NATURE CLICKS #523 - FOSTER’S TERN

Foster’s Tern, Mississippi River, near Mud Lake, Iowa

Despite a stiff breeze it was a perfect day for a paddle trip with the kayaks on the Mississippi River this afternoon. It wasn’t the first time that I saw a Foster’s Tern just outside of the marina at Mud Lake but it is a bird we don’d see very often. The tern was in good company with a number of Ring-billed Gulls. They all enjoyed resting in the sun on this massive log that was stranded in the mud. The diet of a Foster’s Tern consists mostly of fish, but they also do not reject insects, small crustaceans, mollusks, or frogs. They catch fish at the surface or by plunging into the water from a perch or a hover.

The challenge was to isolate the bird from the rest of the bunch for this photo. The water was a little choppy and that’s when image stabilization in camera or lens really helps to get a sharp shot. I had to paddle into a field of water lilies in order to get between the sun in the west and the bird.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S,     @ 600 mm, 1/1250 s, f/8, ISO 200, image slightly cropped

Big patches of water lilies in full bloom along the shore of the mighty Mississippi

SURPRISES

Male Baltimore Oriole

It’s always nice to see some birds that don’t visit us every day. During the first days in May we always celebrate the arrival of some Baltimore Orioles. Some just stop here to feed on orange halves during their migration and others have their breeding grounds here in eastern Iowa. As the summer gets closer we don’t see them much anymore because they are busy raising their offspring and are found mostly higher up in the canopy of the trees. This year we didn’t really hear any and thought none of them had a nest nearby. To my surprise a few days ago this beautiful male oriole just showed up and checked out our front yard. I guess they are around somewhere here…

Juvenile male Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Only fifteen minutes earlier two juvenile Rose-breasted Grosbeaks came to the seed feeders. We probably saw their parents every day but it is good to know that a new generation has left the nest. Good times!

CARING BLUEBIRDS

Most of the time the parents call from different locations, either in nearby trees or from the top of the nest box. When both of them sat at this branch, it was only a question what bird to focus on. The female with an insect in its bill was the right choice.

The young Eastern Bluebirds in the nest box at my photography friend Kevin were almost ready to leave three days ago. I’m thankful that he called me and I still had a chance to take some pictures of the parent birds while they tried to lure the offspring out of the nest. Luckily they left not before the next day. It was a great setup with a small branch carefully placed not far from the nest box. Both parents waited sometimes several minutes with some food in their bill and quietly called the four nestlings.

The colorful male bluebird calls and lures with a little grub.

I used the 1.4 teleconverter, extending the focal length to 850 mm and allowing me to keep a safe distance to the nest. We did this last year at a different location in Kevin’s yard with the blue sky as a background. This year the green background of vegetation works actually much better for bluebirds and as a result I had a very high keeper rate. Thank you Kevin for arranging a great photo opportunity again!

The female is not as colorful but obviously found the bigger piece of food for the nestlings, a good size grasshopper.

All images: Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, 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,

NATURE CLICKS #522 - BROWN SNAKE (STORERIA DEKAYI)

Brown Snake, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Heritage Trail

It was getting dark when we returned to the car from a little walk with our dog Cooper this evening. We had chosen a quiet section of the Heritage Trail for our hike, a little bit up in the valley, to keep the dog away from any firecracker noise that is part of the celebrations for Independence Day. Most dogs do not like this kind of noise…

Joan discovered this small Brown Snake on the trail. They are a nonvenomous species and prefer woodlands like we have them here in eastern Iowa. Years ago we had no problems finding this and other species in our woods but during the last few years we hardly see any. I wanted to document this not so common find and cranked up the ISO to 2500 and still shot only with a shutter speed of 1/30s. This is when vibration reduction in camera or lens becomes a useful feature. It helped that the snake went into a defensive pose while we took a few pictures. We kept the stress to a minimum and guided the critter off the trail with a stick. Luckily nobody came at the time of dusk anymore, but a bicycle accidentally driving over it wasn’t a good perspective for this beautiful Brown Snake…

WOODPECKER “KINDERGARTEN”

Downy Woodpeckers

It’s hard to keep track about all the activities going on these days in our woods. However, we can’t overlook the feeding of the woodpeckers because it happens right in front of the house. Our smallest ones, the Downy Woodpeckers, have at least two juveniles to feed. The young male on the left gets stuffed with some peanut suet from its mother. They do not hang out here all day long but in the mornings and evenings a seed or nut snack seems to be a very welcome addition to the protein rich food of insects or caterpillars.

Hairy Woodpecker

The much bigger Hairy Woodpeckers have at least two young ones. Their offspring seems to be a little more independent already. The juveniles take mostly care for themselves but are still closely watched by the parents. They have already the same size as the adults but still move a bit clumsy when they go up or down on a tree trunk.

THE WREN STORY

This photo was made less than a minute before #2 left the nest for good. The little guy was called by the parents and when it had its feet out of the hole, I knew the fledgling would not return.

I’m sorry, it happened already five days ago, but life stood in the way and as you probably figured out by my recent blog posts, other events here in the woods above the Little Maquoketa Valley have been worth to share with you as well. Our young House Wrens left their nest box last week and even if we watch this since seventeen years now every summer, it’s always a good reason to celebrate the wonders of nature.

First landing place was between a patch of iris flowers that just were done blooming.

Oh, I can hold on to a tree! The parents watch every step and don’t let any other bird even come close to their offspring.

After two wrens had left the nest the parents kept feeding two more in the bird box. They did not leave until the nest morning.

Live goes on, while all of the above still happened, the male House Wren sent out enticing calls to attract the same or another female for a next round of breeding. However, his eyes were also kept on the offspring of the first brood.

CATBIRD STORIES, LAST UPDATE

Ready to leave the nest

I promised you another bird story but that still has to wait. Here is instead the last picture of our young Gray Catbirds from 7:37AM this morning. All four left the nest today and now we can hear their cat-like “mew” call from the surrounding bushes and trees. Catbirds leave the nest after about 11-13 days. They will be fed by both parents for approximately 12 more days after their departure.

CATBIRD STORIES

Last photo from this morning first. The four Gray Catbird nestlings were still doing well this morning. A peaceful bunch!!

For the first time ever a pair of Gray Catbirds, a species in the Mimidae family, has built a nest next to our house, in a mountain pine right beside our porch. Catbirds prefer dense tangles of shrubs, or small trees. The dense jungle of long needles in a a mugo pine seemed to be the right fit for this pair building their nest . I was on a business trip last week when the young catbirds hatched, but have used my camera ever since my return to document every day in their young life. The adult birds are very tolerant but nevertheless I use utmost caution when I make an image of the nest and its habitants. As always, the safety of the birds comes first. I limit my time shooting through the branches to a few seconds and use a long lens whenever possible to make an image. For photos like used in this little story, I do not hesitate to crop the picture, just to keep a safe distance and the birds unexcited about my presence while documenting their life.

May 30, 2022, two eggs were already in the nest, two more would follow within the next days.

The incubation of the eggs is done by the female but both parents feed the young buggers in the nest. The adults are relatively quiet during this time and their unique “mew” call, just like a cat, is heard more muted. They can do other songs as well, and if you are really interested the following link will give you a lot more details about this bird species and the calls they perform. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gray_Catbird/overview

June 18, 2022, Joan discovered them a day before my arrival back home. The young birds are brooded by the female for the first few days.

Friends and followers of my blog, I’m sorry for a long break here, but my work assignments didn’t allow for spending time in front of the computer. I tried at least to be behind the camera whenever I had a chance. I’m always grateful that you take the time to look at my photography and give me your input about it, or the nature of my subjects!!

Beside the exciting moments in life of our Gray Catbirds another story was unfolding… Please stay tuned if you enjoy nature and/or photography as part of your life…!!!

June 19, 2022, The four young catbirds sleep for most of the day and keep their eyes closed. Yawning is the photographers moment!

June 20, 2022, An adult approaching carefully the nest with two snacks in its beak, a caterpillar and another bug. Good times…!!!

IN THE MEADOWS

Dickcissel, Dubuque, Iowa

Today I have a couple bird species for you that are threatened by habitat loss. I still find them every year in a meadow that can be easily turned into commercial use. It has been developed for this purpose but so far nobody has built anything there. I hope every summer it stays this way.

Both species are beautiful songbirds and even when they are hunkered down in the grass, like yesterday afternoon, we can at least hear them. I waited patiently and had a few moments when they left the grass, perched on a higher point, and posed for my camera.

Bobolink

Male Dickcissel

WORKING WITH THE LADIES

Female Red-winged Blackbird, Mill Creek Ponds, Eastern Iowa

If we want to talk about one of the most common birds here in Iowa, at least during the season without snow, it has to be the Red-winged Blackbird. They are omnipresent wherever there is open space. The males arrive a lot earlier in spring from the south than the females and everybody here knows this black bird with its striking red bar bar on the wings that gave this bird obviously its name. You may not agree, but I’m always intrigued by the beauty of the female blackbirds, in particular during breeding season.

A couple days ago I stopped at the Mill Creek Ponds in a side valley of the Mississippi River. The long time followers of my blog may remember that I have photographed breeding Trumpeter Swans many times before at this location, but to my disappointment no swans seemed to be there this year. As always, the blackbirds have their habitat between the reeds of the wetlands and around the Mill Creek Ponds. Of course plenty of male birds are there and defend their territories aggressively.

I really focussed on the female birds this time and tried to incorporate the reeds along the pond in the background. I believe photographing a common bird should include a certain quality of light, otherwise I won’t publish it. 6PM is still way before sunset, but this valley receives the last warm sunlight for the day a lot earlier. While the first photo is all about the beautiful plumage of the blackbird lady, the second one is all about the gesture.

I try to make it a habit to shoot the long lens with the 1.4 SIGMA teleconverter attached. Having 850 mm focal length on a full frame sensor camera makes it very desirable for bird photography. Shooting a lot more with this tool lately, my keeper rate went up quite a bit. I can afford to be choosy about what image to use for a blog post…😉

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S,

1. photo:   @ 850 mm, 1/400 s, f/9, ISO 400

2. photo:   @ 850 mm, 1/640 s, f/9, ISO 400

ON THE RIVER (FINALLY!)

Painted Turtle, Mud Lake, Mississippi River, Eastern Iowa

Gorgeous weather today made us loading the kayaks onto the roof of the car and open finally the kayak season for this year. Fifteen minutes later we launched a wonderful paddle trip in the warm light of the evening sun, down in the backwaters at the Mississippi River. Not much waterfowl in sight, because it’s breeding time, but eagles, pelicans, blackbirds, a couple herons, and of course a number of muskrats made still for good wildlife watching.

This Painted Turtle looks like it was running away from us, but it was only stretched out and put its rear end into the warm sun. I had all the shots I wanted on the memory card already when the turtle finally slid into the water because the distance became to close. My tactic is always to give the boat a little direction with some carefully executed paddle strokes, stop paddling, grab the camera, and fire away while still moving towards my subject. Sometimes I wedge the kayak between some logs or reeds and keep a stabile position while making the clicks. I said it more than once here in the blog, it is the low perspective in the boat that I really like. It puts me almost to eye level with the critter or bird and allows to shoot this kind of an environmental portrait.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S,   @ 600 mm, 1/400 s, f/13, ISO 400

NATURE CLICKS #521 - EASTERN KINGBIRD

Eastern Kingbird, Green Island Wetlands, Mississippi Valley, Iowa

I made a quick trip to the Green Island Wetlands this evening and came home with this photo of an Eastern Kingbird. This wasn’t an easy shot due to some strong wind. The Eastern Kingbird is not as skittish as many other birds and it gave me plenty of time to make a number of clicks. But its perch swayed in the wind unpredictable and made focussing a bit of a challenge. This large flycatcher hunts mostly for insects. It defends its breeding territory vigorously against other kingbirds. During winter, down south at the Amazon, this bird has a different lifestyle. They move around in flocks and the diet consists of fruits.

I tried to position myself so I had some open water behind the bird. Some growing reeds were far enough away to blur nicely and made for an undisturbing background.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG,    @ 850 mm, 1/640 s, f/9, ISO 640

INCUBATION TIME

House Wren guarding the nest

It’s breeding season for most of the birds in our woods. Many species incubate their eggs and are not seen as often as the weeks before during their mating time. We are very fortunate to have three different species sitting on eggs right here at the house. As during the last three years a pair of American Robins has built a nest on our balcony. They had originally four eggs, two didn’t make it, but two little chicks are currently fed by their parents. We avoid being on the balcony as much as possible.

The second bird is the Gray Catbird I reported about a few days ago. I discovered a nest today with two eggs. They built it between the branches of a mountain pine that grows right beside our porch. Another area we will try to avoid in order not to disturb the birds during incubation and the time after.

Last but not least, as every year a pair of House Wrens has occupied a nest box in our front yard and another female sits on eggs in another box at the back of the house. House Wrens are not monogamous and there is a good chance that the little male bird in today’s photos has something to do with the nest in the backyard as well. However, he tends and protects the bird box at the front. The wren sings his heart out, especially when the female has left the nest for a few minutes. He does that usually from a perch in the neighborhood, and not near the nest, so a possible predator will be attracted to him and not the clutch of eggs or the female while she is trying to find something to eat for herself.

I use this great photo opportunity and practice a lot with the long lens and teleconverter attached. The 850 mm focal length allows me to stay away as much as possible from the birds and still can fill the frame without cropping a single bit off.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, 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,

1. photo   @ 850 mm, 1/200 s, f/9, ISO 640

2. photo   @ 850 mm, 1/125 s, f/9, ISO 400

NATURE CLICKS #520 - GRAY CATBIRD

Gray Catbird, Little Maquoketa River Valley, iowa

I’m very happy that we see a pair of Gray Catbirds near the house this spring. We always had them in the area but mostly not so close and frequently. They prefer low and dense vegetation and at another property in the neighborhood, where I used to see them, trees and bushes have been removed because a new house will be built. We don’t remove the underbrush in our woods and perhaps the catbirds figured out this would be a better place to live. I think the Gray Catbird is one of the most underrated birds. Most people recognize them by their distinctive “meeow-call”, which obviously gave the bird its name. However, they are also able to perform a song as a mix of notes, squeaks, and imitations of other birds. It sounds beautiful and I recently heard it again during time of courtship display.

I try to get better with my bird photography and have lately more often employed the 1.4x teleconverter when the distance to my subject was too far. This is my preferred method instead of cropping, but can be a challenge if light is very low. The long lens needs good support for its extended focal length of 850 mm, either a stabil tripod or proper handholding.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, 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,   @ 850 mm, 1/1000 s, f/9, ISO 500

SWALLOWS IN THE WETLANDS

Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

Not writing anything here in the blog during the last few days doesn’t always mean I’m not behind the camera. A project around the house took priority this weekend. But beside bird watching in the early mornings here at home, I made another trip down south along the Mississippi River. A number of different sandpipers and plovers were present but were often too far away for a good photo beyond a documentary shot.

Nevertheless, I had some good moments with swallows. A Northern Rough-winged Swallow hasn’t been in front of my lens for a long time. This branch was hanging above a water-filled canal in the Green Island Wildlife Preserve. A perfect habitat for catching insects and replenish energy resources in their little bodies. The fresh green of the trees on the other side of the canal was nicely out of focus and is a perfect backdrop for such a spring photo.

Tree Swallows

I wonder how long we still will see Tree Swallows in the Green Island Wetlands. Their natural nesting places, cavities in trees, will quickly disappear while the majority of trees near the water is dying from water levels too high during recent years. This may benefit the habitat for some waterfowl but I see already a decline of other bird species, like warblers, in this area.

Both photos: Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S,