NATURE CLICKS #488 - RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER

Female Red-bellied Woodpecker, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa

It is mating season and most obvious is it by the birds that call for a mate or try to impress the other gender. Woodpeckers are among them and as soon daylight creeps above the horizon they make their presence known by drumming against a well sounding tree trunk or branch and by ratting calls, mostly by the males. Well, they need to eat too and suet feeders are like a magnet that pulls them within the reach of a lens. Of course, a feeder is not the best place for a photo but during the time the woodpeckers approach it, there are plenty of opportunities to make a click.

NATURE CLICKS #487 - KILLDEER

Killdeer, Green Island Preserve, Iowa

It looks like they are always motionless but the Killdeer can actually run pretty fast as soon they spot something to eat, like an earthworm or insect. It is one of the first bird species that returns after the winter and before you see them, you just know they are there because of the loud cry they can emit, “kill-dee” or “kill-deeeah-dee-dee”.

I have reported about Killdeer many times here in my blog before and if you use the search window you can compare older notes about this large plover. Last Sunday I watched a pair  feeding on earthworms that came out of the ground after the rain.

DUCK DAY

Male Northern Shoveler, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

Today we left the rain finally behind us but an overcast made me scratching my head and wondering if it is worth to make another trip to the wetlands. Gray sky and bird photography do not always go well together, especially if the sky is reflected on water. I did it anyway and thought a scouting trip for shorebirds, like sandpipers, wouldn’t hurt. To answer that question first, I saw only one Greater Yellowleg and a group of unidentified sandpipers, all of them too far away for a photo.

The number of ducks has increased and the first Canada Geese were sitting on nest sites. It was fun to watch immature Bald Eagles, honing their skills for catching fish, and pelicans circling with great elegance above. I counted 14 Sandhill Cranes and some showed their elaborate courtship displays to either form mating pairs, or between mates to maintain their pair bond. With other words, it was still a great day for bird watchers.

Pair of Blue-winged Teal

It is mating season and some of the ducks don’t fly away immediately as soon they become aware of us. Other things are on their mind and while they look most beautiful right now, it is the best time of the year to capture their picture. The challenge today was to keep the sky and water with sky reflections out of the frame whenever possible. In addition the green of new grass and reeds helps to hide mud and decaying clutter from last year’s growing season. 

THE PILEATED

Female Pileated Woodpecker, April 2020

It doesn’t happen very often but this week I didn’t press the shutter release button of the camera at all so far. Another project took most of my attention and time but hopefully this will change during the weekend. This photo of a female Pileated Woodpecker at the bottom of a dead oak tree was made about a year ago. This week I heard their calls every day and saw two Pileateds in the woods behind the house. It is the only woodpecker that has not visited our suet feeders in all the years we live here. This crow-size bird is actually present all year long but it is rare that I have one in front of the lens. April is still a good month because without the leaves we still have a clear view between the trees. I’ll keep trying…

TRYING ‘SUPER RESOLUTION’

Peregrine Falcon, Bellevue State Park

Before someone gets excited, this picture of a Peregrine Falcon was taken five years ago below the rockface at Bellevue State Park. I drive by there any time on my way to or from the Green Island Wetlands. There is a nest box mounted to the rocks that has been used by peregrines before. The last time I saw a bird was in 2019. Unfortunately I haven’t spotted a falcon this year yet. Maybe I haven’t spent enough time and left always too early…?

The reason I dug out this image from 2016 is the new ‘Super Resolution Feature’ in Adobe Camera RAW. It allows to enlarge a low resolution photo to a resolution four times its original size. It doubles the horizontal and vertical resolution. I tried that with a few older pictures already to see what is possible and I have to say I’m pretty impressed how the software boosts the apparent resolution, powered by machine learning, and enhances the details.

How can we use this technology to our advantage? If your current ‘state-of-the-art’ camera isn’t your first digital camera, you probably have older photos in your library that were shot with a 10, 6, or even 3 megapixel camera model. So the 3MP picture can become a 12MP version. This will allow much larger prints or you can crop the picture much more if you really need an enlargement of an important detail in the shot. Don’t take me wrong, I’m still an advocate for GET IT RIGHT IN CAMERA! However, we all have taken pictures that didn’t turn out perfectly sometimes, but contain valuable memories for us.

Back to the Peregrine Falcon. The bird was high up in a tree and there was no way to get even a foot closer. I had the lens at 600 mm focal length with the camera set to DX mode, which results in an angle of view that is equivalent to a 900 mm lens. The falcon was still only a small part in the photo. It was the first time I ever saw and photographed a Peregrine Falcon, a moment I wouldn’t forget. With the new ‘Super Resolution’ I was able to crop the photo and bring this memory back and share it with you.

If you like to read and learn more about this feature and how to use it in combination with Adobe Lightroom, here is the link to a great article that has a lot more details: https://lightroomkillertips.com/how-to-take-advantage-of-super-resolution-from-lightroom-classic/

NATURE CLICKS #486 - BLUE-WINGED TEAL

After five or six of gray and mostly rainy days this week the sun peaked out from behind the clouds. Joan, dog Cooper, and I took a ride in the car, heading south in the Mississippi Valley. A strong blowing wind had definitely an influence on the appearance of birds around the river and wetlands in the valley. Beside the usual suspects we saw a lot more ducks than during the last couple weeks. That doesn’t mean the photo opportunities have increased at the same rate. However, we came across two pairs of Blue-winged Teals. The leading male was already outside of the frame but the other three ducks stayed close together. Colder air temperatures than during the last weekends kept heat shimmer in bay and obtaining focus across the water wasn’t so difficult.

NATURE CLICKS #485 - BUFFLEHEAD

Buffleheads, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Preserve, Iowa

Without any doubt the Bufflehead is one of the prettiest ducks we enjoy watching at this time of the year. It is the smallest of the diving ducks. They feed on insects, crustaceans, mollusks, and seeds. Their prey is swallowed underwater. Soon they will move on to their breeding grounds up in Canada. They nest in cavities that are mostly made by woodpeckers, in particular Northern Flickers.

It looks like it isn’t difficult to photograph this duck but they are very fast and hardly ever come to a total standstill. Another male Bufflehead was trailing behind those three and both pairs were very busy feeding in the shallow waters of a lake in the Green Island Preserve yesterday. As so often, with the ice just gone and warm air over the water, heat shimmer effects the focus of the camera and my keeper rate for sharp images was not as high as usual.

GULLS WITH CHARACTER

Ring-billed Gull, Mississippi River, Sabula. Iowa

The local nature enthusiasts and photography friends may probably say, oh, just a Ring-billed Gull, we have so many of them. It’s true, but I always give the more common species a chance to be presented here in my blog. There is a few ingredients for a photo like this. Last weekend the remaining ice in the little marina of Sabula, Iowa had this dark blue color that makes for that nice background and you only see it in the old ice of a season. A blue sky is mandatory and of course, the gulls have to cooperate. And if you have in addition a nice light from the side, the camera has to come out of the bag for sure.

It was actually pretty busy. The birds caught little fish and argued about them a lot. some of the birds are really characters. This one looks like the cat that had eaten the canary. It just had gobbled down a fish, looked up into the sky for the other competitors, and seemed to think, haha, you didn’t get it, I did! Can you tell I had fun making these photos?

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BACKGROUND (AGAIN)

Greater Sandhill Cranes, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands

Who can blame me? The transition between winter and spring is the most exciting time of the year for a lot of nature lovers and photographers. For the third weekend in a row I went back to one of my favorite wildlife spots in the area, the Green Island Preserve wetland area, about 40 miles south and part of the ecosystem of the Mississippi River. It was not as busy with ducks and geese as last weekend, but still a great place to enjoy wildlife, chase the light for a good image, or just inhale the sounds and moods of the season.

After trying hard on a pair of Sand Hill Cranes without an image even worth to mention, another pair of cranes gave me later finally quite a good display. The challenge in spring is always finding a good background. The cranes forage not so much in the water but in the marshes and probe with their long bills in the mud between reeds and grasses from last year. In addition the access to the Green Island marshes and lakes is almost everywhere from a slightly elevated position, on top of a dyke or the road. This makes the lens pointing towards the ground even if it is only a slight angle.

So, what’s different with today’s photo? The Sandhill Cranes were on top of a dyke. I was in the car on the road and a body of water between me and the birds. With other words we were on the same eye level. The area behind the cranes is lakes, marshland, more dykes, and flat overall. The trees in the back are about two miles away and border the Mississippi River. This is the kind of background I like to have. It gives a sense of location and even the grasses around the cranes become part of the story and leave no doubt about what time of the year the photo was taken. I wish the cranes would feed more often on top of the dykes…😉

GEESE AND OTHERS ON THE MOVE

Greater White-fronted Geese, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

Yesterday I took another trip to the Green Island Wetlands, and boy, what a change to the weekend before. The snow is melting really fast and a few spots had finally open water. With that said, food sources become available for all kinds of birds and they indeed move in immediately. I saw seven Greater Sandhill Cranes, a big flock of Red-winged Blackbirds occupied some trees, and twice the call of a Killdeer filled the air, although I didn’t see any. But the biggest sign of spring for me were several overflights of Greater White-fronted Gees

Canada Geese

Wherever the ice had disappeared and open water was available, pairs of Canada Geese had moved in and jockeyed for the best spots. Some may travel further north but the Green Island Wetlands are a popular breeding ground for Canada Geese.

What else, of course a number of Bald Eagles. I discovered another nest location, which is the fourth one I’m aware of in this area. Other raptors can be watched, like a Northern Harrier, Red-tailed Hawks, and for the first time I saw a Rough-legged Hawk at Green Island.

Getting close enough to a particular bird is always the biggest challenge for any photographer. If you finally have your bird in the viewfinder and you just can’t get it sharp, despite you do everything right, you probably deal with heat shimmer. The warm air above the remaining cold snow and ice creates this inferior mirage that prevents a sharp image. A problem that can’t be ignored, especially when working with a long lens. Sometimes it is better just to watch and enjoy the moment…

YESTERDAY WAS WORLD WILDLIFE DAY

Downy Woodpecker

Yesterday was World Wildlife Day and everybody but me posted a nice wildlife photo on Instagram or other popular websites. I simply forgot about it 🙄. By writing this blog on my website I try to create awareness about wildlife since 2010 and maybe you can forgive me. The photo is actually from yesterday evening and this Downy Woodpecker posed nicely on the old cedar tree trunk in the last bit of sunshine. This winter we had up to six of North America’s smallest woodpeckers here and they are usually not as shy and skittish as their larger cousins. I always enjoy having them in front of the lens and the Downy is my choice to celebrate World Wildlife Day this year, even if it is belated… 😊

NATURE CLICKS #484 - JUVENILE BALD EAGLE

It was about time to make a trip along the Mississippi River again. Despite the warm weather we had last week, the river is still frozen almost everywhere and most fields and marshes are snow covered. Food sources are still limited for many birds and it took me a while to find an animal that triggered my desire to make a photograph. However, it was a sunny and relatively warm day and it was just nice to be out and about.

This juvenile Bald Eagle was perched in a tree next to the boat landing in Bellevue, Iowa. This is just below the lock and dam and was one of the few few spots on the river without ice cover. It takes the Bald Eagle about four to five years to acquire adult plumage, with their distinctive white head and tail feathers. This one looks like it is in its second year, with some white mottling on its breast and belly already present.

After a few ‘safety shots’ I zoomed with my feet , back and forth, left and right, and tried to find a spot where no branch cuts through the eagles head. Not paying attention to this kind of detail is a mistake I made way too many times in the past during bird photography. The eagle was very cooperative, turned its head around a few times, but stayed in the same position and gave me all the time I needed to make the photo you see today.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S,   1/400 s, f/8, ISO 100, @600 mm, shot in FX mode but cropped in post for DX dimensions.

NATURE CLICKS #483 - AMERICAN KESTREL, A PAIR

Male American Kestrel, near Sherrill, Iowa

I see them quite often in the same area. Most of the time the kestrels take off as soon the car stops. Not so today! Their preferred perch are the utility wires around here. Today’s photos were taken at different times. First I saw the male kestrel on my way to the Mississippi River. The picture is cropped because I stopped in a safe distance. I debated with myself if the pole should be included but is so much part of the story that I decided to keep it in the frame. Right after I continued driving I saw suddenly the female kestrel with a mouse flying away from the ground. Rodents, like mice or voles, and small birds are their main food source during the winter. The weather got much warmer the last couple days, the snow is melting rapidly, and I’m sure the mice stuck their heads out of the holes to find food as well. For some this obviously ends fatal.

Female American Kestrel

The second photo was made on my way back at the same spot. I didn’t see the male but the female American Kestrel perched nicely on the utility wire next to the road. This time I stopped almost beneath the bird but she didn’t pay attention to my presence at all and it took almost a minute before this little falcon turned her head in my direction.

The American Kestrel is the smallest but most common falcon in North America. They are migratory birds and the pair I saw today again may move further north pretty soon. However, here in the Midwest kestrels can be watched all-season.

AT THE SCENE OF THE CRIME

I came back from a short trip to the post office today when I found one of our bird feeders unscrewed from its hook on the balcony deck and laying on the ground below. I thought I must have not tightened the screw enough and it became loose while one of our numerous Gray Squirrels had occupied the feeder. I picked it up, put it back to its place, and went on with business. Later in the afternoon Joan’s call, ‘raccoon in the tree’, made me running for the camera.

Indeed, a raccoon had climbed the elm tree that grows next to the balcony deck. It tried to hide behind the tree trunk and it became clear who the thief of bird seeds really was. Making a good click wasn’t so easy. First, I had problems finding a gap between the branches and still having some decent light available, and second, the raccoon tried to “play possum”, pretending to sleep or feigning death. The critter was hiding its face and even closed the eyes, like people sometimes do when they don’t want their picture taken. But raccoons are curious too and so I waited patiently until this guy tried to check me out again and peeked from behind the tree. Raccoons are smart animals and this one has probably unscrewed a bird feeder not for the first time to get it on the ground for an easy meal…

A SUCCESSFUL HUNTER

Sharp-shinned Hawk

There was some turmoil in the air but let me start with the story before the drama unfolded this morning. Part of my morning routine is to check on bird feeders, water levels of the heated bird baths, and just watch the actions of our feathered friends from behind the balcony door. As seen other times before, there was a moment this morning when every bird either went away or just froze any movement. All the woodpeckers and nuthatches stopped moving and looked like sculptures and no sparrow, junco, finch, titmouse, or cardinal was really visible. This is a sure sign that our Sharp-shinned Hawk is in a nearby tree and on the hunt. I looked into the woods behind the house for ten minutes but couldn’t see the raptor. I just knew the hawk was there. Suddenly hell broke loose and some of the 25-30 Northern Cardinals that were hiding between tree branches panicked and among them was the hawk. He caught one of them mid-air and dropped immediately to the ground. And this was where both photos were made. You can’t see the poor cardinal under the snow but you get a picture of a successful hunter. The hawk spent a few minutes sitting over its prey before it took off and flew into a grove of eastern cedars and out of sight.

Sharp-shinned Hawks are pursuit hunters and catch their prey, mostly small birds, often by surprise, either mid-air or on the ground. They can navigate dense woods at high speeds and are agile and acrobatic fliers.

I was lucky to find an unobstructed view between the trees and the hawk gave me enough time to calm down and handhold camera and long lens while shooting from the balcony deck.