Nature is pretty ingenious when it comes to its creatures and helping keep them stay safe and secure. While hiking a nature preserve in Siouxland I stopped along a line of trees bordering a meadow area looking into the distance to see what I might find. And then I saw flitting flashes of yellow appear and poof, disappear.
The Eastern Meadowlark would appear, then duck down to look for a snack, appearing elsewhere within the area and then disappear again. Foraging in the tall dead grass made it challenging to track it and be able to photograph it successfully. But finally I figured out that while it was eating and checking out the ground around it, I could inch my way forward until I was closer and a better chance of isolating it within the tall grass. I find it a opportunity to fine tune my focusing skills, both AF and manual. Not always successfully and will probably be fine tuning until the end of my days.
But it’s fun to watch the various birds behaviors and the chance to see if my photo skills measure up to their natural state of being.
The flying daggers as I call them – always think they look like skinny nerf footballs with a very pointy end whenever I see them. If you are lucky enough (as you were), they’ll give you a look at their breast/neck, otherwise they are really hard to find in the tall grass from the back … I guess as nature had intended.
Yeah, I was surprised it let me creep up so close, but kept inching forward as it was foraging in the grass. Trying to get better about “peering” into foliage and grass to see what I can find and follow. Not always successful, but joyful when I am.
I live in the Siouxland area that encompasses a wide swatch of land in northwest Iowa, northeastern Nebraska and southeastern South Dakota. The people that inhabit this area are generous folk and your basic honest, Midwestern people you like to have as neighbors. I explore the area and share observations, mostly photographic, sometimes through video, and and short text. All images and video are copyrighted material of the author.
Jerry Mennenga, Sioux City, Iowa
jerrylmennenga@yahoo.com
lostinsiouxland 
Fun find Jerry, and sweet melody as a reward.
Yeah, it was fun to hear it sing and get a response. And it wasn’t Merlin.
Always better to hear a response from another bird. Maybe that means more photo opportunities as well.
The flying daggers as I call them – always think they look like skinny nerf footballs with a very pointy end whenever I see them. If you are lucky enough (as you were), they’ll give you a look at their breast/neck, otherwise they are really hard to find in the tall grass from the back … I guess as nature had intended.
Yeah, I was surprised it let me creep up so close, but kept inching forward as it was foraging in the grass. Trying to get better about “peering” into foliage and grass to see what I can find and follow. Not always successful, but joyful when I am.