All Categories - Bruce G. McKee Photos

Herons at Maskunky Marsh

7/24/2021

It seems that one of the biggest events for Iowa birders and photographers this summer is the appearance of Yellow-crowned Night Herons at Maskunky Marsh near Oskaloosa, IA. They are rather unusual in Iowa, normally frequenting the southern Gulf and Atlantic states. This has been a big deal in this location with hundreds of birders and photographers going to the marsh in the last month to see these birds and other herons, egrets and smaller shore birds.
Part two of this excitement has been two juvenile Little Blue Herons in the past week. They are all white and only look like their adult version by size rather than color. I spent two mornings there this week coming home with hundreds of photos.
Click the images below to see larger (captions below each photo).

Milky Way and Lake Reflections

6/16/2021

A quiet, calm, clear night at Lake of Three Fires State Park in southwestern Iowa. I just had to go out and and try a little Milky Way - stars photography. The stars were bright enough to get a few reflections in the calm lake.

Cerro Gordo Photo Show 2021

5/14/2021

Three of my photos were accepted to the 41st Annual Cerro Gordo Photo Show this year. Always an honor. Photos in the Photo Show can be seen at the Charles H. MacNider Art Museum until July 10, 2021. Click images to see full image.

Eastern Screech Owl photo

Sandhill Cranes flying at Sunrise photo

Early morning reflections of two trees on the surface of a pond.

Woodland Wildflowers

5/8/2021

White Trout Lilies, early morning before the flowers are fully open. This is a woodland flower that blooms early spring. It gets is name from the spotted leaves that may resemble the spots on brook trout or brown trout. There were literally millions of them in this Minnesota forest.

There are thousands of species of Trilliums. They are similar in that they are a woodland wildflower with three large leaves on a single long stem and form a triangle when viewed from the top. They produce a single flower with three petals and three sepals (the small green leaves that support the petals). In most varieties the flower is upright standing tall above the leaves, but these hang upside down below the leaves. They bloom in the spring and don't last long. For me, it is always a joy to find them growing in the woods.

Dutchman's Breeches (sometimes pronounced 'britches') a woodland wildflower that blooms early spring. Turn the flower upside down and it looks a bit like the breeches or knickers worn by men from the 16th to 19th century.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit, a woodland wildflower. The strange name might be because of the similarity of the shape of the old-time church pulpit with the minister or priest standing in the middle. Although, these can either be a male or female plant (maybe a Jill-in-the Pulpit?).

Cooper's Hawk

5/1/2021

A Coopers Hawk on a branch over the river. I was in the bow of the canoe with the camera on my lap. My paddling buddy Dale in the stern gently keeping us on course as we floated with the slow current on a beautiful Spring morning. Dale (in whispers): "Look up ahead. Ahead up on the tree branch. AHEAD. TWELVE O'CLOCK! UP ABOVE YOU!!" (I found it). Click, click click...and it was gone. But I did get a couple of nice images. Thanks Dale. Life is good.
[Click Image to see larger]

Great Horned Owlets

4/30/2021

A Great Horned Owlet about ready to fledge the nest (taken today) and its younger sibling (taken last week). It was really dark back in the limestone cave, even on a bright day. I've enjoyed photographing young owls in this same nest for several years, but I almost never see an adult where I can get a photo.

Nesting Wood Ducks

4/29/2021

Male Wood Duck - Click to see larger

I just love Wood Ducks and it helps to know someone who maintains nest boxes. I was invited by a local gentleman, Eldon Siemers, to accompany him as he went out to inspect a dozen or more Wood Duck houses that he built, installed and maintains. As we quietly approached each nest box he carefully inserted a cell phone camera in to the box to take a photo to see if there was a hen nesting in the box. Some were empty, but others did have a bird nesting or had unattended eggs. There were 30 eggs in one box, not necessarily from the same Wood Duck. Apparently females may lay eggs in an established nest box where another bird has already laid eggs. There is a lot more to tell about this activity, but it was a very interesting morning.

Tulip Festival in Pella, IA

4/23/2021

Click to see larger

Pella, IA is famous for the annual Tulip Festival held in April every year. We avoided the crowds and went a week early when many or most of the tulips were in bloom and had a nice walk and drive around town to view the tulips.
Click images to see larger.

Neil Smith NWR

4/23/2021

On an evening drive through Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge (Iowa) we of course, saw Bison and Elk, but I was really thrilled to see several Ring-necked Pheasants in the fading light. (Photos from the car.)
[Click images to see larger.]

Sharp-tailed Grouse Courtship

4/21/2021

I spent two mornings in a blind at the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge in the north-central sand hills of Nebraska to photograph the courtship displays of Sharp-tailed Grouse. This was my second trip to photograph them in Nebraska; the first trip to a different location scuttled by floods in 2019. Arriving to the blind in the dark before sunrise I waited until the grouse came out to the "lek", the grounds where they do their courtship displays on the top of a knoll in an open area of the mid-grass prairie of the sand hills.
It is an interesting display. The males come out to the lek to impress a female and to discourage other males. The males may strut around an area that they deem to be theirs and aggressively confront any other male who might attempt to walk through or claim the same piece of turf. When females are present the males will put their head down, tail straight up in the air shoulders forward and wings out to the side inflating purple neck sacks and do a rapid tippy-tap dance around and around to try to impress a mostly disinterested female. Sometimes the males are beak to beak doing their dance, trying to out-do the other male. Sometimes they get very aggressive, jumping up in the air and coming down feet first on top of the other male. When the females wander off in to the taller grass most activity stops until a female returns. This goes on for an hour or two after sunrise and then the birds leave, to return again tomorrow to start over again. I don't know at what point a female selects a male to breed with, but I understand that she is on her own to lay er eggs and tend to her nest and young after breeding.
Lots of photos below. Click an image to see larger. Captions below the photos.

Milky Way over the Sand Hills of Nebraska

4/20/2021

The sand hills of North central Nebraska have some of the darkest skies in the country. There are almost no lights for miles and miles. On a moonless night and no light pollution the Milky Way was radiant in the night sky. This photo was taken last week from Valentine National Wildlife Refuge about 5:00 AM. The light on the horizon in the lower right corner was from North Platte, about 90+ miles away.

Three Owl Day

4/17/2021

Great Horned Owlets

Four eyes on puffballs. Fluffy young Great Horned Owlets in their nest area checking me out. I have photographed owls in this same cave in North Iowa for several years. I don't know if it is the same adults breeding here but there has been a nest every year for 10 years or more. These youngsters will leave the nest in a couple of weeks and never return. (I was across the river about 40-50 yards away. 840mm and cropped.)

Gray Morph Eastern Screech Owl

Gray morph Eastern Screech Owl. A guest at the Cupola Inn Bed and Breakfast. I photographed an owl in this nest box last year. Maybe a return guest? I was across the yard, keeping my distance. (840mm and cropped.)

Click images to see larger.

Antique Farm Equipment

4/9/2021

I like old farm machinery, barns and windmills and often stop to take photos. The wagons and farm implements below were strategically places around a golf course in Granby, CO. The look abandon and desolate in the pristine snow. I had a nice snowshoe hike around the golf course to take a few photos. The old original 1880's barn is at the Snow Mountain Ranch - YMCA of the Rockies near Granby, CO. [Click images to see larger]

Grand Lake, CO, Forest Fire Aftermath

3/25/2021

In mid October, 2020 a massive forest fire quickly engulfed the area around Grand Lake, CO, the western side of Rocky Mountain National Park, then jumped the continental divide heading for Estes Park, CO, burning nearly 200,000 acres and destroying or damaging hundreds of homes and buildings. You can do a Google search for Grand Lake forest fire to find many articles about the destruction.
In the aftermath of the fire blanketed with snow there is an strange silence in the forest. Most of the trees are incinerated to only the trunk standing. Others still retain their pine needles but are completely scorched. In some places the heat and strong winds caused trees to fold in half bending to touch tops to the ground. There is almost no underbrush in the forest and it seems to be devoid of most wildlife. In some areas the barren trees create interesting shadows on the snow in the early morning and late afternoon. All of these photos show some of the burned and scorched trees on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park. [Click the images to see larger.]

More Rocky Mountain National summertime photos.

Great Horned Owl Nest

3/25/2021

Thanks to a tip from my good friend Rita, I found a Great Horned Owl nest today on a island in the Shell Rock River in North Iowa. A long way from the road and the photos are heavily cropped.

See also Great Horned Owlets from previous years.