NATURE CLICKS #450 - SORA

Sora, Green Island Wetlands, Mississippi Valley, Iowa

I found another Wilson’s Snipe last Saturday at the same spot where I had taken a picture a week earlier, but a day later we didn’t see any of them. With the warm weather they may have moved on further north. Instead we found two Sora in the same habitat along the wooded, water-filled canal that borders the Green Island Road. The Sora is the most common and widely distributed rail in North America but it is a small secretive bird that lives in freshwater marshes and is not always easy to locate. They move very fast while feeding and foraging between old vegetation in the shallow water. With the dappled light between the trees it was quite a challenge to get a sharp and halfway correct exposed picture. A bird we always enjoy seeing!

NATURE CLICKS #449 - YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD

Green Island Wetlands, Mississippi Valley, Iowa

It has been six years that I saw and photographed a Yellow-headed Blackbird in the Green Island Wetlands. There was a habitat, a smaller pond with lots of cattail plants, that went through a lot of abuse from construction related measurements by the railroad company that operates the neighboring railroad track. As a result the Yellow-headed Blackbirds disappeared from that location, the only one I knew where this species lived in this area.

Today Joan and I went back to the wetlands in hope to see the White-faced Ibis again. But they had moved on and were not found anywhere. Instead we saw two male Yellow-headed Blackbirds in this thorny tree while driving slowly down the gravel road on the dike. This gives me hope that this species is not lost for this area. Their call is a little different from that of the Red-winged Blackbird, which can be found in abundance. I will keep my ears and eyes open during this summer and maybe I can locate a new breeding ground somewhere between the reeds…

NATURE CLICKS #448 - WHITE-FACED IBIS (FIRST SIGHTING!)

White-faced Ibis, Green island Wetlands, Iowa

I really didn’t know what was waiting for me when I said in my earlier blog post this morning, that I would start for another weekend adventure. Hey, and what a thrill it was! For the first time ever I saw and photographed a congregation of 11 White-faced Ibis. This is not a common bird here, although several sightings have been reported lately in Iowa. However, during the last more than 9 years I photographed in the Green Island area, I haver never seen an Ibis. I worked more than 3 hours with these beautiful birds from the mobile blind, my trusted Subaru. There were only two things that flushed them, a couple walking their dog on the levee, and anytime a Bald Eagle would show up high in the sky. The Ibises would take off, fly a circle, come back again, and land nearby.

Have you ever tried to take a picture of a jackhammer and freeze the action in your photo? I haven’t, but this was how it felt with these White-faced Ibises. 90% of the time they were probing with their bill in the water or in the mud with an unbelievable frequency. And they had a lot of success! I saw quite a few invertebrates in their curved bills and some larger prey may have been frogs. I’m sure this is not the last picture of a White-faced Ibis I have shown here in the blog… Please stay tuned!

NATURE CLICKS #447 - WOOD DUCK

Before I start in another weekend adventure I still like to share a photo from last weekend. Wood Ducks breed in the Green Island Wetlands. Some of the habitat meets their preferences, wooded swamps and marshes. They are pretty shy and coming close to a pair in the open water is not always possible. They are probably one of the prettiest ducks we can find here, and especially right now, during mating time, their feathers look great. 

There was a lot of glare on the water surface but this couple tried to get away from me and swam towards a darker part of the submerged woods. This made at least the background acceptable and I tried to include it in the frame.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, @ 550 mm (825 mm DX mode), 1/800 s, f/6.3, ISO200, slightly cropped

BALD EAGLE ON THE NEST

This Bald Eagle and its mate started building this nest already last year. It is only a few yards away from the former location of an old nest, a Great Horned Owl had used for several years. It fell finally apart two years ago. I have posted about the owls many times here in my blog between 2013 and 2017. Last year the eagles were maybe still too young to breed but it looks like they feed their first offspring now.

I went with my tripod into a swampy area about 50 yards away from the nest while none of the adult eagles was in it. I tried to hide between bushes and small trees and when the adult came back it didn’t look in my direction. It probably knew I was there but didn’t seem to mind my presence. These Bald Eagles are used to humans, there is a campsite nearby (of course, not used at the moment) and the access to a boat ramp and marina is not very far either. You can drive up very close to the nest, and some people may do because they don’t even know it is there.

It was sunny but still a little chilly today and after the adult bird arrived it seemed to feed and wiggled its body into the nest, probably keeping some young bird(s) warm. The partner was in another tree, closer to the Mississippi River, and hopefully came back with a good meal for the family…

NATURE CLICKS #446 - GREATER YELLOWLEGS

Not my sharpest image of this Greater Yellowlegs from last weekend’s visit in the Green Island Wetlands, but it is the one that tells the story the best. This guy was foraging in the partly drained pond at the Iowa DNR maintenance facility. It was obviously a great place for the bird because I caught him twice making a catch between the algae in the water. This bird feeds on aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates, small fish, frogs, seeds, and berries. It was a very windy day but to my surprise I found two more Greater Yellowlegs on little islands along the dyke. They still have a long way to go to their breeding grounds in Canada and finding enough food in a place like the Green Island Wetlands is essential for a successful journey.

Although already in DX mode with the Nikon D750 (cropped in camera), I did an additional crop in Adobe Lightroom to keep more of the algae and mud out of the frame. I was already pretty close to the edge of the pond and the bird didn’t want to come closer. I hate cropping but for this image it was my last resort…

NATURE CLICKS #445 - WILSON’S SNIPE

The summer range for the Wilson’s Snipe stretches from southern Minnesota all the way to northern Canada and east-west from the Atlantic Ocean to Alaska. Here in Iowa we are migrating territory for this small shore bird.

They are not easy to spot because they blend in perfectly between the muddy shore, old and new grass, and all the leaf litter we can find at this time of the year. Today I found at least three snipes along the wide water-filled trenches that border the gravel road cutting through the Green Island Wetlands.If you are able to see one you may have a fair chance for a picture. They normally don’t fly away quickly but rather use the camouflage of their feathers and hide by not moving. It still remained a challenge with the sun behind the birds and plenty of grass between the road and the edge of the water down in the water canal.

I have photographed the Wilson’s Snipe before and had a clear idea what story I wanted to tell with my photo. First the long bill had to be in the frame. They probe with it in the mud and frequently immerse the entire beak and forehead up to the eyes in the water. Their long bill is such a great distinction. I also wanted some vegetation in the picture because they always try to have cover around them. I thought that would tell the story about their hiding habits.

AHH, THAT LIGHT AGAIN…

Red-bellied Woodpecker

I love these mornings with really crisp light and already a warm touch as we have them only in spring around here. The sun gets “filtered” by the still bare branches on our east side. It’s a good time to have the camera ready to shoot. Many birds are in mating mood and their feathers look at their best.

This male Red-bellied Woodpecker is a frequent visitor. It doesn’t happen very often that he uses one of the honeysuckle bushes as a landing spot. Most of the time the smaller birds perch in it before they carefully approach a bird bath or feeder. A couple days ago it all came together, I knew at the moment when I made the first click that I had a picture I would like.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, @ 600mm, f/6.3, 1/500s, ISO200,

EARLY MORNING VISITOR

Yellow-rumped Warbler

It turned out that I didn’t have to go anywhere to find a warbler today. Great light again early this morning and while having a look at numerous woodpeckers, this male Yellow-rumped Warbler suddenly showed up. I mount the camera already the night before onto the tripod, so it is ready to be used immediately if I see something outside our windows in the morning. This habit paid off again once more…

NATURE CLICKS #444 - PILEATED WOODPECKER

Pileated Woodpecker, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa

Almost seven years ago we had to cut down the crown of this old oak you see in the picture here. The oak was dying and there was a danger that this mighty tree could fall on the house. However, we decided to leave the trunk standing, as a habitat for the many woodpeckers around here and other critters. Today came the final proof that this was a good decision, when this female Pileated Woodpecker landed on the trunk after she had worked already on a couple other places.

The Pileated Woodpecker is here all year long but we still don’t see them very often. Most of the time we can hear their loud calls and see big cavities they carve out at some of the dead trees in our woods. It is the only woodpecker that we have never seen on a suet feeder so far. I guess you can understand my excitement when I discovered this large woodpecker in “killer-morning-light”.

NATURE CLICKS #443 - YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER

I was very excited when we found the first neo-tropical migrating birds yesterday . Several Yellow-rumped Warblers used the warm sun and caught little insects in the bushes and small trees at the Deere Marsh by the Mississippi River. I didn’t take the tripod with me but got some sharp pictures by handholding the heavy NIKON D750 / SIGMA 150-600 S combo.

Today I tried my luck again, went out with the tripod this time, but didn’t find a single bird. The access trail to the dyke and marsh is flooded at the moment but this photo was made right next to the small parking lot. For tomorrow the forecast shows rain again…

To all readers and followers of my blog, Happy Passover / Happy Easter, stay safe!

NATURE CLICKS #442 - TREE SWALLOWS

Tree Swallow, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

It was a great day for bird watching in the wetlands today. Many more ducks were present than during my last visit two weeks ago. And there were quite a few bird lovers out there, everybody in their car and with binoculars or cameras sticking out the window. I saw a lot Blue-winged Teals, Bufflehead, Hooded Mergansers, Northern Shovelers, and one pair of Green-winged Teals. I also got information about a Cinnamon Teal, but I was not able to locate the bird. It would have been a “first” for me in the Green Island Wetlands. In addition the first flycatchers have arrived and I saw an Eastern Phoebe and a Kingbird.

We had still some frost last night but the sun this morning heated up the air very quickly. This brought out the insects and large groups of Tree Swallows tried to catch them. They used the shrubs along the edge of the water to perch and to rest for brief moments. The Tree Swallows return to their nesting grounds earlier than any other American swallow. The ones I saw today were probably just on their way through. Their summer habitat stretches as far as northern Canada.

The warm air above the cold water created quite a bit of heat shimmer again. I was shocked how much it effected the sharpness today. Although the light was crisp and many bird species provided good contrast, normally easy to focus on, but my keeper rate was not very good.

NATURE CLICKS #441 - BELTED KINGFISHER

Belted Kingfisher, Mississippi River, Deere Marsh, Iowa

Those who read my blog since a long time may remember that I call him “the bastard”. I will do that until I finally will get a sharp picture of the Belted Kingfisher and I don’t have to crop it. It is not an uncommon bird. We can find them along the Mississippi River, in any side valley that has a creek, or at the edge of ponds and marshes as long there is fish to catch. The problem is, they are extremely skittish and fly away quite often long before a person can get close enough for a picture, even with a long focal length.

This photo of a male kingfisher was made last week at John Deere Marsh. There was not much I could do to shorten the distance between the bird and the lens. There was water between me and the kingfisher and at the end I cropped the photo quite a bit. I guess I still call him “the bastard” until another time…

THE FLICKER'S STORY

Male Northern Flicker

The last couple mornings brought us some sunlight and combined with woodpeckers getting closer to their mating season, the colors of their feathers are at their best. The ground is soft and the Northern Flickers are in the grass and probe with their bills in the soil for insects. It is believed that they eat ants more than any other North American bird, but right now it is a little bit to early for their preferred food.

At this time of the year it is a good habit to have the camera with the long lens mounted on a tripod and always ready to shoot. You never know what shows up in the morning and if there is an interesting sighting, you might miss the opportunity to make a good click if the gear is not ready.

I talk a lot about the storytelling in our images, especially during my presentations, and it is always valid to ask yourself, “what is the story in the photo?”. It might be possible to get a shot of the flicker with his bill in the ground, mostly with the eyes closed, but is it desirable and will be a pleasing photo? I’m not so sure. The flicker in the grass, holding still for a few seconds, while watching out for predators, is a great moment to make the click. The little bit of dirt on its bill tells the story about its feeding habits. The colors of the flicker’s feathers, the old dried up leaves and faded grass, together with the first green of the season leave no doubt what time of the year the picture was taken. And there is your story…