NATURE CLICKS #434 - TIGER SWALLOWTAILS

Male Tiger Swallowtail, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa

It has been a good year so far with the butterfly population in our woods here on top of the bluffs above the Little Maquoketa River Valley. We see a nice variety and overall numbers are better than during some other years. The stars of the bunch are always the three different species of swallowtails.

Female Tiger Swallowtail, black form

Friday night I saw a male Tiger Swallowtail interacting with another black looking swallowtail. First I thought he was fighting with a Black Swallowtail, a species we see here as well, but after it landed on one off our house plants it became clear that it was a female Tiger Swallowtail. I guess love was in the air. Males are always yellow while the females can be yellow or black. The yellow form is pretty common while black females are found more southwards according to my books. The last time I had one in front of the lens was 2015.

Both photos were made with the long lens at 600 mm (SIGMA 150-600 Sport), because I was actually on the hunt for hummingbirds. Like with my other wildlife photography I prefer to make an environmental portrait. Though I feel it is not so important to count every little hair, the insect still has to be sharp.

OUT OF THE HOUSE

Today around 10:30AM I heard the House Wrens intensively calling while I worked in my office. They just didn’t deliver any food to the nest box in the flower bed of our front yard anymore. I ran downstairs and saw #1 leaning out of the hole but still hesitating. I knew immediately that the time was right and that the little chicks would follow the calls of their parents and leave the nest. The camera was already in position on the porch, ready to shoot.

At 10:37AM #1 finally jumped out of the upper hole, tried briefly to hang on to the wall of the box, and landed on the perch of the lower hole. From there it jumped to nearby bushes, through the grass, and made it safely into the woods where the parents called frenetically.

#2 followed shortly after. #3 didn’t hesitate at all and flew straight into the woods to the parents. I had a look at them from the distance when suddenly a #4 showed up next to me and joined the whole gang in the trees.

This is a photo still from yesterday. The parents had chosen a good time for raising this gang of four little House Wrens. During the last 17 days we had nice weather and there was food in abundance. Here it is a spider but we saw lots of caterpillars, moths, and crickets disappearing in the hungry bills of the juvenile House Wrens.

FEEDING TIME AT THE NEST BOX

Friends of the blog have asked already how the little House Wrens in the nest box doing. The parents feed since July, 23rd and as you can see the size of the food is getting bigger. We know for sure that we have at least three little chicks in the box. I shot a few pictures yesterday morning and I liked this one in particular. It’s always hard to tell what’s on the menu because the feeding happens very fast. But here the shadow on the white wall reveals that a cricket was stuffed into the open bill. The new generation makes a lot of noise if the parents arrive with food but in a few days it will be quiet and the little wrens will have left the nest.

WEEKEND ON THE WATER

Cox Hollow Lake, Governor Dodge State Park, Wisconsin, Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4, Breakthrough GND filter 0.6

On the list of our favorite spots to spend a warm or hot summer day is Governor Dodge State Park in Wisconsin. This is about an hour away from home. This wooded area has two lakes and although man-made, they remind me a lot of places in Norway or Sweden I have visited years ago.

Joan had to work yesterday and so it was just “kayak dog” Cooper and myself who went on a paddle tour on Cox Hollow Lake. No camera was on board at all! Today we repeated the tour but this time Joan launched her kayak as well. The lake has pretty clear water and swimming was of course on the agenda both days. We know a good spot, away from the busy beaches this lake has to offer, where we can land the boats and go for a swim.

I had two lenses in the boat, the SIGMA 150/f2.8 Macro and the Nikkor 16-35, f/4. The SIGMA macro lens was used for some shots of dragonflies and for the image below. For the photo above the new Breakthrough GND 0.6 filter was employed and delivered just what I had in mind after my observations the day before. Luckily we had the same kind of puffy clouds again, with great reflections on the water and a little bit of blue sky for a nice color contrast. At 16 mm focal length Joan’s blue kayak seems to be far away and Cooper’s head in front of her is just a tiny dot. 

“Kayak dog” Cooper, Nikon D750, Sigma 150mm / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM, in-camera flash

Here is the story behind this photo. Cooper loves to be on the water and in the kayak but he is not really a “water dog”. However, we took him into the water a couple times to cool him off and clean him a little. Oh boy, when Cooper came back to shore he rolled immediately in a pile of pine needles, dust, and sand, just to tell us that our “cleaning efforts” are a hopeless idea…After the second time he climbed on a big rock along the shore and the expression on his face tells it all (at least to us). First, you will never get me down from here again, bastards! Second, I ignore you anyway!… Well, tonight after a delicious chicken dinner, Joan had created on the grill, we were good friends again…😉

HUMMINGBIRDS

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

I spent three hours behind the camera in our front yard this evening and was only after one target: The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds who raise their offspring here during the summer. Inspired by a video famous wildlife photographer Moose Peterson had on his blog, I tried to push the envelope for my own hummingbird photography and tested new ways of lighting the subject. I used two flash lights with a mini soft box for boosting colors but I can tell you, I’m not there yet. These photos are a start.

Here is the idea for today’s shooting. Since the female and young Ruby-throated Hummingbirds do not offer too much color variety I tried to incorporate parts of the surrounding flowers into the background. I thought this works better for the storytelling than just a plain green. Wide open, at f/6.3 and 600 mm, the background is nicely blurred and flowers leave no doubt that the bird is in a perfect environment, with plenty of nectar from host plants, even if our feeders won’t be there.

NATURE CLICKS #433 - PAINTED LADY

Our yard is the feeding ground for many different butterflies, including three different species of swallowtails. They are all here theses days but I still couldn’t resist to point my lens at one of the most common butterflies in North America and even around the world, the beautiful Painted Lady. Joan manages to grow a nice patch of Purple Coneflowers every year in the yard. The butterflies like them and they make for a nice background.

Although a little slow with focus, the 12 years old SIGMA 150, f/2.8 is still sharp as a tack and a macro lens I always have recommended. The newer models have OS (optical stabilization) and probably have faster focus, but I’m sure they are as sharp as the old one in my bag.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150mm / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM, @ 1/800 s, f/8, ISO 400

BACK IN THE WETLANDS (PART 2)

Male American Goldfinch

Here is another photo from yesterday’s trip to the Green Island Wetlands. You can’t miss the goldfinches between the grasses, thistles, and everything that produces seeds. I know, I had a picture here in the blog less than three weeks ago with some facts about this late breeding bird. Click HERE if you have missed it or like to read it again.

BACK IN THE WETLANDS

Family of Pied-billed Grebes, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

It was about time to go back into the wetlands at Green Island. On a sunny day it doesn’t buy you much to be there before 6:00PM, when the light gets softer and warmer. The water level is still very high but for the first time in months no roads or dykes were flooded and the area was complete accessible again.

I talked to an old farmer in his eighties, who owns land adjacent to the Green Island Wetlands, and he told me that the numbers of ducks and geese are the lowest he has seen in a long time. This might be due to the fact that many nest sites were under water for such a long time and still are.

Well, some life can still be found. There were large families of Wood Ducks and the young Canada Geese have almost adult size. I counted three successful broods of Pied-billed Grebes along the main dyke. The one above is my favorite image of this evening, three little chicks stayed close together while their parents dived for food and delivered promptly when they had success.

Paddling is not the best idea at this time of the year. An abundance of water plants, duck weed, and algae make it difficult to move in the backwaters. We have done that before, it’s not impossible, but the fun of paddling is cut in half to say it mildly. I did not regret to leave the kayak at home. The low sun created some dappled light in the foreground, making the “green mess” not so dominant, and with some puffy clouds in the blue sky the picture got some depth and tells today’s story about a perfect summer day along the Mississippi River.

Trumpeter Swans

About 7:45PM I drove slowly back on the main dyke and this pair of Trumpeter Swans enjoyed the last sun of the day as much as I did. Maybe they just found each other this season. Trumpeter Swans often mate for life and most pair bonds are often formed when they are 5-7 years old. More to come… stay tuned!

IN CAPTIVITY, BUT STORYTELLING

Diamondback Water Snake, Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, Dubuque, Iowa

There is at least one thing that any picture of an animal has to have in common, no matter if it was shot in the wild, or like this one, shot through the thick glass of a terrarium in the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. I’m talking about sharpness, in particular the sharpness of the eye. If the eye is not sharp the image goes to the trash can. Are there exceptions? Of course, as always in life. I have plenty of pictures in my library that will never see the eye of the public because they are not sharp, but I keep them for reference. The photo library is also a diary and can tell us, i.e. what day in late April or early May the migrating birds arrived from South America.

Back to this photo of a Diamondback Water Snake. Until tonight, when I sat in front of the computer screen, I didn’t realize that I had photographed this beautiful snake before in the wild but had mistakenly labeled it as a Northern Water Snake. The body part that reveals the pattern of a Diamondback is from another snake and beside that, I trust the naming of professional biologists still more than my own research. Not a big deal, that’s what museums are for, educational places not just for the young generation.

If you try to find out how the body of this snake is coiled in this picture you may get lost. What you see is the head of one, but underneath were three other snakes, hopefully enjoying location and climate as well. However, the composition of this photo is not an accident. I wanted to have the upper part of the body in a coil, knowing that the blue color of the background will still help to tell the story of a beautiful critter, even if displayed in captivity.

I WISH…

Spiny Softshell Turtle, Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, Dubuque, Iowa

… I can find a Spiny Softshell Turtle one of these days out in the great outdoors. This one is a resident of the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, Iowa. More “summer fun” with the grandkids again today and a visit of this great museum is always on the agenda when they visit us.

The softshell turtle’s soft, rubbery, and flat shell makes it easy to distinguish them from other turtles . The long and piglike nose gives the turtle a unique appearance. They are among my favorite critters in the museum and when the day comes I find one in the wild, you will hear from a very happy photographer…

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4 @ 200 mm, 1/250 s, f/4, ISO 400

SUMMER FUN

We had some summer fun with the grandkids in the backyard this afternoon. Beside “water battles” and other kids entertainment we watched our little House Wrens being fed by their parents, looked at butterflies, and collected acorns and other nature treasures. During a break this small dragonfly caught my eye. I believe it is a Four-spotted Skimmer, but I’m not sure.

I didn’t shoot the SIGMA 150, f/2.8 wide open but at f/4 it still had a very shallow depth of focus. By exposing strictly for the highlights the not so pretty background of our compost bin got thrown out and the dragonfly stands out nicely.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150mm / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM

PIC OF THE DAY

House Wrens

We watched the female House Wren carefully going in and out of  the hole at the nest box in our front yard for the last 2 weeks. She sat on a clutch of eggs. The male wren guarded the home and tried to lure every potential predator away by singing and drawing the attention to himself instead to the nest location. Today was the moment we were waiting for. While enjoying a cool drink on our porch this evening we saw both parents bringing food to the nest. Sure sign that there is some new life in the box. I don’t think it ever happened during all the years that I had both parents in front of the lens at the same time during this crucial period of time.

The female on the left arrived first with some food in her bill on the roof of the nest box. The male was also a successful hunter and handed his prey to her, just a second after this click was made. She managed to take both and deliver it to their offspring. We watch the House Wrens every year raising their offspring somewhere around the house, but believe me, it is still an excitement for us to be a witness.

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.

DITCHING THE COLORS

When I go for a walk I try to make it a habit to look for light and subjects that may benefit from a certain way the light touches them. This corner of the historical Star Brewery in Dubuque found my attention. It was a colorful picture with red and orange brick stones, a blue staircase, and greens and yellows from the tree, plants, and flowers. But I had this imagination of a black and white photo with some contrast when I looked through the viewfinder. The blacks suppress all the not so important elements and the highlights bring out the graphic impact of the staircase. It is the image I had in mind.

Nikon D750, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4G ED VR

THE SOUND OF PROP PLANES (PART 2)

Yesterday was the better day for shooting the T6’s at the Dubuque Airport. A little storm that went trough our area brought some clouds and that made for a much more interesting background. The wind had shifted to the west and the second runway, closer to the observation deck, was used for landing the planes. My keeper rate was much better and I hope I can attribute that to my practice of panning with the long lens the day before. Today I didn’t go out but we had a great air show right here at home. When the noise of plane engines filled the air we knew they all took finally off for the Air Venture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. What a display! I counted 27, flying all together in formations of four, as they had practiced during the last few days. Today’s photos are all from Saturday afternoon at the airport. I hope you enjoy!

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

NATURE CLICKS #432 - HORNED LARK

Male Horned Lark

I haven’t seen and photographed a Horned Lark here in eastern Iowa since more than four years. Before 2015 I never had problems finding them, especially in early spring. The bird is listed as a common bird in steep decline, which underlines my own observations. To my surprise I found a male Horned Lark yesterday and today again on the observation hill at the Dubuque Regional Airport. I saw this bird several times with insects in its bill, and as the second photo shows, they take the bigger ones too. It nurtures my hope that there is a nest somewhere around.

Due to the fact that I was at the airport for making some clicks of the historical airplanes that practice for the big air venture in Oshkosh, WI next week, I didn’t have the tripod out. It helped to stabilize the lens on one of the posts that support the sunroof on the observation deck. The gravel of the parking lot is not really attractive but that’s where the Horned Lark foraged for insects. Although I shot very many pictures of the planes and only a few of the bird, these wildlife photos are important to me and made me very happy.