Weekend on the water

 

We spent last weekend over in Southwest Wisconsin and explored Yellowstone Lake State Park and ones more Governor Dodge State Park. Both have wonderful lakes to paddle and swim and that's how we took advantage of the nice summer weather. It was also a nice opportunity to practice shooting again from the kayak. There is no room for error when you take the camera with a long lens attached in the boat but I managed to come back with dry gear. ;-) The flat parts of the lakes have a lot of water plants that cover the surface and this is right now the playground of thousands of dragonflies, damselflies, and other insects.

I believe these damselflies are Circumpolar Bluets but I have not been able to identify them yet for sure. They hardly sit still and even fly around in a "double pack" while obviously in a mating mood. I tried the 50-500 with the tripod fixed to the kayak but this didn't give me enough flexibility to work with insects. It works for birds if you can get close enough. I finally had better results with the Sigma 150/f2.8 macro lens and the camera just loose on a strap around my neck. Of course, the keeper rate is not as high as on solid ground but as I said here in the blog before, if I come home with one image that I like, I'm a happy man... :-)

Any news about the House Wrens?

 

I like to share this image with you from today. After raising successfully the first brood we can see now the wren parents feeding a second set of young ones. We can already hear the offspring quietly chirping in a hollow pumpkin body that hangs at our porch, only a few feet away from the nest box that they used for the first brood in the front yard. I think it is interesting that they have never used the same nest location a second time within one season.

I'm not a big fan of suppressing the background while using a flash light in my nature photography but I tried different settings and finally liked this one the best, despite the background is almost black. Probably because the pose of the approaching wren with food in its bill tells really the story what's going on here. Earlier this year in spring I talked about how much I enjoy waking up by the chatter of the House Wrens. I absolutely don't mind listening to this sound at least for a couple more weeks...

Nature clicks #179 - American Beaver

 

It was my dear wife Joan who discovered the beaver family in the Little Maquoketa River down in the valley during a bicycle ride last week. I knew it would be sheer luck to find them at the same spot. Nevertheless I tried it and spent an hour waiting, and endless slaps for the mosquitos, but to my surprise the beavers showed up again. The beaver parents took care for four young ones and I was really happy to see them.

Camouflaged well by surrounding trees, the river was between me and the beavers and the remaining light made for camera settings like ISO 400 and 1/50s exposure time. The only way staying in business and using the maximum focal length of 500 mm (750 mm on the D300s) was to use the peak of action. The beavers moved most of the time and just having the shutter going while they had those tiny breaks of action sometimes led to a halfway sharp image. I used the term "halfway" because none of my shots was tack sharp.

I know, in some areas beavers are seen as a pest because of some trees they may take down in order to feed and establish their life. It takes a smarter approach to see the whole picture and the role the American Beaver can play in a healthy environment.

The Little Maquoketa River is not very long in comparison to the big rivers that cross the US from north to south. However, I really believe it is important to realize that even the smallest stream plays a role how things turn out when the water finally hits the ocean. Watching beavers only a few miles away from the Mississippi River is just a wonderful experience and I hope I can see them again soon in our valley.

Nature clicks #178 - Wood Duck - juveniles

 

If there is anything special about the first image it is just the fact that I was able to make it and as a bonus, making it with killer light. Wood Ducks are extremely shy and it is very difficult to get close to them. It was already 7PM last Saturday when I saw these three juveniles down below the levy in the water. There was obviously no mother nearby and they just stayed and tried to camouflage with the mud and algae carpet on the water surface. As good the algae and water plants might be for the ducks, they kill an image like this. Background is key for a good wildlife photo and this one looks just yucky, despite the great light on the young ducks.

I was wondering if I saw the second brood already when I watched only a few minutes later this female Wood Duck with twelve tiny ducklings swimming across another pond in the wetlands. Water fowl lives a dangerous life and many predators, from hunting birds to foxes and big fish that try to catch a young bird from down below, can have an impact of how many birds will make it into an adult life. Finally the hunting season in the fall is not helpful for some of the bird species that are in a decline anyway. It makes me sometimes sad to see that only two or three ducklings survive but I know it is part of understanding nature in its whole complexity.

Earlier in the spring this year I saw very few Wood Ducks in the Green Island Wetlands and wondered if this was the result of the dry summer with low water levels in 2012. I guess they were just hiding better than other years... ;-) I'm very happy now to see all the "Kindergarten" activities in the lakes and ponds along the Mississippi River.

Grebe showing off

 

This immature Pied-billed Grebe was only one of many young birds I saw last weekend in the Green Island Wetlands. First it splashed all around and cleaned its feathers for several minutes. It seemed to tell me, look, I can clean myself all alone already.

Than it flapped its wings in order to dry them or just raised them up to let the sun do the rest. And last, it showed off and let me know that it can conduct an orchestra... Well, I know, this is probably asking too much for a little bird but it obviously made this pose that looks like it would conduct a bunch of musicians... :-) Don't you think?

On the photography side, the light at 4:30PM was still very intense but had already a warm touch. It was necessary to dial in an exposure compensation of minus one stop in order not to blow out the highlights on the light parts of the feathers.

This is the best I'm able to get from the wetlands at the moment. The carpet of algae is definitely not an eye pleaser and shooting from slightly above, the only way you can do it there if you use the car as a blind, is never a good angle for a great image. However, after another week of traveling I was happy to be back in the wetlands and I hope you enjoy the photos of the juvenile Pied-billed Grebe and the little story they tell. More to come...

Fine Art Gallery - "Lushness"

 

Time to start something new here in my blog. From now on I will publish once in a while an image under the roof of a Fine Art Gallery. These will be photos that will not fit necessarily into my usual blog posts about nature observations but that have an esthetic appearance that I like to share with you.

As always, I welcome your opinions, critique, and questions about any aspects of photography and nature. I like to share the information about "the making" of an image or about wildlife locations and will continue to do. Please feel free to contact me if you think I can help you with your own photography or wildlife related questions.

Nature clicks #177 - Pallid-winged Grashopper (nymph) ???

 

The last day of this holiday weekend became a very warm one. The bird traffic in the yard has slowed down and usually days like this are good to look for butterflies in the garden. This summer is different. We had very few butterflies so far and even the omnipresent Hackberry Emperor hasn't been seen yet. I saw a couple swallowtails earlier this spring but have not seen any lately. We wonder if the draught last year plays a role in this pattern.

I took a stroll this afternoon around the flower patches in our yard with the SIGMA 150/f2.8 attached to the camera. It is my oldest lens but I still like the optical quality of it. It has a nice focal length that gives you some distance for macro work on insects.

Joan and I are not sure about this grasshopper species even after studying all our books and guides about insects. We believe it is the nymph of a Pallid-winged Grasshopper but we are not 100 percent sure. The size (about 3/4") and the little wing buds on its side show that its metamorphosis is still in process.

Mental break

 

I haven't made a single click during this holiday weekend so far and to be honest, I don't even feel bad about it. We enjoy the beautiful weather with some kayaking, reading, and keeping a couple dogs happy. I try to stay away from my computer as much as possible. The weather is just too nice to be inside, even if I have some photography projects that I like to move forward. Well, none of them will run away and having a mental break is all what I'm looking for this long weekend... Enjoy your Sunday!

Americana

 

Tomorrow is Independence Day here in the US and most people will enjoy a four day holiday weekend. Reason enough to post something different as usual and that's why I show a few car details that I shot last night at the Hot Summer Nights Cruise-in at one of the casinos in Dubuque, Iowa. The owners of vintage cars meet there ones a month during the summer to socialize and show their cars off. I like the beauty of some of the old cars and enjoy pointing my camera at car details if the existing light emphasizes them nicely. Nothing spectacular but it is fun to do different things ones in a while... ;-)

I wish all my friends and family here in the US a wonderful holiday weekend!

Nature clicks #176 - Black Rat Snake

 

In my last post about the House Wrens that raised their offspring in two nest boxes around our house, I talked about another predator beside the raccoon that is a threat for the life of the young wrens. I was reading on the porch when my attention was drawn away by the very loud and nervous chatter of the male wren. The cause was a Black Rat Snake that had climbed the trellis at the side of our porch only a few feet away from me. According to the DNR brochure about snakes in Iowa, Black Rat Snakes are rare, except for a few locations. Well, we must live in such a location because we have seen this species here before numerous times. It seems during some years they are more abundant than during others. Black Rat Snakes are up to 72 inches (183 cm) but this one was maybe about 5 foot (153 cm) long. They are adapted to a life in the forest and climb trees. This snake consumes rodents, like mice, but would not hesitate to go for birds, especially young ones. These powerful black constructors prefer relatively undisturbed forest areas and this may tell you much about the habitat we are blessed to have here above the valley of the Little Maquoketa River.

After inspecting the trellis at our porch the snake slid to the ground and moved back into the woods. The wrens calmed down and life went on. After my return from a business trip last Friday night both nest boxes were empty and we now can hear the wrens chatter in the woods. The males started courtship again and hopefully we may have a second brood growing up here soon...