THE LITTLE PATIENT

White-breasted Nuthatch

A few days ago a hard bump against one of our big windows made me jump out of my office chair and run outside. I knew immediately what happened and found this little female White-breasted Nuthatch unconscious down in the snow. Even though most of our windows are protected with bug screens or have bird protection decals on the glass, it happens from time to time that a bird hits the glass of one of the two big windows that can’t be reached easily and lack protection.

I kept the little guy in my hand and warmed it up for several minutes until she regained consciousness. For a few minutes the bird rested on the front porch where I took the first picture. I was happy to see her flying to my “woodpecker tree”, a dead cedar that holds a bird feeder and is used for yard photography. There she spent another ten minutes before the nuthatch finally returned into the woods.

The size of this White-breasted Nuthatch tells me it is probably one of the juveniles from this year. The older birds are slightly bigger. They don’t migrate and are here all year long. I’m glad it turned out well for the little patient… 😊

RETROSPECTS 2020 - #4

White-faced Ibis, Green island Wetlands, Iowa

April is another great month for bird photography. Many species use the Mississippi Valley as a migration corridor. One of my most memorable moments this year was a first sighting and an extensive shooting session with a congregation of eleven White-faced Ibises. I found them feeding along the banks of a dike in the Green Island Wildlife Area on a gray overcast day.

The Ibis probes with its long curving bill in the mud along shores and in wet soil, searching for earthworms and other invertebrates. This was probably one of the more difficult wildlife shootings I have done, although I shot from the comfort of my car, using it as a blind.

The “elements” were not favorable that day. Gray sky made for low light and muted colors. The worst thing to face was heat shimmer, very common at that time of the year in the wetlands. The water is still very cold while the air above is warmer and that creates heat waves, resulting in soft images and inaccurate autofocus. The long lens compresses this effect and if you are not aware about it, it makes you wonder why none of the pictures is sharp.

Although I made several hundred clicks that afternoon in April, the photo above is among my favorites. It is all about the gesture the ibis makes, with its eye turned up towards the sky and looking at a Bald Eagle. While the birds were busy probing their bills into the mud and feeding whenever they found something, every half an hour a Bald Eagle would circle above, probably looking for a good snack as well. When that happened the ibises would stop, freezing motionless for a little while, and finally take off and fly a circle to distract the eagle. After the eagle had enough and flew away, the eleven White-faced Ibises returned to the dike and continued searching for more food.

This year I had five first sightings of bird species that are now also part of my photo library, but the three hours I spent with the White-faced Ibises was one of the best times behind the camera. The Wildlife Management Biologist of the Iowa DNR for this area confirmed by email that they were very rare visitors in this area. I was back on site the next day but the birds had moved on.

RETROSPECTS 2020 - #3

Greater White-fronted Geese, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

Early March is a great time to watch thousands of Greater White-fronted and Snow Geese migrating to their arctic breeding grounds. The Green Island Wetlands are a place for rest during their journey. The hour before sunset is the time to be there for this great nature event. Often the low sitting sun throws some warm light to the underside of the birds. Predicting the path of the geese and good panning technique with the long lens are key for getting a sharp image. The bonus that night was an almost full moon. Having a Greater White-fronted Goose right in its center put a big smile on my face…

RETROSPECTS 2020 - #2

Bald Eagle, Mississippi River, Sabula, Iowa

The last winter was relatively mild and short but in February was ice on the Mississippi River and some snow on the ground. Bald Eagles use open spots in the river to hunt for fish and that’s where I always look for birds in nearby trees or on the ice. A clean shot without any debris on the ice isn’t always possible but at that occasion it all came together. The darker ice and water puddle create some lines that make the picture more interesting but don’t distract and let the magnificent bird still stand out .

SHAPES IN ICE

Little Maquoketa River, Iowa

Time to calm down after last Friday’s excitement about birds and wildlife. We don’t have any snow on the ground but temperatures have ben below freezing at night and hoar frost and ice started creating natural shapes along the shores of our rivers and ponds. Let’s see if we can find some light there…

NATURE CLICKS #478 - SHORT EARED OWL

Short-eared Owl, Mississippi River, Green Island Wildlife Area, Iowa

This is by no means a sharp photo and I’m not talking only about the blurred wings (which I actually like), but the eyes and face are not really sharp either. However, I couldn’t resist to post this image because a Short-eared Owl has been in front of my camera only once before. There was hardly any light left when the owl appeared and hunted along the dike that crosses the Green Island Wildlife Area. With its buoyant flight and constantly changing directions it was difficult to lock on the focus. After watching the Trumpeter Swans (see my last post) I was just about to wrap it up when the owl approached my location on top of the dike. I still had the Nikkor 70-200, f/4 on camera, I used just before for some landscape photography. The only way to get at least a documentary shot was to increase ISO to 1000 and leave the lens wide open (f/4). With a little bit of light on the owl’s face and stretched out wing, the photo gives us an idea about the time when the hunting starts for the Shored-eared Owl. They forage mostly at night and the diet consists of mice, voles, moles, shrews, ground squirrels, small rabbits, and muskrats, but they also take small birds and large insects. Open spaces, like grasslands, marches, and prairies are the preferred habitat and the Green Island Wetlands fall certainly into this category.

AN EVENING IN THE WETLANDS

Trumpeter Swans flying in for the night, Green Island Wildlife Area, Iowa

It was about time to pay a visit to the Green Island Wildlife Area, a wetland at the confluence of the Maquoketa and Mississippi rivers. My last visit was back in September. I avoid Green Island during duck hunting season. Parts of the wetlands are closed for hunting but access is also limited for everybody else at that time. Beside that I don’t think it’s the best idea to run around and be an accidental target for those dudes who forgot their glasses at home…😉

Red-tailed Hawk,   1/125 s, f/9, ISO 400, @850 mm, Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG

As expected late in the day several raptors showed their presence. I photographed a Red-tailed Hawk in the same dead tree before earlier this year, and it might be the same one, but this time the bird was already in the shade. I tried it with the 1.4 teleconverter, making it a 850 mm focal length. The result is less tree and more bird. I braced myself against the car window to get this shot.

Bald Eagle,   1/1250 s, f/9, ISO 400, @850 mm (DX mode: 1275 mm), Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG

The compounding effect of flooding during the last ten years has left hardly any trees alive and this landscape has already changed dramatically. Who knows, this might be the last photo of a Bald Eagle on a dead branch of this particular tree. Well, the other trees around don’t look any different… Next year the tree is probably gone. To get this shot I pushed the “tools” and my abilities to their limits. Since the water was covered with ice for the most part the eagle wasn’t there for catching fish, but probably enjoyed the last rays of light yesterday evening as much as I did.

Trumpeter Swans, 1/400 s, f/6.3, ISO 400, @600 mm, Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S,

The sun gets out of sight a little earlier in the Mississippi Valley than what our phone apps may tell us. After patrolling the gravel roads in the wetlands for any kind of wildlife I returned to the dike for some “after sunset” shots but another lens change came first. Wave after wave of Trumpeter Swans flew in, crossed overhead, and probably landed on the ice of Blakes Lake on the east side of the wildlife area. This bird was almost extinct in Iowa at some point in recent history and seeing so many swans congregating during the winter warms my heart… (I didn’t count but I think it was way more than 100 birds)

Green Island Wildlife Area, Iowa

Finally between the calls of Sandhill Cranes and the hoots of a Great Horned Owl I was able to make the landscape picture that was on my mind. Apple’s Steve Jobs was famous for ending his keynote speeches and then turning around and saying “One more thing…” Well, I have one more too, but will show it in my next blog post. 😊

THE BISON BELOW

American Bison, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, September 2020

You can tell, this bison has fought a few battles during the mating season, which takes place from late July to August. I was actually looking for some Mule Deer near a trailhead in Roosevelt National Park when suddenly this bull showed up. He disappeared into a small canyon and this allowed me to place the tripod near the edge and make a few clicks from above of the grazing bison. Keeping a safe distance to these large animals is important, not just during the mating season, and no photo is worth risking the life of an animal or your own.

GET IT RIGHT IN CAMERA (PART 2)

Eastern Gray Squirrel, 1/800 s, f/9, ISO 400, @850 mm, DX mode (1,275 mm)

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head

Although with a totally different aspect, I’m picking up from my last blog post today, “Get it right in camera”. All photos are from last weekend. Way too many times I do have to crop some of my wildlife images, mainly because of too much distance between the camera and the animal. There has been progress over the years but it remains a challenge and I’m not always up to it.

Black-capped Chickadee, 1/400 s, f/9, ISO 400, @850 mm

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head

Well, there is a piece of gear in my bag that can help to get closer and fill the frame without cropping, but I admit, it hasn’t seen the light of the day much lately. I’m talking about the SIGMA 1.4 teleconverter that compliments the SIGMA 150-600, f5-6.3 and can extend its focal length from 600 mm to 850 mm. On a camera with a half size sensor or in DX mode on a full frame camera, like the Nikon D750, you can even get the angle of view of a 1,275 mm lens. Wow, this is a lot more than the naked lens can provide!

Red-bellied Woodpecker, 1/1250 s, f/9, ISO 400, @850 mm

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head

Of course there is a downside. With a maximum aperture of f/6.3 at 600 mm the SIGMA isn’t the fastest lens anyway, but with the teleconverter attached it becomes a f/9! This needs a lot of light for a good function of the autofocus system. But if the focus locks on, this lens / teleconverter combination delivers a sharp picture. It’s not the perfect solution for “low light” wildlife photography. But if the sun comes out and you have the great contrast, colors, and light this time of the season has to offer, you might be suddenly closer to your subject and after a while you don’t even know where the “crop-button” of your photo editing software is located…😉

NATURE CLICKS #477 - WILD TURKEY

A gang of Wild Turkeys, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND, September 2020

I guess you saw that coming, Wild Turkeys in my blog right at Thanksgiving holiday here in the US 😉. Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota is a good place to watch them. Quite often they show up near the road and most pictures can be made from the car, which serves as a mobile blind in this matter. We saw a number of large families, which shouldn’t be a surprise knowing that a nest usually has 10 to 15 eggs, sometimes even more.

Thanksgiving might be a little different for many of us this year but I hope you still can enjoy it. If nothing else, go out with your camera and come back with some good pictures!

NATURE CLICKS #476 - BIGHORN SHEEP

Bighorn Sheep, Roosevelt National Park, North Unit

Joan and I were happy to watch and photograph Bighorn Sheep in the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park again. During our first visit in 2015 a ranger told us, you will be very lucky if you can find the Bighorn Sheep. They spend most of their time in the canyons of this badlands area and therefor not easy to spot.

Well, this year we found a splendid ram and four ewes grazing on the grassy slope above a canyon. We spent about 20 minutes with the bighorn sheep before they disappeared into the valley. Enough time to work with these amazing critters…

Male bighorns can be dangerous and are able to kill a human if threatened, so maintaining a safe distance is a good idea. There was a small ravine between my tripod and the animals and I felt safe to be that close. The first image is uncropped and gives you an idea about the real world at 600 mm focal length, while the second photo didn’t have a very interesting background, just plain grass, and I felt a slight crop would benefit the outcome. The sheep gave us a look ones in a while but most of the time just ignored us and that is always a good thing if you are close to a wild animal.

BEFORE THE WINTER COMES

A pair of Tundra Swans approaching and greeting other members of the flock. The yellow spot at the base of their bill makes identification relatively easy.

It is a two-hour drive for us along the mighty Mississippi to visit the Brownsville Overlook. This observation point, just ten miles north of the border to Minnesota, is a popular spot in November by bird watchers, photographers, and people who love to see the wonders of nature. Every year thousands of Tundra Swans rest in this area on their way from the arctic region to the mid-Atlantic coast. In addition local and migrating Trumpeter Swans, Sandhill Cranes, Bald Eagles, and ten thousands of ducks are also part of the mix that that can be watched.

A family of Trumpeter Swans. They are larger than Tundra Swans and their bill is completely black.

NATURE CLICKS #475 - LEAST CHIPMUNK

Least Chipmunk, Little Missouri National Grasslands, North Dakota, September 2020

The Least Chipmunk is the smallest of its kind here in North America but it is the most widespread. We don’t have it here in Iowa but during our trip through the Dakotas and eastern Montana we had a chance to watch these agile little fellows several times. Seeds, berries, nuts, fruits and insects are on their menu and most of the time we saw them chewing or carry something to their burrow.

Sure, this is not a critter that is difficult to photograph but therefore the photo has to be a little different. Light, color, or gesture  This Least Chipmunk was busy finding something in this tree but when he or she paused and observed the surrounding neighborhood, it was time to press the shutter release button of the camera.

1/320 s, f/6.3, ISO 320, @600 mm, with Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head;

NATURE CLICKS #474 - ROCK WREN (FIRST SIGHTING)

Rock Wren, Little Missouri National Grasslands, North Dakota, September 2020

It has been two months already since we enjoyed the sighting of a Rock Wren, which was the first time ever that we saw this tiny bird. We had the remote Wannagan Campground, located just west of the border to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, for ourselves and it allowed me to walk around with camera and tripod wherever I wanted to and without disturbing other campers. Actually I was after some Mountain Bluebirds (Click HERE for a picture I took earlier that day) but when an unknown bird call sounded from some nearby rocks, my attention shifted immediately.

The Rock Wren lives in the western part of the US and southwest Canada and the location we found it is pretty much at the eastern border of its range. I just read that male Rock Wrens can have a large repertoire of more than 100 song types. I think that’s remarkable! This bird is not known to drink water, but gets the liquid it needs from food. Their diet consists insects and spiders and they hunt for them between and around rocks. Winters are pretty cold up in North Dakota and the Rock Wren migrates to the warmer regions in the southwest of the US and to Mexico.

Photographically not all wishes became true. The topography of this location did not allow  to get closer with the tripod and so I applied a crop to both photos. The location itself was perfect. Having a Rock Wren on top of a rock, surrounded by some grass stems and sage brush, tells a great story about its habitat in the badlands of North Dakota.

THE NEW “SHOOTING GALLERY”

Tufted Titmouse

Almost “T-shirt weather” and great light made me spent some time behind the camera on our front porch this late afternoon. As mentioned in my last blog post, there is a new “shooting gallery” in place, a little rack that holds a heated bird bath, a few bird feeders, and a couple dead red cedar trees (or at least parts of them), that serve as perches, and of course the places where I would like to make a photo. It is mobile and can be moved to a different location if I see a need for doing so. The idea behind is that I like to use “the gallery” during the “real winter” here in eastern Iowa (for my friends in South Africa and Germany: -20º to -50ºC), means having the camera on a tripod in the house and the birds still right in front of me. Right now I have my doubts that we are already in November, but there is no reason to stay inside and today we had about 22ºC (72º Fahrenheit). Oh yeah, people and animals enjoyed it the same way!

Black-capped Chickadee

Black-capped Chickadees are omnipresent all year long in our woods and it was also a great year for the Tufted Titmouse. We saw a lot of juveniles in late summer but now it is a little more difficult to tell what bird is an experienced adult or offspring from 2020. To be honest, it doesn’t really matter, we enjoy frequent visits of any kind of bird and both species are great to find out about the best settings for the new “shooting gallery”. I hope you enjoy and have a wonderful weekend.