Iowa landscape: Upper Iowa River

 

Joan, Cooper, and I went out for another paddle adventure last weekend. This time we explored the Upper Iowa River, northwest of Decorah, Iowa. This is a very popular river among paddlers and people that just want to drift downstream in an inner tube. We used a shuttle service on both days that brought us and our kayaks to an access point of our choice upstreams and then we paddled several hours back to our campsite in Bluffton, Iowa.

I didn’t take the camera with me on Saturday because we had never paddled a river with partly fast flowing water and ripples before. After the first tour I felt more comfortable and really wanted to make some images of this gorgeous river valley and the rocks and bluffs. Sunday was also a lot more quiet and we saw more wildlife than the day before.

Creating the photos was a little like making lemonade out of vinegar. The wonderful sunny weather created of course some very harsh light, but this was the only challenge that I had to face beside keeping the gear dry.

My subject is the landscape and I used the canoes and kayaks on the water mainly to create some scale for the image. Since we paddled part of the river the day before I had already some ideas where to stop. By using the reflections of the bluffs and rocks on the water as part of the composition I tried to give the scene in these photos a romantic touch.

We have paddled only a few sections of the Upper Iowa River yet, but there is a lot more to explore and we really want to go back there. And the dog? Well, Cooper “The Kayak-Hund” decided to jump out of the boat into the water a couple times, always at moments when he was not supposed to do it… But this is the fun you have when a dog is on board… ;-)

Nature clicks #243 - Gray Tree Frog

 

This is our “house frog”, a little Common Gray Tree Frog. It lives on our balcony, under a canopy of grape vine leaves and between flower pots that we have outside during the summer. The 4 - 5 cm long (1.5 - 2 inch) frog is always good for a surprise and we see it quite often. The Gray Tree Frog can change its color in seconds and this helps it to blend in with tree bark or leaves. They are nocturnal and spend the day resting in trees and shrubs, or like this one, in the plants on our balcony. One of the most interesting facts is that the frog is capable of surviving freezing of their internal body fluids to temperatures as low as -8°C (17.6°F).

It took me quite some time to figure out how to light my subject and to make these photos in very low light between the branches of a Crassula ovata plant. Luckily the frog was cooperative and didn’t move too much. The best results were obtained by using a camera off flash, pointing upward, and using just the light that bounced back from the grapevine leaves that grow above.

Last dinner at home

 

My instinct told me yesterday, take some pictures of the House Wrens, who were feeding their second brood this summer, because the young birds may leave the nest within the next few days. I’m glad I did, since it happened much faster than I thought. Early this morning I heard the parent birds calling the offspring out of the nest. At 7:30AM it was empty. Later during the day I heard them still chatter in the bushes around here and the parents do of course still feed them.

There is no other bird I have studied and photographed more than the little House Wrens during the last years. They raise the first brood every year in one of the bird boxes in the flower bed in front of our house. For the second one they prefer a hollow gourd that hangs from our porch.

There were at least two young wrens in the gourd, and boy, they were hungry. The little guys were calling for more food all day long and the parents of course delivered…

It will be quiet from now on in the morning for the rest of the summer. But when the snow starts falling later in the year we begin dreaming about the first signs of spring. The arrival and chatter of our House Wrens is definitely one of them…

Nature clicks #242 - Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel

 

What was the key for making this photo? Well, leave Cooper, our dog, in the car! If you don’t know what I’m talking about please read the blog post I wrote two days ago. Here is the link if you missed this one.

The Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel was out again today and it allowed me to get really close with my tripod and camera after a very slow and careful approach. Their original habitat was short grass prairies but these days they are mostly found wherever grass is mowed, like in this matter right beside the observation parking lot at the Dubuque airport.

This ground squirrel is especially active on warm days and this is why I was hoping to see it again today. In late summer the squirrel puts on a heavy layer of fat and stores some food in its burrow. They enter their nest in October, or even earlier, roll into a stiff ball, and decrease their respiration from 100-200 breath per minute to one breath about every five minutes. (source: Audubon Guide App., mammals). I think this is really amazing...

Nature clicks #241 - Gray Catbird

 

The Gray Catbird is not an uncommon bird in most parts of the United States during the summer. Its catlike “meow” call, that gave the bird its name, can be heard along forest edges, marshes, or streams. They often imitate the call of other birds, like jays, swallows, kingfishers, or grosbeaks (source: iBirdPro app). The catbird prefers low, dense vegetation and that’s why it is quite often not so easy to make a decent picture of this summer resident. Their gray color does not provide a lot of contrast in a low light situation, like in the dense bushes and trees as we have them here in Eastern Iowa, and focus is hard to obtain sometimes. I had countless tries to make a picture of the Gray Catbird during the last few years but this is the first time that I like the outcome. Not that there isn’t any room for improvement but I’m happy to present this image to you. Yes, this doesn’t have the “wow” factor, gray is probably not the favorite color of most people, but my concern as a nature photographer is to create awareness for all the species that need our attention in our local and global ecosystems.

Guard of the hole

 

This was supposed to be a photo of a 13-lines Ground Squirrel but instead our dog Cooper took the center stage. We were at the observation parking lot at the airport again this evening. There is a burrow in the slope of the hill where I have photographed these little critters before. While waiting for an airplane to land one of the ground squirrels stuck its head out of the hole. The instinct of the Rat Terrier in Cooper (he is probably a mix of Rat Terrier and Blue Healer) took over and he started chasing the little squirrel immediately. The squirrel disappeared rapidly with a loud squeal. For the next forty-five minutes the dog guarded the hole with utmost attention but I guess the squirrel had better things to do than messing with Cooper… ;-)

Nature clicks #240 - Giant Swallowtail

 

During the last 2 -3 years we did not have so many butterflies up on the bluffs here as during the seven years before since we lived above the Little Maquoketa River Valley. In 2014 it seems we see a lot more again. I don’t specialize in this kind of photography but when I saw four Giant Swallowtails at the same time feeding on our Purple Coneflowers I could not resist and grabbed the D300s with the 150, f/2.8 lens attached.

The Giant’s are probably not as shy as some of the other butterflies and let me come close sometime. They are one of the largest butterflies in North America.

Peak of action, the very short breaks while they are feeding, and watching the background were the key for these shots. I hope you enjoy.

Weekend at the airport

 

Not really happy with the outcome last Friday I had to go back to the airport yesterday and give it another try. The warbirds were still in town and continued their practice for the air show in Oshkosh next week. It was another typical Iowa mid-summer day, hot, muggy, and with a lot of haze in the air, however, I don’t want to blame the weather conditions for my low keeper rate yesterday. It is simple just the lack of practice with my panning technique.

I went home after three hours and after the sky became gray again and analyzed the pictures that I made so far. The sun came out again in the late afternoon and I went back to the airport a second time.

I started shooting with a slightly faster shutter speed since I obviously wasn’t able to handle 1/60s or 1/90s that day. It doesn’t give me a full turn of the props but still blurs their rotation and leaves no doubt about that these airplanes flew with high speed and were not just “parked on a stick” that was later removed in Photoshop… ;-)

Not quite ready but still made the click

 

A blog post of my friend Dave Updegraff this morning reminded me that some of the airplanes that participate in the Airventure Oshkosh in Wisconsin next week are currently at the Dubuque airport and practice for some of the air shows in this big annual event. While working in my office I heard them flying by several times this afternoon and this was another reminder for me. After work I gave it a try and went to the airport, despite a uniform gray overcast in the sky. I wasn’t even really ready to shoot some pictures when three of the planes flew close by and landed shortly after. I ripped through a series of shots and that was it! Nothing happened after that. :-(

This is “The Rebel”, Capt. Joe Joiner, a restored airplane and a replica of a P-51D flown by WWII 4th Fighter Group veteran Captain Joseph H. Joiner. Not very flattering light but at least I got one thing right. Its prop is blurred, which gives us a sense of motion, and I can see the pilot’s face and microphone in the larger original of this photo. I made the image with 1/90s and was a little surprised that I got the shot, because I have not practiced my panning technique lately. Well, there is an old German saying, even a blind hen finds a corn from time to time… ;-)

Bunnies! - gestures and light

 

As deeper I dive into wildlife photography as more I become aware that a simple gesture of an animal can make the difference between a great photo and a not so great photo. If the animal doesn’t “cooperate” at least some great light can make the difference. This is especially true for critters that everybody has seen before or that are relatively common.

We can find the Eastern Cottontail at several places around here and these photos were again made at Finley’s Landing down at the Mississippi River. But that doesn’t mean it is easy to make a good click. The best way to make it happen with these young bunnies is to let them come to you. Simple sit and wait for your chance.

I used my car as a blind again and after a while they didn’t run away and came very close to the vehicle. I enjoy watching the cute cottontails chewing on some fresh grass or chasing each other in the evening. And as I said, if the gesture is right or the light is killer, the click has to be made…