NATURE CLICKS #446 - GREATER YELLOWLEGS

Not my sharpest image of this Greater Yellowlegs from last weekend’s visit in the Green Island Wetlands, but it is the one that tells the story the best. This guy was foraging in the partly drained pond at the Iowa DNR maintenance facility. It was obviously a great place for the bird because I caught him twice making a catch between the algae in the water. This bird feeds on aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates, small fish, frogs, seeds, and berries. It was a very windy day but to my surprise I found two more Greater Yellowlegs on little islands along the dyke. They still have a long way to go to their breeding grounds in Canada and finding enough food in a place like the Green Island Wetlands is essential for a successful journey.

Although already in DX mode with the Nikon D750 (cropped in camera), I did an additional crop in Adobe Lightroom to keep more of the algae and mud out of the frame. I was already pretty close to the edge of the pond and the bird didn’t want to come closer. I hate cropping but for this image it was my last resort…

NATURE CLICKS #445 - WILSON’S SNIPE

The summer range for the Wilson’s Snipe stretches from southern Minnesota all the way to northern Canada and east-west from the Atlantic Ocean to Alaska. Here in Iowa we are migrating territory for this small shore bird.

They are not easy to spot because they blend in perfectly between the muddy shore, old and new grass, and all the leaf litter we can find at this time of the year. Today I found at least three snipes along the wide water-filled trenches that border the gravel road cutting through the Green Island Wetlands.If you are able to see one you may have a fair chance for a picture. They normally don’t fly away quickly but rather use the camouflage of their feathers and hide by not moving. It still remained a challenge with the sun behind the birds and plenty of grass between the road and the edge of the water down in the water canal.

I have photographed the Wilson’s Snipe before and had a clear idea what story I wanted to tell with my photo. First the long bill had to be in the frame. They probe with it in the mud and frequently immerse the entire beak and forehead up to the eyes in the water. Their long bill is such a great distinction. I also wanted some vegetation in the picture because they always try to have cover around them. I thought that would tell the story about their hiding habits.

AHH, THAT LIGHT AGAIN…

Red-bellied Woodpecker

I love these mornings with really crisp light and already a warm touch as we have them only in spring around here. The sun gets “filtered” by the still bare branches on our east side. It’s a good time to have the camera ready to shoot. Many birds are in mating mood and their feathers look at their best.

This male Red-bellied Woodpecker is a frequent visitor. It doesn’t happen very often that he uses one of the honeysuckle bushes as a landing spot. Most of the time the smaller birds perch in it before they carefully approach a bird bath or feeder. A couple days ago it all came together, I knew at the moment when I made the first click that I had a picture I would like.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, @ 600mm, f/6.3, 1/500s, ISO200,

EARLY MORNING VISITOR

Yellow-rumped Warbler

It turned out that I didn’t have to go anywhere to find a warbler today. Great light again early this morning and while having a look at numerous woodpeckers, this male Yellow-rumped Warbler suddenly showed up. I mount the camera already the night before onto the tripod, so it is ready to be used immediately if I see something outside our windows in the morning. This habit paid off again once more…

NATURE CLICKS #444 - PILEATED WOODPECKER

Pileated Woodpecker, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa

Almost seven years ago we had to cut down the crown of this old oak you see in the picture here. The oak was dying and there was a danger that this mighty tree could fall on the house. However, we decided to leave the trunk standing, as a habitat for the many woodpeckers around here and other critters. Today came the final proof that this was a good decision, when this female Pileated Woodpecker landed on the trunk after she had worked already on a couple other places.

The Pileated Woodpecker is here all year long but we still don’t see them very often. Most of the time we can hear their loud calls and see big cavities they carve out at some of the dead trees in our woods. It is the only woodpecker that we have never seen on a suet feeder so far. I guess you can understand my excitement when I discovered this large woodpecker in “killer-morning-light”.

NATURE CLICKS #443 - YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER

I was very excited when we found the first neo-tropical migrating birds yesterday . Several Yellow-rumped Warblers used the warm sun and caught little insects in the bushes and small trees at the Deere Marsh by the Mississippi River. I didn’t take the tripod with me but got some sharp pictures by handholding the heavy NIKON D750 / SIGMA 150-600 S combo.

Today I tried my luck again, went out with the tripod this time, but didn’t find a single bird. The access trail to the dyke and marsh is flooded at the moment but this photo was made right next to the small parking lot. For tomorrow the forecast shows rain again…

To all readers and followers of my blog, Happy Passover / Happy Easter, stay safe!

A HIDDEN GEM

White Pine Hollow Preserve, Iowa

One of the hidden gems in the landscape of the driftless area here is White Pine Hollow State Preserve near the little town of Luxemburg, Iowa. You can’t drive in and I recommend some solid hiking boots if you like to explore this area. Except for the hollow that leads down to the bottom of the canyon there are no trails and some sense of direction is recommended. If you don’t mind a hike through washed out and rocky terrain and can master a couple of small river crossings, you will be rewarded with tranquility and the beauty of nature. And now, during these unusual times, it is a place where social distancing is easy to maintain. We hiked yesterday for 3 1/2 hours and didn’t see a single soul. Well, have a look what we found…

Snow Trillium (Trillium nivale)

Big patches of Wild Leek (Allium tricoccum)

Round-lobed Hepatica (Anemone americana)

NATURE CLICKS #442 - TREE SWALLOWS

Tree Swallow, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

It was a great day for bird watching in the wetlands today. Many more ducks were present than during my last visit two weeks ago. And there were quite a few bird lovers out there, everybody in their car and with binoculars or cameras sticking out the window. I saw a lot Blue-winged Teals, Bufflehead, Hooded Mergansers, Northern Shovelers, and one pair of Green-winged Teals. I also got information about a Cinnamon Teal, but I was not able to locate the bird. It would have been a “first” for me in the Green Island Wetlands. In addition the first flycatchers have arrived and I saw an Eastern Phoebe and a Kingbird.

We had still some frost last night but the sun this morning heated up the air very quickly. This brought out the insects and large groups of Tree Swallows tried to catch them. They used the shrubs along the edge of the water to perch and to rest for brief moments. The Tree Swallows return to their nesting grounds earlier than any other American swallow. The ones I saw today were probably just on their way through. Their summer habitat stretches as far as northern Canada.

The warm air above the cold water created quite a bit of heat shimmer again. I was shocked how much it effected the sharpness today. Although the light was crisp and many bird species provided good contrast, normally easy to focus on, but my keeper rate was not very good.

NATURE CLICKS #441 - BELTED KINGFISHER

Belted Kingfisher, Mississippi River, Deere Marsh, Iowa

Those who read my blog since a long time may remember that I call him “the bastard”. I will do that until I finally will get a sharp picture of the Belted Kingfisher and I don’t have to crop it. It is not an uncommon bird. We can find them along the Mississippi River, in any side valley that has a creek, or at the edge of ponds and marshes as long there is fish to catch. The problem is, they are extremely skittish and fly away quite often long before a person can get close enough for a picture, even with a long focal length.

This photo of a male kingfisher was made last week at John Deere Marsh. There was not much I could do to shorten the distance between the bird and the lens. There was water between me and the kingfisher and at the end I cropped the photo quite a bit. I guess I still call him “the bastard” until another time…

ON THE GOAT PRAIRIE

At Pohlman’s Prairie, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa

Only about a mile away from our home is a 23 acre site of ‘goat prairie’, a remnant and variant of tall grass prairie, mostly found in the Upper Mississippi Valley on south-southwest slopes. It is a preserve here on top of the limestone bluffs in our valley of the Little Maquoketa River, just north of Dubuque, Iowa. Only a few more miles down, the Little Maquoketa meets the mighty Mississippi.

Last week Joan celebrated her birthday and due to the circumstances we all know about, we didn’t go out for a fancy dinner but made a short hike up the slope to ‘Pohlman’s Prairie’. Too early for wildflowers on the goat prairie but the view across the valley compensates for the efforts to make this little hike. The small patch of dry grass prairie is surrounded by Eastern Red Cedars. Actually an invasive tree, but nevertheless very pretty and its berries are a great source of food during fall and winter for several species of birds.

I always loved this spot on top of the bluffs and have photographed it many times before. With nothing but overcast, I thought a black and white photo would tell the story about this day at the end of winter the best. The dark cedars in the foreground frame the river and bridge. It doesn’t matter that there are no leaves out yet, the trees on the other side of the valley are out of focus but give a sense of place. Not a photo for the next local touristic brochure but I have enjoyed making it and it pleases my sense for landscape photography.

THE FLICKER'S STORY

Male Northern Flicker

The last couple mornings brought us some sunlight and combined with woodpeckers getting closer to their mating season, the colors of their feathers are at their best. The ground is soft and the Northern Flickers are in the grass and probe with their bills in the soil for insects. It is believed that they eat ants more than any other North American bird, but right now it is a little bit to early for their preferred food.

At this time of the year it is a good habit to have the camera with the long lens mounted on a tripod and always ready to shoot. You never know what shows up in the morning and if there is an interesting sighting, you might miss the opportunity to make a good click if the gear is not ready.

I talk a lot about the storytelling in our images, especially during my presentations, and it is always valid to ask yourself, “what is the story in the photo?”. It might be possible to get a shot of the flicker with his bill in the ground, mostly with the eyes closed, but is it desirable and will be a pleasing photo? I’m not so sure. The flicker in the grass, holding still for a few seconds, while watching out for predators, is a great moment to make the click. The little bit of dirt on its bill tells the story about its feeding habits. The colors of the flicker’s feathers, the old dried up leaves and faded grass, together with the first green of the season leave no doubt what time of the year the picture was taken. And there is your story…

ANOTHER SIGN OF SPRING

If there is anything I don’t like about March here in eastern Iowa, it’s the fact that we have so many gray days without any sun. Today was another one of those. The photo of the crocuses is from yesterday, when a little more light was available and no extra efforts were necessary to make the colors pop. For this picture I employed the Nikkor 16-35, f/4 and closed down to f/10 for more depth of field than in the photo of the Hepatica from yesterday’s blog post. As I always stress, I’m not a flower photographer, but with all the gray and brown from last winter on the ground a few colors don’t hurt and keep the spirit up on a day like this.

SERIOUS SIGN OF SPRING

Hepatica americana

No, the photo wasn’t taken in our woods this time but during a little hike that Joan, dog Cooper, and I took in the Mines of Spain State Recreation Area this evening. Hepatica Americana is the first wild flower that usually shows up and we found it below some rock bluffs in a more remote part in this park south of Dubuque, Iowa.

I wanted this kind of shot with a low depth of field. At 200 mm and f/5 only a couple blossoms are in focus, but it keeps the eye away from the dried clutter around the plant and that’s the way I like it.

STILL LIFE - OMA’S KITCHEN ITEMS

Oma’s Kitchen Items, 2020

My grandma was a really good cook and after she died 30 years ago I kept a few of her kitchen items in my possession and still use them. They bring up fond memories any time I look at them. I always liked the thick glass and how it feels in my hands. I know this sounds silly, but the aesthetics of these glass and metal items appeal to me. Since a very long time I was thinking about to make a photo of these kitchen items. This idea got propelled when I finally saw the photo Still Life, San Francisco, California, c. 1932, in Ansel Adam’s book Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs  some time ago. It shows a couple glass bottles, two eggs, and also the same kind of egg slicer that I have from my grandma. No, I didn’t want to copy his arrangements but his photo gave me pleasure about how the light falls on and around his items. Adams writes, …very rewarding effects are possible with available light in the studio, whether from natural skylight or window light, or from existing artificial sources.

I don’t even have a studio but I knew it was doable in our living room, with its large windows and high ceiling. Today was finally the day when this plan was put into practice. A gray overcast sky produced a very soft light, even more diffused by the tall windows on the left. I used black foam board as my backdrop and a couple white pieces to direct the light, either shading it off (left side) or using the board as a reflector (right side). For this photo I handhold an additional 22” white reflector for some extra light from above right. 

The boiled egg and the half lemon add some texture and life to the image. Oma’s kitchen items are older than me and using black and white for the final photo was part of the plan from the very beginning.

By the way, if you wonder what the kidney-shaped glass container on the left is, here is the story. My grandparents were operating a little restaurant and country side pub before I was born. A popular item on the menu in this part of Germany, the Upper Lusatia, was head cheese (Sülze), mostly served with fried potatoes or fresh baked bread, raw onion rings, plus oil and vinegar. I guess drinking beer with this food was mandatory…😉 This glass bowl was used as a mold for making the head cheese. After the jelly was cold and hard, the mold was flipped upside down on a plate and the other food items were added. My grandpa loved head cheese and I remember that this glass container was still used in their home when I was a child.

Nikon D750, Carl Zeiss Distagon 35mm f/2 ZF T*, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head, VELLO wired remote switch,   @ f/16, 1 s, ISO100