Cardinals conclave

 

It is bitterly cold here in Iowa at the moment but on the positive side the cold weather brings lots of Northern Cardinals to the yard and its feeders. I don’t think we have ever seen so many at the same time. I counted 20 birds on one side of the house today but there were probably some more on the other side and up in the trees. Cardinals are monogamous and solitary nesters during the summer but in the winter time they flock obviously together to larger “conclaves”.

The cardinals show up at the feeders before sunrise and they are the last ones that leave the feeders in the evening. Catching them with the camera at these times requires the use of a flash light. I try to keep my shutter speed slow so that there is a little light in the background left and it is not just all black. The bluish snow cover in the background of this photo helps to tell the story about what season and time this picture was made. It doesn’t say ‘summertime’, doesn’t it? Under these circumstances not every shot is a keeper but the contrast between the black face mask and the bill helps to maintain focus.

Bluebirds, still here!

 

About two weeks ago I reported about the frequent visit of several Eastern Bluebirds at our bird bath and that we have never seen them here in December before. I thought the relativ mild weather played a role at that time, but now, after we had some snow and the temperatures dropped below freezing, we still see them coming to the bird bath.

I shot a lot of pictures today and my goal was to keep as much as possible of the ugly water bowl out of the frame. I wanted to show both, the female and male bluebird, and for this blog post I chose photos that show them in an almost identical pose, with the head turned to the side.

As I write this the temperature is still dropping and we expect for tomorrow -4ºF (for my friends in Germany, this is -20˚C) and this does not consider the wind chill… I will watch very close how the bluebirds can handle this…

Good start into 2015

 

I wish all visitors, friends, and followers of my blog a happy, safe, and creative year 2015!! Thank you for stopping here during the last year. Your comments, critique, and encouragement mean a lot to me and keep me writing this little journal about nature and photography.

We had a nice start into the new year with our friends Jeanne and Dave. Good conversation and playing some games made for a fun New Year’s Eve. Unfortunately Joan had to work today so I dragged myself out of the house on my own this morning. ;-) I went south along the Mississippi and just tried to spot some wildlife. The temperatures were way below freezing during the last few days and there was a lot more ice on lakes and rivers.

I found what I was looking for in Sabula, Iowa, a small town on an island in the Mississippi River. There were lots of Common Mergansers in the water. I positioned the “mobile blind” (my car) near the narrow entrance to the city’s marina. The marina was frozen over while the main channel of the river was still free of ice. The mergansers were hunting for fish by diving underneath the ice. It was fun to watch how they approach the edge of the ice in groups, dive under, and return, with or without fish, after a few seconds.

For me there is no better start into a new photography year than coming back already from the first trip with a memory card full of bird images. I wouldn’t mind if this continues throughout the year… ;-)

Nature clicks #251 - Trumpeter Swans

 

I did not want to end this year without having another visit in my favorite wildlife area here in eastern Iowa, the Green Island Wetlands. I have not been there since July and it was good to be back. It is the most quiet time of the year now after the duck hunting season is over. Due to the mild temperatures lately there was only a thin layer of ice and even spots with open water. With some patience you may see a few Bald Eagles and some hawks flying over. I could tell that I’m out of practice shooting birds in flight. It is probably a little like playing golf, if you don’t practice all the time your results suck, and my pictures of two hawks and an eagle were definitely just good for the trash can today…

The best surprise was the encounter of a “school” of 27 Trumpeter Swans. They were in company with 16 Canada Geese. These numbers are a great example of successful wildlife restoration. I remember when I wrote here in the blog about the first pair of swans that raised successfully a cygnet a few years ago. They all seemed to enjoy the sun today and I watched them for an hour and a half at the same spot.

Beside resting on the ice the swans moved slowly around and you could hear how they cracked the thin layer of ice in order to keep the water open and feed on aquatic plants.

As soon as the sun disappeared behind the hills all Trumpeter Swans got out of the water, lined up in a queue, and finally took off towards the Mississippi River. The river is not frozen over at all, although the temperature dropped quite a bit last night for the first time in weeks.

I strictly exposed for the highlights and rather let the shadows go instead of having the white feathers blown out completely or in part. I do not like the look of wildlife pictures where the shadows are overly restored like in an HDR image. A little bit is ok but too much looks unnatural to me. Unfortunately it is a trend these days to make photos look like paintings… Well, I’m glad trends come and go… ;-)

Nature clicks #250 - European Starling

 

Surprise number three during this week’s backyard observations was the presence of several European Starlings. I counted up to ten starlings. We see a starling occasionally during the summer but never had them as a visitor during the winter months. They seem also to flock together with the American Robins in order to have bigger survival chances. The behavior of the birds shows that there is more than one hawk in the area. If a hawk or Bald Eagle is detected, the birds fly panicky into the higher trees or just freeze motionless, for example the woodpeckers, at their current position. Starlings have a bad reputation in my home country Germany as “cherry thieves”. There are just so many over there. I never realized actually how pretty they are until I started photographing them here in eastern Iowa.

Nature clicks #249 - Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

 

The second big surprise this week was the presence of a juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. I have no doubt about that it is the same that was raised this summer here in our woods by its parents. A look into all of our bird guides (iBird 7.2 PRO app; Smithsonian Handbooks - Birds of North America, Eastern Region; National Geographic - Complete Birds of North America) reveals that this woodpecker spends the winter usually south of central Missouri. What’s going on? Don’t they know the rules? ;-) We will see what happens if the temperature may drop much deeper sometime later this winter…

Nature clicks # 247 - Woodland Vole

 

This photo, of what I believe is a Woodland Vole, can create mixed feelings in our house. We knew already since the late summer that the critter is back in our yard after a couple years of absence. The recent development of a system of underground runways just below the grass surface, and even some mounds, is a good indicator. The damage in the yard can be tremendous and Joan is already afraid that none of the flower bulbs in the ground will survive. The diet of a Woodland Vole is diverse and according to several sources it includes roots, bulbs, tubers, nuts, seeds, and even animal material.

I saw the vole for the first time November 17th, a day before this photo was made eating under one of our bird feeders. I kept watching the spot and finally was able to make this one image. I “nuked” the shot with the flash since the natural light was not sufficient anymore in the early evening. It is not really flattering, although it is a sharp image, but I wished I had reduced the output of the flash light a little more. Too much work in post processing... Well, next time… I’m glad I can add this critter to my Iowa wildlife gallery.

Getting the last seeds

 

I still have a few images from our Colorado trip but today I like to show you another, more actual photo. The American Goldfinch has long changed to its winter plumage. It is not as colorful as during the summer but it is still a very pretty bird. Joan left the dried up Black-eyed Susans in the yard so that the birds can get the seeds, and they do not need an extra invitation for this offer…

I tried to make this kind of a shot since quite some time already but did not like the outcome always. It is not so easy to separate the bird enough from other distracting elements, like dried leaves or other plants. Sometimes the head of the finch was behind a flower stem or the gesture was just not right. Today’s photo gets a little closer to what I have in mind, There is even a seed flying through the air, leaving no question about that the goldfinch has some serious business going on…

Nature clicks #246 - Northern Flicker

 

This morning I spent some time behind the camera with the long lens attached and watched the birds in the “front yard studio”. We are happy to see a pair of Northern Flickers again around here. They were mostly digging in the ground for food with their beaks. It came a little bit as a surprise when suddenly the female landed right in front of me on a dead branch. I made three clicks and liked the one you see here, with her head turned back, the best.

The other good news is that beside the woodpeckers that are here all year long (Downy, Hairy, and Red-bellied Woodpecker) a young Yellow-bellied Sapsucker showed up. I saw an adult sapsucker in April 2014 for the first time here on the bluffs and today’s encounter makes me believe that they had a successful breeding season. The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is usually not here during the winter and I wonder if I may see the bird again in the next few days.

Lots of other birds but this has to wait for another post…

They are here for the berries...

 

A few days ago I mentioned that we had some visitors at the bird bath. Like every fall the American Robins flock together in larger numbers and are joined by some Cedar Waxwings.

The waxwings are some of the prettiest birds we see here occasionally. Their main target at this time are obviously the juniper berries on the Red Cedars (which is not a true cedar but a juniper), that grow here between the rocks and on the steep valley slopes.

Finally I got a shot of the female Yellow-rumped Warbler that we have seen several times lately.