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 #227 - Milk Snake

 

Sometimes it is just bizarre how close the good things are situated to the sad moments. Yesterday I found for the first time a Milk Snake here up on the bluffs of the Little Maquoketa River. I’m always happy if I discover a new species that has its habitat in the woods around our house and if you followed my blog since a while you know that I get excited about it. The snake was laying on the road just in front of our driveway. Pretty soon I found out that it was dead. There is probably nobody to blame ( I really hate the thought that somebody drove over it on purpose!). Our road is a private loop and not very busy. The survival chance if a critter crosses the road is probably a lot higher than at any other public road. There was no visible injury, but if somebody accidentally drove over it it probably would have killed the Milk Snake.

I was hesitating if I should post this image. It’s not really wildlife anymore but at the other hand my blog is also about documenting what happens in our environment and how human intervention influences the nature here in Eastern Iowa. I placed the snake on some of the rocks we have here and made the click. Oh no, I’m not proud, I’m just dealing with a sad reality and I pay my tribute to a critter that deserves a much better display than this...

Nature clicks #226 - North American Deer Mouse

 

We have a critter here that we can find all year long but I still have not been able to make a photo of it until this week. The North American Deer Mouse occurs over a large geographic area and in many different habitats. More than 100 subspecies have been described according to the “Audubon guide for mammals” app that I used for identification. They live in the woods around here but take sometimes advantage of bird seeds they can find around our house. Most of the time we see them only for a second or two before they disappear. This one sat at the edge of our driveway and just watched us for several minutes.

The only way to make an image that is halfway interesting was to bring the lens down to its eye level, means laying flat, belly down on the asphalt…

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.

Nature clicks #224 - Yellow-throated Vireo

 

Yesterday I mentioned my first sighting of a Yellow-throated Vireo in the Green Island Wetlands. I didn’t plan to show you this image because the bird was too far away and I cropped the heck out of it. The tree was on a little island in the water and I had no way to get closer, but it was important for me to make the click in order to find out what kind of bird it was. However, my friend Jeanine from Johannesburg in South Africa was asking if I had made a photo of the vireo since she had never seen one either. So here it is, not much detail and sharpness, and as I said before, it is cropped to death so you can at least see the bird in this photo. I have a second picture that shows the Yellow-throated Vireo more from the side but a shaking branch in front of the body makes it only useful for identification purposes. Well, this is how it goes in wildlife photography. Sometimes it takes several years before another, better chance comes again but if you don’t try again and again , you will never make the photo of your dreams…

Nature clicks #223 - Indigo Bunting

 

It took me a long way from my first photo of an Indigo Bunting in 2005 (with a point and shoot camera at that time) to the one I can show you today. Blue is my favorite color, no wonder that this little finch with its brilliant, almost iridescent, blue plumage was on my personal "most wanted list". We see them usually here in May but unlike other birds they don’t tolerate our presence very well, and so I have many bird feeder shots or pictures that show the bunting in the grass and far away from my lens. I was sitting on the ground aiming for some hummingbirds in the bushes when this beautiful Indigo Bunting landed on one of the perch sticks that we installed. The woods and grassy slope in the back make for a dark background but they are far enough to give a decent bokeh that lets the bird stand out from its surroundings. I hope you enjoy.

Nature click #222 - Rose-breasted Grosbeak

 

It has been an amazing spring for bird photography and right now I’m still in a position to make choices what pictures to publish and which one have to wait or will never be seen by the public eye. So let me start with some photo from earlier this month and finish with a brand new one from today. The Rose-breasted Grosbeak shows up here during the first week in May after a long journey from central or northern South America. Sometimes we see up to eight males in early May and they like our sunflower seed feeders a lot. Usually they stay for a couple days and then move on to Minnesota or Canada.

However, there is always at least one or two pairs left that will spend the summer here and raise their offspring. I looked in my archive but this is the first female with such a yellow chest. Most often the males get all the attention because of their bold black, white, and red color pattern but I think the females are very pretty as well. The photo of the female was made this morning and maybe we will see a young grosbeak sometime soon…

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…

Nature clicks #220 - Orchard Oriole

 

I like to interrupt my series about the warblers for another first sighting we had a few days ago at our house. For the first time we had an appearance of two Orchard Orioles. The birds showed up several times at one of our hummingbird feeders, which also has been used frequently by the many Baltimore Orioles we are lucky to see every year in May. To brake the jinx I made of course a few clicks while they were at the feeder but the goal for me is always to get a shot without it in a situation like this. I used the brief moment when the orioles landed and held on to the grape vines that grow on our balcony. They just hesitate a little before they hop onto the hummingbird feeder, to make probably sure everything is safe, but it is enough time to make the click.  I can tell you, we had three amazing weeks with the birds in May 2014 so far and I haven’t even been able to show you all of it yet… ;-)

Nature clicks #219 - Orange-crowned Warbler

 

When I have a first sighting of an animal I try to make my research about the species with several sources to make sure the critter is correctly identified. Sometimes the photo doesn’t reveal all the distinguishing marks and some doubt is left. It took me a while to draw a conclusion about the Orange-crowned Warbler but now I believe that’s what it is. Many warblers have a variety of color patterns and females and immature birds can look totally different than the male adults.

The photo was made right after a rain shower under low light conditions and revealing the colors required fill flash again. The Orange-crowned Warbler has its breeding grounds in the western part of the US and almost all Canada. The Mississippi Valley is an important migration route for the northern subspecies and so it is no surprise that we have seen it here last week.