WOODPECKER COMPETITION

Red-headed Woodpecker ------

There is enough food for everybody available but today the woodpeckers acted like there was no tomorrow. It seems the “new kid on the block”, the Red-headed Woodpecker who hangs around here since a few days, wants to establish a dominance over all his cousins.

Hairy Woodpecker

Two Hairy Woodpeckers are permanent residents on our bluffs here and usually nobody messes with their long and sharp bill. They are about the same size as the red-headed but even they went out of its way.

Female Red-bellied Woodpecker

Four Red-bellied Woodpeckers are part of the gang and can be very expressive and vocal if they dislike something. However, especially the younger birds, like this female, have been chased today by the red-headed “bully”.

Downy Woodpecker

The seven or eight Downy Woodpeckers are the cool girls and boys in our woods. They are much smaller in size and wouldn’t have any chance in a fight with their cousins. They stay away from the chase and come only to our feeders when the bigger guys need a break.

BACK FROM SOUTH AMERICA

Female Scarlet Tanager ----------  

The male Scarlet Tanager, with its red plumage and black wings, was already here since a few days and was yesterday joined by a female. They spent the winter in northwestern South American tropical forests. The Scarlet Tanagers feed on insects, fruits, berries, and buds, but eat readily from the suet feeders that we fill for the woodpeckers after the long journey from their winter range.

1/400 s, f/6.3, ISO 200, @600 mm, -1/3 EV, flash -4 EV;

with Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender;

RARE GUEST: RED-HEADED WOODPECKER

Red-headed Woodpecker, Little Maquoketa River Valley, near Durango, Iowa ------

It is an exiting time of the year for watching the birds, migrating ones or permanent residents. As already announced yesterday, we had a visitor in our woods that is supposed to be in eastern Iowa all year long, but we only have seen this bird four times during the month of May in the last 13 years. Well, it doesn’t matter, it is a beautiful woodpecker and making a few clicks yesterday early morning was a thrill. I saw the Red-headed Woodpecker again briefly today but wasn’t able to aim my lens at the bird again.

Making another click of a bird, days, weeks, months, or even years later bares always the question, was there any improvement? I knew from previous shootings that sharpness was kinda at the edge of acceptance in the past. This is a fact not so much visible in every picture posted on the world wide web, but the truth is revealed at the moment someone wants to print the photo on a larger scale. I know I made a step forward with yesterday’s photos, sharpness is a lot better than in the past, but as always, there is still room for improvement…

NATURE CLICKS #375 - ORCHARD ORIOLES

Orchard Oriole, immature male -------

It was an incredible day. We never have seen so many orioles in our yard and the surrounding woods like today. And the best thing was, it wasn’t just one species. I counted in the morning up to ten Baltimore Orioles and in addition we saw at least five Orchard Orioles of different ages and gender.

Orchard Oriole, adult male

My photography friend Kevin joined me this evening for some “porch shooting”, means we placed the tripods on our front porch and waited for the birds to come. During idle times we had good conversation about all kinds of photography questions and had a blast shooting away when the birds came close. I was happy for Kevin when even a male Scarlet Tanager showed up and he was able to make some good clicks. This wasn’t all for today. Another rare visitor showed up, but this is for another blog post, so please stay tuned…

Orchard Oriole, immature female

EASY CLICK

Northern Cardinal

Back from another road trip we enjoyed sitting on the porch and watched the birds here in our woods after the rain this evening. Joan saw an Orchard Oriole, which was only the second time in all the years that this bird made an appearance. A little later we watched a Nashville Warbler foraging by gleaning food from the leaves. Unfortunately it was too dark already for making any pictures.

A couple days ago two male Northern Cardinals tried everything to impress a female and seemed to forget my presence in the yard completely. All what I had to do was to press the shutter button when this red guy landed on a branch just in front of me.

READY FOR THE ORIOLES

Male and female Baltimore Orioles --------

They came a couple days later this year than other years before but we have the pleasure to watch at least five Baltimore Orioles in our yard again. Yesterday morning we had a thin overcast, giving the light a certain quality that I liked and making exposure very easy. Having the Nikon D750 and Sigma 150-600 on the tripod allowed me to shoot all the way down to 1/60s without cranking up the ISO higher than 400 (the image above was shot at 1/160s, f/6.3, ISO400, @450 mm). I always wanted to make a photo like the one above, with both, male and female oriole in the same frame. They sat there for only a brief moment and I do have just this one image with both birds. The important thing was that I had this kind of picture already in my mind and when the opportunity came I was ready for it.

Later in the evening the light didn’t have the same quality as it was during the early morning and I added a hint of fill flash to most pictures. The photo of the male Baltimore Oriole was made with 1/60s, f/6.3, ISO 320, @600 mm. Exposure compensation for the background was set to -0.7EV and flash settings were at -4EV.

IT’S ABOUT GESTURE

Northern Water Snake, Mississippi River, Deere Dyke, Dubuque, Iowa ---------    

Wildlife photography was not on the priority list during the last two days. Joan and I had Anthony and Teegan, our twin grandsons, at our house this weekend and that was a lot of fun. Today we went on a walk to the Deere dyke at the Mississippi River. The weather doesn’t get any better than today here in the Upper Mississippi Valley. I debated with myself about taking camera and long lens with me, but the only way not making any pictures is leaving the gear at home or in the car… Sure, the bright light of a Sunday afternoon without any clouds is not a favorite, but for the first time I had a Sora and several Lesser Yellowlegs in front of the lens at this location.

I got very excited while watching the Lesser Yellowlegs, a sandpiper that I have photographed at the Green Island Wetlands before during spring migration. When this Northern Water Snake, resting on a sun flooded log in the shallow backwaters of the Mississippi, lifted its head, my attention shifted immediately. It’s mediocre light but it is the gesture of the critter that makes the difference between a documentary shot and a photo that is worth to be shown.

NATURE CLICKS #374 - DUNLINS

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

These Dunlins were still thousands of miles away from their breeding grounds along the arctic coast. Something seemed to scare them once in a while and they took off from the island in the background, but they always returned shortly after. Their coordinated aerial maneuvers are stunning and fun to watch. Another photo I made revealed that at least two birds were already in their breeding plumage, recognizable by a conspicuous black belly patch.

NOT LITTLE ANYMORE

Juvenile Great Horned Owl, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa ---------    

I made an early visit to Mud Lake this morning and came back with nothing. Looking for the branchling between all the leaves is like searching a needle in a hay stack. My photography friend Linda went later in the day to the same place and spotted the owlet successfully. I finally went back in the afternoon and found the young Great Horned Owl sitting on a branch in a large cluster of maple trees, the same spot Linda had described in an email to me. I’m very thankful to her for sending me the message.

I guess we shouldn’t call the owlet “little” anymore. It’s hard to believe it was only 37 days between the photos from today and my first shot of the young bird in the picture below. The click above was made when the bird turned its head and had an eye on our little dog Cooper, who sat quietly in the grass below. Maybe there were some thoughts about a future meal… Looking at its big claws leaves me without any doubts that this owl will be a great predator.

First sighting, March 28, 2017 (image cropped)

NATURE CLICKS #373 - WILLET

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

Last week I read on the website of the Iowa-Bird google group that people had spotted a number of Willets at several locations in eastern Iowa. I tried to find this medium to large sandpiper at the Deere Marsh here in Dubuque last Saturday morning but I had no luck.

Two weeks ago in the Bolsa Chica Wetlands in California I still saw a few that hadn’t migrated to their breeding grounds in the interior of the western US and Canada.

The Willet in the image was in company with several Marbled Godwits but I tried to isolate it from the rest of the bunch for my picture. The warm natural light of this evening made it an easy click with the Nikon D750 and Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports lens mounted on tripod with gimbal head. 

PREENING - OFTEN A GOOD GESTURE

Snowy Egret, San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine, California ---------

No visit in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve or the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Southern California is complete without a photo of a Snowy Egret. I have photographed this beautiful bird many times before and the question at another visit is always, how can the previous results be improved? The answer lies first in a review of older images. Do I need improvement on the technical side (i.e. sharpness)? What was missing? What kind of shot would I like to make? For the Snowy Egret I found out that I have plenty of images showing the bird standing in the water or walking along the shore and looking out for little fish to catch. This is how we see the egret the most and I can tell you, I added some more photos to the library that show the bird just doing this. What I didn’t shoot before was an egret preening its feathers. This is a great gesture that tells a story about this bird.

In harsh light exposing strictly for the highlights on the white egret darkens the background but I used it too my advantage because it also hides some mud and clutter that would otherwise distract from the subject of the photo. Sure, this can be done in post process at home on the computer but getting it right in camera is the real deal for me.

HIGH HOPES

American Avocet, San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine, California ---------

Every local birder I met in the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Orange County, California a few days ago was excited to talk about the possibility that the American Avocets may breed this year at the ponds of the bird sanctuary. Someone must had posted something on social media because several people asked me where to find the avocets. That wasn’t really difficult to answer, since they were present right at the pond next to one of the parking lots. In the morning I saw only three, but later in the day I counted five birds. They bend down and sweep their bills from side to side in a scything motion along the bottom to stir up aquatic insects. Their diet also consists crustaceans and aquatic plants.

I started to understand the excitement of other bird lovers while watching a pair of avocets preparing a nest side or at least pretending to. Remember, this sanctuary is next to an airport and between extremely busy freeways and residential areas.

NATURE CLICKS #372 - PALM WARBLER

Palm Warbler, Little Maquoketa River Valley near Durango, Iowa --------    

It paid back to take the camera and long lens with me while walking our dog down in the Little Maquoketa Valley this morning. First I saw a White-throated Sparrow perfectly placed on a horizontal branch (hence the new photo-button for my bird gallery in the side bar of this website). Shortly after I watched a Palm Warbler foraging in the trees between the abandoned Burton Furnace Road and the Little Maquoketa River near Durango, Iowa. First warbler of the season for me!

The bird in the photo is not tack sharp, just good for a post on the web. Printing this image on a larger scale would not be very pretty. I kinda struggled to handhold the relatively heavy combo of Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600 sports lens, and SB800 speed light. Using the tripod for small birds on the move is not always the best choice, so I left it up on the bluffs at home. Being fast is essential and the only way to solve this conflict is to practice more handholding. Will try tomorrow again…😉

THE DOG, A SORA, AND HARSH LIGHT

Sora, Green Island Wetlands, Mississippi River, Iowa

Yesterday Joan and I went on a “Sunday cruise” along the Mississippi by car and ended up checking all the known locations in the Green Island Wetlands that have led to some wildlife photography in the past. At the end of a short hike on one of the levees our little dog Cooper started barking and ran down to the water. First we thought a muskrat had triggered his instincts, since he usually ignores all the birds, but then we saw a Sora foraging on top of the driftwood and between the old reeds. We called him back immediately. It was the same spot in the wetlands where I had photographed this species last year after another photographer had made me aware of it. A little later we saw finally a second bird.

A look at the range map in my bird guides reveals that the Sora is widely distributed and is the most common rail in North America. The Green Island Wetlands are about at the southern border of their summer range.

It wasn’t an easy process to make this photo. I was shooting against the sun and all the reflections on the water made it a challenge to deal with exposure. The Sora moves fast while searching for food between the floating vegetation and quite often old stalks were in the way for a clean shot. The background is not very nice but it is it’s natural habitat. Last year I watched the Sora while it was raining and thought that was not easy. Well, I take the rain any time over the harsh light from last Sunday…

NATURE CLICKS #371 - BLACK-NECKED STILT

Black-necked Stilt, San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine, California ----------

Hard to believe that it was already a week ago when I visited the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine, California. It was very exciting to see and watch many birds that we don’t see here in Iowa. One of them is the Black-necked Stilt, who feeds in salt and fresh water. I first saw them a few years ago in the Great Salt Lake, Utah, than last week again in the salty water of the Pacific Ocean at the Bolsa Chica laguna, and finally in the fresh water ponds at the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary. Their legs are extremely long in proportion to their body, only exceeded by flamingos. This stilt feeds on tadpoles, mollusks, aquatic insects, snails, flying insects, seeds, and even small fish (source: iBird Pro App).

The photo was made with the Sigma 1.4 tele extender attached to the Sigma 150-600 lens and camera was set to DX crop mode. This is the equivalent to an angle of view of a 1275 mm lens. This shows the bird a lot closer but handling this focal length, even on a tripod with gimbal head, is not an easy task. This combination is unforgiving when you make the slightest mistake while focussing on a moving subject. The Black-necked Stilt has some good contrast in its feathers and therefor it is a great shore bird to practice with a long lens.