2013 - Looking back, part 1

 

The year is coming to an end soon and it is the time to review and analyze what went wrong and where some progress was made with my photography. I was a lot out in the field for some wildlife photography, and if you followed my blog through the year you know that there were some great moments. The best day by far was May 4, 2013. I encountered six different species of warblers that day and four of them were first sightings for me. Not all photos were good enough for being published in the blog but just watching a new bird is a wonderful experience.

My choice for today’s post are two images of the male Yellow-rumped Warbler that were made down at the Mississippi River at Mud Lake Park.

Nature clicks #189 - Male Northern Flicker

 

A few days ago I reported about a couple Northern Flickers that showed up here around our house (see Nature clicks #188). A day after I posted the photo of the female bird I was lucky enough to have finally the male Northern Flicker in front of the camera. You can clearly see the mustache stripes in his face that make it easy to distinguish the males from the females.

Time for an upgrade and still for a few clicks...

 

As much I like to spend time outside watching and photographing wildlife or just chasing the light, sometimes it is necessary to do maintenance or take care of the hard and software that helps to create the images we like to show to our audience. Yep, I got my Christmas gift already.  A new 27” iMac is since a few days the machine for all my post processing and picture administration. I don’t get paid for saying anything good or bad about any product that I use but I can tell you I have never looked back after I abandoned five years ago the whole PC and Microsoft c%&p. I will still use the MacBook Pro and my SAMSUNG display, that both have served me very well during the last five years, for my day job and as a backup machine while traveling. To make this already long story shorter, I spent the last few days migrating software and adapting the new computer to my needs. It is time consuming to make the changes but I already enjoy the much faster speed of the iMac and the incredible quality of its big display.

We had fresh snow on the ground every other day and lots of birds hang around in the woods here. The camera is always mounted on the tripod and whenever I see an interesting bird or some good light falling on one of the countless Gold Finches I stop what I’m doing and go and make a click…

New "EASTERN IOWA WILDLIFE" gallery finally online!

 

OK, before someone gets too excited about today’s photo I like to make clear that this image of a North American River Otter was not made out in the Great Outdoors. The photo was taken in May 2011 in the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, Iowa. It is the only photo in the new web gallery about the wildlife here in Eastern Iowa that is not really a wildlife picture. Yes, after several months of postponing this project I have the gallery about mammals finally online. In addition the gallery about birds has been updated with new species and photos. 2013 was a great year for me with many first sightings of bird species along the Mississippi River and the surrounding areas. The pictures in the web gallery are now smaller and allow for faster loading, especially for those of you that have a slower internet connection. Please feel free to click on the link EASTERN IOWA WILDLIFE in the sidebar on the left and explore the variety of birds and mammals that I had the pleasure to have in front of my camera during the last six and a half years. Come back any time and use the photos for identification of a species that you may have encountered and photographed. Share your own sightings with us and please let me know if you find a mistake in these galleries.

So why do I show a photo of the North American River Otter if it wasn’t actually made out in the wild? Joan and I have seen the otter in the Little Maquoketa River not too far from home some time ago but despite many efforts I never had a chance to make the click. These web galleries are meant to be a resource about the species that live in Eastern Iowa or stop here briefly during migration. I also display some older photos that do not meet my quality criteria anymore but they are the only ones that I have at the moment about some particular species. It is about goals that we need to set for our photography. If I can make a better image of a critter, you will be the first ones that can see it here in the blog. And believe me, the North American River Otter is on my MOST WANTED list… :-)

Nature clicks #188 - Female Northern Flicker

 

It is this time of the year when temperatures may go below zero, both, in degree Celsius and Fahrenheit. It is also a great time for bird photography for two different reasons. First the birds come close to the house, to feeders, and most importantly to places where they can get some water to drink. If you make the efforts to provide food and water, by means of a heated bird bath for instance, you can create a good environment that draws the birds close to your camera. The second reason is the light. The snow that covers the ground works like a giant reflector and helps to make decent images without fiddling with additional light sources. Yes, a fill flash coming from a little softbox might be very helpful, especially if the sun is hidden behind clouds, but with sun light the “snow reflector” does a pretty good job.

I had written before here in the blog that we have seen up to six different woodpecker species on our ridge above the Little Maquoketa River Valley. The Northern Flicker is one of them but usually we see them only briefly during late autumn or from late winter into early spring. However, this season we watch a couple of  them every day. This is the biggest woodpecker that comes to our feeders. They are slightly bigger than an adult Red-bellied Woodpecker. The Northern Flicker is only outsized by the Pileated Woodpecker but these big birds do not visit the suet feeders or even come near the house.

Today I had a chance to make a few clicks on this female Northern Flicker. Both sexes are easy to distinguish. The females resemble the males and have a black half moon shaped spot on their chest but they lack the black moustache stripes in their face. The Northern Flickers seem to be a lot more cautious and nervous than the other woodpeckers that are here all year long and so I’m very happy to share this image with you today.

Two different reasons

 

I’m not really actual with my blog at the moment. I was down in Houston, Texas for a business trip this week, with no really opportunity to shoot anything interesting, except for some clouds during take-off. So, here are a couple images still from last weekend.

We had some pretty cold nights last week and the water in the bird bath was frozen solid in the morning. I changed that quickly because birds are drawn to the water. If you like to start with some bird photography, go and buy a bird bath. This is a tip I learned from other photographers and I just know it works.

We have a second one on the other side of the house that can be heated and this will serve our feathered friends even during the coldest days here in Iowa. An old dead cedar tree, erected right beside the bird bath in the front yard, is very often used  by the birds as a perch before they actually go down to the water bowl.

Why do I show these two particular photos? The first one is a female Yellow-rumped Warbler. I have seen them for the first time this spring when they migrated north. If you use the search field in the side bar on the left and search for “Yellow-rumped Warbler” you can find my previous posts about this magnificent bird. The picture today tells the story that they are obviously on their way back to the South where they will spend the winter. But why the picture of the American Robin, a bird that is abundant not just here in Eastern Iowa? It is the light, awesome soft natural light from the sun, peeking out from behind the clouds, that made me push the shutter release button…

Nature clicks #187 - Carolina Wren

 

After the first nights with some frost the leaves fall fast. It becomes easier again to spot birds in the trees and bushes. A couple days ago I saw already two Carolina Wrens hopping around on our porch and in the flower bed of the front yard. To my surprise I got one of them in front of my lens today. I checked my old records and the only time we saw them before was in January or February when they showed up at our bird feeders. With other words, these are my first "non-feeder" shots of this little wren. As you may remember its cousin, the House Wren, raises their offspring every year in our yard and I have shown many pictures about them here in the blog before.

We are here at the northern edge of the Carolina Wren's breeding grounds. They are nonmigratory birds but their range expands north if the winters are mild. I'll keep my eyes open this weekend and hope to see them again and maybe can make another click or two...

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... ;-)

What happened?

 

This is a valid question after I haven't posted in my blog for three weeks now. September is usual a very busy time for me because of an annual trade show at the McCormick Center in Chicago. As always, our company was  an exhibitor at PRINT 2013 and right before, during, and after the show is very little time for me to pursue any photography projects. But the real reason for my time of silence is that my MacBook went out of business just a couple days before the show started. The repair took longer than expected and it was a painful time to deal with it. I will spare you all the details, I'm just happy to have the darn thing back... :-) Thank you to all of you who visited my blog despite nothing new was posted here!

We are packing the stuff for our upcoming vacation. However, the weather was too nice to be inside all day long and so I took Cooper, our little dog, and went for a walk on the Heritage Trail. The trail down in the valley of the Little Maquoketa River was once a railroad track. This grasshopper enjoyed the warm September sun on one of the new boards that tell about the history of the little towns in the valley and the railroad that ones connected them. We have plenty of grasshoppers here and I usually don't pay too much attention, but I really liked the light and the colors it revealed on this little bug.

Emotional attachment

 

I have to admit I have a little bit neglected my old friends the Trumpeter Swans this year. Those of you, who followed my blog during the last three years, may remember that I documented the restoration of the swans at the Mill Creek Ponds between La Motte and Bellevue, Iowa for quite some time.

In 2011 I was able to report that one cygnet was in the nest and had been raised successfully. Last year I made photos of three young Trumpeter Swans, proof  that the program to bring the Trumpeter Swan back to Iowa seems to work very well. 2013 I stopped only once in early spring at the ponds and saw the swan couple again. So until today I didn't know what happened during this year's breeding season. It made me really happy to see that two cygnets were in company of their parents when I drove around the corner and looked at the pond.

I have a very emotional attachment to the Trumpeter Swans for two reasons. First, I really think it is a wonderful majestic bird, and seeing their numbers grow over the years is just cool. Not just for my generation but knowing that our kids and grandkids may have a chance to enjoy them as well is a good thought. The second reason is that working with the swans and making photos of them has taught me so much for my wildlife photography. I spent countless hours at the Mill Creek Ponds during the last three years. Many frustrations started here (how would you feel after shooting 500 pics and all of them suck because lack of sharpness...??!! ;-)  ), but coming back over and over again and working with the same subject made me seeing some progress, slowly but surely. Do I have the perfect image of a Trumpeter Swan yet? Hell no, I may never have it, but the swans played a big role for my decision to focus on wildlife photography and I'm thankful for that.

If you like to see some of the older blog posts about the Trumpeter Swans just type "trumpeter swan" into the search field in the side bar on the left hand side of this blog, hit the Enter-key, and you will see all of them.