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.

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.

Unprepared for take-off

 

It took me several years to make my first photo of a Red-tailed Hawk in Eastern Iowa. And here I'm, blessed again with another opportunity. I like to believe it is the same hawk I showed in my post "Nature clicks #86" because I saw the bird in the same location, the Mill Creek Valley near Bellevue, IA. I shot several pictures of the hawk sitting in this oak tree, partly covered by branches. I was a little unprepared for its take-off because I was fiddling with camera settings in order to tame the extremely harsh light. It took some efforts in post to darken the tree branches surrounding the bird. I was just lucky that I got the AF sensor on the head of the bird when it suddenly took off. Well, sometimes we need some luck for our photography...

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.

Nature clicks #94 - Killdeer sitting on three eggs

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

Two weeks ago I finished my post "Nature clicks #88" with the words, "I know I still have some work to do with the wonderful Killdeer…". This was due to the fact that I still didn't have the photo of a Killdeer that was more than a simple documentary shot. Last Sunday I made many pictures of a couple Killdeer sitting in a particular spot in the parking lot of the Green Island Wetlands. I thought they were just pretending to sit on a nest site in order to lure me away from the real nest. I was totally wrong. Today one of the Killdeer was still sitting in the same spot. They actually don't built really a nest, they just use a depression in the ground to lay their eggs.

You may ask, how did you find out that it was their real nest site? The Killdeer walked briefly away and I had a glimpse into the little hollow. Wow, I saw three Killdeer eggs! I snapped quickly a few shots and left it alone. The last thing I wanted to do is to disturb the birds while they are breeding. The nest is in the parking lot and I'm now afraid someone may just drive over it without even knowing…

Nature clicks #93 - Lesser Yellowlegs

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

The Lesser Yellowlegs are on the way to their breeding grounds in Canada and Alaska. I shot lots of pictures of these members of the sandpiper family last Sunday. I'm happy that I was able to watch them because they will not stay here in Eastern Iowa too long.

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

The Lesser Yellowlegs were constantly in search for food in the shallow water and on the mud banks. I saw some of them even catching small fish. They take their prey with the thin bill and bob the front part of their bodies in a jerky fashion. This makes it quite difficult to get a clean shot because they hardly stop feeding or cleaning their bodies.

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

Nature clicks #92 - American White Pelicans, I'm getting closer...

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

What a great day we had yesterday for being outside. I spent seven hours in the Green Island Wetlands. Light was a little harsh in the first half of the afternoon but nevertheless there were lots of good opportunities to watch all kinds of critters. The water level is higher than it was a week ago and some mud banks are flooded again. Looks much nicer. American Coots are in the wetlands in large numbers and with the arrival of Green-winged Teals I had another first sighting again.

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

If you think Bald Eagles are majestic, just watch the American White Pelicans soar high on thermals. It is very impressive to see them flying with their slow and deep wing beats but watching them soaring in big formations is stunning. Another great experience is to see a squadron of pelicans fishing together. The problem at Green Island is that you can't come even close if you rely on your car. I like shooting from my car because, as I have written before, it works like a blind and most birds don't see it as a thread and and they don't fly away. The pelicans need a different tactic. They prefer the lakes in the wetlands that aren't accessible by car. I made a little hike and a very slow approach to a lake shore across from the pelican's resting and fishing place. This was already very late in the afternoon and the light was wonderful.

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

The high contrast between their white and black feathers requires a good amount of exposure compensation in order not to blow out the white completely. I prefer a darker tonality for my style of photography, and dialing in negative values (in this matter -1.5EV) is common practice anyway. It lets the colors pop and I never have to touch the saturation slider in Lightroom or Photoshop.

More to come, stay tuned…

Can't leave out the good light...

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

If you have followed my blog since a while you know already that I can't resist to make a click if light has something to offer. It doesn't matter to me if it is even a critter I photographed already many many times before. We have plenty of opportunities to shoot Canada Geese here in Eastern Iowa so I don't think we have to shoot them in bad light. Today I made another visit to the John Deere Marsh because I was hopping the Northern Pintails would be a little closer to shore than last Sunday. More Blue-winged Teals had arrived and the pintails were just among them. They seem to prefer a particular spot in the lake that is unfortunately too far away for my 500mm focal length. However, the geese across the boat landing appeared in great light during dusk today and of course, I put the legs of my tripod into the mud and tried to capture the light again...

Nature clicks #91 - Northern Leopard Frog

Nikon D300s, Sigma 150mm / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM

Not far from our home is the John Deere Marsh. This marsh belongs to the National Wildlife & Fish Refuge on the Upper Mississippi River. As the name suggests, it is located right behind the big John Deere plant here in Dubuque. The Little Maquoketa River joins the Mississippi in this area and both rivers have shaped the marsh. Joan and I had a little hike there today and beside enjoying the extremely warm weather we were watching out for migrating birds. Beside the always present Mallards, we saw American Coots, Northern Shovelers, and Blue-winged Teals on the lake that is part of the marsh land. We also made our first encounter of a few Northern Pintails. None of the ducks was within shooting range and so it didn't bother me a bit that I left the 50-500 at home today.

Instead I had the Sigma 150mm/f2.8 on camera, simply because I wanted to make pictures of frogs. Mating season is in full swing and there are probably thousands of frogs having a great time at the moment. This Northern Leopard Frog was hiding between old leaves along the levee that surrounds part of the lake. Direction and quality of the late afternoon light was good. I just darkened background and foreground a little in order to make them less busy and less distracting.