A new short video - "Love is in the Air: Eagles along the Winnebago River". Paddling the first week of January and watching the local Eagles. What fun. [Warning: Eagles mating]
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Another beautiful January day in North Iowa with frost on everything. I took a lot of photos today. (Click or tap images to see the larger image.)            We visited some friends last night and were pleased to see that they had four of my wildlife photos displayed nicely on their wall.  A close encounter with a Canada Goose. As I sat in the bottom of my kayak slowly drifting with the minimal current I floated within 15 feet of this goose at eye level. It was preening on the ice and paid little attention to me as I quietly drifted by even though I'm sure it could hear the sound of my shutter - click, click, click. A normal response would have been loud honking followed by a noisy retreat, but this one apparently felt that I was no threat. A special moment on New Year's day.  Jack Frost was busy last night painting everything with frost.         I ventured out to photograph the artwork created by the new fallen snow and the late afternoon sun. The shadows and flowing shapes of the snow created delicate sculptures that faded with the setting sun and warm days to follow. A fleeting but beautiful moment. (Click or tap to see the larger images.)       A hen Pheasant foraging for something to eat in the crop stubble under the snow in zero degree weather. Photo taken from the car.  Our backyard dinner guest, a immature Sharp-shinned Hawk, has been frequenting our backyard studying the meal options at the smorgasbord of small birds at our bird feeders. in the bottom two photos he has a bird in his talons. Hawks need to eat to stay alive. It is the natural order of nature. Photos through the window on dark overcast days. (Click or tap the images to see the larger image.)     Early morning frost on the inside of the storm door. Sometimes I don't have to venture far from my easy chair to take an interesting photo. It all quickly melted when warmed by the direct sunlight. (Click images to see larger.)    A limestone cave on the Winnebago River. Through much of the spring and summer the river flows through this cave. At this time of year when the river is very low I can get out of the kayak to walk in and take a photo with an ultra wide angle lens. The dark hole at the top is really straight overhead, but the wide angle lens changes the perspective. Click or tap to see the photo larger.  There was still color in the trees yesterday, while paddling the Winnebago River. But after two days of high winds I'm sure a lot have blown off the trees. We also saw a few deer along the river. (Click images to see larger)        I can find peace and tranquility floating even the simplest of farm creeks. I just enjoy paddling. Often these creeks are quite low and difficult to paddle this time of year, but this one had a little help from some skilled dam builders who apparently only work at night and make use of locally harvested building materials. Here is a short video: Calm water autumn reflections are wonderful. (Click image to see larger.)  It was a beautiful, quiet, peaceful morning paddling in Ventura Marsh in north Iowa. We saw lots of birds (and one muskrat). It was especially fun watching the curious little Marsh Wrens as they peeked out of the cattails to see the visitors in canoes. See the captions with the photos. [Click images to see larger in a slide show.]                 We had the pleasure of watching a Sharp-shinned Hawk for about 10 minutes from the car on the side of a residential street in Casselton, ND. It didn’t seem to mind at all that we were nearby and taking photos. [Click images to see larger.]
Here is a short video of the hawk taking a bath. Video taken from the car. Looking back at an early start to my photography career with my Kodak Retinette 1A 35mm camera hanging on my neck. I was 14 or 15 backpacking in Montana with the Boy Scouts. I assume that my dad took the photo of me soaking in the beauty of the mountains. He only used Agfa color transparency (slide) film. This Retinette was my second camera which I used through high school. I had a plastic Kodak Brownie camera previously when I was 12 that melted in the back window of my aunt and uncle's car going across Wyoming in 105 degree heat with no AC in the car. It had my photos of black bears in Yellowstone National Park. I've been taking nature photos ever since.  |
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January 2023
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