Nature clicks #186 - Minke Whale

 

One of the most emotional moments during our travels along the coast of Maine was my first encounter of a whale. Joan, Cooper, and I went on a whale watching tour (yes, the dog wanted to go too...;-) ). We were more than twenty miles out in the Atlantic Ocean when we saw the first Minke Whale. We saw it several times and even the crew wasn't sure if we saw always the same whale or maybe a second one. Everybody on the boat was very excited and I was very happy that I was able to make a few clicks. I thought shooting out of a kayak was already difficult but catching the brief moments when the Minke whale appeared (and you never know where it will come to the surface the next time...) was even a bigger challenge. As you can see the whale is not tack sharp but hey, it was a first sighting for us... ;-)

Nature clicks #185 - Osprey

 

Saturday afternoon I went to the Green Island Wetlands but this is not what I like to talk about today. I left early in order to go back to Mud Lake and maybe have another look at the Sandhill Cranes. Well, I never put the kayak into the water that day, but let's start with the background story first.

The Iowa DNR (for my German friends: Department of Natural Resources) has an Osprey restoration project going on since 2008 in order to establish nesting Ospreys in Iowa again. Young birds are provided by the Minnesota and Wisconsin DNR, obviously from areas where Ospreys are well established. This information is provided on an information board that is located right beside a roosting tower at Mud Lake along the Mississippi.

I heard that this year four birds were kept inside the tower and fed for a few weeks. The tower has a barred gate so that the birds can get used to their new environment. I have been there recently but have never seen more than two Ospreys at a time. From the ground you can see only the area right behind the steel bars and maybe the other two birds stayed in the back and out of sight. The gate faces the Mississippi River and is on the other side of what you can see in the picture here. A week ago the gate was finally opened. A friend of mine sent me an email (thank you Linda) telling me that two Ospreys are still around the tower and obviously still being fed.

When I came to Mud Lake Park Saturday evening I saw the two birds sitting on the posts of the tower and they made quite a bit of noise. It was a good reason to change my plans immediately. Got the tripod with gimbal head and camera out of the car, and started working the Ospreys. One flew away after a few minutes but this happened while I was still far away from the tower. The second one stayed there the whole time. It is not always easy to judge what distance is not too close for the birds. I hate to put stress on any animal just because of my presence. The sun threw some nice and warm light onto the bird just before it disappeared behind the trees on top of the bluffs that contain the valley.

I learned from the information board that after four months the Ospreys migrate for the first time. They spent the first year in South American but return during their second year to Iowa. I really believe this is a great project and my respect goes to those companies and institutions that have sponsored it. It is just good to see that something is done for nature restoration. Money well spent!

I saw an Osprey in the Mud Lake area and over the Mississippi in April (see my post Nature clicks #147). I don't know if this was just a migrating bird or if this particular Osprey has been released in this area in a previous year, but it is so nice to have them here, not just from a photographer's standpoint...

Nature clicks #184 - Sandhill Crane

 

If you follow my blog since a while you probably know that I had to go back to the Mississippi River after I found the place where the Sandhill Cranes are roosting. I had to wait four days because the job that helps to pay the bills sent me to Nebraska last week. It wasn't before Friday night that I was able to put the kayak back in the water again.

It was another wonderful summer night and almost a Dèjá vu when a swoop of cranes landed at the same spot at Mud Lake, in the backwaters of the Mississippi River. This time there were only three birds but it didn't matter to me. I approached them with utmost caution and very slowly and finally the cranes let me close in. I really enjoyed every moment of this encounter.

The cranes were busy cleaning their feathers and still raking for a snack in the shallow water. These images made me push my limits and I'm a little proud to present them. It is the first time that I was able to get so close to a Sandhill Crane that I didn't have to crop the photos more than marginally.

Tonight I went again to the Mud Lake area but ended up with something totally different. I didn't even had to put the kayak into the river... but this is for another post. :-) Thank you for stopping in my blog and thank you to all of you who email me, write a comment here, or encourage me in any other way to do this!!!

River stories, part 4

 

I told you that the best part of my kayak tour on the Mississippi would still lie ahead of me after enjoying the eagle, the water lilies, and the company of the blackbirds. While paddling back to the boat ramp I saw four Sandhill Cranes landing in the water about half a mile ahead of me. This part of the Mud Lake area was already in the shade of the trees but I paddled a little harder, hoping that I would still have some light for a picture. Suddenly two more cranes flew almost over my head and towards the sun. They made a circle and finally landed somewhere between the huge patches of water lilies and arrow heads out of sight for me. Within a second I realized that shooting against the sun would only work if I aim for a silhouette shot of the cranes. I switched quickly to Auto-area Autofocus mode and dialed in -2/3 EV exposure compensation. The sun is a little too bright in this image but not blown out.

After that the light was fading away fast and I rushed to see if I could still get a glimpse of the other four sandhill Cranes. The last hundred yards I slowed down and approached the birds very quietly and carefully. In every photography class you will learn that it needs 1/500s for a halfway sharp image with a 500 mm lens. I was already up at ISO 400, and this is where I draw the line with the Nikon D300s for my wildlife photography. The best shutter speed I was able to get with these settings was 1/125s. Being in a kayak and the cranes not standing still didn't help either. :-o My keeper rate dropped dramatically but a few images turned out sharp enough to be shown here in the blog...

River stories, part 3

 

After the adventure with the Bald Eagle (see my post from yesterday) I paddled down the Mississippi River for about an hour. I have never seen the big river so quiet and peaceful as last Monday night. There was almost no wind and only a couple boats passed by in the far distance. The river is here about 2.5 km (~1.5 miles) wide and it almost felt like being on a lake. At my turning point the low sun came out from behind a band of clouds and threw some golden light onto the big patches of water lilies. A levee separates the main channel of the Mississippi from the actual Mud Lake area and it is easy to paddle back to the boat ramp upstream on the other side because there isn't much current.

Thousands of Red-winged Blackbirds had already settled for the night and were sitting on the water lilies. There were lots of young birds and I could tell that the Black Birds had a very successful breeding season. You can see the red wing band on this male juvenile blackbird already and it was very impressive to paddle right along these big flocks of birds. They  will migrate down south soon and their arrival here in early spring next year will be again the ultimate sign that the winter will be over soon. If you think this was all for the day you are wrong. ;-) The best encounter came a few minutes later. But this will be in part 4 of my little "River Stories", so please stay tuned....

River stories, part 2

 

Part two of the "River Stories" took place last Monday evening. I still had the kayak on the roof top of the car and decided for another trip on the Mississippi River. Shortly after leaving the boat ramp in the marina at Mud Lake Park (the closest access to the big river for us and only 10 minutes away from our home) I saw a juvenile Bald Eagle sitting on the trunk of a big disrooted tree that was stranded in a shallow part of the Mississippi. I expected the bird would fly away as soon as I came closer but things developed in a totally different way. A couple crows also claimed the big tree for themselves and the eagle just hopped around, flapped its wings, and tried to scare the crows away. This wasn't very successful and after a few minutes the young Bald Eagle gave up and sat down on one of the roots that were sticking out into the air. I approached the bird very slowly and carefully and it just tolerated my presence. I had Cooper with me in the boat but the little dog stayed quiet and didn't move. He hardly ever spoils my wildlife encounters and I can't ask for a better dog in that regard. Because the shallow water the weeds kept the kayak from just drifting away and I got my chance to frame the eagle and make the photos I was hoping for.

And here is the second benefit you can have while shooting from a boat (I talked about the first one in yesterday's blog post). It allows me to get physically closer to a subject on a lake or river. The shore doesn't limit an approach necessarily anymore. Of course, it doesn't always work out and I consider myself very lucky to make these images. However, it increases the chances to make a click you could never make from shore and to get closer to the animal you like to have in the viewfinder of your camera. There is more from this trip on the hard drive, so please stay tuned for another "river story"...

River stories, part 1

 

We spent last weekend at Rock Creek Marina & Campground near Clinton, IA. This is a county park along the Mississippi River about 70 miles south of Dubuque, Iowa. Great weather made for some wonderful paddle tours in the backwaters and on the Mississippi River. The quality of the light? Well, it wasn't so good during the day, mostly very harsh. Sunday morning I got up early and enjoyed the solitude on the water, and of course, the softer light that you can usually find only in the morning or around sunset on a hot summer day in August.

Shooting with the long lens from the kayak adds a "fourth dimension", means additional danger for the equipment and the challenge of a moving boat while working with my subject. The Painted Turtles that came out off the water and enjoyed the sun by sitting on a piece of driftwood were probably the easiest critters to make a picture of because they hardly moved. Quite often they just dropped into the water as soon I approached them, but sometimes there is one that isn't so nervous and let me come close. There are several benefits by taking the risk and shooting from the kayak. One of them is the low perspective that is hard to get from higher grounds and that may lead to new views and interesting shooting angles. I will talk about some other benefits in another little "river story", so please stay tuned...

Another piece of summer

 

I present you just a few Yellow Coneflowers from a patch of prairie grass today. It is so nice to see that wildflowers and prairie grass have been re-seeded along many roads and other places here in Iowa during the last few years. This photo was made in Mud Lake State Park along the Mississippi River.

We look forward to be at the wedding of our niece Jessica and her future husband Jens this weekend. Means no posts here in the blog for a few days. Wishing all my visitors here in the blog a wonderful weekend!

Nature clicks #183 - "Bully" on the watch

 

After the House Wrens had two successful broods this year they are gone now and their chatter isn't my wake up call anymore. The male showed up this morning and checked on the "real estate" but he was quiet and flew away after a few minutes. But there are other seasonal subjects for wildlife photography around the house that draw our attention. The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have their offspring usually in August and that can make for some interesting photos. At the moment "Bully", the male that tries to dominate the flower patches and hummingbird feeders, watches close over "his property" and chases every intruder away, even the lovely females. He sits either up in a tree or briefly on one of the perches I have set up for the birds near the feeders. I use the speedlight with the softbox again as a light source. As with the wrens, it is particular gestures I'm looking for to capture, not just the ordinary "sitting bird pose". I hope the hummingbirds will have a whole bunch of babies, which would make the place a lot busier and hopefully lead to some interesting images. I'll keep you posted as always here in the blog...

Nature clicks #182 - House Wrens, intimate biology

 

I'm glad I made these pictures yesterday because today the young wrens left the nest in the gourd that is hanging from our porch. We didn't know how many young House Wrens were in the nest until I saw three little birds today. They were sitting together in another bird's nest that is hidden in a bush just a few yards away from the house. The parents had obviously called them out one after another and gathered them with them in the new place. I believe the nest belongs to the Chipping Sparrows that have raised their offspring and are seen now in the grass teaching them how to catch a bug. The wrens didn't stay very long in this place. A few minutes after I saw them in the second nest they had moved already on and we could hear them chatter somewhere in the woods nearby. We wish them save travels and hope to see some of them next year in late April or early May again. They might be here still for a little while but usually we don't see them again after the second brood left the nest.

Let's talk about the photos I show you toady. The first one doesn't need much explanation. Two of the three young wrens sticked their heads out, waiting for food (the third one was probably pushed to the back by the more powerful siblings) and seeing them with their bills closed was a rare moment. They made a lot of noise yesterday and again this morning right after sunrise. The parents came very frequently with new food and it was a joy for me to capture those moments.

My wildlife photography has a lot to do with showing the beauty of wild living animals but the avid reader of my blog knows that I always try to shed some light on some interesting biological facts about the animals I photograph. I have cleaned many bird houses after the breeding season in the past and it always impressed me how clean they are inside. You don't find much dirt beside the branches and grass of the nest. The wrens remove their excrements instantly and I'm sure other birds do too in order to keep the place healthy. And here is how it works. Raising three, four, or even more young birds requires a lot of insects to be caught and fed to the offspring. The last two pictures are shot within a few seconds. The young bird receives its meal, swallows, turns around immediately, and hangs its butt out of the hole of the nest box. The parent bird picks up the digested food from the backside and flies away with it. When the wrens are very young this happens obviously inside the nest box and we can't see it but we always see the parent birds coming out of the hole with trash. I also saw sometimes the young bird giving the excrements to the parents with its bill. This might not be the most pleasent thing to see for some people but I believe it is very interesting. Being intimate with a critter's biology is essential for making the click at the right moment or to predict when the action may happen that you are waiting for. This includes that someone shows you their butt sometimes... ;-)