BUTTERFLIES… BELATED POST

Tiger Swallowtail

Hi friends, I was hoping to publish this blog post already a few days earlier, but the “pilot” made an error and the files didn’t make it onto his laptop. Hence, I was traveling for business, but discovered far away from home, that the portable drive with the copies of all my photos I made last weekend was accidentally left at home…

White

OK, nothing is in a hurry, here are some pictures, …. Every year , about at the same time, I make a statement here in the blog that I’m not a macro photographer and creating pictures of insects or spiders is just a side project. Well, I tested a new light modifier and as soon I have a real opinion about it I may give you my ten cents of wisdom about the experience…

Giant Swallowtail

One of the easiest pictures... We have three of them here in our flower beds  this year. They are in constant motion , but persistance pays back....

The Monarch, like many other species, is under the thread of extinction. Much has been done here in Iowa to prevent this, but the question is, if down in Mexico, where the Monarch is during the cold season, habitats can be secured in order to make it a story of success.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2018 #03 - 4 PICS OUT OF THE KAYAK

Green Frog, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa

The last three evenings were used to paddle the Mississippi River and its backwaters, but only yesterday I took the camera with me. Aiming for wildlife during the last two hours with daylight and shooting from the low level in the boat have been often a key for success.

The mix of duck weed, algae, and aquatic plants that have reached the surface is a great habitat for many species. Don’t worry, this is usually just near the shore, the main channel in the backwaters of Mud Lake is clear and easy to paddle. This Green Frog blends right in and the reflection of its eye in an open spot of the water made me choose this image for today’s blog post.

Young Barn Swallow, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa

A new generation of swallows is learning how to catch insects in flight. I have seen all five species we can find along the big river but this young Barn Swallow posed perfectly on top of a water lily.

Painted Turtle,  Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa

Painted Turtles enjoy the sun as much as we do, but most of the time they slide into the water as soon they detect some movement. This one seemed to know that I was not a thread in my kayak and stayed on this piece of drift wood until I was only five feet away.

Eastern Kingbird,  Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa

The young Eastern Kingbirds were hunting for insects right at the boat ramp. Even if I’m not always in favor of a backlit situation, I still prefer this shot over the ones I took while I left the boat launch.

Sure, I could make an image of all these critters from shore, but shooting out of the kayak delivers most of the time a perspective that is almost impossible to obtain by standing on land, much higher above the water level.

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

NATURE CLICKS #410 - CEDAR WAXWING

Cedar Waxwing, Mississippi River, Deere Marsh, Dubuque, Iowa

The Cedar Waxwing is one of the most beautiful birds we can see here in eastern Iowa. Previously we found them along the clear streams that we like to paddle during the summer or in the fall we have them quite often on our bluffs, feeding on ripe juniper berries of the Red Cedars.

This photo was made last week at the Mississippi River, right at the end of the Deere dyke, that sticks far out into the main channel of the river. The sun was already very low and getting the right exposure pretty simple.

FOOD DELIVERY

House Wren

Yes, it’s this time of the year again when another generation of House Wrens is almost ready to leave the nest. The “snacks” the parents deliver get a little bigger every day and the noise coming out of the nest box, as soon mom or dad show up with food, gets louder as well. The wrens are pretty tolerant and don’t panic as quickly as other birds if someone is relatively close to the nest. Sure, a House Wren is not as pretty as some of the more colorful summer guests, but watching them every year to have one or two broods in our yard is always exciting.

GALLINULE, FIRST TIME WITH OFFSPRING

Common Gallinule with offspring, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

Many of the waterfowl is very secretive while they care for their offspring. In particular the Common Gallinule is sometimes hard to spot. You may hear them calling in the reeds but getting the bird in front of the lens isn’t easy. Yesterday I made a short visit in the Green Island Wetlands and for the first time I had an opportunity to see a pair of gallinules caring for two little chicks. Although already late in the day the light was still harsh, the scene was backlit, and exposure was a challenge. As you can see in the second picture, their big feet allow the birds to walk on the leaves of waterlilies and other aquatic plants. The parents did their best to feed the young gallinules and it was fun watching them. I’m not 100% happy with the quality of the pictures. Shooting from the car without a chance to get into a better position with less backlight wasn’t ideal, but I think the story of this exciting moment is still told and I like to share it with you.

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

BIRD UPDATE

Male Baltimore Oriole

My blog has been always about a little bit of photography, some trivia about the subjects I tried to photograph, but mostly about creating awareness what does surround us in nature and how we can protect our natural heritage for future generations. When neighbors tell me, I saw the bird you were talking about the other day in your blog, but didn’t know we even had something that beautiful here, I feel inspired to continue my work.

So what’s going on these days here in our woods above the Little Maquoketa River Valley? 

We see lots of young woodpeckers, House Finches, and sparrows. The young nuthatches are in training for future challenges, and the Barred Owls , who raised an owlet right here next to the house this year, call from different places in our woods. From time to time we see a Scarlet Tanager at a suet feeder, a sure sign that at least one pair has a nest nearby. The House Wrens just started feeding their young ones in one of our nest boxes a couple days ago, while Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and American Goldfinches still have some time before they will present their offspring.

As always in early May we saw a number of Baltimore Orioles, most of them migrate further north, but usually we have at least one pair here during the summer. We are not sure about it this year, because we can’t hear their beautiful songs in the morning. We don’t worry about it too much. If all the orioles we saw this spring will have a nest somewhere north, we are perfectly fine and just look forward to see them again next spring.,,

HUMMER IN THE RAIN

Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Hard to believe that the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are here since two months already, although today I hardly saw any of them. We had very high temperatures and humidity today and it doesn’t look much better for tomorrow. But maybe this was the reason for their absence from our feeders?

The photo was made a week ago, and the drops on his bill are the result of a rain shower. Boy, I wished we would have one of those again… 😅

WOODPECKER OFFSPRING

Young male Downy Woodpecker

We had a bit of rain the last couple days and the air finally cooled down, but I take this any time over the heat and humidity we had recently. However, no matter what kind of weather we have the birds and critters need to feed their offspring. I had some fun this evening standing on the porch behind the camera watching two young Downy Woodpeckers. Sometimes the parents still brought them a seed from the suet feeder but most of the time they tried to figure it out by themselves. They are only a little smaller than the parents but it is the clumsy behavior that reveals who has still to learn the lessons of life.

A little fill flash helped to get the exposure right and bring some colors out because the dark overcast this evening didn’t let much light come through here in the woods.

RETURNING TO THE SAME SPOTS

Dickcissel, Dubuque, Iowa

If people ask me about a good tip for wildlife photography, there is one that will be always on my list. Get back to the same spot over and over again! Sounds boring, right? But I think it really helps to know a location well, have an idea how the light may turn out, and most important , what critters might be present and how do they approach the site.

We went this evening to the flower meadows, I just call “Behind the Mall”, at the city limit of Dubuque, Iowa, and tried to see the birds again I had reported about recently, like Dickcissel, Bobolink, and Savannah Sparrow. We saw them all, but for the most part they were not within a good shooting range today. Watching them is still fun, and making the click is the cream on the ice. Today’s photo is already a few days old. The male Dickcissels guarded the nests that were obviously deeper down between grass and flowers and this is just the gesture you may see most of the time. Did I mention that their songs sound beautiful?

LITTLE TREE SWALLOWS

It’s the time of the year when many birds raise their next generation. Food is here in abundance and we are all happy if we have less mosquitos and flies around us while spending time in the great outdoors.

Down in Mud Lake Park at the Mississippi River a pair of Tree Swallows took possession of one of the nest boxes. At least three little swallows were in the box and stuck their heads out from time to time in expectation of the next food supply.

As always, I stay away from the nest and use the long lens with its maximum focal length of 600 mm to make the click. I act fast and walk away quickly from an active nest.

CHARMING SWALLOWS

Barn Swallow

My photography friend Kevin invited me for a late morning shooting in his barn on the south side of Dubuque, Iowa today. The barn is actually the home of a couple horses but it also gives shelter to several Barn Swallows. While we watched one of them still sitting on the nest, others were feeding their offspring already. There was a lot going on and we had plenty of opportunities to experiment with our camera and flash settings in order to get some good shots. We both had a great time to work with the birds.

The barn has a few windows and the upper half of the doors were open, allowing some day light to enter the room. The challenge was to incorporate the ambient light while our speed lights were used to freeze the action without making the flash too dominant. I wanted to preserve the warm feeling and colors that we found inside the building and pair it with the charming gestures these beautiful Barn Swallows have shown to us. The current warm weather provides plenty of insects and it never took very long until the adults returned with a bill full of food for their nestlings. What a fun morning! Thank you again Kevin for this great opportunity!

NATURE CLICKS #407 - BOBOLINK (FIRST SIGHTING)

Male Bobolink, near Dubuque, Iowa

I promised you yesterday another bird encounter and first sighting. The Bobolink has been on my “most wanted list” since a long time. They feed mostly on the ground and in low vegetation and their habitats include prairie and grasslands. Before I saw them I could hear them and it was not very often that a Bobolink was visible between the grass and wildflowers on this patch of grassland just at the edge of town.

Same bird as above but showing its white wing patches and rump

Yesterday evening I saw several males and two females but never got really close to the ladies. I wasn’t really thrilled with my photos from the male Bobolinks and so I went back again today to give it another try. The only chance to get close to a bird is by staying in the car and use it as a blind and invest some time and a lot of patience. There was no easy click to make this time. Many factors play a role for getting a sharp image. The grass is swaying in the wind and so does the bird. If you just see one doesn’t mean you have a clean view and moving the car in the right position was important. The roads in this area have no or very little traffic. They were built for future economical development, which I seriously hope will never happen. Larger areas with undisturbed prairie or grassland are a scarce commodity here in Iowa and if these remaining areas become a big parking lot with a store behind it, these habitats will be gone forever and so will the birds.

NATURE CLICKS #406 - DICKCISSEL (FIRST SIGHTING)

Dickcissel, near Dubuque, Iowa ------

The last two evenings have been great for bird watching and as a result I had four birds in front of my lens that are not very common anymore and two of them were first sightings for me. So let me start with today’s best encounter.

One big reason to be a member of the Dubuque Camera Club since last fall is the fact that networking with other like minded photographers benefits everybody involved. The small group of wildlife photographers stays in really close contact with each other and we all try to share locations and shooting opportunities when they occur. This time my big thank you goes to Ken, who gave me a hint last Monday about a location in Dubuque, Iowa where another bird I found today as well, but will report about later, is present. I’m sorry, I will not reveal breeding bird locations in public for utmost protection of these birds, but if you are a serious birder or wildlife photographer, please feel free to contact me through the contact form on my “ABOUT” link here in the blog, and I may share this information with you.

As already hinted, I was out for another bird but the first one that drew my attention was this male Dickcissel, singing like crazy from different perch locations. I used my car as a blind and was able to get relatively close. This was a first sighting for me and I’m more than happy about the encounter and photo opportunity. The Dickcissel prefers open habitats, hay fields, and weed patches. They feed on seeds, grass, and insects, while younger birds consume more insects. They spend the winter in southern Mexico or even further south.

GARTENROTSCHWANZ (COMMON REDSTART)

Gartenrotschwanz at nest box, Templin, Germany ---------   

During our recent travel to Germany I took just a small amount of photo gear with me. The bag contained the Nikon D750 and two lenses, the Nikkor 16-35 and 70-200. I used my feet to “zoom” if I had to fill the gap between 35 mm and 70 mm focal length. It served me well most of the time and I didn’t regret to leave a 24-120 mm lens at home. We moved around every day and traveling “light” was my aim.

As you can imagine I didn’t plan for any wildlife photography. When this opportunity of a breeding pair of “Gartenrotschwanz” in the backyard of our friends in Templin came up, I was a little short with 200 mm focal length since the nest box was high up in a giant pine tree. This is not an “every day” bird in Germany’s gardens anymore, I hadn’t seen one in ages, and the light was just great. With other words, I couldn’t let this chance go by and rather chose to crop the image in post. Both parents were feeding the offspring and this click was made when the male paused for a few seconds before he delivered the bug in its bill to the little chicks in the nest box.

TAKING A BREAK

Barred Owl ------------   

Tonight the Barred Owl used our roof ridge as a perch for its hunting efforts. I could see the silhouette against the evening sky. It was quiet and peaceful and while I watched this magnificent bird, mother raccoon ransacked the suet feeder on the balcony at the other side of the house… Did I say it was peaceful…? 😏

The photo of the Barred Owl is from last week. This is how I found the bird Friday morning in a tree at the edge of our woods. I took the time to get the tripod out. With good support I had no problem to shoot at ISO200 and 1/80s.

I’m taking a break from posting here in the blog for a little while. I’ll be back soon. Enjoy the warm and sunny weather, always take the camera with you, and don’t miss the opportunity to make the best photo of your life!