIRST SIGHTING)

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM           

I took a little detour on my way back from a business trip to Davenport, Iowa this evening and checked all the current “hot spots” in the Green Island Wetlands. I have by far not seen all the birds that come through the Mississippi Valley during migration and so it is not really a surprise, that even after living here now for more than ten years, I still have a first sighting of a new species once in a while.

Today I found a single male Gadwall foraging in the shallow waters of the wetlands. Well, it was not totally alone, it obviously enjoyed the company of several Northern Shovelers. At some point the Gadwall even made a courtship display for a female shoveler or it just tried to impress the males, I’m not sure…;-) The Gadwall is not an uncommon bird in North America, I just had not seen one yet before.

Photographically, this photo is not a master piece. The great looking duck was too far away with no chance for me to get closer, and so I decided to crop the picture a little bit.