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…

Nature clicks #236 - Up on the prairie

 

We are lucky to live only about a mile away from a nice little patch of "goat prairie". Quote: Pohlman Prairie Preserve is a unique 23 acre site consisting of native bottomland forest and native prairie remnants on the high bluffs overlooking the Little Maquoketa River valley (source: mycountyparks.com).

Sunday evening Joan, our little dog Cooper, and I hiked the short switchback trail up to the top of the limestone bluffs. Any time, except of course during the winter, you can find there something that is botanically interesting. I’m not really into macro or flower photography but I like to chase the light and with plenty of wildflowers, berries, and insects there is always something to point the lens at. Nothing exciting, just some simple clicks from the prairie…

Back at the great architects

 

I spent the last two evenings down in the valley at a colony of Cliff Swallows I found about three weeks ago underneath a bridge that crosses the Little Maquoketa River. Since then the swallows were so kind to built some new nests on the outside of the bridge so I didn’t have to climb underneath anymore, between big boulders and the mud of the river. The nests are still under an overhang of the bridge and it is necessary to throw some additional light at them for a good picture. For now I used my speed light mounted directly on top of the camera and it delivered some acceptable results. I may try my little softbox the next time and use it off camera for an even softer light with less shadows.

Cliff Swallows are some amazing architects who build their gourd-shaped nests out of mud and the darker color of some parts told me that they still work on them. The whole colony was very busy catching insects. We have gazillions of annoying little gnats here at the moment and some mosquitos as well, so there is food in abundance. Standing beside the river with a tripod for a long time requires the use of some bug spray on your skin to make it halfway bearable. Other than that, it is a lot of fun and very interesting to watch their interaction with each other.

It didn’t look like that they had laid their eggs yet. The swallows came repeatedly back to their nests, rested for a little while, and went out again for another feeding frenzy.

I can’t let this opportunity, to have these beautiful Cliff Swallows relatively close to our home, pass by and I hope I’m able to see them raising their offspring soon. I’ll keep you posted…

Nature clicks #233 - American Mink

 

Remember, yesterday I talked about that by leaving the camera at home during a kayak tour last Friday I missed the opportunity to shoot an American Mink that I saw along the shore. Well, today I got another chance at a total different location. This evening I went down into the valley in order to continue to work on another bird project (I will report about this later this week). While still just getting ready for shooting and firing the first test shots I suddenly saw an American Mink on the other side of the Little Maquoketa River. The critter moved very fast over logs and through the bushes that grow along the water and I never got a chance to even focus on the mink. Just across from my location it climbed a big cottonwood tree and disappeared in the canopy. A woodpecker flew out of the tree and I got concerned that the mink was after the bird’s eggs or offspring. Nothing happened for about a minute. I didn’t see it anymore. Suddenly the mink climbed down with something in its mouth and disappeared somewhere in the thick bushes above the river bank. Everything happened very fast but I was able to make five clicks. At home I saw that this American Mink had killed a young squirrel, probably right in its nest. Well, this is nature in its purest state and for me it was very exciting to watch.

The photos are not necessarily good wildlife photos but they are important documentary shots for me. It was the first time that I was able to make a photo of the mink and now I have a foundation to built on… :-)

Rewarded patience

 

I haven’t been out shooting for the last two days. A busy work schedule and another, not photography related project needed to be finished. At least there are a lot of things left from the last three weeks that I can post.

The big wave of warblers that came through here during there migration is history but some of the warblers stay here in Iowa during the summer. The Yellow Warbler is one of the most widespread warblers in North America during the summer, which does not really mean you can find it at every other corner. However, last weekend, after making the photos of the Cliff Swallows, I spent some more time in the Little Maquoketa Valley. The public trail that follows the valley was an old railroad track and is now used for all kinds of recreation activities. Having mostly private land on both sides, that is usually zoned by a barbed wire fence, doesn’t really allow to follow a bird very far, unless it stays near the trail. After spotting two Yellow Warblers a couple times at the same location I simply put the tripod legs in the ground and waited for another opportunity. Finally my patience was rewarded. The fence prevented to get closer but I believe this environmental portrait of the warbler tells the story about the lush growth that takes over the bird’s summer habitat.

Nature clicks #225 - Cliff Swallow

 

Back in early May I reintroduced you to several of the swallow species that we can find here in Eastern Iowa. If you missed this post but still like to have a look, just click HERE and a new window will open and will bring you back to this post. One species was missing, the Cliff Swallow, although I had seen it in 2013. Luckily a few days ago I recognized some swallows flying under one of the bridges that cross the Little Maquoketa River down in our valley. Pretty soon I identified them as Cliff Swallows, mainly by the distinctive spot on their forehead. I came back last Sunday, prepared to climb under the bridge into the mud of the river bed. They were in process of building their nests out of the mud that they can just find below in the river.

I think it is fascinating to watch these little architects how they do this. For them the structure of the bridge is a perfect place and a great habitat to raise their offspring. The building material is right below, the bridge protects them from predators and weather, and they have plenty of food available because of all the insects that call the river bed home. The only concern that I have is a big river flood, as we have seen it before, when the water level may reach the lower parts of the bridge. This would cut them off from the nest and may put their chicks in danger.

I shot these images in an awkward position on a steep slope under the bridge for about thirty minutes. The mosquitos were biting, it was muddy and slippery, and I was concerned, not so much about myself, but about my gear falling into the river. At the end I was very happy about to see the Cliff Swallows again and bring home some decent photos that tell a little story about these master architects.

Colors and snow

Sometimes it needs an inspiration from someone outside of our own bowl to make us look in a different direction or look in the same direction with a different pair of eyes. This happened to me after reading three blog posts from one of my favorite photographers, Moose Peterson, during the last five days. BROWN ON SNOW / GREEN ON SNOW / RED ON SNOW, they all talked about how to work with these colors in a photo with snow and still telling the story about winter.  

It was still snowing this morning when I went out to the rocky bluffs we have behind our house. The snow had painted the brown tree trunks nicely but I was looking for more. It isn’t easy to get a clear view of any of the rocks without having too many bare sticks or small trees in the frame. I finally found a spot where I was able to implement the red-orange tones of the rocks into my photo.

Later in the day, with sunset just ahead, Joan and I went on a walk with the dog down in the valley where the Little Maquoketa River runs. I have the white balance settings in camera most of the time on Auto mode. That works pretty good for most landscape photos but in this image it leaves a blue color cast on the snow because the foreground was completely in the shade already. This is easy to change but I actually like it this way. The low sitting sun brought out the warm tones of the tree trunks and rocks on the other side of the valley and even the snow reflects the power of the sun. The blue color in the foreground is complementary to the warm colors in the back and it tells the story about another cold winter night that was just half an hour away.

Nature clicks #188 - Female Northern Flicker

 

It is this time of the year when temperatures may go below zero, both, in degree Celsius and Fahrenheit. It is also a great time for bird photography for two different reasons. First the birds come close to the house, to feeders, and most importantly to places where they can get some water to drink. If you make the efforts to provide food and water, by means of a heated bird bath for instance, you can create a good environment that draws the birds close to your camera. The second reason is the light. The snow that covers the ground works like a giant reflector and helps to make decent images without fiddling with additional light sources. Yes, a fill flash coming from a little softbox might be very helpful, especially if the sun is hidden behind clouds, but with sun light the “snow reflector” does a pretty good job.

I had written before here in the blog that we have seen up to six different woodpecker species on our ridge above the Little Maquoketa River Valley. The Northern Flicker is one of them but usually we see them only briefly during late autumn or from late winter into early spring. However, this season we watch a couple of  them every day. This is the biggest woodpecker that comes to our feeders. They are slightly bigger than an adult Red-bellied Woodpecker. The Northern Flicker is only outsized by the Pileated Woodpecker but these big birds do not visit the suet feeders or even come near the house.

Today I had a chance to make a few clicks on this female Northern Flicker. Both sexes are easy to distinguish. The females resemble the males and have a black half moon shaped spot on their chest but they lack the black moustache stripes in their face. The Northern Flickers seem to be a lot more cautious and nervous than the other woodpeckers that are here all year long and so I’m very happy to share this image with you today.

Nature clicks #179 - American Beaver

 

It was my dear wife Joan who discovered the beaver family in the Little Maquoketa River down in the valley during a bicycle ride last week. I knew it would be sheer luck to find them at the same spot. Nevertheless I tried it and spent an hour waiting, and endless slaps for the mosquitos, but to my surprise the beavers showed up again. The beaver parents took care for four young ones and I was really happy to see them.

Camouflaged well by surrounding trees, the river was between me and the beavers and the remaining light made for camera settings like ISO 400 and 1/50s exposure time. The only way staying in business and using the maximum focal length of 500 mm (750 mm on the D300s) was to use the peak of action. The beavers moved most of the time and just having the shutter going while they had those tiny breaks of action sometimes led to a halfway sharp image. I used the term "halfway" because none of my shots was tack sharp.

I know, in some areas beavers are seen as a pest because of some trees they may take down in order to feed and establish their life. It takes a smarter approach to see the whole picture and the role the American Beaver can play in a healthy environment.

The Little Maquoketa River is not very long in comparison to the big rivers that cross the US from north to south. However, I really believe it is important to realize that even the smallest stream plays a role how things turn out when the water finally hits the ocean. Watching beavers only a few miles away from the Mississippi River is just a wonderful experience and I hope I can see them again soon in our valley.

Nature clicks #164 - Belted Kingfisher

 

Joan and I went for a walk on the Heritage Trail down in the valley of the Little Maquoketa River this evening. We had our little dog Cooper with us and what actually was planned to be a "short dog walk" ended up to be a great bird watching event all evening long. We discovered another nest of a Bald Eagle and were very excited to see a young eagle sitting in there. We had two new first sightings, an American Redstart and a Harris Sparrow. Many Baltimore Orioles were feeding and singing high up in the trees and Goldfinches and Red-winged Blackbirds were everywhere. The low sun and some dramatic clouds made all the colors even more spectacular. It is definitely the best time of the year here in Eastern Iowa, at least in my humble opinion... :-)

My personal highlight was this Belted Kingfisher, a bird I have tried to photograph many times before with very little success. Distance was a bit of a problem again. A fenced pasture between the trail and the river did not allow to get closer to the bird and that's why I cropped the image quite a bit. It is not difficult to find a kingfisher at the Little Maquoketa River, quite often you can hear them before you see them, but they are very skittish and don't make it easy to get close even under better circumstances. However, it is the best shot I was able to make so far and it will make it into my Iowa wildlife gallery until I can make a better photo.