WATCHING AND LISTENING, PRICELESS!

Click photos for larger image.  --------

I always enjoy meeting with other photographers and photo enthusiast, exchanging thoughts and share little tips and locations. Last night I talked with Kevin in the Green Island Wetlands, who I met at my photo presentation in the Swiss Valley Nature Center a month ago. He loves nature photography and read about the presence of Sandhill Cranes in my blog. All I can say is that it makes me happy when people find inspiration here and get out to find the interesting things in the great outdoors. This is what this blog is about.

The main actors the last couple days were the Sandhill Cranes again and as I mentioned before, I have never seen them in such large numbers in Green Island. Yesterday I had a head count of about 90, but the cranes were scattered all over the fields and it was hard to keep track. Kevin and I positioned our ‘mobile blinds’ on the westside of the bird sanctuary and we had several opportunities to make the click. Friday night some clouds moved in front of the sun and it was a different quality of light I had to deal with. It was a different approach that required a higher ISO setting due to the lack of quality light. Even if the results can’t be always the best, it is a good opportunity to practice and hone our shooting technique. Today’s images are all from Saturday. Watching and listening to the calls of the Sandhill Cranes is anyway priceless, no matter how the photo shoot goes…

NATURE CLICKS #363 - SNOW GEESE

Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

I had an incredible good time the last two evenings in the Green Island Wetlands. Yes, I went there three times this week. Spring migration is just an exciting time! The only problem I have now is to decide what pictures to show here in the blog 😉. Yesterday much of the air space was taken by hundreds of Greater White-fronted Geese but they all were gone today. Still present was a string of about 30 Snow Geese. They seemed to rest always far away from me, but tonight I had a chance to aim my lens at them after they took off and flew towards the setting sun. Among the mostly light morphs were a few dark morph Snow Geese.

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

USING THE CHANCES

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

Sandhill Cranes are among my favorite birds and I hope you don’t mind if I show you another image from yesterday evening. Opportunities like this don’t come up every day. Today we had an overcast all afternoon and evening and even if the birds were at the same location, the outcome would be totally different. Let’s use the chances when we have them…

NATURE CLICKS #362 - SANDHILL CRANES

Green Island Wetlands, Iowa ------

I read and heard from two different sources that in the Green Island Wetlands more than 100 Sandhill Cranes have been sighted during the last few days. Without any cloud in the sky today I was hopeful to have some nice warm light in the evening and since we still have some snow on the ground these were promising conditions for some shots. Shortly after my arrival in the wetlands I discovered about 25 cranes, scattered at different locations but not far from each other. That was already the largest number I have ever seen in Green Island. You can’t chase the cranes and try to follow them, and so I parked my ‘mobile blind’ on the west side of the wildlife refuge, with the sun behind me. I was hoping the cranes would walk in my direction and come within range for a decent image. And that’s what exactly came about. The group gathered and with every minute getting closer to sunset other Sandhill Cranes flew in and joined the group. My head count was probably not 100% exact but I had about 70-80 cranes. 

I talk quite often about visual story telling I like to accomplish with my photography. Today was such an exciting evening when it all came together. The snow covered hillside in the background, the powerful sunset, and the appearance of the largest number of Sandhill Cranes I have ever seen, this was all part of the story about the wonderful time during bird migration between winter and spring.

NATURE CLICKS #361 - NORTHERN CARDINAL

Winter came back here in Iowa last night and a fresh layer of snow covers the ground again. Daylight saving time went into effect Sunday night and the only good thing about itis the extra hour of daylight that extends the shooting time with the camera after work. The cold temperatures and snow cover drive the birds to the feeders in larger numbers and tonight we had several Northern Cardinals visiting us. The cardinals are very shy and quite often don’t come down from the higher branches if I stand with my tripod on the front porch. The weather made them obviously a little braver and I had my chance to make a few clicks. The only way to make this photo was to use flash fill for some color, but this actually collides with the fact that there were always some little twigs between the camera and the bird. Their shadows were projected onto the feathers and put this shot into mediocrity. I didn’t pay attention to this little detail and saw it only later on the computer screen. No, the world doesn’t come to end for me because it is important to practice as much as possible and having a Northern Cardinal in front of my lens doesn’t happen every day… 😊

MIGRATING DUCKS

Northern Pintail / Mallard / American Coot -- Mississippi River, Deere Marsh, Iowa -------

Our area is kinda ‘fly-over-country’ for some of the ducks I show you today. Usually they spend the summer north of Iowa. The Mississippi River is an important flyway for their long travel.

It isn’t the first time that all three species used the pond at the Deere Marsh north of Dubuque, Iowa for food supply and rest during migration in spring. The Northern Pintail is easy to identify, even if someone is not so familiar with their color or pattern in the plumage. The long tail, much longer than on other ducks, tells the story, even if they have the head under water like the one in this image.

Gadwall

I watched several pairs of Gadwalls swimming and feeding by submerging the head in the muddy water. Part of the pond had a thin layer of ice but the Gadwalls had no problem finding food.

Ring-necked Duck

The Ring-necked Duck is a diving duck and feeds mainly on aquatic plants and seeds but also snaps at insects on the water surface. Their chestnut neck ring is often hard to see from further away but the white ring on their bill is a prominent field mark and makes identification relatively easy.

I used my car as a blind to get as close as possible to the ducks. At my slow arrival they all swam away from the shore but after a few minutes they came back within the range of the lens. Not as close as I would have liked and so I have cropped the photos a little.

NATURE CLICKS #360 - WILSON’S SNIPE, EARLY APPEARANCE

Mississippi River, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa -------

It was a great day for bird watching and in particular the migrating waterfowl along the Mississippi River. On my way south my first stop was at the John Deere Marsh in Dubuque. On the pond north of the little parking lot I saw a couple Northern Pintails, several Gadwalls, Ring-necked Ducks, and lots of Mallards, American Coots, and Canada Geese. I may post a couple pictures from this location tomorrow.

My excitement grew when I arrived in the Green Island Wetlands and found dozens of Northern Shovelers and a pair of Hooded Mergansers beside the other “regulars”, like Canada Geese, Mallards, American Coots, and Killdeer.

As I was ready to turn around and head back home I suddenly discovered four Wilson’s Snipes in the pond across the gravel road from the DNR facility. They were probing the mud with their very long bill in search for food. This was the earliest I have ever seen this bird in the Green Island Wetlands. All older photos in my archive were made during the month of April.

I admit both images are a little soft due to distance and the fading light. When the snipes have the bill in the water or mud the movement of their heads hardly ever stops. There was a moment when they all stopped feeding suddenly. I quickly added the Sigma 1.4x teleconverter to the 150-600 lens. As it got darker with every minute, autofocus became a problem and the lens started hunting back and forth from time to time. Luckily a few clicks could be made nevertheless.

MONO LAKE

Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4 ------    

My goal last weekend was to come back with some decent photos from Mono Lake, California with its tufa columns and formations. Due to the three hours drive from Reno, Nevada I knew I wouldn’t be there in the early morning hours. I also didn’t want to risk to get trapped in fresh snow that was expected for the following night and so I left the lake in the early afternoon. With just a small time window around midday my expectations were not very high regarding the light. However, a very windy but clear day made for good colors and little haze in the air. The geology of the lake basin is fascinating and if you like to learn about the basics, here is the link that gives you some insight: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mono_Lake

 

BACK IN THE EASTERN SIERRA

It is hard to believe that it was already more than six years ago that we have been in the Eastern Sierra, and in particular at Mono Lake. We only had little time then and I wanted to go back to this beautiful area again. As mentioned in my last post, I spent parts of last week in Reno, Nevada for a business commitment. Staying there over the weekend allowed me to visit the Eastern Sierra again. I knew from other websites that they got a lot of snow in the Sierra Nevada this winter and despite the strong sun in March, most mountains were still covered in snow all the way down to the valleys.

Before I post some photos of the lake, that was formed at least 760,000 years ago, I like to show you an image from the mountains southwest of the Mono Lake area. Mono Lake is just east of Yosemite National Park and America’s most famous landscape photographer Ansel Adams has made many of his iconic photos in the Eastern Sierra.

I took of course my tripod with me during this trip but I haven’t used it the whole weekend. Extremely strong winds made handholding the camera the better choice. This image was created with the trusted combo of the Nikon D750 and the Nikkor 16-35, f/4 lens at 32 mm, 1/400 s, f/16, and ISO 100.

GOING OUT WEST

Rocky Mountains, Colorado -----------

Today I have nothing but a picture made with the camera in my phone through the window of a Boeing 737-800 on my way from Chicago to Las Vegas, Nevada. This was not my final destination and I’m writing these lines from a hotel in Reno, NV, where I will stay during a business trip over the next few days. I’m always excited to fly over the Rocky Mountains, especially since Joan and I have been at several locations in the mountains of Colorado during recent vacation trips. It seems always difficult to identify part of a landscape from high up in the air, even if you think you know the area. Shooting through the window of tinted plastic in an airplane may always lead to goofy looking colors, and processing the image on my 2008 notebook may not be the best recipe to produce a quality image. But some guy smarter than me said before, the best camera is always the one you have with you… My photo gear was safely stored up in the overhead compartment and it would have been a long story to explain why I didn’t even try to get it out of the bag…

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2017 #6 - WATER FOWL MIGRATION

Mississippi River, Mud Lake

I wrote that before, Mud Lake Park is never twice the same and it seems to be not difficult to come back with different impressions all the time. Today thousands of gulls had gathered on the last remains of ice and hundreds of ducks and mergansers were on the water. We saw Canada Geese, Buffleheads, Canvasbacks, Common Goldeneyes, Mallards, and dozens of Common Mergansers. Bird migration is in full swing since about two weeks already. The first Red-winged Blackbirds are here since a few days, a sure sign of spring. Birders on the IA-Bird Google Group reported about migrating Snow Geese and White-fronted Geese in five digit numbers. I have seen only a few thousand of them ten days ago at Cone Marsh in Iowa. Most of them left obviously in the morning, just before I arrived, but it was still quite impressive.

Weather was changing fast today and so was the scene on the river. Colder air moved in and as you can see in the background fog built up over the Mississippi very quickly. When the last shaft of sunlight hit the gulls on the ice I was ready to make the click for today’s photo. Usually I would clone away single birds in the sky that are the size of a little dot in my landscape pictures but today the ducks and geese flying over are part of the story in my image.

WOODPECKER TREE NO. 1

Female Red-bellied Woodpecker ---    

The tree in our front yard that I call “Woodpecker Tree No. 1” is probably one of the ugliest trees we have. But it is of big importance for our woodpeckers, if they want to approach the suet feeder that is not far from it. Before they enter the feeder, most of the time they land on this tree and hop down step by step, making sure no predator is nearby. The tree is also used to make clear who is next in line. There is a hierarchy between the different species and ages of the birds. The Red-bellied Woodpecker is able to scare the Northern Flickers away, even if some of them are larger. The much smaller Downy Woodpeckers always leave and wait patiently when one of the larger birds, like the Northern Flickers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, or Hairy Woodpeckers come to the tree.

Downy Woodpecker

Both photos are from last weekend after we had some fresh snow on the ground. This helps a lot with light quantity. In addition I use flash fill, not as my main light source but to make the colors more vibrant and to improve mostly the quality of the light. I’m still testing a new flash extender that made it into my bag a few weeks ago and I will write about this piece of gear here in the blog shortly. “Woodpecker Tree No. 1” has been always a good place to make tests with new gear. I know the location and most importantly can compare my results with older photos that were shot under similar circumstances.

NEGATIVE SPACE

The use of negative space as an element of composition in art has intrigued me since a long time time, I just haven’t really pursued it much in my own photography yet. If you follow my blog permanently, you already know that earlier this week I had some good moments shooting while the morning fog lifted after a rainy night. This photo was created just seconds before the scene cleared up. The trees in the background and their reflections on the water are still just a hint of slightly darker gray. The color version of this image isn’t much different, not indeed, but I didn’t like the kinda dirty looking yellow tint from the sun mixing with the fog. Heritage Pond is right beside the highway and can be busy with people fishing and other recreational activities at times. The photo may suggest it was shot at a location far away from civilization. Of course it was not, but for a few seconds it made me feel like it was…