Weekend river report ;-)

 

I wanted to see what’s going on along the Mississippi River between Dubuque, the Green Island Wetlands, and Sabula, Iowa this weekend and I was not disappointed. There is still some ice cover above the dams in the river, where the water is more like a big lake, but below the dams and where the river is narrow the ice is gone.

Here is a list of birds that I saw this weekend. Not all came into reach for a quality photo but I write this also for those folks who are just interested in the nature along this part of the Mississippi.

Red-tailed Hawk, Green Island Wetlands

Bald Eagles, almost everywhere along the river

Ring-billed Gulls, everywhere!

American White Pelicans, Green Island, Sabula

6 Sandhill Cranes, Green Island

Mallards, Dubuque + Green Island

Hooded Merganser, Sabula + Mud Lake Dubuque

Common Merganser, 5 males and one female at Mud Lake Dubuque (not much open water there yet but they obviously used a couple open spots to rest during their migration)

Great Blue Herons, Dubuque

Canada Geese, Green Island, many pairs everywhere,

Buffle Heads, Sabula

Great Horned Owl, Mud Lake (was near the nest again, saw still just the mother on the nest)

Horned Lark, Green Island + near Sherill, IA

American Kestrel, south of Bellevue IA

And finally I saw several pairs of Northern Shovelers in the Green Island Wetlands. This is a duck that is easy to identify, not just because of their spoon-like, oversized bill. It takes quite some patience before you can make the click. There is no way to enforce it. The best way is to drive up close, stop the car and wait until they swim towards you. Don’t make any sudden move and don't get out of the car,  they will otherwise get airborne within a second. The Northern Shovelers seemed to search the company of the Canada Geese. They may feel safer in their presence.

Spring is an exciting time along the Mississippi and I always look forward to after the winter, especially after a long and cold one as the last…;-)

2013 - Looking back, part 2

 

I can’t let my annual review go by without showing you a photo of a Bald Eagle. These magnificent raptors are here in Iowa all year long, but during the winter, when the Mississippi is frozen, they come down from Minnesota and Canada in big numbers.

I didn’t even have to browse through my archive and look for photos that were made earlier this year during the last winter. These two images are from today. The weather conditions, and more important the light, were just right for going after the eagles today. I counted about twenty birds at the lock and dam #11 in Dubuque. Twenty five miles south in Bellevue, at lock #12, I found the same situation. I enjoyed watching the Bald Eagles and of course, I wasn’t the only one who tried to make a photo of these wonderful birds.

This eagle is about to become an adult. It takes four years before they loose the white mottling on their feathers and develop the pure white neck and tail.

Second thoughts

 

Sometimes it needs a kick from someone else to realize the potential a photo may have (or may not have) and to make us thinking about it a little more. Since four years I publish every week a photo in a gallery called “20XX - 52 WEEKS”  over in my web gallery at www.pbase.com/deadmoon . I’m a little behind at the moment and just posted the image for the 45th week, which was in early November. It was the photo above and It was the only image I thought it was worth to publish for this particular week, However, it got immediately a couple comments on the website. I actually thought the photo wasn’t that great because the wind moved the leaves and therefor it lacks a little detail, but it is the lines of the tree trunks, the golden fall colors of the leaves, and the light in general that make it obviously acceptable. I’m very thankful for the comments on that photo, not just because they were positive, but they made me thinking about that day again and the circumstances that made me push the shutter release button.

It was probably the only day during 2013 to make this photo the way it is. The location is a campground near Bellevue, Iowa that is located right along the Mississippi River. The campground hasn’t been open all year long because it got flooded earlier this year and the ground was covered with an ugly layer of mud. The days before this photo was made the temperature dropped into the freezing zone at night and as a result all the trees, mostly maples, started to get rid of their leaves and covered the mud completely.

I like if an image tells a story by itself, but sometimes there is a little background story that can’t be told by the picture but that makes the circumstances of its making memorable. I hope you enjoy…

Emotional attachment

 

I have to admit I have a little bit neglected my old friends the Trumpeter Swans this year. Those of you, who followed my blog during the last three years, may remember that I documented the restoration of the swans at the Mill Creek Ponds between La Motte and Bellevue, Iowa for quite some time.

In 2011 I was able to report that one cygnet was in the nest and had been raised successfully. Last year I made photos of three young Trumpeter Swans, proof  that the program to bring the Trumpeter Swan back to Iowa seems to work very well. 2013 I stopped only once in early spring at the ponds and saw the swan couple again. So until today I didn't know what happened during this year's breeding season. It made me really happy to see that two cygnets were in company of their parents when I drove around the corner and looked at the pond.

I have a very emotional attachment to the Trumpeter Swans for two reasons. First, I really think it is a wonderful majestic bird, and seeing their numbers grow over the years is just cool. Not just for my generation but knowing that our kids and grandkids may have a chance to enjoy them as well is a good thought. The second reason is that working with the swans and making photos of them has taught me so much for my wildlife photography. I spent countless hours at the Mill Creek Ponds during the last three years. Many frustrations started here (how would you feel after shooting 500 pics and all of them suck because lack of sharpness...??!! ;-)  ), but coming back over and over again and working with the same subject made me seeing some progress, slowly but surely. Do I have the perfect image of a Trumpeter Swan yet? Hell no, I may never have it, but the swans played a big role for my decision to focus on wildlife photography and I'm thankful for that.

If you like to see some of the older blog posts about the Trumpeter Swans just type "trumpeter swan" into the search field in the side bar on the left hand side of this blog, hit the Enter-key, and you will see all of them.