MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2019 #02 - WHEN THE MOMENT IS RIGHT

Green Island Wetlands, Mississippi Valley, Iowa

I have been asked before, Andreas, why don’t you take more landscape pictures of the Green Island Wetlands if you go there so often? I admit this is a valid question and I never have formulated a real answer.

As you have figured out by now, I love the Upper Mississippi Valley and one of my favorite places to go is the Green Island area, where the Maquoketa River meets the mighty Mississippi. A system of levees and dykes keeps the water level separate from both rivers and provides great habitat for all kinds of birds, fish, and critters. So far so good, but what is the subject for a good landscape photo? We have plenty of water, mud banks, reeds and aquatic plants, trees (many of them dead), and of course some wildflowers during the summer. If all these things can be combined it still doesn’t make automatically for a good picture, even if the light has some quality.

Today some good size thunderheads piled up during the afternoon and as soon I was done with my work I jumped in the car and drove down to the wetlands. The thunderheads dissolved quickly but still left some good clouds this evening, the additional ingredient for a landscape photo in Green Island.

What’s also special in this image is the fact that the water level has never been so high during the last ten years and since I visit this area. What looks like another lake on the left hand side is usually grassland and fields with maybe some puddles, but right now most of it is flooded. The lake on the right is most of the time very shallow and covered with reeds and water plants. It is my favorite spot to photograph sandpipers and other shorebirds foraging on the mudbanks. Well, mudbanks make not necessarily a good foreground, but without them, and good light, some wildflowers, and of course the clouds,…. Today the time was right for a landscape photo in the Green Island Wetlands.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4, Schneider Graduated ND filter 0.9, @16 mm, 1/80s, f/18, ISO200

ENDLESS CYCLE

Eastern Kingbird, Mississippi River, Green Island Wetlands, iowa

Yes, it does not just looks like it, the Eastern Kingbird actually regurgitated pellets of insect exoskeletons while I took a burst of images. While here in its breeding grounds during the summer, the Eastern Kingbird eats mostly flying insects. In the winter along the Amazon in Brazil, however, it has a completely different lifestyle: it travels in flocks and eats fruit. (source: allaboutbirds.org)

The Eastern Kingbird is a summer resident in the Green Island Wetlands, Iowa but I have seen them at several other places along the Mississippi River or in side valleys. I have photographed them on many different occasions, but what I have not managed yet is a photo with a crown of yellow, orange, or red feathers on its head, that is usually concealed. When it encounters a potential predator the kingbird may simultaneously raise its bright crown patch, stretch its beak wide open to reveal a red gape, and dive-bomb the intruder.

Any time I take a picture of a critter or bird and like to share it here in the blog I try to educate myself by reading about the species. The sources are endless these days. Beside a number of good guide books in the home library we can use apps on our cell phones, or some really good websites. One I can highly recommend to my fellow wildlife photographers is allaboutbirds.org from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

And this all seems to be an endless cycle for the bird lover and photographer. Like in the case of the Eastern Kingbird, I read about its concealed crown feathers and now I’m motivated and fired up to look for this moment and capture it on “digital film”…

NATURE CLICKS #426 - YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO

I have been in Green Island during the last couple weekends and the situation is different than at any other time before. Due to the very high water level some parts parts of the wetlands are not accessible by car because the main road is flooded. The surrounding fields are also under water and much of the waterfowl can be found outside of the boundaries of the wildlife management area and the bird refuge. Well, there is still plenty to see and with open eyes you may find a bird that is not always in the front row.

This was only the second time that I found a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in the wetlands. This bird came all the way from South America where they spend the winter. The cuckoo moved around in a small grove of willows and picked up caterpillars, its preferred food. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get closer and so I cropped this photo to make it work.

MASTER OF CAMOUFLAGE

Gray Tree Frog (Hyla versicolor)

As its latin name implies, the Gray Tree Frog is able to change colors from gray to green, depending on the substrate where they sit. This little guy announced his presence with loud calls from our flower bed in the front yard. We hear several tree frogs in our woods since a few weeks and sometimes they choose the house plants we have outside as their residence during the summer. This one is a male because the females don’t call.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2019 #01 - ATTEMPT TO GET THE BIG ONE

American White Pelican, Mississippi River, Mud Lake Marina, Iowa

It is an easy task to make a photo of the American White Pelican while they swim almost motionless against the current in the Mississippi River or just drift along. It is a perfect bird  to practice shooting techniques and proper long lens handling. If nothing else, our story telling with the final photo can always be about a majestic bird that is at home on the Mississippi River.

Wednesday night I saw this guy messing with something big in the water and soon it became clear that the pelican tried to swallow a giant carp. I don’t think the carp was dead, but it was definitely somehow impaired and didn’t defend itself aggressively. The story ended with the pelican giving up, not able to swallow the big fish, even after he tried hard several times. What I saw beside the the bird trying to eat, was the gorgeous light, great colors, and the reflections on the water. Just another “Mississippi River Story” that needed to be told…

BIG SURPRISE

Red-headed Woodpecker, Little Maquoketa River Valley, near Durango, iowa

Remember, I talked about several times before over the years that we see some birds here in our woods above the Little Maquoketa River Valley only for a few days in early May. One of them is the Red-headed Woodpecker, but to my surprise this bird showed up again yesterday evening. This makes me wonder if this guy will stick around during the summer. I haven’t seen a second one, a potential partner, like in other years, and maybe it was just the cold weather that we see a different pattern in migration. Other species, like the Scarlet Tanager or the Orchard Oriole, are also still present in larger numbers than usual. Not such a bad thing for the photographer but it puts up the question why this is all different this year…?

DEPENDING ON INSECTS

Eastern Wood-Pewee, Mississippi River, Mud Lake Marina, Iowa

I have been out of town for a few days but I guess I didn’t miss much in regards of wildlife photography. It was rainy and cold here. It warmed up today and this evening, after my return, I took our dog for a much needed exercise down to the Mississippi River. The water level is almost back to normal and Mud Lake Park is open again. Some dirt and debris is still evidence from the recent weeks of flooding.

The month of May was relatively cold overall and I had already concerns about the many flycatchers species, who spend the summer here and depend so much on flying insects. It was nice to see an Eastern Wood-Pewee, catching insects mid-air. Knowing the feeding and foraging habits of birds has helped me many times to find them. The pewee was very busy between the stranded logs the river had left along the shore he and returned quite often to the same perch after catching an insect. I used the car for cover and after getting the MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender out of the bag my results improved while the sun was hiding behind a cloud.

BLUE, AS PRETTY AS IT CAN GET

Indigo Buntings

One of the prettiest birds here during the summer is the Indigo Bunting. They are not present all the time and it is always difficult to get them in front of the lens. Last weekend I was lucky and had three of them here. The diffraction of light through their actually black feathers make them look blue and make identification very easy.

CLOSE TO THE GROUND

Yellow Warbler, Mines of Spain, Dubuque, iowa

In spite of the fact that we still have an abundance of migrating birds around our house at the moment (I promise, I will show more pictures soon!), I went to the Mines of Spain yesterday, the wooded state recreation area south of Dubuque, Iowa. I was hoping to see some neotropical warblers, vireos, and gnatcatchers coming up the Mississippi River Valley and was rewarded with several species that will breed in eastern Iowa during the summer. However, watching them doesn’t automatically mean to capture an image. Warblers are very fast moving birds most of the time, giving the photographer only fractions of a second to frame, focus, and making the click.

The Mines of Spain have two ponds, just separated from the Mississippi River by the railroad tracks. The bushes and shrubs that surround them are an excellent home range for birds that rely on insects. With other words, it is a prime habitat for warblers and other birds and a good place to stick the legs of the tripod into the mud.

It was interesting to see Yellow Warblers, American Redstarts, Common Yellowthroats, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and Yellow-rumped Warblers gleaning for insects very close to the ground. The reason might be the relative low temperatures we have. Mosquitos, gnats, or little flies do still not perform much. We humans may like this, but the birds may struggle for survival if this would last. The good news is, the forecast for next week promises warmer weather…

NATURE CLICKS #425 - ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK

Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak

The grosbeaks are here since May 3rd, a little later than usual. Most of them will move on but we always have some that raise their offspring in our woods. They winter in central and northern South America. Many of our migrators, like orioles, tanagers, and the grosbeaks have been here in large numbers during the last few days. It was relatively chilly and the birds use our feeders very frequently, which makes it easy to make a click or two during their presence. It is supposed to get warmer next week and I expect to see less birds.

Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak

The Rose-breasted Grosbeak is a good bird to practice long lens photography. They provide mostly good contrast to focus on and even with 600 mm focal length a shutter speed of 1/80s or even slower can be managed.

NATURE CLICKS #424 - RED-HEADED WOODPECKER

For two days we had the pleasure to watch this beautiful Red-headed Woodpecker in the woods around our house. He or she is probably migrating further north. This species is actually a native in our area but we see them in our woods only for a few days in May. We have plenty of woodpecker habitat, means dead trees, but five other woodpecker species (sometimes even six) raise their offspring in our valley and on the bluff tops and this is maybe too much competition.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender

NATURE CLICKS #423 - HERMIT THRUSH

We are always happy to see birds that migrate through our woods here on top of the bluffs of the Little Maquoketa River Valley. For a couple days we saw this Hermit Thrush, whose breeding area is in the northern part of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and almost all over Canada. They are in the same family (Turdidae) as the widely known Bluebirds and American Robins. They forage on the ground and in vegetation.

Not as colorful as orioles or the Scarlet Tanagers, but with a little hint of flash I was able to reveal the color nuances in its plumage. My best photo of this rare guest so far and it will make into the bird gallery on this website.

THE OTHER ORIOLE

Male Orchard Oriole

It’s the best time of the year for some early morning or late afternoon bird photography in the “yard studio”. As every spring we see a good number of Baltimore Orioles migrating through and a few will stay here for breeding. Not so common is the Orchard Oriole, but we have seen them occasionally during the last few years. The dark color of the males make them easily distinguishable from the orange Baltimore Orioles. The immature males don’t have the chestnut body in their first summer but the black throat makes it easy to identify them.

Immature male Orchard Oriole

NATURE CLICKS #422 - JEWELED SHOOTING STAR

Joan and I took a trip along the Mississippi all the way up to Lansing, Iowa. The islands and many banks along the river are still flooded and with more rain in the forecast there seems no end in sight. 

I had a tip from another photography friend about a good wildflower location here in the driftless area along the river. We went there already three weeks ago but this was a little too early. Today we found a number of wildflowers, including the Jeweled Shooting Star (Dodecatheon amethystinum). This plant has its habitat in moist shaded areas on north and east-facing dolomite and limestone bluffs in deciduous forests. It is on the list of Iowa’s threatened plant species, a reason why I don’t reveal the location here in the blog.

As you know, I’m not really a flower photographer but wildflowers are part of our natural heritage and they deserve our utmost attention, if we still want to have them around for future generations. Creating awareness is one reason why I make the click anyway.

SHOOTING FROM A BLIND

Male House Finch

I was invited this evening by my photography friend Kevin for some photo shooting behind his house on the south side of Dubuque, Iowa. He had set up a tent that served as a blind at the edge of his woods and minutes after we entered it, and had the tripods in place, our shutters were rattling. This is a great location with an abundance of birds. We had wonderful natural light (no flash needed today), and shooting with Kevin is always a great pleasure.

Male Red-bellied Woodpecker

I only have used my car as a mobile blind so far and shooting out of a tent blind was a first for me. The advantage is, you can get really close to our feathered friends. The downside is the partly loss of peripheral vision due to the tent walls and roof over the head. Not a big deal today. We had at least 14 species of birds on site and I was able to capture nine of them during our one and a half hour photo shoot.

American Goldfinch

Kevin chose the location for the blind very wisely in regards of the incoming light and had prepared the “backyard studio” with good perch facilities for the birds. A couple feeders were placed in a way that we were able to keep them easily out of the frame. Some big trees are in the background and allow to aim the lens at woodpeckers or nuthatches that crack a seed in a gap of the bark.

A pair of House Finches

No, it is no myth, our front or backyards can be some of the best places for wildlife photography. With relatively little efforts a lot can be accomplished within a short period of time, a fact that should be considered by everybody who tries to shave off time during a busy week. Special thanks to Kevin again for this opportunity today!

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