NATURE CLICKS #349 - BLACK PHOEBE

Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach, California ----------

The Black Phoebe is the other phoebe that we don’t see in the eastern part of the US (see my post from yesterday). It is a permanent resident in the southwestern states. The area in the ecological reserve where I found this bird doesn’t have any trees and the barbed wire fence was obviously the best perch the phoebe could find to look out for insects. It wasn’t my first sighting but this was the closest I have ever been to a Black Phoebe.

The sun was almost at its highest point when the click was made. A hint of flash helped to overcome the harsh light situation, not much different than shooting a portrait at the beach…

NATURE CLICKS #348 - SAY’S PHOEBE (FIRST SIGHTING!)

Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach, California ----------

I have reported and showed pictures several times over the years of the Eastern Phoebe, the only phoebe in North America that lives in the eastern part of the continent. Back in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, California last Sunday I saw for the first time in my life a Say’s Phoebe. Most of my photos were shot with the bird perched on a barbed wire fence, closer than this picture, but I really like this shot because of light, background, and gesture. Like the Eastern Phoebe the Say’s flies from a perch to catch insects, like many other flycatchers. The bird is not difficult to identify and I was very happy about my encounter, but wait, there was another one…, well, this is for my next blog post. So please stay tuned…

RAPTORS AT BOLSA CHICA

Osprey, Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach, California

During all my previous visits in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve people were telling me about a pair of Ospreys that nest in the wetlands, but I never saw them. This time I got a little more lucky and spotted actually two birds several times. This one here was perched on a dead tree, not far from the water. The laguna provides plenty of food for all kind of birds and it is not only the Osprey that hunts for fish. I also saw a Northern Harrier soaring along the shore early in the morning. Unfortunately it hit me a little by surprise and I missed the shot. Well, next time…

NATURE CLICKS #347 - BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON

Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach, California --------------

One of the best bird encounters I had in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve last Sunday was the presence of some Black-crowned Night-Herons. I have seen and photographed them only once in the Green Island Wetlands here in the Mississippi River Valley. Some other photographers told me that they had seen lately even the Golden-crowned Night-Heron, who is there only occasionally during migration. My luck didn’t stretch out that far but I was very happy seeing the black-crowned. It was already close to mid day when these shots were made and I came back later in hope for softer light, but the herons were gone.

Sometimes we have to compromise, especially if the time to work with a particular species is limited. The background was really critical. The location of these dead trees, where the herons had perched, was near the border of the preserve, just in front of a residential area. Houses are never a great background for wildlife photography but in my second picture I couldn’t hide the fact. Usually I try to zoom with my feet and move around for a better background but more dead trees and other obstructions really limited my chances. Well, I’m still happy…

BACK IN BOLSA CHICA

Great Egret, Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach, California --------  

Last Sunday, after four years of absence, I was again in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, a wetland area near Huntington Beach in Southern California. This was my fourth time since 2010 and I never came back disappointed. It is a great place for bird watching and photography.

My strategy has been always to arrive on location before sunrise and to leave after the sun disappeared behind the horizon line of the Pacific Ocean. I took a lunch break for some much craved fresh seafood in the early afternoon, when the light is usually not at its best in Southern California, but returned for the warm light in the late afternoon.

I talked with a lot of people in the preserve, other photographers, bird watchers, or locals that were in for a walk along the shore of the laguna. Everybody was extremely friendly and helpful with hints where to find some particular birds. I was told we are kind of between seasons in Bolsa Chica. While some winter residents have already arrived, many are not there yet. However, I had a great time last Sunday in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. Some of the birds we never or hardly ever see here in Iowa and as a result I have at least one species on my memory card that I saw and photographed for the first time. I’ll talk about this in one of my future blog posts.

The Great Egret is a bird that we see here along the Mississippi River during the summer. It was the gesture of this bird, while on the hunt for a fish, that made me choose this image for today’s blog post.

NATURE CLICKS #346 - RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH

Since yesterday we have a Red-breasted Nuthatch around here. They spent the summer up north in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Canada. Although I spent several hours this weekend to get a shot with the bird away from a bird feeder, I did not succeed. The Nuthatch flies in pretty straight right up to a feeder with sunflower seeds, picks up a seed, and flies off into the woods. Its cousin, the White-breasted Nuthatch, who is a permanent resident here in eastern Iowa, goes usually first to a tree trunk and makes sure the feeder area is safe before it gets to the food source. This makes it much easier to get a picture. The red-breasted is smaller and very easy to identify because of the black eyestripe and of course color. I hope the nuthatch stays for a few more days and I still can get a shot with the bird on a tree trunk or branch. My records show that the last time I saw one in our woods was in May 2013. I guess it’s time for a new photo… 😊

NATURE CLICKS #345 - CEDAR WAXWING IN THE RAIN

Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada -----------

Here is the question, what do you do if it rains out in the wilderness? The only answer I can give, take the camera with you, otherwise you will miss some of the best story telling shots. This Cedar Waxwing was the only one we saw during our trip around Lake Superior. It looked a little bit pitiful with its wet feathers on this gray and misty day, but the waxwing is such a pretty bird and I had to give it a try.

Using a flash light for enhancing the colors was not really an option in the rain. No matter how much the flash power is dialed down, it is difficult to go without unwanted reflections. Handholding the D750 / 150-600 combo and following the fast moving bird required a much higher ISO setting than I like to use for my wildlife photography. The photo was made at 1/200 s, f/6.3, and ISO800. This was obviously enough for a proper exposure and still slow enough to show the rain as small strings in the background. The rain drops on leaves and twigs and the wet shimmer on the waxwing’s feathers are all story telling elements that are important for this photo.

LATE SUMMER DAY, PLANS CHANGED

Pied-billed Grebe, Green Island Wetlands, Mississippi River, Iowa -----    

Yesterday I went out to capture actually some fall pictures, since the leaves started turning here, but despite the ongoing duck hunting season I saw a lot of bird activities in the Green Island Wetlands. I couldn’t let this go and kept the long lens on the D750 the whole time. No, not any “exotic” birds but the usual residents did their best to impress me in the wonderful light and warm weather of what I would still call a late summer day. Well, the leaves can wait…😉

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

It is not so difficult to make a photo of the Pied-billed Grebe while they swim on the water between their dives for food. The pied-billed is not as shy as many ducks and over the years I have been able to succeed many times with the Pied-billed Grebe in the viewfinder. So why pointing the lens again and again at this cute little grebe? For me it is the logical next step in order to become better with my photography. The biology of birds can be very complex and there is always a gesture or pattern in behavior that is worth to be documented or bares its own beauty if captured in great light and when the moment is right.

FOX, …YEP, GETTING CLOSE

Red Fox - Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada ----------

I wrote about his young fox already a few days ago. If you missed this post, please feel free to click right HERE. After the critter lost focus on a possible prey, somewhere in the ditch beside the gravel road, it walked right towards us. I had to shorten the focal length of the Sigma 150-600 mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens quickly in order to make this photo. As I often state, I’m more an environmental shooter than an eyeball photographer, but this photo is kinda the golden mean in my humble opinion…

NATURE CLICKS #344 - COMMON LOON

Mijinemungshing Lake in Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada

If there was one photo I really wanted to make during our tour around Lake Superior, it is this one. Up north you can hear the calls of the loon at many forested lakes or ponds. They often call at night and I think it is one of the greatest sounds in nature. Getting close to the bird and making the click is a big challenge if you sit in a kayak. The loons eat mostly fish and forage by diving from the water surface and chase down their prey underwater. They can dive up to 65 meters (200 feet) below the surface and the eyes of a loon can focus both in air and water. For a photographer it is not really predictable where the loon will show up next and I’m glad you couldn’t hear me cursing many times…

The photo was made during a paddle tour on Mijinemungshing Lake in Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. There was no other car in the parking lot next to the boat landing and at the end of the gravel road, means we had the lake for ourselves. Paddling doesn’t get any better than that!

 

NATURE CLICKS #343 - HERRING GULL

Marie Louise Lake, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada -------

Making a picture of a Gull is not too difficult, they are usually anywhere near a big body of water. It has to be something special involved, like a great natural light situation or a story telling aspect that can make a photo of an ordinary bird, like a gull, standing out from the rest. This Herring Gull was interestingly enough the only gull we saw during one of our kayak tours on Marie Louise Lake in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. It just had caught a fish and was still messing with it as we drifted towards the shore with our boats. Usually a gull takes off and flies away if you get too close but this one didn’t want to give up the fish at all costs.

It is the low perspective that makes these shots special for me and the pictures from this incident tell the story.

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

 

NATURE CLICKS #342 - RED FOX PUP

Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens -----

The morning when we pulled out of Sleeping Giant Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada and moved on with our tour around Lake Superior we decided to check out another small lake not far from the road. As we came around a corner we suddenly saw this young Red Fox right beside the gravel road. We stopped, sneaked carefully out of the car and started shooting. The fox decided to ignore us. There were several challenges to master beside not scaring the critter away. One was to deal with some “stupid” grass in the foreground. I have several images where it is right in front of the eye. Not good! The second challenge was the backlight situation. I have ruined many photos in the past with similar light but this time I learned from previous mistakes and chose the right exposure compensation. The rim light separates the fox from the background and works very well for this shot. Starting a day like this is hard to beat… 😊

 

ON THEIR WAY

Immature Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Shortly after my return from Orlando yesterday I checked the traffic at our hummingbird feeders. Well, there was no traffic at all. Every year the last hummingbirds come through by the end of September and it will take until about May 1st next year before we see the first ones again. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird spends the winter in southern Mexico and even further south. Fall migration starts as early as mid-July and there is almost a complete exchange daily at the feeders and in the gardens. With few exceptions, during migration all the birds seen at feeders one day are gone the next. It needs a great deal of energy for this long flight and besides nectar eating small insects is crucial for their diet.

Today’s photo was already made September 19th, the last time I had a chance to point my lens at these tiny birds in our garden.

NATURE CLICKS #341 - COMMON MERGANSERS

Marie Louise Lake, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada --- 

During our travel around Lake Superior we had the pleasure to watch over 30 bird species. I was of course not able to photograph all of them, but the best opportunities came while on the water. We had our kayaks with us and made some nice paddle tours on lakes that surround Superior. 

This family of Common Mergansers had actually ten members but they didn’t always stay close together for having them all in the frame. Mergansers are a lot more tolerant with humans than ducks. Several times we just paddled with them, always keeping a safe distance, and when they sticked their heads under water to look for fish, we just knew that they had accepted us.

Shooting with the long lens from a kayak in windy conditions can be quite a risky maneuver. My practice here at home on the Mississippi River helped me a lot to learn how to handle the boat in the wind and work with the camera at the same time. It is important to keep an eye on the birds and watch the direction of the light, but also make sure your own safety and equipment is not at risk. It is easy to get stuck between rocks or on a log in shallow water.

As you can imagine it takes a few more clicks to get a sharp shot. The first day on Marie Louise Lake in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park we spent over an hour with the mergansers. We tried the same the next day but got distracted by some other birds. But this is for another story later…

NATURE CLICKS #341 - EASTERN PHOEBE

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

An Eastern Phoebe shows up around the house once in a while. This relatively quite flycatcher perches for a few seconds on a branch, or like in this image on top of a shepherds hook, catches an insect, and lands on the next elevated spot. We usually see them every year in early spring and their appearance means most of the time ‘winter is over’. Seeing the bird frequently means hopefully they had a successful breeding season in our part of the woods. The Eastern Phoebe will migrate late September, early October to the southern part of the US or northern Mexico. It happens every year, but I will be excited as always if the first one shows up again here next spring. There is no better message at that time than ’winter is over’….