Sometimes when traipsing about in Siouxland looking for critters I get surprised with what I might find. I have driven past the Owego Wetland Complex numerous times, seeing the sign along a highway but never took the time to really stop and explore. While walking about a wooded area that is surrounded by an open field I saw what I thought was an unusual shape in amongst tree branches. A big lump as it were that seemed out of place. I slowly made my way over and the realized it was an owl of some description that I learned later from a birding friend that it is a great horned owl.
It was a nice sunny, blue sky kind of day, but the dear was sitting in a tree grove, looking out from the shadows in the afternoon looking for a snack I believe. I would have preferred a better angle with a little more sunshine and sky with color, but the dense shadow on even an early spring type day didn’t happen. As I backed away and tried to make my way around so the sun would be shining into the shaded area, the little guy left. Its solitude shattered by a curious one-eyed cyclops.
Sometimes it isn’t until after the fact when I have been out traversing Siouxland that I run across various images that may or may not have anything in common. By themselves they may be simple, nondescript kinds of photographs. And some folk may think that anyway even as a collective. But collectively images should have something in common.
It’s possible that even a tenuous element(s) can create a common factor. I find color is one such element. And it mostly depends on how one sees color and if color then becomes the main subject matter, relegating that actual subject of the photograph as a secondary subject. Beauty and art is in the eye of the beholder. Andy Warhol proved that time and again.
I always enjoy meeting “folk” when I am out and about I Siouxland checking out places or taking a hike or walk somewhere. But the same can not always be considered mutual depending on who it is I encounter.
On a recent walk on the Union Trail Bridge in Correctionville a family of deer were munching their way along the trail when they saw me. They paused, and as I began photographing them they decided to look for another “dining” area. Evidently eight or nine is company, but ten is not. Sometimes sharing is not all that it’s supposed to be.
There have been times over the years I have photographing, here in Siouxland and elsewhere, that I could tell my presence wasn’t appreciated. When working for a newspaper and covering news events, it is not always possible to spare people’s feelings especially is they are public figures or involved in a public event. And sometimes those folk let the photographer know in no uncertain terms that their presence is not welcome. I recently encountered that while driving by an area I was familiar and had seen what appeared to be abandoned eagle’s nests years before.
In another area I had an eagle’s nest and it was occupied, but by Canada geese. Who also didn’t seem to like my presence on the ground but did not raise as big a fuss as this particular eagle who continued to soar and swoop and scream until I walked quite a distance away from the area.
The eagle seemed to be protecting its own nest along with that of a Canadian goose couple in a nest not far away. And some ways down a road there is yet a third nest, also occupied by Canadian geese. It’s always good to have neighbors, because that couple also raised an alarm that someone was walking about on foot. Welcome to nature’s Neighborhood Watch.
Recently the full moon for the month of April appeared. It was reported to be a special moon, or pink moon, because of historical aspects reflected by different cultures. Spring brings forth flowers and blooms and it was thought that the appearance of a ground phlox was the reason April’s moon is referred to as a “pink” moon.
The challenge of photographing full moons in a rural setting is that, unlike cities, there generally are no tall buildings to visually play off of. Plus, as the moon rises above the taller buildings it has risen above the horizon and the sun has set, and general city lighting plus building lighting makes it easier to balance the brightness of the celestial body with that of nearby surroundings.
So sometimes one must improvise and make do with what is there. All the more need to actually scout locations that face away from the east in general so there might be something to juxtapose with a rising moon. I always tell myself next time I will be more prepared than just driving out into the country and finding a spot I think will work. Hopefully next time I will be more prepared.
No matter where I might roam in and around Siouxland, there are always choices to be made when shooting photographs. And depending on the subject or location and other particulars like lighting, choosing to make black and white images or color can sometimes be a tough choice.
I like color for when it really work and is as much the subject as whatever the photographed subject is. But then, black and white could be a crutch when subjects are boring and the contrast between light and shadow creates some dynamics in the photo. But then, like color, it becomes the subject more than what is photographed.
And tonality in black and white is important. The top photo uses darker shades to set off the buildings and architectural elements while the next photo the middle grey doesn’t enhance the image, but doesn’t necessarily detract either. So then it’s incumbent upon the photographer to frame the subject so it will stand out from the surroundings if that is the intention of the photographer.
And color is just that, color. People see their surroundings in color and do not give most times a second thought what they are seeing. So is the image more banal because color becomes a default or the norm? Choices. Sometimes too many, sometimes not enough.
Recently the NAIA Women’s Division II national basketball championship was held in Siouxland, in Sioux City. I assisted a fried in photographing the event and found that since my days of covering sports, and particularly women’s basketball, that the sport seems to have changed a bit. This year the games were a bit more physical and rough and tumble. And some of the coaches didn’t appear to happy about it if it was their players on the receiving end of the tumble.
In years past various teams performed in different ways as is always the case. Some teams have taller players, working the rebounds and boards more. Those with shorter, quicker players running the court on fast breaks and steals. And some teams seemed blesses three pointer shooters who could stand at a distance and never apparently miss. But this year the play was intense and teams were scrambling and while it made games more interesting I think a few of the players got banged up pretty well too.
And as the players ran the court and worked to make the most of their time during the games the played, their coaches weren’t idle as they challenged referees to do better and get involved, even costing one coach a technical as the games played were hard fought and close. Sometimes going back and forth between teams leading and never trailing with more than one or two three-pointers difference.
After photographing the first two to three games of the first round playoffs at the tournament the games put me in mind of NBA games where it seems as the players get bigger they also get more physical. I will admit that I am not a sports fan. I don’t watch sports on TV. I would rather be out photographing critters or hiking looking for critters to photograph. And it is challenging to photograph action especially when many bodies pile into one another to shoot, block, steal or retrieve a lost ball possession. And the action, of course, is fast and furious.
But in the end only one team will emerge from “battle” victorious, no matter how many skirmishes occur on the field of play. And remembering back to a childhood of high school basketball and a coach that believed in fundamentals, one of which was making free throw shots. And watching these games, those shots count up after a period of time and players on the loosing end of the match up slowly watch as the score ticks up.
And kind of befitting the tournament, a team that made the play offs did so on a wildcard game. Eventually besting the returning championship team from previous tournaments and overcoming many obstacles. And maybe it was interesting to note that teams from all over the country came to play, but an Iowa team rose to the top and made their own Cinderella story.
While driving about Siouxland this winter in search of photographic opportunities involving the American bald eagle, I never tire of just watching them. Their mannerisms and interactions with one another. I fell lucky that I have been able to watch and photograph them on different occasions.
By now the majority of them have moved on as migration is in full swing. Thousands of Canada geese and other waterfowl have been passing through the area. Sometimes almost too numerous to guess how many. A friend recently told me that seeing more opportunities to view eagles was encouraging because it meant they were coming back and not quite as endangered as previous years. But still, it doesn’t mean they are out of the woods, as the saying goes. I am hoping for a few more opportunities but the numbers may not be quite as plentiful, but it is still a joy to watch them.
Waterfowl have been migrating through the Siouxland region for a few weeks now, somewhat slowly. In recent days however the pace seems to have picked up. And depending on the weather the various types of waterfowl and others have stayed put or moved on. Recently I spotted American robins close to home which is always a good sign that while not Constant Spring temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s, maybe those will be showing up as well. Recent temps have generally started out in the teens and 20’s with highs maybe hitting the 40’s, sometimes 50’s, but then snow showers or a cold north wind returns and the temps plummet once more.
Recently I made a couple of trips to the a local park, refuge area for waterfowl, Snyder’s Bend Park. The one day I arrived and stepped out of the vehicle thousands of Canada geese lifted off the water (before I had a camera ready) and it looked like starling murmurations as they swarmed about the sky before taking off. And of course, these and other geese didn’t give me the courtesy of repeating that act.
I also saw some American bald eagles about and sadly, the remnants of what looked like a snow goose laying on the ice and apparently someone’s meal.
The one day I was trying to photograph the large gathering of Canada geese and other waterfowl I overlooked an eagle enjoying a meal just behind them as they played about the water, coming and going and not paying any mind to this particular predator. I didn’t notice the eagle myself until reviewing images later.
And after spending some time just watching and photographing, I was leaving and happened upon a group of geese at the basketball court near in-season camping sites at the park. And it struck me that maybe this group was going to shoot some hoops or do a little three on three, until I saw no one brought a ball to play with.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised anymore in finding new places to explore that are relatively close by in Siouxland. Reading some information posted by an avid birder I know a mention of a Sioux City Prairie was made and I didn’t realize it was located on the outskirts of Sioux City. Part of the Nature Conservancy, it is a prairie area that I look forward to revisiting come spring and fall. Currently it is in the brown season like most other places around Siouxland. No more white and still too cold for the green to begin showing.
It will be a nice walk about when the weather is warmer and the vegetation makes its reappearance. There really aren’t that many trails it appears to walk, but the view from the hilltop is nice and a grove of trees and some bushes might present the chance for finding various birds loitering about. I did find an empty nest and a red tailed hawk flying around the day I checked out the preserve and so am hopeful I will get lucky again as spring returns to Siouxland and other parts with a different looking landscape to photograph.
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 