GREAT LIGHT BUT STILL ADDING SOME MORE

Red-bellied Woodpecker -----------

Winter is back here in eastern Iowa since a couple days. Time to put the best reflector nature provides for us to work. Yep, I’m talking about the fresh snow on the ground. The quality of light becomes very good for bird photography as soon a little sun hits the snow. The reflection from underneath the bird, even if they sit a little higher in a tree, makes the big difference to any other time of the year. In addition I’m testing a new flash extender that made it into my bag of tools. I’m not ready to talk about it today but might be soon. My flash extender of choice was the Better Beamer for many years (click HERE to see how it looks like). So why throwing more light at the subject if the overall conditions are sufficient? “Tree hugging” birds like this young male Red-bellied Woodpecker like to stay quite often on the shady side of the tree. I still can expose halfway correctly but a little hint of flash (and I mean a little hint) will reveal the beauty of all the colors in its feathers.

This is the tree I call “Woodpecker-Tree #1” in our front yard. A suet feeder is nearby and this tree is quite often the starting point for the birds approaching this feeder. The Red-bellied Woodpecker seemed to be in some competition today about the best spot with another woodpecker, a Northern Flicker. As you can see, it was all about display. Catching the colors and gesture was important to me to tell the story with my photo.

LUNCH-N-LEARN

Black-capped Chickadee ----------

Last year I have been asked by the Dubuque County Conservation to be part of a new program series “Lunch-N-Learn” for adults and seniors in the Swiss Valley Nature Center. Date and time were now officially announced and I like to invite those of you who live in or not too far from Dubuque, Iowa to join my presentation about nature photography. 

When: Wednesday, February 08, 2017, 11.00AM - 12.30PM

Where: Swiss Valley Nature Center, 13606 Swiss Valley Road, Peosta, IA 52068

The event is free but if you like to register for the catered lunch ($10) or want more information, please use the link below:

http://www.mycountyparks.com/County/Dubuque/Park/Swiss-Valley-Nature-Preserve-and-Nature-Center/Events/9396/Lunch-n-Learn.aspx

“Creating awareness by visual story telling” is the topic of my photo presentation. I will talk about favorite locations, the best times to find critters, how to approach wildlife, and how we can tell a story with our photographs to make other people aware about our natural treasures. It will not be so much about the technical aspects, like f-stop, exposure time, etc., but all about passion and the fun nature photography can create. Of course, I will try to answer any question someone may have after the presentation. I’m very excited and I hope you can join me February, 08.

 

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2017 #4 - WARM WEEK AT THE RIVER

I have two photos for you today. The one above is from earlier this week, taken at lock & dam #14 in Le Claire, Iowa. It seems it becomes more and more common that some pelicans stay here during the winter. In Le Claire, about 90 miles south from Dubuque, the main channel of the river is open and they can find apparently enough food.

Dam #11, Dubuque, Iowa

It was a gray and foggy day today here in Dubuque and not very inviting for any bird photography, but the temperatures were way above freezing. In the second photo you can see that the snow is almost gone around here. The ice was jammed above the dam, hence the fog in the background. What you don’t see is any Bald Eagles. Today was the annual “Bald Eagle Watch” but I felt bad for the visitors at lock & dam #11. I saw only two eagles on the ice and they were far away. The US Army Corps of Engineers had Brent, one of their Natural Resource Specialists, on site and he was answering questions and helped people with spotting scopes that were provided to watch the birds.

He told me that there was more going on in the Grand River Center in Dubuque and so I went there next. Natural resource agencies and organizations had educational displays and information and there were also some activities for kids.

At one of the vendor’s tables I met with Ty Smedes, a well known nature photographer here in Iowa. I have seen him on TV and read some of his articles in the IOWA Outdoors Magazine before. We had a good conversation about many aspects of nature and photography. If you like to check out his work, here is a link to his website http://www.smedesphoto.com . I bought one of his excellent books and Ty was so nice to sign it.

BALD EAGLE’S STORY, GOOD REASON FORE EVEN MORE AWARENESS

Living here in eastern Iowa and having Bald Eagles present all year long may dull our sense of appreciation for this majestic bird. But as real friends of nature we will probably never get tired of their presence. Not everybody is aware that this bird was almost at the brink of extinction not that long ago, but the time is luckily over when we had to make any possible shot to prove that the Bald Eagle is still among us. Instead we now can relax and focus on its sheer beauty and the stories our images may tell. Creating awareness about our natural history and heritage is what my photography is about. Seeing large numbers of eagles soaring above our heads doesn’t mean we have reached a safe heaven. There are many other critters and birds that need our attention, and your photos, yes, yours, may help to create awareness about the struggle for survival of a particular species that is confronted with shrinking habitat and / or global climate change.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2017 #3 - BALD EAGLES

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

The long-time followers of my blog knew probably immediately where I have been today after looking at this photo. Yes, a trip 90 miles south to lock & dam #14 in Le Claire, Iowa was overdue and the weather conditions were perfect today to shoot at this location along the Mississippi River. The river is not frozen over but there were always some Bald Eagles around, even if they could fish at many other places along the river.

I have been a little “rusty” for shooting birds in flight but I got a good share of photos with Bald Eagles soaring over the water and catching fish. However, my favorite photo of eagles today is the one above with this couple, shot at the moment of take off from a dead tree. While many photographers never point their lens at anything different than a Bald Eagle while they are at L&D 14, I used half of the time today to go for some other birds that were present, and that are usually a lot more difficult to get in front of the camera. But this is for another blog post. So please stay tuned…

2016 RETROSPECT / 6

Warbling Vireo, Mines of Spain, Dubuque, Iowa, June 2016 --------------

Much of my time out in the field is dedicated to wildlife photography and that wasn’t any different in 2016. The Mississippi Valley and surrounding areas provide habitat for many species. Some of them are here only for a few weeks, just enough to raise their offspring.

In June I had the chance to photograph a pair of Warbling Vireos. I saw them several times with insects in their bills and knew that they were feeding, but it took me more than 90 minutes before I finally discovered a young bird. The little guy sat in the grass below a group of trees and waited to be fed by its parents. The technical aspects of making a photograph are dealt with on a subconscious level in situations like that. It’s all about the bird, the light, and being fast enough to bring it all together…

Juvenile Warbling Vireo

2016 RETROSPECT / 5

Hooded Merganser with offspring, Green Island Wetlands, May 2016

One of the most memorable moments this year out in the field chasing the wildlife was the encounter of a female Hooded Merganser with her offspring. Everybody likes a picture of young ducklings but it was the story telling gestures of the female that led to my best photos that afternoon in the Green Island Wetlands next to the Mississippi River here in eastern Iowa. I have written about this here in the blog but I think there is nothing wrong including another photo of this great moment in my 2016 retrospect series.

NATURE CLICKS #356 - EASTERN BLUEBIRD

Male Eastern Bluebird

One of the prettiest visitors in our yard is the Eastern Bluebird. We have at least four that fly in every day to drink or just sit at the bird bath to warm up a little. I shot this through the glass of a window. They are very skittish and fly away as soon they sense some movement. The glass has a little softening effect on the image. This benefits the background but makes it more challenging to obtain sharpness on the bird. The bluebirds are often in company with some American Robins that stay here despite the cold temperatures we had last weekend. What keeps both species here during the winter is probably the supply of juniper berries from Eastern Red Cedars that grow here on the bluffs of the Little Maquoketa River Valley. Bluebirds feed on insects, earthworms, snails, and other invertebrates during the summer but are highly dependent upon berries during the winter.

NATURE CLICKS #355 - NORTHERN FLICKER (YELLOW-SHAFTED)

Male Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker -----------

We had quite a bit of snow during the last two days and the temperatures dropped way down (-22˚ C / -7˚ F). 17 different species of birds can be found in these tough times at our bird feeders and water supply and I’m not counting those who show up only occasionally. The flickers have found out about our place again and this season we see at least three males and one female.

The Northern Flicker has two subspecies, the red-shafted and the yellow-shafted. Here in Iowa and the eastern US we have the yellow-shafted form. The image below is not a real good photo but I wanted to show it anyway. While I focussed on the female sitting at a bird bath it suddenly turned its head for an incoming male. Although the male bird is not in focus, you can see why this subspecies is called the yellow-shafted.

NATURE CLICKS #354 - FORSTER’S TERN

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

It is hard to believe that it was already a month ago when I visited the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach, California. I hope you don’t mind if I show another image here in the blog, even if it is not “real fresh” anymore.

If you follow my blog regularly, you know that I never liked the fact that in most places in the wetlands you can’t really shoot near the water level. You are supposed to stay on the trail or levee and that is always higher located. Nevertheless, there is one spot where you can go a little lower (still not low enough) and look over a sand bank that is not submerged in water. At low tide hundreds of birds use it as a resting place or forage in the sand and between the stones. Dozens of Forster’s Terns are among them and they are now in their winter plumage. I have photographed them here at the Mississippi River during migration but never more than two at any time.

COUSINS

Red-breasted Nuthatch ------------

We had an extremely mild October and November and I wonder if this is the reason that we see this Red-breasted Nuthatch still in the trees and at our bird feeders. I first saw the bird October, 29th and repeatedly after. It’s cousin, the White-breasted Nuthatch is here all year long. They are slightly bigger than the red-breasted and at the bird feeders the smaller nuthatch seems to avoid its bigger cousins.

White-breasted Nuthatch

NATURE CLICKS #353 - REDDISH EGRET

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

Almost every birder and photographer I met in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve three weeks ago asked me, did you see a Reddish Egret? Yes, I did, I saw two of them! It wasn’t my first sighting of this bird and I have posted here in the blog about it exactly five years ago. I learned that a pair of Reddish Egrets had raised their offspring in the wetlands this year and people were just eager to see them.

I admit that this image was shot in “DX-mode” and in addition it is cropped. Unfortunately it is also not real sharp, with other words, a larger print is out of question. I had no chance to get closer during the short time I had the egret in front of my lens. There was too much water between me and the bird. If it was for a Great Egret, or even a Snowy Egret, I would not post this image here but this bird deserves an exception. Southern California is about as far north this egret goes on the west coast. The Reddish Egret is North America’s rarest heron and is usually confined as a breeder to the Gulf coast (source: National Geographic Complete Birds of North America).

NATURE CLICKS #352 - SNOWY EGRET

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

The graceful Snowy Egret has always been present during my visits in the Bolsa Chica Wetlands. They are smaller in size than the Great Egret and its black bill and black legs with yellow feet make it easy to identify. The legs of the egret in my photo are only partly black, a sure indicator that this was still an immature bird. The Snowy Egret feeds on fish, aquatic invertebrates, and even lizards and snakes. I watched them hunting for fish together with a large number of Great Egrets, American White Pelicans, and Double-crested Cormorants.

NATURE CLICKS #351 - WESTERN FENCE LIZARD

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

I was asked if there were any other critters in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve beside birds. The answer is yes, although I only saw this nice looking fence lizard in one of the bushes near the border of the reserve. Just minutes later another local photographer showed me a picture of a coyote he just had seen. The same friendly guy reminded me to watch where I go in order not to come close to a rattlesnake. Two species of this venomous snake can be found around the wetlands. Unfortunately I didn’t see any. I also didn’t see any rabbits, cottontails, mice, ground squirrels, bob cats, sharks, or any other kind of lizards. Fish were jumping and I saw for the first time a ray at the bottom of the laguna. The ecological reserve is full of life but one day is just not enough time to explore all of it. I’m nevertheless happy with my image of the Western Fence Lizard. The blue patch at its throat indicates that this is probably a male.

NATURE CLICKS #350 - LONG-BILLED CURLEW

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

One of the reasons I always like to come back to the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve is the abundance of shorebirds. The Long-billed Curlew is the largest shorebird in North America. It breeds farther north and spends the winter in southern California and Mexico. The first image was made in the late afternoon, less than an hour before sunset. The other picture is from the early morning. Using the soft light in the morning (there was a slight overcast) and the low sun in the late afternoon were key for these photos.

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 Bolsa Chica you are not supposed to leave the levees and the gravel trails on top of them. Yesterday I wrote about that the wetlands are still under restoration and the shores are very fragile. I usually respect and obey the rules without stretching them too far. The downside is that most of the time you shoot slightly or even greater extend from above the water level. This doesn’t always lead to a good viewing angle and perfect background.