River stories, part 5

 

My plan was actually to continue my "River stories" with some new pictures from the Sandhill Cranes at the Mississippi River. The cranes obviously didn't know about what I had in mind and decided to spend the night somewhere else... :-(  I waited in my kayak for almost an hour during sunset time at the place where I had seen them before three times. After the sun had disappeared I heard their call somewhere in my back between the water lilies and reeds. At least it was good to know that they were somewhere around.

Before that I paddled down the backwater channel and enjoyed watching a Great Blue Heron hunting for fish. I worked for quite some time with this bird but despite real "killer light" my keeper rate was not very good today. I experimented with different ways to focus but obviously not all of them passed the test...

Back at the boat ramp and in the actual Mud Lake Park I saw three young Ospreys sitting on the tower, where they obviously still spend the night. Earlier I saw one of them sitting on a log with a big piece of fish. Unfortunately this picture didn't turn out sharp. I don't believe the bird had caught the fish itself. It is probably still depending on being fed. Hopefully this will change soon and the young Ospreys can support themselves before they migrate south.

Stick out your tongue baby...!

 

I'm very happy to show you this image of a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird sticking its long tongue out. The photo was made with no additional light source, just the soft late morning light we had here last Saturday.

I always like to improve my photography and one way to do it is setting goals for myself. That means analyzing the previous work and developing new ideas of how to work with a known subject in a different way.  At least I may try to catch a gesture that tells a story or is somehow different from anything I have done before. I have literally hundreds of pictures of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird on the hard drive but never made a sharp one with the bird sticking its tongue out. With other words, it was on my "most wanted list". This long tongue enables the hummingbird to go really deep into a flower and drink the nectar or drink the sugar water out off an artificial feeder. Because nectar is a poor source of nutrients they also prey on insects and spiders in order to cover their needs for protein, minerals, and vitamins.

Hummingbirds are only present in the Americas and can't be found in my home country Germany. In fact, I have never seen one in real life before I came to the US. Maybe that's why I get very excited any time I watch them or try to create an image with the camera. I hope you enjoy!

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...

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...

Signs of a great summer

 

I believe we have one of the loveliest summers so far, at least during the nine years since I live here in Iowa. Due to the rain in spring and early summer everything looks lush and green and wildflowers bloom wherever a piece of land is left in a natural state. I complained a little while ago that we didn't have many butterflies this year. It's true, some species have not shown up so far but now we have at least several swallowtails in the yard as soon the sun comes out. I hope you may agree, a Giant Swallowtail on top of a Purple Coneflower tells a great story about a wonderful summer...

The swallowtails are not the only insects that get attracted by the coneflowers. Bees, wasps, or Bumble Bees, like the one in this image, enjoy the food this flower provides. I use the Nikon SB600 speedlight together with my self-made softbox to fill in some light and overcome harsh shadows. The speedlight is mounted on a tripod and connected to the camera with a Nikon SC-28 spiral cable. (If you like to see how this softbox looks like, feel free to click HERE. The link opens in an older post where I introduced this useful piece of equipment.) In order to follow the fast moving insects the camera is handhold and I have of course to stay within the range of the cable. It is important to have the flash off camera because of the short distance between your lens and the subject. I usually concentrate on one group of flowers so I don't have to reposition the speedlight all the time. It spills enough light even if it is not always 100% directed to the flower with the insect of interest. Using the cable allows me to take full advantage of the TTL-capabilities of the flashlight. Are there better ways to shoot close-ups or macros? Of course, there is a lot of gear for macro photography available but for someone like me, who shoots it only occasionally, it doesn't make sense to invest in more expensive light solutions. The way I do it works for me and the important thing is anyway to go out, make the click, and have fun shooting the signs of a great summer...