ANY NEWS ABOUT THE HOUSE WRENS?

Yes, this is a valid question, especially if asked by someone who follows my blog for a long time already. The House Wrens returned during the first week in May this year again and we always wonder if these are the same birds that were born in one of our nest boxes. 

The usual rituals happen as every spring. The males built first loose nests in every hole they can find and try to impress the females. Later, after the females arrive the air is full of love, the male wrens sing like crazy, and finally the female chooses a nest and will finalize its construction.

Photo from May 22, 2015

We have two identical nest boxes, each with two nest chambers. Usually there is one female in one nest box and it is either in the upper hole or in the lower one. This year things are a little different. The box closest to our house has two females and it seems there is only one male present.

Photo from June 4, 2015

A few weeks ago I have heard at least three males singing but since we can’t always follow what’s going on we don’t know the full story at the moment. Yesterday the female on the lower floor started feeding little baby House Wrens and the male brings food as well. The second female carries still twigs and grass to the upper chamber, which means it does not sit on eggs. The other nest box at the edge of our woods seems to be empty (we are not sure yet) and maybe the second female has lost its brood. There is a raccoon roaming around every night here and other predators are a possibility as well. Well, to answer the question above, yes, there are a lot of news about the wrens but it is fun to watch them as every year…

NATURE CLICKS #279 - SILVER-SPOTTED SKIPPER

Nikon D750, Sigma 150mm / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM, SB 800 speed light

1/80s, f/5.6, ISO200        

I have been traveling again the last couple days but after I came back home today I still saw a small butterfly in the yard that I had seen already earlier this week. If you think identifying birds is difficult, you haven’t tried it with some of the butterfly species. My book says (Kaufman: Field Guide to Butterflies of North America) the Silver-spotted Skipper is the most easily recognized skipper across North America. Well, it took me a while to find that out… ;-)

This one was feeding on a cluster of blooming chives and was constantly in motion, but it didn’t care too much for my close presence. As you can imagine it took more than a few trials to find a composition where no crop in post process is needed and the background is smooth but still part of the story telling

DEEP IN THE BACKWATERS

Gorgeous weather yesterday and I used it for another long paddle tour. I explored parts of the Green Island Wetlands that I have never seen before. It is always amazing to see how many species this ecosystem can support. There is wildlife in abundance and even if someone doesn’t care for photography at all, you can’t escape the magic of this landscape.

It needs some navigation skills because it is easy to take the wrong turn or miss a passage between all the water arms and little islands. The advantage of using a kayak becomes obvious when you paddle through very shallow parts deep into the backwaters where no other watercraft can go without getting stuck.

Cooper, our little dog who shared the boat with me, and myself enjoyed the solitude. We didn’t meet another human or boat the whole afternoon. Yes, it takes some efforts to get out there and keep the equipment dry and clean, but at the latest, when we paddled slowly below a dead tree where a big Bald Eagle sat on a branch, I knew this was where I wanted to be…

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

HUMMINGBIRD DAY

Well, this is what I would like to call this Saturday. Three things came together today. First, I had time on hand to pursue a particular photography project, like shooting nothing but hummingbirds. Second, it was a rainy day. This was good for two reasons. It makes for great colors without extremely high contrast, and even more important, with the rain came lower temperatures. The hummingbirds have a very high metabolism and if it is colder they have to feed a lot more frequent. Hence their visits at flowers and hummingbird feeders happen a lot more often than during a hot day. And the third thing was my motivation to really go for the story that can be told at this time of the year about the hummingbird and to add maybe a few images to my bird portfolio.

I did the whole shoot in three sessions, spread out during the day. Uploading the first one to my computer made me reconsider, learn, and try it again with a different mind set. Gosh, I love days like this… :-)

NATURE CLICKS #278 - GRAY CATBIRD

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

This is not my first blog post about the Gray Catbird but I still have not made many photos of this species. It prefers low and dense vegetation and if there wouldn’t be its distinctive meeow-call we probably would hardly recognize its presence. Staying always on paved roads or trails is limiting the range of wildlife that we can get in front of the lens. Knowing a little bit about the biology and the preferred habitat of a bird or critter is already halfway of making the click. Sure, we get lucky sometimes in the middle of the road, but going into the woods or into thick brushes and underwoods may lead you to the picture you were waiting for since a long time.

NATURE CLICKS #277 - SONG SPARROW

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

We can talk about the Baltimore Oriole all day long, everybody would agree that this bird is one of the prettiest and most wonderful sounding song birds in America. The Song Sparrow may not win the beauty contest in comparison to the oriole but its singing capabilities are not far from those of the oriole.

The Song Sparrow migrates but I have seen them here in Iowa even during the winter down at the Mississippi River.

NATURE CLICKS #276 - PURPLE MARTIN

Female Purple Martin

Finding the Purple Martin is not a big problem along the Mississippi River. Most nest in colonies and use man-made birdhouses. Almost every boat landing, community, or park has them. We made another paddle tour in the Mud Lake area at the Mississippi yesterday and after the kayaks were loaded on the roof of the car I was able to photograph this species of the swallow family.

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

Although the availability for natural nest cavities has declined over the years, the increased availability of human-provided nest sites has a positive effect on population. The Purple Martin competes with European Starlings and, as in the case of Mud Lake Park, with the House Sparrows for nest cavities. They share the big birdhouse at the boat landing with the sparrows, but as you can see in the second image it is not always a friendly relationship between these two species

Male Purple Martin

None of the photos would have worked very well without using fill flash. I just threw enough light at the birds to bring out the shadows and make the colors pop. It is a fine line and can be easily overdone.

THE MISSED SHOT

Semipalmated Sandpipers

It all happened very quickly. During our paddle tour last Saturday in the Green Island Wetlands I saw suddenly three shore birds landing on a sand bank not far from the kayak. I raised the camera, focussed, fired the shot, and right after the birds flew away. No time for a second chance. The scene had everything that could have made a good photo but I blew it. These Semipalmated Sandpipers posed nicely in their natural habitat. The low perspective is what I’m looking for when I shoot out of the kayak, and the birds are mirrored in the water. So what’s wrong? Well, the focus is on the wrong bird, the one on the left. There is no way that all three could have been in focus because the two on the right are too far behind the left sandpiper. I know I focussed on the one in the center but somehow I didn’t nail it. The problem with the picture is that the eye wants to go first to the bright spots (in this case the two other sandpipers) and second to the sharpest. 

I get over a missed shot usually very quickly but this one bothered me a bit. It was the first time that I saw Semipalmated Sandpipers in the Green Island Wetlands. As you already know I shoot a lot from my car in this environment, use it as a blind, and with good success, but nothing beats the low perspective of shooting from a boat. I guess I have to try again… :-(

A DAY ON THE WATER

Lesser Yellowleg

Joan and I finally opened the kayak season yesterday (better late than never  ;-)  ) and spent several hours paddling in the backwaters of the Mississippi in the Green Island Wetlands. It is the time of the year when many birds incubate their eggs or have already young ones, like some of the Canada Geese. We had some wonderful wildlife encounters, like a mink swimming to shore, a Northern Watersnake, and lots of waterfowl, herons, and egrets. Not every sighting leads to a photo but it was just great to be out in the wild and enjoy the nice and warm weather

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

After the paddle trip we went on “bird patrol” by car to all the places in the wetlands that I visit frequently. We saw this Lesser Yellowleg foraging in the shallow water and it surprised us still seeing one of them since their breeding ground is in Northern Canada. I’m aware that my identification of a bird species can be wrong, this is especially true for shore birds, but in this matter I don’t have a better suggestion. Usually I have more images that I show here in the blog and even if they may not be always good enough to be published, but they help me quite often to identify a bird. However, if you read this and have doubts about any of my identifications, I will be very happy to hear from you

Wilson's Snipe

This photo of a Wilson’s Snipe was taken earlier this season, although we saw one yesterday evening. We are at the southern edge of their breeding range and so it is not a surprise to see them still around. More to come…

BALTIMORE ORIOLE AND JUST A LITTLE COLOR BOOST

I’m at a conference in Minneapolis and my photo editing capabilities are limited, but this picture of a male Baltimore Oriole didn’t need much work. Beside a little contrast improvement and the usual sharpening process not much has been done to the RAW file. The photo has been made yesterday in our ”yard studio”. All what it took was a cup of coffee for the photographer and some patience until the oriole settled down on a branch. I had the Nikon SB800 speed light with  flash extender mounted on camera. It wasn’t the main light source but just enough to boost the colors of the bird slightly. Despite the overcast I had exposure compensation down to -1EV and flash compensation at -5EV (-3EV at the flash light and -2EV in camera). The tricky thing is not to get one picture right, but not to forget to make changes for exposure or flash compensation if the lens is pointed to a different direction with a totally different brightness and background. And with the birds showing up everywhere they want, the mistakes are made easily… ;-)

NATURE CLICKS #275 - ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK

Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak

It was a great day for bird photography today. We had a nice overcast all morning long, with even a few rain drops, but this made for a wonderful and soft natural light. No harsh contrast and highlights to deal with and in addition a very pleasant temperature.

I showed you some images of the Scarlet Tanager lately and I’m glad I did, because I haven’t seen neither the male or female during the last couple days

Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak

My focus today was on another bird that arrives here every year around the first of May, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. The grosbeaks like to visit the feeders with sunflower seeds but it is not so easy to make a picture of the bird away from the feeder. 

The Rose-breasted Grosbeak winters from central into northern South America. While I’m writing this blog post I just read that the female grosbeak is known to sing, unlike most songbird species (source: iBirdPro app). I have not been aware about this fact but will pay attention to it next time I watch them...

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)