NATURE CLICKS #335 - RED-HEADED WOODPECKER

It took me 3 years and 12 days to make an image of the Red-headed Woodpecker again here in our neck of the woods. Today I finally saw an adult at a tree trunk, eying one of our suet feeders. At this time of the year the camera with long lens is always mounted on the tripod and ready to be used immediately. I didn’t get the shots the first time but the woodpecker came back a couple more times. The light was changing constantly from bright sun to slight overcast and back, and my index finger was switching between the button for exposure compensation and the shutter release all the time.

The Red-headed Woodpecker is supposed to be in our part of Iowa all-season but we have seen it only in May for short periods of time, the last time in 2013. All of the sources I use for identification and education about birds report a severe decline in the past half-century because of habitat loss and changes to its food supply. The good thing is, within the last two months we have seen all seven woodpecker species we had recorded before here on the bluffs above the Little Maquoketa River.

THE LOUD AND THE SECRETIVE

Female Baltimore Oriole

I promised you a few days ago I would show some more pictures of birds that have arrived here on the bluffs above the Little Maquoketa Valley. The Baltimore Orioles start singing beautifully already early in the morning but when they approach our bird feeders they chatter mostly loud. Both, females and males, love to eat from the halves of oranges we put out for them and also drink from our hummingbird feeders to gain strength after their long migration. Later in the summer, during the breeding process, they hardly show up again near the feeders. Their nests are usually high up in the taller trees and their diet consists of caterpillars, moths, beetles, ants, bugs, and aphids.

Male Baltimore Oriole

Female Scarlet Tanager

The Scarlet Tanager is a lot more secretive. It is not easy to make a photo away from the suet feeder, because most of the time they fly in very quiet and land right on the feeder. After their short meals they fly away immediately.

Male Scarlet Tanager

NATURE CLICKS #334 - AMERICAN TOAD

The American Toad (Bufo americanus) is one of the sixteen frog species that can be found in Iowa. They are abundant in the state, especially in forested areas. Every year we find a few in our yard, mostly in the flower beds or between ferns and shrubs.

Yesterday Joan called me down from my office while she was planting and doing yard-work. Usually the toads we saw in the past were a lot darker and more grayish but this one looked different. I put the Sigma 150 mm / f2.8 macro lens on the D750 and stretchedout in the wet grass on my stomach. Shooting this slow moving critter from above is really not an option for a decent image… 

All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150mm / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM,

MORE BIRD ARRIVALS

Male Indigo Bunting

Before I post a few more pictures from our trip to Las Vegas I like to give you an update on more bird arrivals here on the bluffs above the Little Maquoketa River Valley. This morning I saw the first Indigo Bunting in our woods this year. This small blue looking finch is easy to identify. We don’t see very many up here on our ridge but down in the valley near the edge of the woods they are more common.

Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak

The first Rose-breasted Grosbeak showed up already two weeks ago. Now we can see several males and at least two females that use our sunflower seeds to gain strength again after their long migration from South America.

Other birds have arrived as well and I may show more photos later this week.

Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak -- All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, INDURO GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, Better Beamer flash extender

AGAINST THE RULES

Canada Geese, Green Isand Wetlands, Iowa

The Hooded Merganser wasn’t the only bird taking care for their offspring last weekend in the Green Island Wetlands. I saw several pairs of Canada Geese with little goslings, mostly between 2 - 4. The female goose incubates the eggs, but other than the mergansers both parents are involved in the care taking for the young ones. Canada Geese mate for life.

This family had just crossed the road in front of me, from one pond into the next lake. I know, butt shots are supposed to be rude but Ansel Adams said already, there are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs…

I saw the story in this photo when I made the click. One parent was leading the way, the other one kept an eye on me and made loud warning noises. Fill flash helped again to bring out the colors of the goslings and to overcome the gray of the overcast. There are only a few reflections of the sky on the water and the green of the algae infested water dominates the background. Many things came together in this image and that’s why I like it.

NATURE CLICKS #333 - HOODED MERGANSER WITH OFFSPRING

When I took the pictures of the Sora I posted yesterday a big smile was already in my face. A little earlier I watched this female Hooded Merganser, surrounded by six tiny feather balls. They were swimming in one of the canals parallel to the gravel road that goes across the Green Island Wetlands. The mother was pushing them and made sure all six little mergansers kept up with her. They goofed around a lot and sometimes mom had to stop and wait. Finally, pretty close to the end of the canal, the whole train stopped. They had reached obviously their nest site. As little as they are, it must have been one of their first excursions with the mother. So, where was the male with its beautiful crest and white patches? Well, as soon the female begins to incubate, the male abandons her...

NATURE CLICKS #332 - SORA (FIRST SIGHTING)

It was another gray day without the sun coming out. I didn’t have high expectations when I went south to the Green Island Wetlands today. It was somehow on my mind that shooting birds against a gray sky or with water surrounded that reflects this sky will just not lead to any results, but I did it anyway. Oh boy, was I wrong!

Thanks to another birder and photographer, Tony Moline, I was able to have a first sighting of a Sora, a small rail. It isn’t really uncommon in North America but I have never seen one until today here in Eastern Iowa. The hint about their presence at Green Island came from two other birders from Illinois, but Tony made me aware where to look for this tiny shore bird. Thank you Tony!

The second picture was the last photo on my memory card today. I didn’t stop to work with this bird until the rain came down hard. I guess I got carried away… There were other observation in the wetlands earlier today and I may post about it in the next few days. So please stay tuned…

NOT WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR, BUT…

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, Better Beamer flash extender

I haven’t made a single click since two days <sigh>, because an indoor project kept me grounded. However, I have very little regrets, the weather has been really miserable the last couple days.

More birds have arrived here. Our House Wrens sing already since 4/16, the Whip-poor-will was heard the first time during the night of 4/20, and a female Scarlet Tanager landed briefly at a bird feeder on 4/25. That is the earliest we have ever seen a tanager in our woods. Finally the first male Rose-breasted Grosbeak showed up last Thursday, together with two Ruby-crowned Kinglets.

While trying to catch the kinglet this male Northern Cardinal posed for me briefly in a tree nearby. It was already 6:30pm but I still wanted a little bit of daylight in the background. To make this happen I shot this in DX cropping mode at 600 mm (900 mm FX) with 1/80s. The flash is still used as a fill flash, but only to reveal the colors of the cardinal. Sure, I could “nuke” this with 1/250s, and it would be tack-sharp, but the background would have been totally black and the photo would scream nothing but “FLASH!!”

The cardinal is an all-year-around bird here on our bluffs but it was its pose and gesture that make this image work for me.

GREAT HORNED OWLS, EMPTY NEST

Owlet #1

I received an email this morning from another photographer (Thank you Ken!), telling me that yesterday he found the nest of the Great Horned Owls down at the Mississippi River empty. I replied that they might just be hunkered down in the nest because of the cold and wet weather we have at the moment. I just learned that owl feathers are not waterproof and rain can impact their ability to fly noiselessly, which can be trouble for an adult during the breeding season because they cannot hunt. Wet feathers lead also to a higher loss of body heat, which could be a thread for the owlets. However, I had to check it out during my lunch break today.

Owlet #1

As Ken already reported, I found the nest empty. It took me about half an hour until I discovered one of the owlets sitting on a big branch in a tree about 50 yards to the east from the nest. I took several pictures from both sides of the tree. Because of their ability to turn the head by 270 degree, owlet #1 had an eye on me most of the time without moving the rest of the body. The wind was blowing hard and getting an unobstructed view was a challenge because branches and leaves were swaying around the whole time.

Owlet #2,  All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, Better Beamer flash extender

I scanned every tree and branch around with my eyes in search for #1’s sibling. I just couldn’t find it. Ready to give up and go back to work I suddenly saw owlet #2 sitting upright in the tree next to me and only a few yards away. It was probably watching me the whole time while I tried to find it and laughed its head off…

It’s great to see that the young Great Horned Owls started branch hopping. Pretty soon they will learn to fly and they may stay with the adults until fall. The leaves in the tress grow rapidly and it will become very difficult to find the owlets again. I’m very happy that we can see two owlets, instead of just one, for the first time during the last four years.

NATURE CLICKS #331 - BLUE JAY

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

Getting close to a Blue Jay has always been a challenge and I have mastered it only a few times so far. They are one of the most skittish birds we have in our woods. Earlier this week I set up my tripod and watched a bunch of Goldfinches through the lens. I didn’t really hide but tried to stand motionless behind the camera. The bird landed in the same tree where the finches had perched. They of course flew away, but I didn’t really mind. The late afternoon sun hit the jay just right. The noise of the camera’s shutter release made it suddenly aware about my presence. The Blue Jay took off but the goldfinches returned shortly after.

WARM LIGHT AND THE LATEST ABOUT THE OWLS

Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Image made at 500 mm with Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens

It’s a nice situation, I have made so many images recently , I just need to make up my mind what stories I like to tell first or maybe never. Sometimes the latest observations seem to be more important than the older pics… 

The backwaters of Mud Lake are the closest access to the Mississippi River for us, just ten minutes away from home. As you know, I watch the Great Horned Owl and their offspring during this time of the year at Mud Lake State Park and the photo below tells hopefully more I can even write about here…

Using the long lens for landscape photography may not be on every photographers mind. The compression of a scene, combined with gorgeous light, made me push the shutter release button this evening. The kiss of warm light during sunset is the right time to be there. The mighty Mississippi is behind this dike and the canal in the foreground is part of the Mud Lake backwaters.

NATURE CLICKS #330 - WHITE-THROATED SPARROW

Like anybody else I like this time of the year. There is so much going on in nature that it is really not difficult to find a photo that tells a story about the season. We had a rain shower this afternoon, much needed after the top soil in the yard got a little dry during the warm days we had recently. The time after the rain is also a good time to go out shooting and looking for birds, and that’s what I did this evening just here in the woods around our house.

All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, Better Beamer flash extender

In February I posted already a picture of a White-throated Sparrow. We are at the north end of their winter range but it was the first time that we saw this species so early in a year. It is not so unusual to see them in April during their migration and today we had three White-throated Sparrows foraging here on the bluffs above the Little Maquoketa River Valley.

STOPPING FOR THE PEREGRINS

Peregrine Falcon Bellevue, Iowa

I had to stop for the nest of the Peregrine Falcon again last weekend below the bluffs of Bellevue State Park, Iowa. One adult was perched again on a branch near the nest box that hangs high up in the rocks, overlooking the Mississippi River. I assume the other adult sat on the nest but I can only guess, because this is not visible from the ground at the highway. I admit this is not a fair image, because I have cropped it heavily, a lot more than just a cosmetic crop. I should have put the 1.4 teleconverter on the lens to frame the shot closer but I was kinda in a hurry. Parking is not allowed at this location, although there is a big pull-out beside the highway. I just didn’t want to deal with the local cop, who seems to be always on duty when I drive through Bellevue…😉

NATURE CLICKS #328 - TREE SWALLOW

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

Spring is not complete without the arrival of swallows. I saw the first Tree Swallows already a couple weeks ago but now we can find them in large numbers. I spent most of the day in the Green Island Wetlands. This dead tree is standing in the water and was used by the swallows as a place to rest. There were moments when all of them took off, catching insects in flight, but after a while they always came back to this tree. The Green Island Wetlands are an ideal habitat for these swallows. There is food in abundance and many dead trees, with cavities or woodpecker holes, provide the nesting places for them.

AIMING FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL PORTRAIT

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

The next weekend has almost arrived and I still have another story to share with you from the last one. Not a bad problem to have…😉  Last week, during our bird watching weekend along or near the Mississippi River we saw ten different duck species, hundreds of American Coots, and a few Hooded Mergansers between Harpers Ferry and Lansing, Iowa. None do match the beauty of a Bufflehead in my humble opinion. Their breeding grounds are up in Canada and we only have a small time window during migration to enjoy their beauty. The “eyeball shot” just for beauty has never been the goal in my wildlife photography and although I try to get as close as possible to a critter, it is the environmental portrait I’m aiming for most of the time. Photos like this, with reflections on the water, subtle light, and still an intimate focus on the bird satisfy my artistic approach.