STORY WITHOUT PICTURE

Barred Owl ----------

Today’s nature story from our woods here above the Little Maquoketa River Valley can’t be told with a picture due to the lack of light. The photo above is from April 26, and is just supposed to support my story. As the avid reader of my blog already knows, we have watched a pair of Barred Owls this spring and finally saw yesterday an adult owl delivering a chipmunk or mouse to a big cavity in a hickory tree only ~25 yards away from our house. We had suspected that the nest was there but didn’t really have a proof until yesterday.

This evening, sitting on the porch with a glass of wine after sunset and enjoying the mild weather, I heard a subtle whistling call and saw the owl flying away from the nest site. Looking again at the tree we saw the silhouette of a small owl. No doubt, this is an owlet who just started its branch hopping period in life. I can’t wait until tomorrow and hope to get a glimpse of this young owl. The rapidly coming out leaves will make it more and more difficult to spot an owl in the trees every day that passes by and my hope is that the owlet is at least tomorrow still nearby. Otherwise it will be like searching for a needle in a haystack…

 

NATURE CLICKS #405 - PINE SISKIN

This little finch is actually more of a winter guest here but we don’t see it very often in our woods, maybe due to the lack of conifers. However, this female hangs around with the American Goldfinches since about two weeks, who are currently present in large numbers. I don’t have very many photos of a Pine Siskin and most of them were made with the bird at a feeder or at a bird bath. I’m happy to have finally some shots without any men-made items in the frame.

SUMMER BIRDS ARE HERE

Male Orchard Oriole -------

This is the most exiting time of the year in our woods here on the bluffs above the Little Maquoketa River Valley. One bird species after another who breed here during the summer arrived within the last 96 hours. The day starts early with the chatter of the House Wrens. The Hummingbirds take possession of the feeders hanging from the porch and defend them against their fellow hummers. Several male and female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks visit our sunflower seed feeders and at least five Baltimore Orioles recover from the long journey of spring migration. One of the highlights this morning were three Indigo Buntings who joined the numerous American Goldfinches that hang out in the trees and come to the house for sunflower seeds. The king in my books was that male Orchard Oriole I show you today. The red color tells that it is an adult bird but I wonder if that is the same male who was here last spring, at that time still wearing the plumage of a juvenile bird. While the Baltimore Orioles come here every spring since we moved in our house in 2004, the Orchard Orioles are not so common and have been seen only a few times during migration.

SINGING HIS HEART OUT

Song Sparrow, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa -----

It is not difficult to find Song Sparrows and take a picture of them. We find them mostly along the edge of water and marshy land and I have seen them in many of my favorite shooting locations along the Mississippi. Spring is here and this is of course mating time and most birds look at their best right now. Last Sunday I couldn’t resist to make a few clicks when this little guy made for a great display in some old stems from last year and sang his heart out.

NATURE CLICKS #404 - LESSER YELLOWLEG

Green Island Wetlands, Eastern Iowa

Here is a couple pictures from last Friday. I’m not 100% sure about my identification. Could have been a Greater Yellowleg, at least in one of the pictures. It doesn’t really matter since both images represent the environmental portrait I prefer for my wildlife photography. Means the bird is shown in its habitat and the behavior is captured as it would occur even if I was not there.

NATURE CLICKS #403 - BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON

Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

Only once before I have seen a Black-crowned Night Heron in the Green Island Wetlands and that was already five years ago. As hunters they have great endurance and can stand still for a long time until a small animal passes by. I saw this heron this afternoon sitting on this branch at the edge of the water. Using my car as a blind the bird didn’t feel bothered by me much and even closed his eyes a few times. I came back 90 minutes later in hope for some softer light and the heron was still on the same branch. I would call this true patience…😉

NATURE CLICKS #402 - SORA

Sora, Mississippi River, Pool Slough, near New Albin, Iowa -----------

I drove to the extreme northeast corner of Iowa today, to New Albin, just south of the Minnesota border. At first came a little disappointment due to the fact that the gravel road across Pool Slough, a wildlife sanctuary in the backwaters of the Mississippi, was partly closed because of high water level. I guess the snow melt from the last few weeks comes down the river now. The road ends at a boat landing that is usually very popular among fishermen but the water made me stop a mile earlier already. With water, marsh land, and mudflats on both sides, the road is a great place for bird watching and photography not only at this time of the year. I didn’t give up and scanned the area with the binoculars. There were ducks and geese, eagles, coots, egrets, and herons but no small wading birds, as I was hoping for. The mudbanks were covered with water and that changes the food supply for sandpipers and other shore birds.

The real fun started when I heard the “whee-hee-hee-hee-hee” call of a Sora right next to me and it was answered from other places around. These rails are very small and it is not easy to spot them. For the next hour I was busy to capture the story of this little bird, how they walk with their big feet on floating debris, how they feed, and how good they can hide. The Sora feeds mainly on insects, mollusks, snails, seeds of plants, and duckweed. They rake floating vegetation with their feet and even pull it aside with their bill and search for food visually. Well, no sandpipers today, but I still have images from yesterday that I may post during the upcoming week. So please stay tuned…! 😊

NATURE CLICKS #401 - PECTORAL SANDPIPER

It was a very windy evening today but this didn’t stop me to visit the Green Island Wetlands once more. I knew there wouldn’t be many small perching birds around. The water level is still lower than the last couple years and this is great for shore birds and waders who need shallow-water or mudflat habitat. The wind didn’t seem to bother them much, the light was soft, and I was glad that I went out.

If you think identifying gulls is a difficult task, you haven’t tried to identify sandpipers yet! It wasn’t the first time that I had a ‘fling’ of Pectoral Sandpipers in front of the lens but other species are very similar and sometimes I have some doubts left about my findings. It helps to have a good library of bird guides, printed or digital. The Pectoral Sandpiper breeds on arctic tundra from western Alaska across far northern Canada to the Hudson Bay. They spend the winter in South America. I watched about a dozen birds in front of me feeding, bathing, and preening. At times they all took off together, flew with rapid wing beats a few rounds but returned to the same area.

NATURE CLICKS #400 - BONAPARTE’S GULL

Bonaparte's Gull, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa --------

I’m celebrating my 400th “NATURE CLICKS” today. What was thought as a category for the “occasional” blog post about little details in nature became quickly the platform for my story telling about critters and birds, especially about sightings that don’t happen every day. It is hard to believe that Nature Clicks #1 was posted over 8 years ago!

Today I had to choose from six different stories my photos are telling and I decided to show another migrator here today. We had gorgeous light before sunset down in Mud Lake at the Mississippi River but I was not able to use it for a bunch of Bonaparte’s Gulls who flew north along the shore. The sun was already too far behind the walls of the Mississippi Valley and the low flying gulls were already in the shade.

Here is a little trivia. Bonaparte’s Gulls are named after a nephew of Napoleon, Charles Lucien Bonaparte, who was leading ornithologists in the 1800’s in America and Europe. The Bonaparte’s Gull is the smallest gull over North America and it is the only gull that regularly nests in trees (source: iBirdPro app).

They breed in subarctic North America from Alaska to the Hudson Bay, with other words, these gulls still have a good distance to fly before they reach their summer range.

OWL AT SUNSET

Barred Owl, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa ------------

Joan and I sat down with a glass of wine on our porch this evening when suddenly one of our Barred Owls flew across the front yard very low, went up again, and landed in a tree nearby. The camera was waiting, ready to shoot, near the door and within a few seconds I had the bird in my viewfinder. We have seen the pair of owls every evening during the last few days. Sometimes it was too late for even thinking about a picture but today we had the best light so far. It is an exciting story for us, although we still don’t know for sure about their offspring and where the nest is located. We just guess it is very close…

NATURE CLICKS #399 - AMERICAN BITTERN (FIRST SIGHTING!)

Today’s blog post starts with a big thank you to my photography friend Kevin! He sent an email this morning telling me that he discovered an American Bittern yesterday at a pond near his home on the south side of Dubuque. A nice photo was attached as well. This morning there were even two birds but they took off too soon. I was about to close my office for the day this afternoon when my phone rang and Kevin was telling me that the bittern was back again. He didn’t have to ask me twice, I grabbed the camera bag, let the dog jump into the car and took off.

This heron-like wading bird is very secretive and a rare breeder here in Iowa. According to an article from the Iowa Audubon website the American Bittern was fairly common in the 1940’s and the trend of population decline continues. The causes of population declines have been cited as habitat loss, human disturbance, and pesticides and other contaminants. The American Bittern is now considered a high conservation priority in Iowa.

The pond, which is actually a rain water detention pond, is wide open from all sides and a stealthy approach with the camera turned out to be a challenge. Kevin knows the terrain and we managed to get within shooting range without disturbing the bittern. The location was perfect for the bird but not so much for the photographer. Between the broken branches of a fallen tree near the shore the American Bittern can find its food, insects, amphibians, small fish, and mammals. We had to deal with obstruction by branches and grass but that’s the challenge of nature photography and part of the fun mastering it…

The American Bittern was a first sighting for me and I’m very thankful for the call from Kevin today!

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head,  

1: @ 550 mm, 1/800s, f/6.3, ISO 200, camera set to DX format (equivalent to 825 mm focal length)

2: @ 220 mm, 1/800s, f/6.3, ISO 200, camera set to DX format (equivalent to 330 mm focal length)

NATURE CLICKS #398 - YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER

In yesterday’s blog post I mentioned that I had another story for you. Yes, it was bird photography fun at its best Saturday afternoon and today I went again to the Deere Marsh, the wetlands behind the John Deere factory north of Dubuque. The Yellow-rumped Warblers migrate right now through the Mississippi Valley and they obviously like the supply of insects that came with the warm weather we have here since the last couple days and stay a little bit longer. The warblers use the trees and shrubs along the shore beside Riverside Road to perch and to catch their prey, almost in a flycatcher manner, There is also a lot of display going on. The males try to impress the females and the coloration of their feathers doesn’t get any better than this time of the year.

The Yellow-rumped Warbler is one of the most common Warblers in North America and because of their ability to digest wax-coated berries, like bayberries, they are capable of wintering farther north than any other warbler (source: iBirdPro App).

At this location having a good background is not a big problem. You either have water or the sky as your background and even if you, like me, don’t have the fastest lens in your arsenal, you can still render a background without clutter. The second image shows where the challenge lies. Getting a clean, unobstructed shot is not always easy. Lots of branches and wild growing vines can be in the way or just cast a shadow on the bird. I tried to make this a part of the story telling…

IT TOOK ME 11 YEARS!

Barred Owl -----------

I bought my first digital SLR camera almost exactly 11 years ago. It took me that long to make some photos of a Barred Owl. It was sitting in one of the oaks at the edge of our woods this evening. This owl nests here every year and we can hear their distinctive call “Who, cooks, for-you, who, cooks, for-you, all” every night and sometimes even during the day. You can’t imagine how happy I am to have finally some images of this mostly nocturnal bird. I still haven’t figured out where the nest of the owl is, I just know it is very close. Last night, right after the bird had called again, I could hear some pitched noise just from outside my office window, obviously from a young bird. Actually I had another story and photos for you from today, not even less exciting, but the joy about this accomplishment prevailed.

Friends who follow my blog regularly know that I usually don’t set the ISO in camera higher than 200, and it is very rare that I exceed ISO 400. The noise reduction that is required with higher ISO in dim light comes with the loss of detail, and I believe detail is important for bird photography. Today was such an exception. I didn’t want to risk ending up with blurry photos only and so I dialed in ISO 800. The exposure was still as low as 1/125s, actually too slow for handholding at 600 mm focal length, but I guess turning on the VR (vibration reduction) helped to walk away with some pictures in focus.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, @ 600 mm, 1/125s, f/6.3, ISO 800

 

GIVING ME A DIRTY LOOK

Chipping Sparrow, Little Maquoketa River, near Durango, Iowa ------------

There was another “first of the year” bird encounter in our yard yesterday. The first Chipping Sparrow has arrived. Every year in the past we had a pair raising their young in our woods. This one seemed to give me a dirty look and say, are you kidding me with all the snow on the ground by mid April? Well, I should have answered, I don’t like it either, but it definitely helps with exposure while taking some pictures…😏

NATURE CLICKS #397 - RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET

Actually I had a different story to tell for today’s blog post, which had to do with the snow that we have on the ground again. My plan was changed immediately when I had this little guy in front of the lens this evening. The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is one of the tiniest and prettiest birds we can sometimes see here during spring migration. Our dog Cooper and I enjoyed a hike down in our valley on the Heritage Trail along the Little Maquoketa River. The trail follows an old railroad track and at several places it has steep rock walls on both sides. The kinglet did not sit still for even a second and was vigorously searching for little insects in every crack, cave, and cavity between the mossy rocks.

I shot the lens wide open at 200 mm, f/4. Several tack sharp “butt shots” proved the fast focus of the lens but it was quite a challenge to get the eye in the picture because the Ruby-crowned Kinglet faced the wall most of the time. So why did I try to shoot the “little feather ball” from behind or at least from the side? The second picture, the only real front view I had, may tell the story about today’s weather conditions better but it doesn’t say “ruby-crowned” at all.

Nikon D750, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4G ED VR