Not Just Any Turtles

This afternoon I watched as several vehicles slowed to look at many turtles basking in the early spring sun on logs in the water. Seeing so many turtles congregated together in such small spaces was certainly interesting. Even more so was that one of the turtles is considered a threatened species…

Sleep Demons to Flams

My sleep demons made a very early appearance this morning. Instead of tossing and turning in bed, I got up, bundled up, and started burning our pollinator habitat before the wind kicked up. (I called…)

Featuring Long-eared Owls

Based on recent unproductive searches and info from others, it appears the long-eared owl season in my area of Iowa may be ending.

This year’s weather was less than ideal for photos. But, photos were secondary to seeing the owls.

These are multiple long-eared owls at multiple locations.

Featuring Saw-whet Owls

Based on recent unproductive searches and info from others, it appears the saw-whet owl season in my area of Iowa may have ended.

While too many of the days when I photographed saw-whets were gray, I was fortunate to have some times when the sky was blue and the compositions worked.

These are multiple saw-whet owls at multiple locations.

Anyone Missing Pelicans?

For my birding/outdoor photographer friends in the George Wyth area… have you noticed fewer pelicans at the park in the last day or two? I am guessing the numbers may be down by a couple/few hundred birds. We have them…

Head Was Hanging But I Was Up

Had you seen me in the timber earlier today you may have thought I was a sad, maybe distraught person as I hiked with my head hanging low. Do not worry, I was…

Nature’s March Madness with Extra Scores (Pics)

While so many that I know are closely watching “March Madness” basketball, I am enjoying March Madness - Nature Style. In fact, today’s Nature’s March Madness included a triple-double with extra scores. Allow me to explain.

I went on a search today for the first three early wildflowers to bloom in Northeast Iowa. One species - skunk cabbage - I had already photographed a couple of times. Still I included skunk cabbage in my triple-double (two pics of the first three plants to flower in the late winter/early spring). The other two species were…

Super-sized Mink

During several recent hikes at Sweet Marsh I have had close encounters with a mink. I believe the mink is just curious when it approaches me. Aggressiveness does not seem to an issue. Yet, I do not want the mink to get too close and then realize I am a human. It may just turn aggressive at no fault of its own if it feels threatened.

When I headed out for my walk this morning I mentioned to Kristy that I might see the mink again. Little did I know that I was about to see a super-sized mink.

In the area where the mink has been seen today there was no mink but there was a huge….

Leucistic Whitetail Deer

Some time ago I was made aware of an albino deer being seen. It has taken some time but I finally found the deer a while ago. Although neither image shared here provides a clear view of this unique deer, enough detail exists (I think) to answer a question. Is this a leucistic deer or an albino deer?

My belief, based on the images, is that this is not an albino whitetail deer, but is a leucistic whitetail deer. Both are rare versions of whitetail deer, with albino deer being even more rare than leucistic deer.

For an animal to be considered albino, it must completely lack pigment. The nose, hooves, and the eyes should be pink.

We cannot see the hooves in any photos, so let’s eliminate that from consideration. The nose is pink, but the eyes are not. No matter how the deer’s head was facing me, I always saw dark color in the eyes.

When you look at the hair on the side of the deer when it is standing, some faint color is visible… not much, but some. It is possible that was from laying on the forest floor, but I don’t think so.

Research on albino and leucistic deer indicates that both will breed and can pass the mutant genes. Albino deer tend to have poor vision. Both versions and pie-bald deer (normal color with splotches of white) tend to face more challenges with survival due to their visibility. That said, this deer was a challenge to find. I looked for a couple of months before finding this deer.

Leucistic or albino, this deer is rare. I will not be sharing any location information.

Class Pictures/Family Pictures

Early this morning I checked out George Wyth to see what spring migrants may have stopped by recently. I, along with many others with cameras, were treated to many American white pelicans in most waters at the park.

Unlike observations of pelicans at Sweet Marsh, these pelicans were closely gathered under warm (golden) light. The setting made for nice pictures, assuming you adjusted for the….

Natural Framing

Generally, when photographing bald eagles, my compositions are either of the birds in flight or on roost in a tree. The images are clear with what appears to be an unobstructed view of the bird.

Unlike other bald eagles that roost in our trees, this bird appeared to be comfortable watching me move around in the open in our yard. As I often do, I shot the typical photos of the bald eagle, with nothing obscuring our vision of the bird.

When the eagle did not fly away, I decided I would attempt to compose images with natural framing of out-of-focus spruce branches around a bald eagle high in a spruce tree.

I am not sure if I like the addition to the composition or not. It could be all types of compositions are acceptable - with natural framing and without. I need to give it time to see if I still like them days or weeks down the road.

All Rise (or mostly all)

My early morning walk at Sweet Marsh was very productive as far as bird observations were concerned. Most interesting were the hundreds, maybe thousands, of mallards with…

WARNING - Graphic!

Road-kill Collateral Damage

Once again a bald eagle was killed as a result of feeding on a road-killed whitetail deer along a local highway.

A Bremer County deputy and I were hopeful we would be rescuing an injured eagle, but that was not the case. At the death scene, in addition to the whitetail deer - a doe - was the dead bald eagle and two dead whitetail deer fetuses.

If motorists wonder why I frequently remove animals from the highway, it is to prevent these situations.

To bring this post something positive, I am including images of eagles photographed not far from the death scene.

A “Busy With Birds” Day

Seldom do I know what to expect for my days. I might start out with one project and find several other opportunities altering the trajectory of the day. Today was such a day.

According to the radar, the winter storm was supposed to be winding down early this morning, so I went out in search of featured creatures. I found bald eagles - many bald eagles - in trees and catching fish. With the bald eagles were ring-billed gulls catching smaller fish. I also found common mergansers and many American robins.

After I returned home I received notification of a downed bald eagle. The bird had been observed entering the open water of a pond to maintain distance between my buddy and the bird. My buddy assembled a team of assistants to prevent any additional water entries. I lined up the necessary gear for the capture and a transfer of care to Black Hawk Wildlife Rehabilitation Project.

It was a busy day!

Weathering the Weather - Two Viewpoints

Whether we approve of the weather this weekend or not, soon we will be treated to wind and snow on top of the rain and ice that fell earlier today. It would be tempting to hunker down on the couch inside to avoid the misery. But, I had to go out to “see” our outdoor landscape and wildlife. Ugly conditions or not, I found plenty to photograph. I will divide this post into “Wildlife” and “Scenery” views of weathering the weather.

Wildlife

Holding Patterns?

I don’t know if it was due to yesterday’s weather, today’s weather, more open water, or something else, but the avian activity at Sweet Marsh was much subdued this morning compared to…

Priorities

Since today was a trip north with a family member, my outdoor time was limited to a few minutes around our farm.

Two adult bald eagles were in the field near us. This was the closest bird.

I hope for more outdoor time tomorrow, but am thankful trips north are still needed. I will trade outdoor time for family time.

Pushing Their Way Upwards

Even though the calendar is showing only mid-March, and even though we have a Winter Storm Watch issued for this weekend, some spring wildflowers are working their way toward sunshine.

I was out looking today for other early wildflowers, but found none. Instead of going home without images, I opted to look around for more skunk cabbage plants since my last visit. I found quite a few and photographed some that I share here.

Continuation of a Great Morning

In yesterday’s post I shared close encounters with common goldeneyes, trumpeter swans, and a mink. But, that was not all I enjoyed at close range. I had many ducks…

Close Encounters of the Nature Type - X2

During my morning walk at Sweet Marsh this morning I had two close encounters with wildlife that I did not expect.

Encounter #1 - I was photographing a pair of trumpeter swans that were checking out a muskrat mound, maybe for future nesting.