Opposite Non-traditional Images

For as long as I have been shooting wildlife photos, some species have been photographed in similar compositions. The commonalities have not been intentional. It is just with some species you have only certain opportunities for photographs, unless you are lucky like I was tonight.

I was out paddling before the full moon rose tonight. Far off, in the top of a tree, I saw and photographed a double-crested cormorant silhouette image. Usually my double-crested cormorant images are of the birds in flight or on water or on a log, but not tonight. Tonight’s version of a double-crested cormorant is a tree-top silhouette composition.

Calm Water… Exploding Water

Some water is calm and some water is not so calm.

When water is hosting a quiet trumpeter swan, a coot, or a pair of sleepy mallards, the water is smooth and relaxing.

I Wish I Had Waders With Me

During a drive tonight this flash of white as I passed by caused me to stop, back up, and take a look through my camera lens. Oh how I wish I had waders to check out what appears to be a snow goose. The dark bill is confusing me some, but based on size it appears to be a dead snow goose.

I am curious too what killed this bird. There is definite blood on the…

Seen Today

Once again weather conditions were not in this photographer’s favor as I attempted to document some of the wildlife that was active today. Still, I gave it a good try and have a small sampling of images featuring the bird species in the area. Some are migrating through; others are residents. All were fun to watch.

Common = Better, Not So Common = Not So Good

Even though the wind was howling today, I still was able to shoot some wildlife photos. I am going to divide my pictures into two groupings - the common species that had better lighting resulting in better images and the less common species with poor lighting and not so good images. Let’s begin with the less common species.

I had heard from a friend where I might see common loons. I quickly found the interesting birds, but all four were too far away for acceptable images. So, windy or not, I went out on the water to approach closer. Between the wind and the gray skies, shooting any decent pictures was not likely. Still, I did manage a few good enough to share to document the loons were present.

A Variety

During the time between projects today I was able to get out to explore our outdoor world in the midst of the spring migration. My wanderings included a brief woodland walk and time around a local river and wetland. Rather than babble about each picture, I will just share them below.

Luckier than Others

From what I have heard, Bremer County was luckier than other counties in the state. As weather fronts collided over Iowa, severe storms exploded over a large portion of the state.

Bremer County had thunderstorm and tornado warnings, sirens sounded and phones alerted, but overall the impacts were minimal. For that I am thankful.

I monitored the weather from our home, along with multiple radar sources and weather communications with the National Weather Service. All is now quiet here.

This link will take you to a couple of storm cloud time lapse videos.

Storm Clouds

The following picture shows an interesting cloud formation.

Walk Less, Pause More, Document Better

Too many years have passed since I last backpacked at/on Isle Royale National Park. IRNP is the least visited national park in the lower 48-states hosting fewer visitors in a year than Yellowstone sees in a day. Access to IRNP is by sea plane or ferry. Once on the island there is little to no communications. Wildlife species of interest are moose and wolves, fox and snowshoe hares, along with assorted birds, bugs, reptiles and amphibians.

This remote island is mapped with 165-miles of trails. The last time I visited the island I completed my goal of hiking all 165-miles. Since then life has happened and I have not been back. My absence has been much too long.

Later tonight I will be meeting with family members to possibly fulfill their dream of visiting the island. Unlike previous hikes on IR, this one will likely have a strong emphasis on outdoor photography. In other words, walk less, pause more, document the scenery better. If this works I have more photography friends who have expressed an interest in a similar outing. Who knows, maybe this will become a regular activity.

Wanting More

Most of the time when I attempt bird photography my preference would be an interesting composition featuring a bird in flight. However, when it comes to the ring-billed gull (featured here), I would really like a photo of the bird in a static position that does not include something man-made, or covered in bird droppings, or simply unattractive. To date I do not remember saving a ring-billed gull photo meeting my static criteria.

Today, after being left alone by a quick departing double-crested cormorant (first of the year), I had only this ring-billed gull to practice wildlife photography on. Like normal, the gull provided ample opportunity for photos, but all were in flight against an uninteresting blue sky. I suppose some picture is better than no picture, but this does leave me wanting more from this species.

Thanks for NOTHING… Clouds in the Western Sky

I tried… I was set up and ready to go to photograph five planets lined up after sunset. Then our view was blocked by a long bank of clouds on the western horizon, right where we should have seen the planets.

Only a brief handful of minutes were available to see all five planets before the view was lost of one. Do you think the clouds moved any, or broke up just enough to see the planets? Oh no… we still have clouds.

I suppose I should look at this with positivity. Maybe the clouds will bring enough rain to wash some of the slop off my truck. And for another glimmer of hope - I will have this opportunity again in 2040 if I am still around and shooting pictures.

While waiting for clouds to give me a break (didn’t happen), I did shoot pictures of these mature sunflower heads against a setting sun sky. (At least we did not have clouds in the sky for the northern lights last week! For that I should be grateful)

Sometimes it is the Journey AND the Destination

Ralph Waldo Emerson is attributed with the quote “It’s the not the Destination, It's the journey.” More often than not the statement makes sense. However, sometimes anomalies exist as another fellow and I experienced today.

Radio work was needed on the Bremer County public safety communications system. To complete some of the work involved an interesting journey in a small, hardly one-person elevator car constructed of open, woven steel that inched its way up the 120’ to the location of the radio equipment rack on the roof of the silo. The elevator ride was my journey…the roof-mounted equipment rack was my destination. One took your breath away with a view of a quaint, rural town in Iowa while one took your breath away as you hoped claustrophobia, or….

More Season Indicators

What an interesting weather day! Only a few miles from our house the folks enjoyed many inches of snow. We ended the day with not even a snowflake and we are fine with that. After all, it is spring, right?

Today we enjoyed several spring indicators. I saw my first turkey vulture and photographed my first killdeer at close range (first saw them last week). Click for more.

Seasons

According to the calendar we changed seasons one day last week. While most people divide the year into four seasons, for me - at least at the cabin - there are two seasons. Season 1 includes the many months when the dock is in the water. Season 2 would be the rest of the year (a much more disappointing time). As of mid-morning today, Season 1 arrived as our third oldest grandchild learned how to help put the dock in the water. Now we need to use it!

Wow (with details) and Waterfowl

Last night the aurora borealis (northern lights) were easily visible over Northeast Iowa. Many people were out enjoying the display with eyes, cell phones, and cameras. I recorded many images and learned in the process since we seldom photograph northern lights in our area.

Following are some of the details I noticed for the next northern lights photo shoot.

* No UV filter to minimize/eliminate Newton's Rings.

* Have a second camera recording video or multiple images to create a video.

* If doubting white balance or sensor heating up - shoot to the south. If no color cast, then you are really recording the multitude of colors from the display.

* Watch for solar winds to push the lights around. It is hard to record - maybe just enjoy the show.

* Remember the rules for recording stars on time-lapse - long exposure but not too long so stars are distorted.

* Last night was such a long, vivid show that I eventually put my in-camera intervalometer to work. Work smarter, not harder!

* Experiment with settings. Maybe the lights bright enough you can…

Shameless Self-promotion

Every now and then I dabble in photography and writing. OK, maybe a little more than dabbling.

Sometimes my efforts result in more than simply sharing images on my website or through social media. Occasionally my work makes it to print and is more widely distributed for others to enjoy.

For the latest edition of the Iowa Outdoors magazine I not only have an article with many photos published in the center, but one of my images made the cover.

At the risk of appearing to boast (I am not), I will admit that I am proud to see how nice the layout is and how the images look in print. The folks who put the Iowa Outdoors magazine together did a fine job. Thank you Brian and team!

Reconnecting with Bill

The more I wander this dirtball called earth, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know. Of the little I know, one detail I am aware of is the value of friendships. Friendships - close or closer than you realized. Friendships - the kind where you see someone from across a room and within a few words have reconnected after years of disconnect.

Today I, along with other public health, EMS, hospital, and EMA planners, met to conduct an exercise to plan for the future. Our group was divided by counties - filling a hall at Upper Iowa University. As I participated in the discussion, one fellow caught my attention as he took his seat with his county of residence. I thought I was seeing Bill, but yet I was not certain. The last I knew, Bill was the captain of a whale watching ship in the Pacific Northwest. Eventually, during a break, I texted the fellow next to him - another friend (Dan) - to ask who the guy was that looked so much like Bill. My other friend did not receive the text in time to answer my question.

Soon after the exercise wrapped up my friend Dan waved me over to his table. As I approached the table my wondering ended as I recognized Bill was back. Almost as quickly as a snap of fingers the years apart vanished and we almost picked up our conversation where left off so long ago.

Yes Bill is still running the big boat in his retirement while at the same time he is connected locally. He is as well as can be expected as am I. We talked, we laughed, and we agreed to get together to catch up on old times. What an interesting sidenote to today’s gathering!

During the few minutes as people arrived and prepared for the exercise, conversations included the foggy conditions we had this morning. There were at least two of us who find fog pretty, unless it makes driving unsafe. I am one who enjoys fog and what it does for photography. For example - before work I photographed trumpeter swans and wood ducks in fog. My compositions began with close-ups of both species - where the birds were a major element in the frame. Eventually my favorite image became a much wider view that featured the timber, the shallow water, the fog, and the swans. I will share several versions of compositions. Which do you prefer?

This Is Layla

My walk with Kristy tonight had an extra four legs with it, at least for part of the time, when Layla joined us. Layla is our Shih Tzu with an ample list of issues - she is pretty much blind in one eye and headed that way in the other, is possessed with selective deafness, has no teeth, suffers from a tongue that falls out due to no teeth, occasionally drools, and sports a somewhat wider chassis than is needed for the size of her head.

We took Layla on our walk so we could get her use to her pet stroller. She needs that since she lacks stamina unless she is chasing…

What We Saw (Quality Challenged)

After work this afternoon Kristy and I enjoyed another long walk at Sweet Marsh. Our goal was to see what might be happening on a very pleasant first day of spring.

From our vantage point on the dikes we observed…

Sweet Marsh in the Wind Observations

Breezy or not, Kristy and I walked around the refuge, above the dam, along Marten’s Lake, and around Segment A at Sweet Marsh this afternoon. With the windy conditions we were not sure if we would see much or not. See things we did!

Our first observations were killdeer - maybe a dozen pairs - in the shallow channel in the refuge.

We found most of our bald eagle observations in the protected area in the corner above the dam and over Marten’s Lake. Adult eagles were not nearly as willing to fly over us as younger birds were.

Gramps and Grandma Camp

This weekend two of our grandkids had an opportunity for us to stay with them at their house for the day or them to stay with us for the weekend. Both chose camp at our house for the weekend. That meant it was time for special activities.

First we had our pancake flipping and catching for breakfast. Today was special when we made Funfetti pancakes, along with sausage and fruit. Only a couple of pancakes touched something other than plates - attributed to bad flips from Gramps. Afterwards our granddaughter and Kristy worked on crafts while our grandson and I went…