Another winter storm hit the area again a couple days ago. I tried to capture a photo with some storytelling about and how the birds brave it out. It doesn’t really need much to give the viewer an idea. The snow covered branch and the snow trails in the background set the stage for this male House Sparrow. Shutter speed had to be slow to make a trail and here 1/50 second at f/8 was used to make the click. Some people don’t think it is worth their time to aim the lens at such an ordinary bird but I strongly disagree. They are part of our natural heritage and just because they are abundant doesn’t mean they are less important. And look at at this guy, isn’t he pretty?
NATURE CLICKS #482 - SAME HAWK, SAME LOCATION, DIFFERENT DAY
I thought I give it a try again today and went back to the same location as yesterday. Sure enough, the Rough-legged Hawk was present again, this time perched in a tree, a little further away from the road. They are known to perch sometimes on very slender branches on top of a tree and I have watched this behavior at the dark morph of a Rough-legged Hawk lately at a different location. This time the bird waited for me and gave me a few seconds to make some clicks before she flew away. You can see how the feathers cover her whole legs. The name “Rough-legged” refers to that. In North America only Golden Eagles, the Ferruginous Hawk, and the Rough-legged Hawk have feathers all the way down to their toes. We expect another snow storm tomorrow and I wonder sometimes how these birds manage to survive these often brutal weather conditions…
NATURE CLICKS #481 - ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK
These are my lucky shots today. On my short trips to the Mississippi River during lunch break I drive quite often with the camera on the passenger seat or in my lap and look for wildlife. Rough-legged Hawks spend the summer up on the arctic tundra and come down to southern Canada and the U.S. for the winter time. Up north they feed mostly on lemmings and voles, while mice and other rodents are on their diet here during the winter. This hawk is a light morph but I have watched a dark form as well during the last two months only a couple miles away from this location. This Rough-legged Hawk is possibly an immature female but I’m not an expert enough to say that with certainty.
Rough-legged Hawk, near Sherrill, Iowa
She was perched on a utility post, a perch they like to hunt from. They need open habitats, such as fields or prairies. The procedure is always the same. I make sure nobody is behind me, slow down the car, roll the window down, take the hands off the steering wheel, grab the camera, stop the car, and start shooting. I have trained this many times on gravel roads without traffic but it still needs a bit of luck to get the picture. The hawk took off right before I came to a standstill but she flew towards me and I was able to fire five shots. I thought I missed the focus completely but later at home I found out that two shots were at least usable, although they are not tack-sharp.
It was not a first sighting of a Rough-legged Hawk, but I’m very happy because it was the first time I was able to come back with a picture that is more than just a documentary shot for the records.
Both images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, …@600 mm, 1/1600 s, f/8, ISO400. Shot in full frame mode (FX) but cropped in post to DX dimensions, which delivers an angle of view like with 900 mm focal length.
VISIT FOR LUNCH
The deeper snow makes our little herd of White-tailed Deer even braver and since a few days two fawns show up already around noon for a lunch. While one ate the seeds that dropped from the bird feeders, its sibling stood guard and observed the surroundings. They must have found out that the photographer prefers this time over the hour after sunset due to better light…😉 Look at the ears! They change direction every few seconds and tell the story about the mission of this little guy.
However, this evening two does and four fawns returned, obviously knowing that I had thrown a couple extra hands of bird seeds onto the snow. At night we hear some coyotes bark, yip, and howl behind the house or down in the valley. Live is not easy for the deer at the moment…
Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, @200 mm, 1/800 s, f/8, ISO200
AFTER THE SNOW STORM
Dark-eyed Junco
We had about a foot of fresh snow last night. While the snow storm slowed down this morning I made a few clicks of the birds that try to survive the winter here in eastern Iowa. Dark-eyed Juncos are present by the dozen and are among my favorite birds to photograph.
The challenge is always to separate the dark eye from the rest of the upper part of the bird. Getting a little bit of light on the eye ring is key and it helps if the eye has a hint of catch light, even if it is the reflection of the flash that was used to bring out some colors. The flash also helps to tell the story about “Winter-wonder-land”. The background has to be dark if you want to see the falling snow. A slower shutter speed makes for nice snow trails but this morning I wanted to capture more of the calm that follows a snow storm. Without totally “freezing” the snow flakes in the background the desired balance was attained at 1/640 s for this image.
SQUIRREL APPRECIATION DAY
Eastern Gray Squirrel
Early this morning I read a FB post from my German photography friend Maren about ‘Squirrel Appreciation Day’ last Thursday, which also included a nice photo of a squirrel. A moment later I looked out the window and checked our bird feeders and had to start laughing out loud. Seven Eastern Gray Squirrels had hijacked the feeders and bird bath and didn’t leave any space for the birds. This isn’t totally unusual but after a very cold night (-19ºC / -2ºF) the squirrels were really desperate to get some food in their bellies.
Alright, they can be annoying at times but they are also cute and play a role in the eco system. Let them have some sunflower seed too! Here is one of my favorite photos of an Eastern Gray Squirrel as a belated tribute to National Squirrel Appreciation Day.
NATURE CLICKS #480 - AMERICAN TREE SPARROW
This photo is already two weeks old but it could have been made today because the landscape had a fresh layer of snow on top of the old one this morning. The American Tree Sparrow breeds in far northern North America but during the winter they migrate south and we may have a chance to watch them. They feed usually in small flocks, mostly on seeds, but here in our woods we only see one or two occasionally.
During these gray days, with little or no sun peaking out from behind the clouds, I still like to include a little bit from the “cold part” of winter in my visual storytelling. Blue is the color of cold and I try to keep the white balance around 5500 Kelvin. Gray clouds render gray snow and the idea is just to counter that by controlling the white balance in camera. A hint of flash helps again with the colors of the sparrow.
THE DAILY PRACTICE
White-tailed Deer fawn
Theoretically I could make this photo almost every day right here in front of the house when we have snow on the ground. The White-tailed Deer, who roam the area, know where to find food despite the snow cover. If you hang your bird feeders too low they may empty it within a short period of time. Usually they come for what’s dropped to the ground by birds and squirrels, but if we have really deep snow, I throw a couple extra hands full of seeds out just for the deer. This morning I saw a doe at 5am, and that was still too dark for a picture. The best time is usually in the late afternoon. We have a few fawns, born in 2020, that are brave enough and come all the way to the front porch. If I see them ahead of time and before they walk in, I can open the bedroom window and just wait for them…
I have made photos of White-tailed Deer in better light but we can’t be always choosy. We need to keep the ball rolling, even if weather, light, or other circumstances are not in photographer’s favor. If nothing else, it’s the daily practice behind the camera that counts and that may help us to make the technical side of shooting a subconscious part of the process.
NATURE CLICKS #479 - CAROLINA WREN
The Carolina Wren has one of the most remarkable songs we can hear during the winter. They are here all year long but we see them most of the time only in the cold season. I saw a pair the other day but usually only one bird shows up briefly every day. The wren moves fast and hops around between a suet feeder and the ground. Hard to make a good image that way. Yesterday, while I was out on the balcony with the camera on tripod, this Carolina Wren appeared right in front of me. They are slightly bigger than the House Wrens, who spend the summer here every year between the end of April and August.
The equipment I used for the photo was the same as mentioned in yesterday’s blog post. That little bit of flash light made all the difference again between a dull picture and one with some colors.
IN THE BACKYARD STUDIO
Northern Cardinal
Yikes, another day without sunshine! Time again to do some shooting in the “backyard studio”, means putting the tripod on the balcony and waiting for birds who would use the nearby elm tree as a perch before they finally approach a bird feeder.
Northern Cardinals seem to stick together during the winter and since several weeks we have a conclave of about 25-30 that are attracted by our sunflower seeds. The trick is to stay put and let them approach you. If you make a sudden movement or any noise they will fly back in the timber and the waiting game starts all over.
Dark-eyed Junco
The Dark-eyed Juncos spend the summer up in Canada and when they disappear we know spring is not far away. Most of the time the juncos scratch on the ground, looking for seeds or droppings from a bird feeder. Those ground pictures are often not so clean and background can be a problem. Well, they need a break once in a while too and if they perch in a tree or bush you have your chance to get a photo of one of the most handsome birds.
Tufted Titmouse
I’m very happy to see so many Tufted Titmice this winter. I knew they had a very good breeding season last year here in our woods. The Tufted Titmouse is not as shy as some of the other birds. The problem with them is that they hardly stay in the same spot for much more than a second, unless they try to crack the shell of a sunflower seed. The titmouse holds the seeds with its feet and hammers relentlessly with its beak until the shell cracks open. The keeper rate for sharp pictures is a little lower than usual during that procedure… 😉
The overcast is not really bad. Yes, it mutes all colors but it also creates a soft ambient light. With the snow on the ground some of the light is thrown back at the birds from underneath. A little hint of flash, and I mean a real small amount of light, concentrated with the MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender makes all the difference.
All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender
RETROSPECTS 2020 - #11
Black-capped Chickadee
My retrospects 2020 series isn’t so much about the best picture for each month but for the moments that put a smile in my face when I look at the image. In November, after the leaves are all on the ground but snow hasn’t touched the land around, the one thing that makes me taking the camera everywhere I go is the crisp light. Without the haze of the warmer months here in Iowa and the sun low above the horizon, the quality of light makes photography pure fun.
RETROSPECTS 2020 - #9
Feral horses, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, south unit
In 2020 was our second visit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We already fell in love with this landscape and its wildlife five years earlier and wanted to go back again. Each unit of the park has something special to offer. One of the animals to look for in the south unit are the feral horses. You probably will find some of them if you have enough time on hand, but getting close enough for a photo is not always guaranteed. In 2015 we had a couple brief moments but last September we were able to spend more time with these beautiful feral horses. Lots of moments were captured but the ones that tell the story about their social ties stand out for me.
RETROSPECTS 2020 - #7
Juvenile Bald Eagle, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa
I work out of a home office, no matter what, and with not much business or leisure travel this year it is easy to get symptoms of the “cabin fever”. Usually this feeling occurs during long winter months and not in July and so I made it a habit to take our dog at lunch time and walk him at a place in nature. With the Mississippi only a few miles away and many other river valleys, little canyons, or patches of prairie not far either, it is just a matter of deciding where to go. As the avid readers of my blog already know, Mud Lake Park is one of my favorite places. Not only the closest spot to the mighty Mississippi from our home, but always with a chance to see wildlife or weather related drama in the sky. It hit me by surprise when I found this juvenile Bald Eagle sitting on a branch right above me. A few days later I learned that the parents were actually feeding two young birds but that day I only saw one.
RETROSPECTS 2020 - #6
Barn Swallows, Dubuque, Iowa
The month of June was again filled with good wildlife sightings but one great opportunity came with an invitation from my photography friend Kevin. He owns an old barn near his house and we were shooting Barn Swallows that had their nests in the building. We did that already two years ago and I didn’t hesitate a second when he invited me again this year. Kevin has produced some amazing photos with swallows in flight and approaching their nest during this summer. I used my chance that afternoon and focussed on two spots at the barn and tried to catch some nice gestures while the birds interacted with each other. Time well spent again and definitely a highlight for me in June 2020.
RETROSPECTS 2020 - #5
American Redstart, Bankston County Park, Iowa
We are in the month of May for my ‘Retrospects 2020’ here in the blog, the place where I pull up some memorable moments that enlightened the year photographically. As every year all the neotropical birds arrive from their journey by the end of April or during the first days in May. There is no lack of interesting colorful species.
This year I spent more time in Bankston County Park, a small river valley with a rocky bottom and a pond, and only twenty minutes away from home. Two of my five ‘first sightings’ of birds in 2020 happened in this little nature paradise and I have already plans for more exploration in this area for next year.
Probably the most common warbler we can find there is the American Redstart. The best chances to make a good click is at their time of courtship. During the rest of the summer they stay higher up in the trees and it is more difficult to aim the glass at them.