Female White-breasted Nuthatch
After a few days with nothing but a cloudy and gray sky we are all happy to see the sun again for a while. The last day in January had plenty of it although it feels strange not having any snow on the ground. We humans are not the only creatures longing for light and warmth during winter. This female nuthatch usually hardly ever stops moving around, but it found a spot to sit down for a while, close the eyes, and take a little ”power nap” in the sun.
Adult Bald Eagle, Mississippi River, between Sabula, Iowa and Savannah, Illinois
A quick trip along the Mississippi River down to Green Island and Sabula this evening led to today’s photo. A couple Bald Eagles had perched in the dead trees along the road between the Sabula island and the bridge that crosses the main channel of the river over to Illinois. It was obvious that 600 mm focal length would not be enough to fill the frame with an eagle, but adding the Nikon Z1.4 teleconverter to the lens gave me 240 mm focal length more. I drove back to the birds with the side window down and the camera already in my lap. Made sure there was no car behind me, stopped briefly, and fired a number of shots until another car approached from behind. The light about an hour before sunset was just gorgeous for this kind of a shot. Back home at the computer I still thought I had a little bit too much ’wood’ in the frame and finally cropped the photo slightly.
Most of the Bald Eagle nests I saw today had already a pair of birds in or near the nest. It’s a big joy to see how this majestic bird bounced back from being almost extinct not that long ago.
Cedar Waxwing, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa
Warmer weather brought some changes in the numbers of birds that visited our woods here today. The Dark-eyed Juncos that were here by more than a dozen during the polar vortex were not seen today, except for one.
The two American Robins we had all winter long so far were joined by a flock of at least ten more birds. As often observed before, the robins had company by some Cedar Waxwings. They are here for the same food source as the American Robins and Eastern Bluebirds, the juniper berries that hang from the Eastern Cedar trees we have around here.
During the summer the waxwings feed also from insects but the juniper berries must be a good winter diet for them. The Cedar Waxwings are very careful and they often sit for quite some time on a perch before they approach the water bowls of a bird bath. This is when the photographer has a great chance to make a picture of one of the most beautiful birds around here.
Nikon Z6II, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, @ 600mm, 1/2000s, f/8, ISO 1000,
When we brought family from Germany back to the O’Hare airport in Chicago earlier this year we spent a couple days in downtown Chicago, visiting the Field Museum, exploring the iconic architecture of the city, and of course eating some good food. Seeing Chicago from above is always fun and so we went up to the observation deck of the John Hancock Center on the 94th floor and enjoyed a 360 degree view over the city and far beyond.
This is usually a pretty busy place and a photo like this one seems to be impossible because there are always people pressing their noses against the windows. Being up there mid morning made the view to the south the least desirable due to back-lighting and haze. But when I saw this corner of the observation deck suddenly complete empty and the shadows of the windows on the floor, I knew I had a shot. Exposing for the highlights emphasized the contours of the Chicago skyline. The ice on Lake Michigan on the left side was the hottest spot in the picture and the rest rendered nicely silhouette-like. Although I didn’t take the time to set the preview in the viewfinder to black & white, it was what I felt was right for this photo and converting the RAW file to B&W was the logical consequence. The distorted reflections from the streets below on the glass above the windows make for an unusual effect.
With its X-bracing on the tower’s facade, 875 North Michigan Avenue, former John Hancock Center, is easy to identify among Chicago’s skyscrapers.
A Polar vortex-driven Arctic blast hit the country during the last few days. Not so much new here in the Midwest but when the beaches in Florida or Alabama are covered with snow it’s worth to mention it. The cold weather here led to an increase in numbers of birds that visit our feeders and bird baths. I counted the highest number of Eastern Bluebirds we ever had seen here at the same time (10) and assuming there were at least a couple more up in the trees. Of course I’m not the biggest fan of having the bird bath in the frame but it was the only way to tell the story about the large congregation we were able to enjoy. Other birds use the safety of being in a flock as well and among the bluebirds we find American Goldfinches, House Finches, Sparrows, and the occasional Cedar Waxwing.
At temperatures as low as -26ºC (-15ºF) I fill all five suet feeders for the woodpeckers and nuthatches and still, some birds have to wait in line for their turn to feed. The larger species, like the Red-bellied, or Hairy Woodpeckers dominate while they are present and the much smaller Downy Woodpeckers wait patiently until their larger cousins are done. A popular ”waiting spot” is the small oak between two of our bird feeders. A few snow flurries danced down to the ground today, adding to the story of cold winter weather while this male Downy waited for his turn to feed.
Wilson’s Snipe, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands, 12/22/2024
There wasn’t much going on here in the blog lately. We had family over here from Germany during the last few weeks and that took priority over photography efforts besides some shots that captured memorable moments of the good time we had together.
However, I still can’t get over that we found a Wilson’s Snipe in the Green Island Wetlands during a hike two days before Christmas and that’s why I came up with another photo from this series of shots.
So here is a little more input about the shooting conditions. It was a low light situation shortly before sunset. The bird was mostly probing with its long bill in the mud below the edge of the thin ice. I needed some speed to freeze the fast movements and cranked up the ISO settings to 10000 (yikes!!) but also used the technique of ”peak of action”, the brief moments when the snipe stopped and lifted the head out of the water for a second or so. I also was hiding behind some grass that swayed in the wind, leaving only a small gap for a clean view at the bird. I finally cropped the image so the grass was kept out of the frame.
Well, the other family members stood and waited in a respectful distance, watching my excitement about this bird and the efforts to get a shot. It was a memorable moment in any way and this photo will always remind me about just that.
Nikon Z6II, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S, @ 600mm, 1/800 s, f/6.3, ISO 10000, image cropped
Left: 311 South Wacker / Right: Willis Tower (former Sears Tower), Chicago, Illinois
The Field Museum in Chicago doesn’t have a lot of windows, but when I walked by at one of them, the setting sun touched the sky scrapers of the skyline downtown. Moments like that don’t last very long and I took the shot through the glass quickly.
I wish my friends and followers of the website all the best for 2025 and if you are a photographer, may the light be always in your favor!
Sycamore and fog, Little Maquoketa Valley, Iowa
The snow we got the week before Christmas melted or was washed away by the rain we had lately. Today, on the way back from Dubuque, we stopped briefly down in the Little Maquoketa Valley below our bluffs. Fog had started to develop on the valley floor and with the American Sycamore tree (German: Westliche Platane) standing out at the other side of the valley, I knew I had an image I wanted to make since a long time.
Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4, @ 200mm, 1/200s, f/4, ISO 5000, RAW processed in Adobe LR Classic with denoise in Topaz Photo AI
Wilson’s Snipe, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands, 12/22/2024
We have part of my family over here from Germany for Christmas and today we made a trip down south in the Mississippi Valley to Sabula to watch some Bald Eagles. On the way back we still had time for a brief visit in the Green Island Wetlands. Not all water is frozen and to my big surprise we found a Wilson’s Snipe probing with its long bill in shallow water and feeding on mollusks or whatever else it found. I know here in eastern Iowa we are in migration territory for this bird, but I have seen this species before only in early spring or October. Can you tell that we were excited?
Having the edge of the ice in both photos is a helpful element to tell the story about a not so common bird sighting two days before Christmas.
Nikon Z6II, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S
Brown Creeper, Little Maquoketa Valley, Iowa
I’m very, very happy about this photo of this tiny little bird. The fast moving Brown Creeper started at the base of this oak and spiraled upwards, looking for insects in the cracks of the bark. It’s hard to follow them with the lens and their plumage is such a perfect camouflage, making it difficult to obtain a sharp focus. Here in eastern Iowa they can be found throughout the year but most of the time we see them during the cold season.
Eastern Bluebirds
I’m not a big fan of the term ”nasty weather”. It was probably invented by couch potatoes that never set a step outside their doors when the sun is not shining… Well, today I don’t mind to use the term (sorry my fellow couch potatoes!), because the day started with sleet, followed by rain, and a snowy mix, and within a half an hour it led to an ice cover wherever the eye went.
It was a good reason to stay home all day and try to capture what’s around bird feeders or who visits the heated bird baths in the front or backyard.
I’m sometimes puzzled by what the so called ”influencers” post on their websites, blogs, or podcasts on the internet. Just recently I came across an article about having a clear glass filter in front of the lens leads to a significant decrease in picture quality. Not supported by any real facts. I’m not the only one (some real famous photographers do it as well) that attach a clear glass filter to their expensive lenses in order to protect the front element of the lens against any unpredictable physical impact. Most of us still have to work hard for our equipment…
Well, today an additional sheet of glass was between the sensor of the camera and the subject of interest. I had to shoot through the glass of the balcony door here at home.
The Eastern Bluebird in the back was in focus when the second one in the front spoiled the party and landed on the rim of the bird bath. First I wasn’t happy but finally accepted that it adds to the story. A little more subtle is the streak of rain near the upper right corner of the photo. Who will doubt that this was shot in ”nasty weather”?
Here is a little trick for dealing with the slight blur of a glass window. Use the ”Dehaze” slider in Adobe Lightroom or ACR, just with a slight increase by +2 - 4 steps. It works wonder! Other, non-Adobe software has probably a similar feature under a different name.
While everything around, the boards of the balcony, trees, or of course our drive way were covered with a layer of ice, the only place that wasn’t you can see in this picture. The heated bird bath prevents the stone at it’s edge from freezing over in such a weather. The bluebirds love this spot, and so does the photographer…
After sunset, Green Island, Upper Mississippi Valley, Iowa, February 25, 2024
While digging through my photos from 2024 I got reminded that we had quite a few days with overcast or just a boring sky. Nevertheless, we also had our good share of great sunrises or sunsets here in eastern Iowa. This day at the end of February I mad a couple shots of a Rough-legged Hawk and a Sandhill Crane flying across the Green Island Wetlands in the afternoon, but they were not filling the frame, so more less just documentary shots for myself. I stayed late in hope to see maybe an owl but this didn’t happen. The clouds and setting sun came to my rescue and after capturing a few moments during the blue hour with the Z 24-70 f/4, I changed lens quickly when the day ended with a nice glow above the rocky bluffs of the Mississippi Valley.
Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, @ 150 mm, 1/2000 s, f/8, ISO 1600
Male Eastern Bluebird
My photography friend Kevin had invited me every year to his backyard during the breeding season of Eastern Bluebirds and many good shots are in my photo library due to his generous sharing of the location. I would like to do the same, inviting him for a shooting session during the winter season. Kevin knows when the bluebirds hatch in the nest boxes that he puts out at the edge near the woods of his property and the chances are always high to come home with a decent image of a parent bird with food in their bills. Well, I would like to return his favor but the visits of Eastern Bluebirds at any of our three bird baths are not predictable. Yesterday I had eight birds coming to the water bowl on our balcony, but today, with even more time on hand to watch, none of them showed up.
We didn’t see any bluebirds during last winter season but the bird droppings beside the bird bath tell me this time, we have a good crop of juniper berries in the eastern cedar trees that grow here on top of the bluffs of the Little Maquoketa Valley. The short appearance of two Cedar Waxwings yesterday, another bird that feeds on juniper berries during the winter, seems to confirm my observations. Well, enough of bird biology. I hope you enjoy my photo of this male Eastern Bluebird today and have a wonderful weekend.
Nikon Z6II, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S
Juvenile Bald Eagle, Mississippi River, Brownsville, Minnesota
It was quite cold during the last nights and as a result the Mississippi River and all the other bodies of water started to freeze over, at least at places without much current. I had planned to go back up north to Brownsville, Minnesota again for the Tundra Swans but was wondering if the swans had taken off towards the Atlantic coast already. They will definitely do, if there is no access to food anymore due to an ice cover. Luckily my concerns were unfounded and this part of the river was not frozen over and several large schools, like the one in the picture below, were still present.
Tundra Swans on the Mississippi River. The main channel of the river is way back behind the islands at the Wisconsin side of the river, but the current of the water was still strong enough here to keep this part without an ice cover last Saturday.
I’m happy to witness this part of the great migration almost every year in November, even if the birds are too far out for a photo. Well, there are other things to look at and the most exciting were a large number of Bald Eagles. It’s always fun to watch how they chase each other after one gets a fish out of the water, drops it, and the game starts all over again. It takes a little patience because most of the hunting happens further away from the overlook, but I had my share of chances with the eagles within shooting range of the camera.
Canada Geese, Brownsville overlook, Mississippi River, Minnesota
I talked about it before already, shooting from an overlook and a bit above the water level leads not always to a desirable photo. However, it’s a good place to be if you have a flock of Canada Geese flying by and they honk at you at eye level. Great day, good times!
All photos: Nikon Z6II, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S
