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 #101 - Red-winged Blackbird

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

It is easy to neglect the birds that we can see all the time along the roads. The Red-winged Blackbird is present at many places here in Iowa. It is a very dominant bird and can attack humans or other birds that interfere with the territory they claim as theirs.

I checked a place in the Green Island Wetlands for the arrival of its cousin, the Yellow-winged Blackbird, but I couldn't find any so far. It may have been still a few days too early. I hope they will be back again. In the meantime I just enjoy making pictures of the red-winged. ;-)

Nature clicks #100 - Great Egret

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

It was a great day for wildlife photography today. A thin layer of clouds made for nice and soft light. The only requirement for a decent image was to keep the clouds and their gray reflections on the water out of the frame. Lots of birds are in the Green Island Wetlands right now. However, birds in flight against the sky or swimming on reflecting water were not really an option today. I looked for spots were the water did not reflect so much but that was not always easy. The Great Egrets are back and if you can get close enough they are always worth a click. They are usually not as shy as the Great Blue Herons.

I really wanted to go to the Green Island Wetlands today. Because of my recent business travel my last visit there was already more than three weeks ago and my next visit will be probably not much before the end of May. Yes, I look forward to travel again next week. I go over to Germany for a big trade show in Düsseldorf and after that I fly to my home town for my son's wedding. As you can imagine the long lens will be left home but I hope to snap a few pictures while traveling.

I may post a couple more shots from today's adventure, so please stay tuned...

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

Nature clicks #99 (or Arizona, part 5)

The only wildlife I had in front of my lens in Arizona was this lizard, who was very well camouflaged on this old tree trunk. While I processed the image on my computer I  became aware that this  is actually a "butt shot" and but shots are rude. Lizards are not running around here in Eastern Iowa in great numbers and so I think it is ok to show this picture anyway ;-) . I still like the shot because the lizard placed himself in this sunny spot on the tree trunk. The picture was taken just below the Montezuma Castle, a pueblo that was built in the cliffs of the Verde Valley. The Southern Sinagua, a culture that lived and farmed in the Verde Valley, built these pueblos by about 1150 but they were abandoned by the early 1400s for unknown reasons. Montezuma Castle is one of the best preserved prehistoric structures in the Southwest. (Source: Visitor information brochure Montezuma Castle / Tuzigoot,  National Park Service)

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.

Easter with wildflowers

Yesterday I thought it was time for a different kind of adventure and location. The White Pine Hollow State Park near Luxemburg, Iowa is not very far from home and I haven't been there for a while. What I always liked about this rugged area is that you can't drive in. It bares a tranquility I haven't found in any other area around here. Gorgeous spring weather with fast moving clouds made for constantly changing light. It was the right time of season to revisit this wonderful area again because thousands of wildflowers were blooming. From the little parking lot on the East side of the park you can walk down to the river. The walls of the canyon and the fresh green of the surrounding trees were mirrored on the water. I put the tripod legs in the sand of the river and made this "artsy-fartsy" picture. I remembered that I had tried this before but never caught the light as today.

Spring Beauty

My lens of choice today was the Sigma 150/f2.8 with a 1.4x teleconverter attached. Why this combination? In the White Pine Hollow State Park is always a good chance to see some White-tailed Deer. I knew I would mainly focus on close-up pictures yesterday and the Sigma 150/f2.8 is a sharp lens for this kind of photography. With the teleconverter attached it still leaves the door open for a deer or other wildlife shot. I also love the shallow depth of field it can provide.

In the most parts of this forest are no trails but it is not difficult to move around. However, it was hard not to step on a wildflower. There were huge patches of Spring Beauty all over.

Many flowers, like Hepatica and Dutchmans Breeches, that are gone behind our house already, were still blooming here. Different kinds of violets and anemones were in full bloom on the forest floor.

Rue Anemone

Cooper, our little dog, was a patient companion when I laid on my stomach and tried to get a low angle for the picture. He probably thought, what a silly guy...

Nature clicks #97 - Sandhill Cranes

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

Yesterday on my way back from Illinois I had a short stopover at the Green Island Wetlands.  The sun was dulled by a thin layer of hazy clouds. Even my slow Sigma 50-500 can deliver in good conditions like that. Nobody was there, I had the whole area for myself. I was already on my way out when I finally got rewarded for my frequent visits and all the time I spent in and around the wildlife refuge lately.

First I saw a solitary Sandhill Crane. There was a water canal between the bird and me but it was the closest I have ever been to a Sandhill Crane. My presence didn't seem to bother the crane and it was searching for food the whole time I was watching.

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

After the crane moved slowly further away from the water I moved on. I was already happy with this encounter and the great shooting opportunity. But it became even better. A little further down the trail I discovered a pair of Sandhill Cranes. It was probably the same couple I have seen many times before but never really close. This time all things came together, the light was great, the cranes were close enough for some detail, and no driving by car disturbed my lucky moments.

As you can see their bills were covered with mud. Usually they have their heads deep down while searching for food and I saw the bills going all the way into the mud. While one of the cranes is feeding the other one quite often has its head up and observes the surrounding. This was a rare moment when both Sandhill Cranes stood together with their heads up.

Nature clicks #96 - Common Grackle

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

One indicator that last weekend was good for wildlife shooting is the fact that it is Friday again and I still have pictures to show and little stories to tell. I was about to leave the Green Island Wetlands last Sunday when this Common Grackle posed right in front of me on a fence post in best evening light. I wasn't as close as it looks but there is enough detail in its feathers and I decided to crop the image. It actually worked well without the crop. The bird was good positioned in the frame and the fence gave the picture a sense of depth. I really like how the grackle ruffles it feathers and even after the crop it is still an environmental portrait of the Common Grackle.

Nature clicks #95 - Bullfrog

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

Another animal I have seen before but never had a chance to make a picture of is the Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana). Yes, that is the guy who provides the frog legs for restaurants… It is the largest frog native to the United States. Bullfrogs need water that is deep enough to support tadpoles through the winter. Here in Iowa they require two years for their tadpoles to develop. Further south they need only one year for their development. Bullfrogs feed on insects, fish, snakes, other frogs, and even small birds. Oh yes, they have a big mouth...

This photo was not easy to make. The light was extremely harsh and bright. The water surface reflected the sky like a mirror. I dialed in -2EV exposure compensation and approached the frog slowly from the side, close to the water level. I tried to find an angle that would allow to eliminate at least some of the reflections. As you can see I found the right angle but I had no chance to get rid of the reflection on the Bullfrog's skin. How about a polarizer? Well, I don't have one with 86mm diameter that would fit the Sigma 50-500. And I'm not planning to buy one either. Loosing up to two stops of light with a lens that starts at f/6.3 @ 500mm is not really an option for me.

I'm happy about the click, even if there is room for improvement. The abundance of frogs is always a good indicator that the environment is in a healthy state. As someone who loves nature I can't ask for more.

*The information about Bullfrogs provided in this post is based on the publication "The Salamanders and Frogs of Iowa" by Dr. James L. Christiansen and Dr. Reeve M. Bailley.