Grebe showing off

 

This immature Pied-billed Grebe was only one of many young birds I saw last weekend in the Green Island Wetlands. First it splashed all around and cleaned its feathers for several minutes. It seemed to tell me, look, I can clean myself all alone already.

Than it flapped its wings in order to dry them or just raised them up to let the sun do the rest. And last, it showed off and let me know that it can conduct an orchestra... Well, I know, this is probably asking too much for a little bird but it obviously made this pose that looks like it would conduct a bunch of musicians... :-) Don't you think?

On the photography side, the light at 4:30PM was still very intense but had already a warm touch. It was necessary to dial in an exposure compensation of minus one stop in order not to blow out the highlights on the light parts of the feathers.

This is the best I'm able to get from the wetlands at the moment. The carpet of algae is definitely not an eye pleaser and shooting from slightly above, the only way you can do it there if you use the car as a blind, is never a good angle for a great image. However, after another week of traveling I was happy to be back in the wetlands and I hope you enjoy the photos of the juvenile Pied-billed Grebe and the little story they tell. More to come...

Nature clicks #67 - Surprised to see a loon

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

It hit me by surprise during my recent visit in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve in Southern California when I saw a loon among the pelicans, cormorants, and grebes. Their breeding grounds are far north in Canada and in some of the northern states in the US. I have seen them in Minnesota and Wisconsin before but never in their winter plumage.

This Common Loon was in fierce competition with some of the other birds about the fishing rights in the laguna. Making a click wasn't as easy as it looks. The loon was under water for most of the time and it was hard to predict where it would show up again. It also preferred the southeast side of the bridge we were standing on, and that means I had to shoot against the low sun in this early morning hour.

None of the fights about the best hunting spots lasted very long. The laguna has an abundance of food and that's why so many birds migrate there for the winter. This Western Grebe had just swallowed a fish and it didn't take long before it went for the next one.

A new adventure at the Bolsa Chica Wetlands

 Bolsa Chica Wetlands at 6:10AM

Hi folks, I'm still in Southern California. Work related events have prevented me from shooting the last few days. However, today I had planned to spend all day in the Bolsa Chica Wetlands again. Click on the "Bolsa Chica" tag below if you want to see my older posts about this nature preserve along the Pacific coast. I got up really early this morning because I wanted to be there before sunrise. The weather forecast had predicted rain for today but at 6AM it still looked like that we would have a chance to get some early sun light. I was only the second photographer on the wooden bridge that goes over the laguna and that is ideal for shooting in both directions. At this time of the year thousands of migrated birds are in these wetlands and from my previous visits I knew that the light can be gorgeous so early in the morning. Me and several other photographers have been finally not disappointed and we were able to shoot until 10AM before rain and heavy clouds set an end.

Western Grebe

I want to start with this image of a Western Grebe that is right out of camera, except for the usual contrast enhancement by tone curve and the necessary sharpening process (as always I shoot RAW only). The Western Grebe is not so difficult to focus on because of its contrast around the eye. That doesn't mean all images were sharp but it really helps to focus, especially in this early morning "killer light". More to come…

Nature clicks # 53 - From the archive

Eared Grebe

A busy week is behind me and I'm happy to be home and to enjoy the weekend. My job requires to travel quite a bit. It sounds like lots of photo opportunities but this is not always the case. I still like to post here every week and this is when pictures from my archive have a chance to see the light of the day.

Snowy Egret

Early in May this year I spent a few hours in the Bolsa Chica Wetlands at the Pacific coast in California again. I love this place because of its great opportunities for bird photography. There were not as many birds as in November last year, but still enough to fill all my memory cards within a few hours. I studied the images from last year carefully before I went to Bolsa Chica. This and all the practice in the Green Island Wetlands here in Eastern Iowa helped to bring home a much higher rate of keepers this time. I hope you enjoy.

Nature clicks #19 - Sandhill Cranes and Pied-billed Grebe

Nikon D200, SIGMA 50-500

I knew I wanted to go back to the Green Island Wetlands as soon as possible and try to see "my" Sandhill Crane again. And last Saturday it turned out even better. I discovered two pairs this time. They were searching for food at different places but not far from each other. The distance to them was quite big. Between the dam with the gravel road and the cranes laid a wide trench, filled with water. No chance for getting closer to the birds. In order to get the picture above I had to use the maximum focal length of 500 mm. The picture is even cropped quite a bit. The downside is that the Sigma 50-500 is a little soft at maximum focal length. The sharpness the lens can provide is much better at around 400 mm. Even if I could, I would not cross this natural barrier between the birds and the road. The last thing I want to do is disturbing these beautiful birds. I rather don't get the picture than disturbing an animal, especially close to breeding season.

After several hours of watching the Sandhill Cranes I went south to the little town of Sabula again. I didn't really get any good photo opportunity this time but run into my new friend Dave Updegraff. I know Dave since last year's Worldwide Photowalk event, that he led in the city of Dubuque, Iowa. He was after some Bald Eagles, but because the ice was almost gone they were too far away for an easy picture. We discussed our future photography projects and had of course some gear talk. We will hopefully going out soon together for a wildlife shooting.

Nikon D200, SIGMA 50-500

I went back to Green Island but it was much quieter than in the morning. I saw the cranes again but this time even further away. Finally all four took off together and I enjoyed seeing them in flight.

On my way out I took a few shots of a little Grebe swimming in a trench below the dam. It was a Pied-billed Grebe. This little bird is widespread across North America but it was new for me. After each shot I had to reposition because the grebe dived into the muddy water and showed up at a different location. Lots of fun...