Nature clicks #228 - Eastern Kingbird

 

I spent some time this weekend in the “Swiss Valley”, a nature preserve that features 476 acres (193 ha) of woodlands and prairie, just a few miles southwest of Dubuque, Iowa. Catfish Creek meanders through the valley and the whole preserve is a great area for watching wildlife, fishing, or other outdoor activities. I have been there before but mainly in late fall or winter. The preserve has also a nature center with many nice displays about wildlife, ecology, and history of the area and the Dubuque County Conservation Board has their administrative office there.

I had some nice conversation with Jenny, a Naturalist of the County Conservation Board, and within a few minutes I learned a lot about the possibilities that the preserve may have for wildlife photography. I don't really know why I have neglected this area in the past...  :-?

I hiked a little on both days and it didn’t take long until I saw a Yellow Warbler and an American Redstart. I have introduced both birds here in my blog recently. While crossing the creek on one of their small suspension bridges I saw this Eastern Kingbird perched on a branch of a big oak. It is one of the larger flycatchers and with all the insects near the river Swiss Valley seems to be a perfect habitat. Despite its name the Eastern Kingbird can be found almost from coast to coast in the U.S. and Canada.

Let’s talk photography. The photo has a little bit of a background problem. I was shooting without a tripod through a gap between some other branches and didn’t have much space to change my position. I’m not a fan of the bright spots between the leaves of the oak. First I fired a few shots without flash and then the Kingbird didn’t move and gave me some time to mount the speedlight to the camera. However, I finally liked this photo, which was made without flash, the best. Not so much because how the bird was lit, but because of its gesture, with the head turned to the side.

Nature clicks #221 - Eastern Wood-Pewee

 

Last week, while shooting little warblers like a maniac, I recognized a flycatcher sitting on a branch not very far from where I stood. First I thought it was the Eastern Phoebe that we see here all the time. I made a few clicks because the bird was much closer than the phoebe usually is, but it wasn’t before I looked at the photos on the computer screen that I realized that this bird was an Eastern Wood-Pewee. Both birds are very similar and have the typical behavior of a flycatcher. They perch on a branch or stick and as soon they see an insect they try to catch it in flight, mostly very close to the ground, and than return to the perch. How did I found out about the pewee? The Eastern Wood-Pewee has a yellow base at the lower mandible while the Eastern Phoebe’s bill is all black. There are some other small differences but for me this is the most obvious one. This is my best photo of an Eastern Wood-Pewee so far and it will definitely make it into my Iowa Wildlife Gallery as soon I will find the time to make an update…

Update from the wetlands

 

As expected the water in the Green Island Wetlands along the Mississippi has dropped to the lowest level I have ever seen it. Many of the smaller ponds and canals beside the gravel roads are totally dried out. Only the larger ponds have still some water left. Needless to say that water fowl is not present at all, except for a family of Wood Ducks that I saw far away. Some egrets and herons still try to feed in the mud and shallow puddles where water is present.

I drove my usual loop to check the situation and to learn what animals make the best out of these very dry conditions we have here in Iowa at the moment. I saw a raccoon mother with five young ones feeding in the water that was left in one of the larger ponds. Unfortunately they were too far away for a photo that can be shown here.

Even this time I did not come back from the wetlands with an empty memory card. I had a very good opportunity to make an image of another flycatcher. The Eastern  Kingbird was posing for me and I grabbed my chance and shot a nice series of pictures. After they catch an insect they do not always return to the same perch but twice I was lucky enough to put the glass on the kingbird in front of a decent background. I only had to clone out a small branch that stuck into the frame from the side but this is an easy task in the post process at home.

Despite all the dried out mud around, you can still find some beauty in the landscape. The water lilies are in full bloom and the big patches are always good for a picture.

Nature clicks #113 - Western Kingbird

I still like to write a little about my recent visit to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. The sun was only three hours away from its highest point that day when I discovered a Western Kingbird (another first sighting for me). It was sitting on a traffic sign and used it as a perch for hunting insects. As you can see very succesfully.

Any time if I'm in doubt about a species or want to confirm the encounters I make in Utah I go to Ron Dudley's blog "Feathered Photography". Ron is a retired teacher and has excellent knowledge about birds and critters and their behaviors. His photography is outstanding and the observations he has documented in his blog are very interesting. And of course, I found the Western Kingbird in his blog. The same was true for the Lark Sparrow in my last post. Ron spends a lot of time on this island and I hope one of these days, when business brings me back to Utah, I'll have a chance to meet him.

Nature clicks #103 - Great Crested Flycatcher

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

I like to interrupt my series about the wonderful city of Prague for another "Nature clicks" post. Because of all my recent traveling I haven't been in the Green Island Wetlands along the Mississippi here in Iowa for five weeks now. Yesterday was a special day for me because my neighbor Boris and his son Alex joined me on the trip to the wetlands. It brings a total new momentum to the adventure because six eyes see much more than only two. As a result we found at least three new birds I haven't seen in the wetlands before. It was young Alex who discovered the Great Crested Flycatcher first. This photo was not easy to make because of wind and the bird was constantly moving to a different perch. I didn't nail sharpness 100% but I believe it is still worth to be shown here. We had a lot of fun watching out for birds and critters together and time went by very quickly.

Nature clicks #102 - Eastern Phoebe

No, I didn't give up nature photography. I just work my way through the photos from our trip to Germany and the Czech Republic and of course, I like to share some of my images with you.

Back home now I have always an eye on what's going on in the front and backyard of our house. We were blessed with great light between 8 and 9AM during the last two mornings. The Eastern Phoebe, I had written about already in my post "Nature clicks #98" a few weeks ago, was posing again right in front of me. It is such a cute bird. I hope you don't mind to see it again here. It is fun to watch how it suddenly takes off and tries to catch insects and then returns to its perch or moves on to another one.

Nature clicks #98 - Eastern Phoebe

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

If there was ever a reason to get up early in the morning during the last few days, it was the quality of light we had between 7 and 8 AM. Another good reason was the encounter of an Eastern Phoebe, actually two of them. They were perching on branches and trying to catch insects in our front yard. I have tried to get a decent picture of these small flycatchers since several years now and never got a desirable result. But they are so much fun to watch and it never gets boring.

The problem with them is getting an unobstructed view in good light. They accept my presence on our front porch but I can't move much around because that scares them away. So I wait patiently until the phoebe choses a perch in killer light and sits still for a couple seconds. As you can imagine I have trashed many pictures before I got this one.