3 BIRDS, 3 THOUGHTS

Northern Cardinal

I have three photos and three little stories or thoughts for you today. It all accumulated during this week as much as the snow did here on the bluffs above the Little Maquoketa River Valley.

All three pictures were made in the ‘backyard studio’, which means around the house. I did a “mini class” on bird photography with speed light during our “flash workshop” at the last meeting of the Dubuque Camera Club. However, no flash was used to boost colors this time because the giant reflector, called ‘snow’, took over this function. I was really happy to see some great results on social media of other photographers who applied some of the ideas I taught to their own photography (John Leicht, you are on the right track!).

This Northern Cardinal is part of the gang, joining us every morning and evening. Not a great gesture, but look at the shaft of light that hits this fellow during sunset time…

Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker (hybrid?)

I have photographed this guy before. Usually male Yellow-shafted Northern Flickers have a  deep black mustache but this must be a hybrid between a red-shafted (hence the red mustache) and the yellow shafted Northern Flicker (hence the yellow undertail). Not really uncommon, but the line where both races overlap is usually much further west. Any thoughts from other birders about this topic are more than welcome.

American Robin

When I moved to this country almost 15 years ago and started to learn about the birds of North America I quite often heard, the American Robin migrates and we don’t see them here in this part of the Midwest during the winter. The reappearance in March, or even April, was celebrated as a sure sign of spring by many people. I thought this was true for a long time, but during the last 4-5 years I have always seen American Robins during the winter. This season, now with temperatures way below 0ºF (-16ºC), the robins still come to the water sources we provide. A bird will show up only at feeders if either food, water, and/or exceptional safety are nearby. In case of the robins, they don’t eat really any of the food we provide. Ones in a great while I see an American Robin feeding on a suet feeder that we have out there for the woodpeckers. What draws them in is the abundance of juniper berries from the Red Cedars that grow on the limestone bluffs above the valley here. I guess this kind of food must make them very thirsty…. I refilled both of our bird baths with more than a gallon of water (2x 3.87 liters) today. Sure, part of it is the low humidity, letting the water evaporate more quickly, but it is amazing how much liquid these birds can consume within a short period of time.

IF THE LIGHT IS EXCEPTIONAL…

Female Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker

About a foot (30cm) of snow came down last night on top of what we already got over the weekend. In the morning after the snow fall it is essential to make sure all the bird feeders are filled and the bird baths have fresh and clean water. I don’t show many pictures that have a bird feeder or bath in the frame but I make an exception if a species that we don’t see all the time visits or, like in this case, the light is out of the ordinary. Last Sunday this female Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker posed against the rising steam and the morning light backlit the lady nicely. I shot this through the glass door of the balcony and therefore didn’t use a fill flash. In post process I just lifted the shadows a little bit and brought the highlights a tad down for the final image.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head,    @350 mm, 1/400s, f/6, ISO400

YEP, WINTER IS FINALLY HERE…

Pine Siskin, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa

A couple notable things happened today. First, we got our first real snow storm of the season last night. About eight inches of the white stuff hit the ground here on our bluffs above the Little Maquoketa River Valley, followed by sunshine this morning and I bet there is no nature photographer that would complain about that. The second was ‘Eagle Watch Day’, one of my favorite educational events here in Dubuque, Iowa, and I will show some photos for this part of the day tomorrow.

With the fresh snow came all the birds to the feeders and the two bird baths we provide. Not always seen and only here in the winter is the Pine Siskin. This photo was taken in the ‘backyard studio’, to be more precise on our balcony. I didn’t scoop the snow on the deck because I want the gorgeous light from underneath for my bird photography. During the last few years we had actually an elm growing very close to the balcony in the backyard. This makes for a perfect perch for the birds before they enter any of the feeders and this fast growing tree has been quite often a great stage for bird photography. However, the little branch you see in this picture is mounted to the reeling of the balcony, right next to a bird bath and a feeder with sunflower seeds. Shameless trick? I don’t think so. The birds will come to the feeders no matter what, unless a hawk is around the house, but this little perch allows me to make a photo even through the glass of the balcony door with a good background. Ok, this may not be always exciting, but if we don’t practice long lens technique as much as we can, we will never make the click that we always hope to make one of these days…

FIGHTING THE CABIN FEVER

Dark-eyed Junco

I’m not the only one who complains on social media about having the ‘cabin fever’ at the moment. The gray weather and lack of sunshine wear me down, with other words, I haven’t used my camera much outdoors lately. The time with daylight is still short and there isn’t much light left after work if the sun is hidden behind a thick layer of clouds. Well, we expect some snow here in the next couple days and maybe that will be a game changer. I love shooting in the snow.

The good part is that I have time to re-organize my photo library, a project I want to get done before spring arrives, and that’s where I came across this picture of a Dark-eyed Junco in the beautiful light of a clear winter day.

Speaking of social media, I started to share some of my photos on Instagram. You can find me there  @exnerimages . This is another way to fight the ‘cabin fever’ and get inspiration from other photographers and all kinds of creative people.

INGREDIENTS

Black-necked Stilt, Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve, California, 2017

Light, gesture, and color are still the main ingredients for a photo that may not even get more than just one second of attention span these days on social media. Ok, nothing new here, but if a picture doesn’t even have at least one of the above mentioned, it goes down the digital drain without any notice. A good photo hardly ever needs all three ingredients, one just can make the difference.

THE EXCITEMENT GROWS

Sandhill Cranes, Green Island Wetlands, March 2017

Tonight was the first meeting of the year for the Dubuque Camera Club (http://www.dubuquecameraclub.com). I’m in my second year now with the club and really enjoy the networking with other photographers. After the official program we nature photographers quite often exchange our thoughts, discuss wildlife sightings, or share locations that might be of interest for other fellow photogs. Today the question came up, when will we see the first signs of bird migration with this unusual warm weather pattern? We don’t really know yet, but I could sense that we were all excited about the upcoming season and look already forward to a hopefully busy time. The Sandhill Cranes will be part of it.

DELAYED START

Female Eastern Bluebird

I hope all friends and readers of my blog had a good start into the new year! I look forward to continue the exchange of thoughts and ideas about photography, nature, and nature conservation together with you in 2019 again. Your emails and messages inspire me and sharing knowledge, photo locations, and helping each other is always fun!

We had a full house during the last few days and serious photography was not on the agenda. I finally made the first few clicks at lunch time today in the “front yard studio”. We have a thin layer of snow on the ground and having some Eastern Bluebirds posing for a photo is not the worst start into a new year…😉

Male Eastern Bluebird

BALD EAGLES IN TOWN?

A couple days ago the word was spread on the internet that a large number of Bald Eagles was at Ice Harbor in Dubuque, right behind the Mississippi River Museum. I didn’t have time to go but tried to check it out yesterday instead. Bummer, there was not a single eagle at this place or any other location where we usually may have a chance to watch Bald Eagles along the big River. Because of the warm weather there is still no ice on the river and the absence of eagles isn’t really a surprise to me. Not a big deal, in January I was at lock & dam #14 in LeClaire, Iowa and had my good share of opportunities to photograph this majestic bird again. During the last days of the year I usually clean out my library, apply missing keywords, and put the last files away into the archive. And that’s where I found this image last night.

OUT WEST #30 (LAST PART)

Horseman, Badlands NP, South Dakota

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, @480mm, 1/640s, f/6.3, ISO100

This will be the last part of my photo story about our trip through the mountains and grasslands of the west in September. I have quite a few more images but for this last post I wanted to use a couple photos that leave no doubt about where they were taken, OUT WEST. Both photos were made the morning of our last full day in Badlands National Park. A horseman, who camped in the same campground as us, went on a ride and gave his horses some exercise and a big American Bison, the iconic animal of the west, gave us a nice gesture with his tongue while interrupting grazing just briefly.

I hope you enjoyed this journey and had as much fun as I had while stitching the 30 stories together. Your echo and opinions helped me to grow as a photographer and I’m thankful for everybody who stops here in the blog on occasion or every day.

American Bison, Badlands NP, South Dakota

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, @500mm, 1/640s, f/6.3, ISO200

TWO WAYS TO TELL TONIGHT’S STORY

Canada Geese, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa,

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, @70 mm, 1/1250s, f/6.3, ISO800

During my recent presentation at the Dubuque Camera Club about storytelling in wildlife photography I stated to take the camera with us, wherever we may go. I’m sure glad I did tonight when I took Cooper, the dog, down to the Mississippi River for a walk. The sun had disappeared already behind the bluffs, light was fading away fast, and I thought there wouldn’t be much to photograph. And boy, was I wrong! Hundreds of Canada Geese crossed the river in groups, flying towards the setting sun.

There were at least two ways to make a click and tell the story, and I tried to accomplish both. In the western sky was the glow of the setting sun with some hazy clouds, and to the east, over the river, was the moon. The shot aiming the lens at the sunset was indeed predictable. The geese fly in V-formation and I wanted to bring that somehow in connection with the clouds and the sun light.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, @70 mm, 1/500s, f/5, ISO800

The other photo, with the geese flying “through” the moon, required a little bit of luck. Many flocks crossed the Mississippi this evening and I just waited for the right moment. You can’t really pan with the camera, follow the flock, and shoot with a slower shutter speed in order to keep the ISO low and the digital noise out of the picture. This would result in an even more blurred moon. I had to set ISO to 800 for maintaining a shutter speed of 1/500s. Not that this one is perfect, but it was pretty much how I saw it with the thin layer of haze in front of it.

NATURE CLICKS #418 - EASTERN BLUEBIRD

Sure, this is only a picture taken at a bird bath but this is a favorite place of the four Eastern Bluebirds that visit our backyard frequently. They come in to drink and quite often sit at the edge of the pool and warm up a little. I have photographed them many times but this is the first time that I was able to make a photo of a female and male side by side and both birds in focus.

OUT WEST #29

Little Rock Creek, Wind River Range, Wyoming

Our last destination in the mountains of western Wyoming was the Wind River Range, an approximately 100 miles long part of the Rocky Mountains. We pitched the tent for three nights in Sink Canyon State Park, west of Lander, WY. These mountains are not so well known by the public as for example the Tetons or Yellowstone, but there is no lack of interesting geology and beautiful nature. We went on hikes and traveled off the beaten path by car, but time was too short to explore more than a small area of the range.

Wildfire smoke, Louis Lake Road, Wind River Range, Wyoming

One reason why I didn’t shoot a lot of wide landscape views was the fact that the impact of wildfires created a certain haziness, even if the fires were far away. The photo gives you an idea…

Mule Deer, Red Canyon, Wyoming

Finding wildlife is not very difficult in the Wind River Range, there was always a Pronghorn or Mule Deer somewhere, but when we saw this doe with her two fawns on a rock ledge in the Red Canyon near Lander, WY we had to stop and make the click. Mountains Lions are not uncommon and are a great danger for the young Mule Deer and this spot was obviously a good place to have control over the terrain for the mother.

Least Chipmunk, Popo Agie Falls, Wyoming

The Least Chipmunk is smaller than the Eastern Chipmunk that lives in our woods here in eastern Iowa. In areas that are more frequented by people, like along the hiking trail that leads to the Popo Agie Falls, the chipmunks have not much fear and can be easily photographed within the range of a 200 mm lens.

TAKING ADVANTAGE

The last snow melted finally away today but there is more in the forecast for Sunday. I always like to take advantage of the “big reflector” and use the extra light for some shots around the house. About half a dozen Eastern Gray Squirrels (at least!) invite themselves and take advantage of the sunflower seeds at our bird feeders. They are a good subject to practice and study how the direction of light can effect the outcome. And yeah, there is always the cuteness factor that comes with these critters…🐿

GREEN ISLAND WETLANDS IN THE WINTER?

First snow in the Green Island Wetlands

I had a nice audience last night for my presentation about storytelling in wildlife photography, with some great questions afterwards and the emails and messages I received today tell me that people received some inspiration for their own photography. This made my day!

I introduced some of my favorite shooting locations, and the avid reader of my blog knows already, the Green Island Wetlands along the Mississippi River play certainly an important role in my endeavors. Actually Joan, our dog Cooper, and I went there for a little hike last Sunday. We had some fresh snow on the ground and most water bodies were covered with a thin layer of ice. I’m sure the duck hunters were not so happy about that because we didn’t see any.

Bald Eagle

So what can we find at this time of the year under winter conditions in Green Island? We saw several hawks, a few Song Sparrows, and for the first time ever a coyote on top of a levee. Unfortunately he had seen us earlier and during the two or three seconds we watched him I was not able to make a sharp image. Ten minutes earlier this Bald Eagle posed nicely against the blue sky and later we saw the bird with its mate sitting in another tree further away.

Beside all that, the lakes and backwaters had some nice blue color and the cracks in the ice and the snow painted some surreal patterns. As mentioned in my presentation, it’s difficult to come back from the wetlands with an empty memory card…

COME AND SEE MY PRESENTATION

Black-tailed Prairie Dogs, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

A year ago I joined the Dubuque Camera Club. The exchange of thoughts, ideas, and photography knowledge between members is priceless, and beside the educational aspect, it is a great group of people to socialize with and share the fun photography has to offer. We meet twice a month (first and third Monday each month between September and June) and for the 2018 /19 season we offer some member presentations about different aspects of photography. The meetings of the camera club are open to the public anyway, but these special events are advertised in local and social media.

Mobile phones made almost everybody a photographer these days and photography is as popular as never before, so we like to share our presentations with a broader audience. Maybe you guessed it, I volunteered to be the first presenter…

It’s a wrong assumption that good wildlife photos can only be made with expensive equipment. Sharing the story of your wildlife encounter, even through a technically not so perfect image, is more important for the future of our natural heritage than seeing the last detail in a critter’s eye. I will give you my thoughts on this and other aspects of wildlife photography.

If you live in or around the Tri-state area of Dubuque, Iowa, please join us for our first presentation this season next Monday. Here are the facts about this event:

Monday, November 19, 2018, at 6:30 PM

STORYTELLING IN WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY

E.B. Lyons Interpretive Center, 

Mines of Spain Recreation Area

8991 Bellevue Heights 

Dubuque, IA

My presentation will touch the questions below, and hey, we can discuss your ideas and thoughts as well after what I try to cramp into 60 minutes.

  • How to start with wildlife photography, even with a small camera and lens?

  • What are good locations for wildlife shooting in and around the Mississippi Valley?

  • How to become better storytellers with our photos?

  • How about safety and ethics?

The program is free and I would be happy to see you next Monday at 6:30 PM in the E.B. Lyons Interpretive Center at the Mines of Spain 😉