- Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM
It was a good weekend for wildlife photography, especially in the late afternoons on Saturday and Sunday. I stopped briefly at Dubuque's 16th Street Detention basin, a pond known for good bird watching. I met my photography friend Dave Updegraff there who was testing his new lens on some Bald Eagles and Great Blue Herons. We had a little chat and after that I moved on to my favorite wildlife shooting area along the Mississippi, the Green Island Wetlands. The ice is melting rapidly and I was hoping to find Bald Eagles feeding on dead fish, like I had seen it last year. Surprisingly I didn't find any eagles there at all. My theory is, because of the mild winter the ice wasn't frozen as thick as last year and as a result less fish died. No fish means no eagles. I will consult a biologist sometime to find out if that is true.
- Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM
As the ice disappears the Canada Geese move in. I was there both days, Saturday and Sunday, and it seemed the number of geese had increased quite a bit from one day to the next. If you are a follower of my blog you already know that it doesn't really matter to me what kind of critter is in front of my lens, if only the light is right. And it was great light. I spent two hours until sunset to watch how the light unfolded. I pushed the limits of handholding the camera by shooting ISO 100 the whole time. It was nobody there, not even people driving through. Just me and the geese. Time well spent…
- Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM