Nature clicks #199 - Female House Sparrow

 

It’s hard to believe but I have never made a decent photo of a House Sparrow around here. The truth is that we don’t see them very often in our neck of the woods, so there aren’t too many opportunities for a photo. Last week, when the winter struck again with snow and cold temperatures, a couple of these little birds paid us a visit at our bird feeders. Unfortunately I couldn’t get a hold of the male sparrow but this female posed nicely for a few seconds and so I made the click. I know some people may say, it’s just a damn sparrow, but sparrows play their role in our ecosystem and that’s why they deserve our attention as much as any other bird, at least in my books…

The owl is back

 

This is not a photograph to brag about but it is one that still made my day. Joan and I went on a little “spotting tour” after work today. With daylight saving time in place now the evenings are longer and allow more outdoor activities. The snow is melting rapidly and it felt nicely having temperatures above freezing.

Within an hour we saw several Bald Eagles, an American Kestrel, some other raptor that we couldn’t identify, thousands of starlings, and we heard and saw the first Red-winged Blackbird! Hey, spring is finally coming!! ;-) We made the final stop at Mud Lake, down at the Mississippi River. And there it was, a Great Horned Owl was sitting in the old eagle’s nest, the same place as last year. She didn’t move much and we were wondering if she was still sitting on the eggs. I reported several times last spring here in the blog about one young bird, and hopefully we will see at least another one or more this year. Making photos from the owl in the nest isn’t easy because the nest is quite high up in the tree. The image below was made after the owlet had left the nest. They climb on nearby branches and trees after 6-7 weeks and start flying after 10 weeks.

Blustery cold Sunday

 

The snow storm from yesterday was followed by a sunny day with blowing wind and very cold temperatures. It didn’t stop us from driving through the open country and looking for some wildlife. Joan and I went to the gravel road where I had seen the American Kestrel a few days ago but we didn’t have any luck today. Instead the fresh snow and some clouds made for a wide angle shot of this old farm house on the hill.

Joan wanted to see if we can see the Blue Birds again that I discovered last weekend in the valley. To my surprise we found three of them sitting in a tree above the creek at the same place. Despite the very cold temperatures the creek had open water. This and the fact that this location in the valley is a little protected from the icy wind draws probably the birds in. We also discovered a bunch of American Robins in a nearby tree. I guess spring can’t be that far away anymore… ;-)

Nature clicks #198 - White-breasted Nuthatch

 

Yes, this photo was made today! It snowed again last night and most of the day today and staying home was probably a wise decision because of the road conditions. My daughter told me today that the snow bells and crocus bloom already over in Germany. Well, ours here are still under a heavy layer of snow and ice… I admit, I’m a little jealous!

I haven’t posted an image of the White-breasted Nuthatch this season yet, although they are here all winter long. This one wasn’t moving much for several minutes, a sure sign that a hawk was nearby somewhere in the trees around. Every woodpecker or nuthatch tries to stay on the opposite site of a tree, away from the hawk, while the raptor is in the area. This gives me usually an idea where to look for the hawk. I hope I don’t bore you too much with another winterly photo but there wasn’t much else to shoot today, at least outside…

Nature clicks #197 - American Kestrel

 

While cruising around this weekend and scouting for the first signs of spring I came across this male American Kestrel. The falcon was sitting up high on an electrical line beside a gravel road. If it would have been a bird that I had photographed many times before, I would not have made the shot because the distance to the bird was fairly long and there was nothing I could do about it. Because it was the first time that I had a chance to point my lens at a kestrel I had of course to make the clicks. Needless to say that the image is cropped quite a bit. I have seen other kestrels before, so it wasn’t a first sighting, but now, after the jinx is broken, I look forward to find another opportunity that hopefully may not require to crop the photo in the post process. Happy to add another species to my Iowa Wildlife gallery  :-)

For Tarja Alma

 

This photo may make you believe that spring has arrived. The truth is that the ground is still covered with a heavy layer of snow in most places. However, down in the valley of the Little Maquoketa River I discovered the first Eastern Bluebirds today.

This photo is for you, Tarja Alma Exner. Welcome in this world. It is wonderful to have you.

Another one from the "Sharpie"

 

I’m still very happy about the opportunity to have a Sharp-shinned Hawk in front of the camera. This photo was made shortly after the bird landed in the first tree. No, I haven’t been that close. the picture I show here is cropped. It is sharp enough to do it for the web, however, printing the image on paper in a larger size may not turn out that well. The distance to the bird was about the same like the one in my previous post. I haven’t seen the hawk since but I’m sure it is still around…

Nature clicks #196 - Sharp-shinned Hawk

 

There has been a story about this hawk already before I even was able to make this photo. During the last couple weeks two of our Downy Woodpeckers were the victims of a deadly attack by this accipiter. I witnessed one of them but couldn’t identify the raptor. The remains of another little Downy told me that the hawk had struck again this week. Sharp-shinned Hawks feed on smaller birds and are attracted to bird feeders if they are visible from the air. Well, we offer them paradise here… ;-)

Today it paid back that I have the camera ready to shoot most of the time. I saw the bird flying into our front yard while sitting at my desk. It landed on a low branch but I had a hard time to focus because it showed me its back and there were little branches that obstructed the view. I took several shots, more for identification than anything else. Suddenly the hawk flew up again to a taller tree. I run upstairs back to my office window. And there it was! The Sharp-shinned Hawk sat on a branch just across from the window and showed me its front side in best light.

I like to mention that there is of course a little doubt about the identification of this bird. The Cooper’s Hawk is very similar and I read even experienced birders may have problems to identify them sometimes. There is great variation in plumage and in size for these two species. The tail of this hawk is more square while the the tail of the Cooper’s Hawk has more rounded tips. A couple other field marks (shape of the head and leg size) make me believe that we see the Sharp-shinned Hawk. It would be nice if a more experienced birder could give me their opinion.

This was the first time that I was able to make an image of the Sharp-shinned Hawk and the first “first sighting” in 2014. I’m very happy about this photo and I hope you enjoy it too.

Nature clicks #195 - Got it!

 

Four deer passed through our front yard at 5:54PM today. No, the deer doesn’t show up earlier during the evening but the sun is much longer above the horizon with the approach of mid February. This is an environmental photo I had in mind for several years already and finally had my chance to make it today.  The sun paints beautifully on the head and legs of the animal and its reflection on the snow leaves no doubt about the late hour of the day. It isn’t a perfect photo, it has a certain softness due to the fact that I had to make this photo behind a closed window because I discovered the group of White-tailed Deer too late. If I would have opened the window, they would had run away and my chance to make the click would have evaporated. It is not easy to isolate a deer from the bird feeders or bushes in our front yard but here pretty much everything came together well, the light, the background, and the gesture of the deer…

Nature clicks #194 - Fox Sparrow

 

Everyone has their way to battle the cold temperatures and to stay warm during the winter. This Fox Sparrow was captured while standing on one leg for a moment and having the other one in its feathers. The Fox Sparrow is normally in our area only during migration, according to my books, but it was already the second time that we have seen this species during the winter. I wrote about the first encounter in “Nature clicks #133”. It is a chunky little bird, bigger than other sparrows. It was actually a couple of them that we saw during the last few days and I’m sure our feeders and water supply play a role for this observation.