SIGMA 150-600MM SP, MORE THOUGHTS AFTER THREE MONTHS OF FIELD TESTING

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens

Coming back from two weekend trips with filled memory cards in the camera and trying to make up the mind what photos to show is probably a good problem to have. This happens always in spring, when wildlife is migrating back north or getting ready to raise their offspring here in eastern Iowa. This pair of Trumpeter Swans rested together with some Canada Geese at a small puddle near the village of Green Island, Iowa. It was still there when I left the wetlands, hours later in the afternoon, and in much better light than during the late morning.

I promised you in December 2015 to write a little more about my experience with the Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, after I had some more field testing done. So, here are a few thoughts. The lens does a wonderful job delivering sharp images even with wide open aperture (f/6.3 at 600 mm). This was not necessarily the case with the old Sigma 50-500, which had to be set to f/8 at 500 mm for best results. I shot the Trumpeter Swans with f/6.3 and f/8 and like the sharpness equally. This is very important to know because it allows to shoot faster shutter speeds in many situations. The background is much better blurred at f/6.3, which helps to make the subject of the picture stand out from its surroundings. The corn field behind the swans is actually a pretty busy background, but smoothing it as much as possible improves the quality of the image, at least in my books… If the critter is moving and I need to pan with the lens, I usually shoot with f/8. The small increase in depth of field may help to get a sharp shot at all and the background is usually blurred anyway. Sure, a lens with f/4 or f/2.8 may deliver a better background but for most amateur photographers, like me, this is cost prohibitive…😉

NATURE CLICKS #326 - PEREGRINE FALCON

Mississippi Valley, Bellevue State Park, Iowa

Another very windy day here in eastern Iowa again but staying home on a Sunday in spring is not really an option, isn’t it? My birder friend Sally gave me a hint a few days ago about the presence of Peregrine Falcons in Bellevue, Iowa. I knew about this location since a few years but had never spotted a falcon. Well, today was the day! At my arrival late morning I saw a pair of Peregrines near the nest box that is mounted to the rocks on the east side of the bluffs at Bellevue State Park. What beautiful birds!! After I had my gear in place, right beside the highway below, one of them was gone and I had no clue were it went (nest box?). The other falcon perched in a tree slightly below the box.

These Peregrin Falcons were another first sighting for me. I made quite a few shots but wasn’t really happy with the outcome due to the harsh light. I decided to come back later when the bluffs would not be in direct sunlight anymore and moved on to the Green Island Wetlands.

The photo I show you today was finally made during the late afternoon. Only one bird was sitting in a dead tree below the bluffs. Good enough for me and much easier to handle without the direct sun light…

NATURE CLICKS #325 - GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET

I could tell several stories with the photos I made today but I like to start with the the most exciting one. I was heading north today to dam #9 in the Mississippi River, located between Harpers Ferry and Lansing, IA. The area north of the dam is a bird refuge for most of the year and it came to no surprise to see hundreds of coots and ducks there. 

A walk on the levee towards the dam led to another first sighting for me. While focussing on another bird (may talk about it another day) I suddenly heard a high-pitched “tsee-tsee-tsee” call and discovered two tiny birds that I knew so far only from my bird books. The Golden-crowned Kinglet is easy to identify, but with the speed they move along the tree branches while looking for small insects, getting a sharp image was quite a challenge.

All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head

SAME STORY, BETTER LIGHT...

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head

Same thing as yesterday, two little owlet heads peaked over the edge of the big nest from time to time. The adult Great Horned Owl was again sitting in different trees, not too far from the nest. But what a difference today photographically spoken. Yesterday, with the dark gray sky, was like biting into a lemon. The only way to make lemonade was using fill flash for having some colors. But even then the gray background just sucked…

The clouds were about to move out of our area and a shaft of low sun light and the subject (Mrs. Owl) against a partly blue sky make all the difference…

NATURE CLICKS #324 - GREAT HORNED OWL

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, gimbal head

Yesterday evening I was greeted by a chirpy little owlet, sitting at the edge of the big nest, down at the Mississippi River at Mud Lake Park. I quickly set up my tripod and watched the bird through the SIGMA 150-600mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM, zoomed out to its longest focal length. For a while I thought there was a second owlet in the nest, but after looking closer at my pictures on the screen of the NIKON D750 I found out that mother owl just “took a nap” deep down in the nest, while the juvenile enjoyed the sun. What a great moment when she finally went up and left no doubt about who is in charge. I’m so happy to see that we have for the fourth year in a row the pleasure of watching a Great Horned Owl raising her offspring.

THREE GOOSE SPECIES

Green Island Wetlands, Greater White-fronted Geese, Snow Geese, Ross's Geese (far right)

A relatively warm Easter weekend lies behind us. I hope you had a great holiday, although the sun wasn’t out much here in eastern Iowa. On Saturday I introduced the Green Island Wetlands to part of the family. Well, the seven months old twins probably didn’t care too much about where we went…😉

My excitement went up when we saw a flock of Greater White-fronted Geese. My guess was about 400-500. They have still a long way to go before they reach their breeding grounds in northern Canada. With them were also about 50 Snow Geese, the largest number I have seen so far in the Green Island Wetlands. Looking closer at my pictures at home I found out that at least two blue-morph Ross’s Geese were among as well. This was a first sighting for me! If a more experienced birder than me has some other ideas about my identification efforts, I always appreciate your help and suggestions!

An overcast isn’t really helpful if you like to reveal the colors of birds in a photo but it definitely helped with this shot. This would have been a very high contrast scene if the sun was out, but with the overcast it allowed to show some detail in all of the different species, without tweaking much of the photo in post process.

NATURE CLICKS #323 - RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER

Male Red-bellied Woodpecker

The woodpeckers around here are very active at this time of the year, especially the male Yellow-shafted Northern Flickers try already to get the females attention. The Red-bellied-Woodpeckers have still a little time. Their breeding season starts in early May. Its common name is somewhat misleading, as the most prominent red part of its plumage is on the head.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2016 #4 - HITS AND MISSES

Horned Grebe, Mississippi River, Mud Lake

As so often these days I checked on the nest of the Great Horned Owl this evening down by Mud Lake at the Mississippi River. Nothing has changed yet, mother owl still sits on the nest. She faced the low sun and this helped to make a halfway decent photo today.

I tried to make some pictures of half a dozen Common Mergansers, feeding at the exit of the marina, but they never came close enough for a shot.

Another encounter today were several American Tree Sparrows that were hanging around in the bushes along the banks. This was the first time this winter that I have seen any. Other years I saw them more frequently along the Mississippi.

Red-winged Blackbirds are now present everywhere in the Mud Lake area. They stay here during the summer in large numbers and we have enjoyed watching them from our kayaks feeding between the reeds many times.

The sun had already disappeared behind the ridge when I finally discovered what I believe is a Horned Grebe. The bird was diving in the canal of the marina. I had the camera on tripod and used the flash extender to get at least a little color for this photo. This was the first time that I saw the Horned Grebe in Iowa. Their breeding grounds are from the Dakotas to northern Canada and Alaska.

Great Horned Owl

LEARNING IT THE HARD WAY

Sometimes magic happens when you are out there shooting. This evening at Ice Harbor in Dubuque the low sun hit the last patch of ice under an angle that made it appear in a dark blue. In addition the warm colors of the building across the marina reflected in the open water between the broken floes. To make it even nicer, one of the numerous gulls landed in the right spot…

Well, it could have been a good photo, if the photographer would have paid attention to the settings in camera…!! For some reason I accidentally changed the picture quality from RAW to a low resolution JPEG. You may not see a big difference here in the blog, because the final jpg’s here are small, but good enough for posting them on the web. What’s out of consideration is a large, high quality print. The bad news is that I shot the whole day with the wrong settings. I guess some lessons can be learned only the hard way…😉

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2016 #3

Bald Eagle, Ice Harbor, Dubuque, Iowa

We had a nasty gray overcast for most of the day. Although good for some photography, it makes for very unflattering light if birds are your subject. The colors just don’t come out well and flash isn’t always an option.

There was a lot of activity on the Mississippi River. I saw the first barges passing through lock #11 in Dubuque today. I don’t think I have seen the river open for navigation that early in any year before since we live here.

Canvasbacks, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa

Hundreds of ducks, most of them Canvasbacks, were present in the Mud Lake area near mile marker 589.7 . They stayed pretty much in the main channel of the river, too far for any close up shots. But I think the image tells the story of their migration. I saw also about 30-40 Ring-necked Ducks, 6 Hooded Mergansers, and about a dozen Common Mergansers.

Bald Eagles could be seen almost everywhere along the river today. The shot I like the most was made on the south side of Ice Harbor, just across from the Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque, Iowa.

Common Mergansers, Mississippi River, dam #11, Wisconsin

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2016 #2

Bald Eagle, Mississippi River, Dubuque, Iowa

This photo was possible thanks to a hint from another birder (Thank you Sally, aka “PERCH 1”!). I had to go to Dubuque, Iowa for some errands today, and while driving by briefly at the 16th Street Basin I saw her taking pictures at one corner of the pond. A dead Bald Eagle lying in the water was the subject, and she just took some documentary shots. We can only speculate what caused its dead, from an electrical shock at on of the numerous power line poles that surround the pond or a collision with a car, many scenarios are possible at this busy place.

The old ice was all gone but due to the low temperatures last night the basin was frozen over with a new thin layer. Sally’s hint was to visit the marina behind the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, which isn’t far away. The marina had still a good layer of old ice but the obviously constantly running engine of the Coast Guard’s boat keeps some of the water open. And this is were at least seven Bald Eagles and numerous gulls had decided to hunt for fish today.

I hardly leave the house without my camera and today I was just glad to have it with me (and the long lens! 😊) when this eagle landed in a tree right beside me. Being prepared was all what it took for making this image…

NATURE CLICKS #322 - DARK-EYED JUNCO

Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-120mm / f4, @ 120 mm, 1/640s, f/5

Yeees, we got it all back! As you can easily see a huge area of clouds moved through here today and left us with a fresh cover of snow. With the snow came the Dark-eyed Juncos back, who had left us already during the last days with warmer temperatures. This medium-sized sparrow has twelve subspecies and can have many geographic color variations, but here we see mostly the “slate-colored”. The Dark-eyed Junco is my #1 “winter indicator”. In late fall or early winter they show up usually a few hours before we get the first snow. The juncos we see here in Iowa during the winter breed probably in Canada or northern Minnesota.

The photo was made through my office window, hence the slightly softer appearance of the bird. I have a small bird feeder next to the window and I use a deer antler for the birds to perch.

TURMOIL

This photo ignores the fact that there were about 25 Bald Eagles sitting on the ice or in the trees nearby. But I thought it was a more story telling picture than any shot I made yesterday of eagles at the 16th Street Basin in Dubuque, Iowa. As soon a gull pulled a fish out of the water and tried to save it from its hungry relatives or the eagles, a big turmoil broke loose and never ended until finally one of the gulls had enough time to swallow the fish or an eagle just stole it from all of them...

SIGNS OF SPRING

Sandhill Cranes, Mississippi River, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

I enjoyed shooting today with my friend Dave Updegraff, who is also an avid photography enthusiast and blog writer. We haven’t done this for a while and it was nice to catch up on things and share thoughts and news. We met in the Green Island Wetlands but I started off my photo trip in Dubuque. It got really warm today and I was surprised that the ice on the 16th Street Basin still covered the pond. I saw more than a dozen Bald Eagles and it took only a few minutes to walk away with the photo below.

There wasn’t much going on in the Green Island Wetlands in the early afternoon and Dave and I drove further south to the “Island City” Sabula, the only town in Iowa that is located on an island In the Mississippi River. Lots of Bald Eagles here as well, mostly sitting on the remaining ice or fighting about fish.

Bald Eagle, 16th Street Basin, Dubuque, Iowa

On the way back we scouted a different road along some backwaters of the river and saw in the distance Common Mergansers, Northern Pintails, and a larger number of Tundra Swans. Spring migration is in full swing already! They were all too far away for a decent photo, but nevertheless, I enjoy the bird watching part as much as the photography.

Dave had to go back home but I wanted to give the Green Island Wetlands another try. And there I found what I was hoping for today, a pair of Sandhill Cranes, foraging in the mud and shallow waters of the marshland. Another sign of a changing season was a pair of Hooded Mergansers. Again, too far away for a good picture (although I make documentary shots for tracking first seasonal appearance over the years). Finally, while on my way out of the wetlands, a huge flock of Red-winged Blackbirds landed in a tree. And this my friends, is here in Iowa for many people a sure sign that spring is knocking on the door…