GREAT BIRD WATCHING WEEKEND (PART 2)

Great Blue Heron, Green Island Preserve, Mississippi Valley, Iowa

Spending time in the wetlands along the Mississippi River is one of the things I really enjoy and last weekend wasn’t any different. I got quite a few hours of practice with the new Nikkor Z 600 f/6.3 lens and like to share a few images with you.

Some easy shots of this Great Blue Heron were made a minute earlier, as the heron still stood motionless on the dyke. When the bird finally took off I was able to pan with the lens and follow the bird for a few pics. Good panning is still a matter of practice but it is a lot easier with the much lighter Z 600 than with my good old Sigma 150-600 S.

Sandhill Cranes

I counted 87 Sandhill Cranes foraging in the field of the Green Island Bird Sanctuary. This was the highest number I have ever seen in the fall at this location. Some of the cranes performed their elaborate courtship displays, mostly served between mates to maintain their pair bond. The cranes were more than half a mile away, almost one kilometer, and some heat shimmer above the ground effected sharpness a bit. However, I was amazed how clear the lens still rendered despite the distance.

Garter Snake

This Garter Snake was stretched out on the gravel road and seemed to wait for the return of the sun from behind a cloud. Before I guided the snake back into the grass, so nobody could accidentally or intentionally drive over it, a few clicks were made. Should have gotten still a little lower but at least nothing in the background distracts from this nice Garter Snake. I have seen a few snakes lately and this gives me some hope that population may bounce back.

Sandhill Cranes, Heritage Pond, Cooler Valley, Eastern Iowa

This photo was made a day later at the Heritage Pond and marsh, not far from home. A pair of Sandhill Cranes, maybe the same as last year, had flown in from the Mississippi and started searching for food in the mud. Very little rain during the last couple months dried the pond out again but the cranes seemed to like it. They are extremely careful and most of the time one crane keeps its head up while the other one is looking for food.

All photos: Nikon Z6II, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S

GREAT BIRD WATCHING WEEKEND

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Despite quite a bit of wind it was a great weekend for bird watching and bird photography and some of the best happened right here at home. First I saw a female Yellow-rumped Warbler in the elm tree next to the balcony. As I stepped out in the open it became clear there was more than just one and later I saw at least five birds. They picked spiders and insects from leaves and from the cedar siding of our house. I wonder how long we may see Yellow-rumped Warblers this season. Normally they migrate further south but during the winter 2021/22 we had a few birds here at least until mid January.

I just stood on the deck with the Nikkor Z 600 f/6.3 on camera and tried to catch them as the warblers moved around very quickly. With this kind of photography the advantages of the new lens over my trusted SIGMA 150-600 made a big difference and one disadvantage of this lens played a role as well.

The very light weight, about half of the Sigma, makes for very good and easy handholding and moving around quickly. The focus speed and precision is just phenomenal and my keeper rate is way up above what I ever was able to obtain with the old lens for shooting little birds in a tree. The only disadvantage I’m aware of is the longer MFD (Minimum Focus Distance). The Z 600 starts at 4 meter, 1.2 m more than the Sigma. I had a couple moments when a bird landed really close and no way to step back. With other words, those shots were missed.

As mentioned, there was more going on this weekend and I really tried to learn how to handle the Nikkor Z 600 f/6.3, but this is for another blog post during this week.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S

NATURE CLICKS #586 - TUFTED TITMOUSE

Tufted Titmouse, Little Maquoketa Valley, Eastern Iowa

A simple click in the front yard last week. The new Nikkor Z 600 f/6.3 VR S lens is so much easier to handhold and allows to move around quickly if a bird, like this Tufted Titmouse, changes location and peels off the shell of a sunflower seed.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S

NATURE CLICKS #585 - TURKEY VULTURES

Turkey Vultures, Mississippi River, near lock & dam #11, Dubuque, Iowa

From early spring until it gets cold here they belong into the Mississippi Valley. Some people think of them only as ugly birds but they may have never watched really how elegant these vultures fly and soar in a thermal lift. I consider them as the environmental police along the Mississippi River. They feed on carrion and without their presence, often in large numbers, the Mississippi River would be at times very smelly.

I was eager to try out the new Nikon lens last Sunday along the river on both sides around dam #11 in Dubuque and over in Wisconsin. With the dam visible in the upper part of the photo I thought of an environmental portrait of the Turkey Vultures. Five of them rested on driftwood and the rocks of the flood wall. I could choose which bird I wanted to have in the frame and this one was among my favorites.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S

NEW NIKON Z LENS - FIRST SHOTS

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

A new tool made it into the gear locker. The Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S lens was delivered last week during my absence from home. Today I’m not writing about it, or why I wanted it in my camera bag, or even how it is performing. I just like to share some photos I made over the weekend with the new lens.

I still think the best place for trying out a piece of new camera gear for the first time is at home or in a well known local area. Reading the manual (I know, not everybody likes that part) and trying and testing in a controlled environment is the key for me to find out if a new acquisition is matching my expectations or if it has the potential to exceed them. In the front yard or any other place you have shot hundreds of times before, where you know how the light will hit your subject, it is easy to compare your results with everything you have done before at the same location.

Well, there is not much activity at this time of the year in our woods. Even very few local bird species come to a feeder or bird bath at the moment. Most of the migrating birds have left and headed south already, except for the smallest one. We still have quite a few Ruby-throated Hummingbirds coming through, stop at our feeders, stay for a while, and fight with other hummers about the ownership of a feeder. Usually this will end at the end of September or in early October.

Blue Jay

In my blog I always have tried to be a helpful source for other photography friends and shared my impressions about locations, things that I learned from other photographers, and of course, the experience with any part of photo gear I use. Can you tell how much I’m excited about the chance to improve my visual story telling with this new lens? I will share what I hope to learn in the next few weeks about this new wildlife lens with you, so please stay tuned…

All images: Nikon Z6II, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S

THE BONUS - A RED-TAILED HAWK

Red-tailed Hawk at Julien Dubuque Monument, Mines of Spain, Dubuque, Iowa

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head.   @ 600mm, 1/640s, f6.3, ISO800, image slightly cropped

This morning the Dubuque Audubon Society had invited for another birding event into the Mines of Spain State Recreation Area. Our guide Tony Moline, a very experienced birder, helped the group to find warblers, vireos, and other migrating birds and study them in the early morning sun. Most activities required binoculars for watching and identification but the distance for a decent photo was often too big. Nevertheless, it was very interesting to see at least a few of the migrators. I just read that tonight 426.7 Million birds are predicted to move south in the United States. A very impressive number!

Just before everybody was ready to say goodbye shortly after 10am we were treated with a bonus. This Red-tailed Hawk suddenly landed in a tree just in front of the group and on eye level with us. The camera was on tripod and pointed already in that direction and all what I had to do was to adjust quickly the exposure compensation for the existing light and lay down the hammer on the shutter release button. The bird gave us about one minute for that very enjoyable moment.

Thank you Tony for being such a good guide again and for sharing your knowledge with us!

CHIMNEY SWIFTS COMING IN FOR THE NIGHT

Chimney Swifts, Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa

Tonight was a pop-up birding event, made public by Marty Corfman, a very active member of the Audubon Society, at the Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. We were able to see hundreds of Chimney Swifts circle around the tower of the seminar and finally pour into an old chimney after sunset. I’m sure everybody who joined this event enjoyed it and was touched by watching the swifts showing up one after another and entering their roost for the night. Thank you Marty for the invitation!

The Chimney Swifts will depart soon for the tropical areas in South America, where they will spend the winter. I shot a number of still images, like the one above, but also recorded a short video sequence. Feel free to click the video link below.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4

NO SUMMER WITHOUT HUMMERS

Juvenile Ruby-throated Hummingbird

I can’t let the summer go by without making a few pictures of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. I guess the birds who have been in our woods during the breeding season have moved on already and it seems we see different hummers every day now on their way south to Central America. However, this juvenile defended one of the hummingbird feeders fiercely and didn’t let any other bird even come close all afternoon.

I experimented quite a bit today with different exposure times or exposure compensation for the background and used also the Westscott FJ80 II speed light. In the picture above the bird was backlit and I froze the hummer at 1/4000s and let the translucency of the wings tell the story. The sun didn’t hit the front element of the lens directly because I shot from underneath the roof of our porch. A hint of flash made sure the body of the bird got some light as well.

The photo below was shot three hours later, about mid afternoon, when the sunlight wasn’t as harsh anymore. With almost the same settings (f/8, ISO8000, -1EV) but a shutter speed of only 1/400s the result was totally different. Of course, with such a slow shutter the wings are not frozen, which I actually prefer in most of my photos of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Westscott FJ80 II speed light, Westscott Magnetic diffusion dome

THE JINX IS BROKEN!! (FINALLY)

Male Belted Kingfisher, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wildlife Preserve, Iowa

Long time readers know that I always called this beautiful bird ”the bastard”, due to the fact that I have been on the chase for a decent picture of a Belted Kingfisher since a long time. They are very skittish and often fly away before you even have a chance to aim the lens at them. During a short trip to the Green Island wetlands yesterday afternoon I finally had this male kingfisher even twice in front of my lens. First it was placed on one of the bowls that are provided as nesting places for Canada Geese. They are placed in the water, getting closer was not an option, but at least I made some sharp images.

A little bit later I saw the same bird sitting on a branch just beside the gravel road and this time the kingfisher didn’t fly away, even when I moved slowly right next to the tree with the car. There is still room for improvement since the light was a little too harsh for my taste but I think I should stop calling him ”the bastard” after the jinx is broken now…

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

SUMMER AIN’T OVER YET

Giant Swallowtail

It is hard to believe that this photo was created already 40 days ago, when the purple cone flowers were in their prime and a food source for some Giant Swallowtails. Time is flying. Overall it wasn’t a good year for butterflies. It seemed we had not as many as other years. My biggest concern is about the Monarch butterflies. I saw only a single one in our yard all summer long and very few at other places I visit frequently. Most cone flowers have dried-up already and the seeds are eaten by American Goldfinches. Some of the trees loose their leaves already but summer isn’t over yet and the remaining butterflies find stilll other flowers with nectar in them.

FOR THE SWALLOWS, FOOD IN ABUNDANCE

Juvenile Barn Swallow, Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, Olympia, WA

Here are a couple more images from last weekend’s visit in the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually Wildlife Refuge near Olympia, Washington. Despite the rain, there was tons of insects, means food in abundance, for all six species in the swallow family that can be found in the Nisqually delta, especially during low tide. However, this juvenile Barn Swallow landed next to me on the reeling of the boardwalk trail that goes across the estuary. It obviously was still hoping to be fed by any of the parents.

The Sigma 150-600 was on camera but the Nikkor 70-200 was available in the backpack as well. I was afraid that the bird would fly away before I had performed a lens change and just stepped back a few feet to get beyond the minimum focal distance of the Sigma, which is slightly below 10 feet (3 m).

For the second photo it really needed the long lens and I even cropped the image a bit. Dead trees or logs, stranded in the mud, are a favorite perch for all kinds of swallows. Our guide Rob told us that the Barn Swallows have their nests most likely underneath the boardwalk we were walking on. There is also a couple of big barns in the sanctuary, left from the time when this was still used as farmland. Farm buildings are preferred places to build nests for this species, hence the name Barn Swallow.

WHERE THE RIVER MEETS THE SEA

It was low tide and these Double-crested Cormorants used this small island to socialize and took care of their plumage.

At the southern end of the Puget Sound is the Nisqually River Delta, a biological diverse and rich area with a variety of habitats. The freshwater of the Nisqually River combines with the saltwater of Puget Sound and forms an estuary, which was restored in 2009 and was set aside for wildlife. The Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1974 to protect the delta and its diversity of wildlife habitats. (source: Brochure Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge)

Last Saturday I joined a guided tour in the refuge. Rob, a volunteer and our guide took us more than four hours on all the trails and the boardwalk through the estuary, despite the rain most of the time. It was time well spent, we saw lots of wildlife, and learned much about the delta and its biological diversity.

The Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge is a great place for watching and photographing critters and birds. It is now on my list of places I like to revisit, with hopefully more time on hand when I travel again to the Pacific Northwest. Here are a few documentary shots I was able to make during the hike.

We saw several flocks of Least Sandpipers. It is the smallest shorebird in the world. The photo was made from above on the boardwalk trail that goes across the estuary.

Our guide knew where to find them. These tiny little chorus frogs blend very well into their environment. This is most likely the Pacific tree frog.

A bird I have seen here in eastern Iowa during migration very often before, the Greater Yellowleg. At low tide there is plenty of food they can find in the mud or in the remaining puddles.

Talking about wildlife diversity, a Great Blue Heron hunts for fish near a group of Harbor Seals in the background, while a cormorant just flies through my picture at the same time.

 

SEEDS FOR BREAKFAST, LUNCH, AND DINNER

Male American Goldfinch on a Purple Coneflower

It is the perfect season for American Goldfinches because food is here in abundance. They are real vegetarians in the bird world, preferring strictly a vegetable diet. They breed later than most birds, starting not before June or July when plenty of seeds are available to feed their young ones. Most of our purple coneflowers are fading away at the moment but we still leave them standing until the seeds are gone. As you can see the American Goldfinches love them and we can see them often at other places hanging on thistles or wildflowers that produce seeds.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head.   @600 mm, 1/3200 s, f/8, ISO4000, cropped

KILLDEER IN MIGRATION

Killdeer, Mississippi Valley, Green Island, Iowa

A couple days ago I spent the evening in the Green Island Wetlands, hoping for some good light and maybe spotting some migrating shorebirds. I’m not very good at counting large numbers of birds but I estimated about 200 Killdeer on one of the mudflats that have been under water for quite some time during the flooding we had in July. Food was obviously there in abundance. The birds were too far away and the camera stayed in my lap while watching them.

Later, an hour before sunset, I moved to a big puddle on the westside where I had good luck with sandpipers earlier this season. First I had only three Killdeer feeding in the shallow water or in the mud, but at the end, shortly before sunset, I was able to choose from about two dozen birds which one to get in the viewfinder. The Killdeer is one of the earliest birds that arrive after the winter and they are building their nests in shallow ground depressions in gravelly areas, like parking lots or in fields. It’s hard to tell which bird is a juvenile, they all have nearly the same size. The Killdeer is a common bird here during the summer but I have never seen so many at the same time. I’m glad I didn’t miss them during their migration to the South this year.

LEAVING THE NEST, IT’S SCARY!

Young House Wrens leaving the nest

It has been already a week ago but I still like to share this little photo story with you. This is already the third brood of House Wrens that was a successful one this summer season in one of the nest boxes around the house. When the parents think it is time for the offspring to leave the nest they still bring food, like caterpillars, crickets, or bugs but they wait outside the nest box without feeding the little chicks inside. When the first one stuck more than its head out of the hole I knew the time was coming and made the camera ready. Number one didn’t hesitate very long and flew into the bushes nearby after about five minutes. Number two, the one on the right hand side in the picture, waited a few minutes longer, despite the parents called and tried to lure the little guy away from the nest. Well, the desire to eat made the chick finally jump, but only onto the little perch that sticks out of the nest box. There was fear about what’s coming next and he tried to climb back into the box. But no way, number three was already there and the entrance was blocked. Oh boy, after a few seconds of balancing on the wooden stick the young wren finally followed the parents into the woods. Number three didn’t hesitate very long and the nest box was empty.

It’s still early in the season and we hear again a couple male House Wrens around here sending calls out to attract another female. It has been a good breeding season so far, not just for the wrens. We see many young birds around here in the woods and that’s a good thing to write about and to capture it with our photos.