NATURE CLICKS #504 - BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE

In the Badlands, South Dakota, the Black-billed Magpie can be found at the eastern border of its residence. With other words, we don’t see this bird here in Iowa. I have photographed the Black-billed Magpie out west before, but the best spot has been always in the Sage Creek Valley of Badlands National Park. They are a little skittish but may give you the chance to frame a shot if you keep calm and don’t move too fast around. I shot plenty of photos of the magpie on the ground, its natural feeding space, and a couple pictures of the bird sitting in a tree. However, my favorite shot from the trip back in early May is the one above, made right in the campground at one of the posts that mark each campsite.

Black-billed Magpie, Sage Creek Valley, Badlands NP, South Dakota

The critical observer may ask, why do they make such big posts for just putting the numbers of a campsite on it? That’s because of the bison. The bulls like to visit the area and as soon they find something vertical, they start rubbing their skin and massive body on it. These poles are buried deep in the ground and still may become loose over time… The magpies love them as a perch. By the way, it’s cousin, the Yellow-billed Magpie is only found in California’s Central Valley and the adjacent foothills. A bird I haven’t seen yet, but hopefully will do sometimes in the future…

HUMMINGBIRD ON “BULLY”-DUTY

Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird

As every year, the first Ruby-throated Hummingbirds show up by the end of April and their numbers increase during the month of May. This photo was made a month later. The fresh green and tiny branches of a little maple tree in our front yard make a good perch for the birds and we can count on that a male will use it to “bully” the neighbors and drive other hummers away from the nearby hummingbird feeders. Right now, summer has taken over with full force, high temperatures and humidity, and the quality of light is just not the same anymore as it was ten days ago. The early morning rendered some great light and the feathers of the little guy show their brilliance even without a hint of flash.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head,    @ 600 mm, 1/800 s, f/6.3, ISO 200, DX crop,

PHOTOGRAPHY HAS TO BE FUN…

White-tailed Deer, Upper Mississippi Valley, near Finley’s Landing, Iowa

I know this White-tailed Deer. Have seen it many times during the last few months while I took our dog Cooper down into the Mississippi Valley for a walk or hike. Quite often it is grazing beside the road that leads down to Finley’s Landing and moves out of the way as soon a car comes around the corner. Most of the time it isn’t worth to raise the lens because the deer hides quickly between dense underbrush, but that day, earlier in May, the deer stopped in a spot that had some good light. This is the time when optical stabilization in a lens can make the difference between a sharp or blurry image. The engine of the car is running, vibration is introduced, and of course, the photographer may not have the best position to keep the camera with the heavy lens in a stabile position. Practicing handhold shooting almost every day is the only way to make a successful click when it really matters. The avid reader of my blog knows that I like to go for the environmental shot in my wildlife photography. With the fallen trunk, of probably an old oak in the background, and new shoots of green around, this image has everything to tell the story about the landscape in this part of the Mississippi Valley and its side valleys. It was one of the moments when I drove up the hill with a big smile on my face. Photography has to be fun…. 😊

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, @ 360 mm, 1/200 s, f/6.3, ISO400

NATURE CLICKS #503 - HOODED MERGANSER

Female Hooded Merganser, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

This female Hooded Merganser was as calm as a bird can be. I was really wondering if there were some ducklings nearby. I have photographed the offspring of Hooded Mergansers May 1st already a few years ago, but it didn’t seem like this female was too worried about any juveniles. However, we can’t expect to see the male Hooded Mergansers around the females this time of the year. Once the female begins to incubate, the male abandons her.

The water level in the Green Island Wetlands is the lowest I have seen in years right now. This is not always pretty for a photographer that looks for a nice background, but it is probably good for the wetlands. The high water level of the last few years has killed lots of trees and shrubs and has a huge negative impact on many birds, except maybe for geese and some ducks. There are still some dead trees that make a home for a few woodpeckers and tree swallows. But where do they go when the last tree trunk is not standing anymore? I have watched that and it is amazing how fast a whole grove of trees is nothing but a flat pile of decaying wood in the water. Some land is finally getting dry right now and maybe some of the shrubs may recover. I’m definitely not an expert on the biology of this ecosystem, but my picture library tells me exactly what birds I have not had in front of the lens lately…

PATIENCE REWARDED

Great Blue Heron, a stealthy hunter for fish

Another great spot to look for neotropical migrants, like warblers, is Bankston County Park. The clear water of the stream that runs through the valley is source of life for many critters and birds. It is also a popular spot for trout fishing. This morning I gave it a try. You can hear the birds, sometimes you may see one, but today I got skunked. Not a single warbler came close enough for a picture. I think I was patient and spent almost an hour in the same spot, a place I had used successfully other years before. Just as I was ready to leave things took a different turn. This beautiful Great Blue Heron landed just in front of me and started the hunt for a fish. The bird waded towards me and obviously cornered a fish below the rock you see in both pictures.

Great Blue Heron after the catch, Bankston County Park, Eastern Iowa

The hunt lasted 26 minutes. I saw the heron strike and the fish was swallowed very quickly. Obviously just a small one. Unfortunately the kill happened behind the rock and out of sight for me. But the way the successful hunter walked away from the scene was priceless and the shutter of the camera was rattling. Patience got rewarded, for the Great Blue Heron and for the photographer…!! 😊

All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head

NATURE CLICKS #502 - COMMON YELLOWTHROAT

Common Yellowthroat, Mississippi Valley, Mines of Spain, Iowa

After being on a business trip last week it feels good spending some time behind the camera on this Memorial Day weekend. I didn’t have to search long for the first opportunity. The Mines of Spain, a recreation area south of Dubuque in the Mississippi Valley, with forest, patches of prairie, and ponds is usually a good place for bird watching. Right after I started my little hike I came across this Common Yellowthroat, a warbler that breeds here in Iowa. The males are easy to identify with their black mask and the bright yellow throat.

NATURE CLICKS #501 - WESTERN MEADOWLARK

Western Meadowlark, Sage Creek Valley, Badlands NP, South Dakota

There is a bird you may always see while visiting Badlands National Park, the Western Meadowlark. Making a successful click and telling the story of this beautiful bird is another story. I found them many times just beside the gravel road but quite often they camouflage very well in the grass and we can see them only after they take off. Today’s photo was made during a hiking trip along Sage Creek. As so often, I heard the meadowlark before the bird came into sight. A perfect blurred background was due to the bird’s location at the edge of the steep banks of Sage Creek. The Eastern Meadowlark, that we can find here in Eastern Iowa, looks very similar. The best way to distinguish between both species is looking at their malars. The Western Meadowlark’s malars have yellow in it while the eastern’s is mostly white. 

Preferring the environmental photo over the “eyeball shot” you can imagine I was very happy with this picture. Moments I consider the “great ones” in life…

NATURE CLICKS #500 - ROCKY MOUNTAIN BIGHORN SHEEP

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep, Badlands NP, South Dakota

I still have a few images from my recent trip to Badlands National Park I like to share with you. It wasn’t difficult to find the small herd of Bighorn Sheep this time. The ewes and immature sheep enjoyed the fresh grass at the edge of a parking lot at one of the overlooks. I heard that someone had seen a newborn lamb but I didn’t see any.

Three big rams were dozing peacefully together at a different location, near the rim of a canyon. The peak of the rut is in November, that’s when “dozing in the sun” is definitely over…

NATURE CLICKS #499 - HORNED LARK

Horned Lark, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

I wished this photo was made in Eastern Iowa. I have seen the beautiful Horned Lark a lot less during the last few years here in the Mississippi Valley. However, I had no problems finding them in Badlands National Park. They are mostly foraging on the ground in grassland, but I don’t mind a shot when the lark is perched on a barbed wire and the light is just right…

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG

NATURE CLICKS #498 - BLACK-TAILED PRAIRIE DOG

Black-tailed Prairie Dog, Sage Creek Valley, Badlands NP

There is no visit in the Badlands without reporting about one of the funniest critters on the planet, the Prairie Dogs. It seems like their populations has multiplied since we visited the park for the first time in 2005. Since a few years one of the prairie dog towns is right in Sage Creek Campground, the primitive but more remote campground of the two in the Badlands. The mounds are between the tents and their tunnel system can be right under your tent. The burrows help these little rodents to control their body temperature in winter and during summer. Members of a family group interact through oral contact or "kissing" and grooming one another. They do not perform these behaviors with prairie dogs from other family groups. [source: Wikipedia}

The key for a good picture is getting low to the ground. Shooting from the car is sometimes not low enough. Whenever possible I try to get at least one of the black-tipped tails in the picture, the feature that gave this species of ground squirrels its name.

All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S

NATURE CLICKS #497 - BURROWING OWL

Burrowing Owl, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

I was writing recently about the bison in Badlands National Park here in the blog but other species have been on my radar as well. The Burrowing Owl is always among them, and I can tell you, it’s not a bird you may find easily. It is a small, long legged owl that is active during the day, while most other owls are nocturnal. They nest in underground burrows, and in Badlands National Park it is most of the time a den in a prairie dog town. It took us more than ten years to find this owl in the wild and after our first encounter in 2018 I was very happy to find two new, but different locations during my visit a week ago. An abundant burrow isn’t easy to spot among all the active dens populated by thousands of prairie dogs but as soon I see a bird flying somewhere low to the ground, I have the binoculars up. The Burrowing Owl feeds on larger arthropods, but also on birds and small mammals, like mice, small rabbits, ground squirrels, and others.

NATURE CLICKS #496 - LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE

Loggerhead Shrike, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

The Loggerhead Shrike is a bird we normally wouldn’t see here in Northeast Iowa and the only time I had seen one before was in Wupatki National Monument in Arizona a few years ago. This sighting in the early morning along Sagecreek Road in the Badlands a week ago got me all excited. Distance was a little bit of a problem but I didn’t want to miss this opportunity and made a few clicks anyway. Hence that the image is heavily cropped this time.

The shrike feeds on vertebrates and invertebrates and they hunt from low perches or catch prey often on the ground. The bird is known for the fact that they maintain a food larder by impaling their prey on thorns and barbed wire, or tuck them between the fork of a branch.

Photos like the two above leave of course lots of room for improvement. It was one of the brief moments when a decision had to be made, either just watch the bird and keep the camera down or make the click. I decided for the latter and hope the crop tool in post process doesn’t need to be employed again next time a Loggerhead Shrike presents as the subject.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S

NATURE CLICKS #495 - SHARP-TAILED GROUSE

Sharp-tailed Grouse, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Light was at its best the first evening I spent in Badlands National Park last week. Only a few minutes before sunset five female Sharp-tailed Grouse crossed my way. This was the first time I saw them in Badlands NP and my heart was beating fast, having this bird in the viewfinder and “killer light” at hand for an image.

Butt shots are rude, a general rule in photography, but there is always the exception from the rule . A Sharp-tailed Grouse has a “sharp tail” and as in this matter it can become a part of the story being told. This grouse is just a gorgeous bird and I was very happy to photograph it for the second time ever.

NOT ALL GOALS WERE REACHED

American Bison, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

I thought I need to fill you in a little more about my goals for the photography trip in Badlands National Park, South Dakota last weekend. After visiting the Badlands several times before over the last fifteen years during the fall season, it has been a long desire to do the same during spring, at a time when vegetation renews and birds and critters have nothing else in mind than mating and display themselves in the best way they can.

American Bison mate in August and September and the calves are born after 285 days. The desire to visit the Badlands in spring was fueled by the idea to photograph newborn calves and their mothers. We always have seen the herd with females and their offspring in and around the Sage Creek Valley in the Badlands. Well, this time was different. While I have watched dozens of bison bulls, either solitary or in small groups, I wasn’t able to find the maternal herd. Not a single female or calve came in sight. Badlands National Park is not a small area and they probably found a remote valley where they give birth and nurture the newborn calves. I talked to another hiker and he gave me a hint where the herd might be, but this was too far away for a hike with the small amount of time I had on hand last weekend.

That’s the way it is with wildlife photography. Sometimes all stars line up perfectly and another time we get skunked and have to look for other photo opportunities. The Badlands have plenty of wildlife and there was a lot to do and who doesn’t like a close-up shot of a big bison bull? 😉

NATURE CLICKS #494 - UPLAND SANDPIPER (FIRST SIGHTING)

Upland Sandpiper, Sage Creek Valley, Badlands NP, South Dakota

I wasn’t even three hours in the National Park last week when the first surprise came along. An Upland Sandpiper crossed the road in front of me and landed in the grass below the hills that surround the Sage Creek Valley. I had never seen and photographed this bird before. Most of its relatives are usually found near water but this sandpiper has its home on grasslands. One of my field guides, iBird Pro, calls the Upland Sandpiper the “shorebird of the prairie” and I think this is an appropriate name. A wildlife photography trip can’t start any better!