While out and about in Siouxland looking for critters and migrating birds, I never really know who or what may be a local resident and just out and about, or just passing through on its way to another destination.
I don’t know if I will ever become a serious birder, but I find that I now recognize a few more birds that I previously did. And I only a few thousands (hundreds of thousands?) to go. But photographing them, or at least trying, has been a nice past time and a skill set I still need to work on. A newspaper photo editor once told me I only need one photo to tell a story. I didn’t respond about how many photos I might take to tell that story. Of course, he never asked.
If one grew up in a family and was not an only child, there were those days when siblings were expected to share. And sometimes I am guessing the same is true in the animal kingdom, even in Siouxland. This past February on a cold day I hiked into an area along the Big Sioux River near Stone State Park. Eagles were congregating there and hanging out until it was time to move along.
And on one particular day, it seemed two related juvenile bald eagles liked sitting on the same branch and in the same place.
Human siblings will exhibit the same behavior, each wanting to occupy space that another might already occupy, or want depending on the circumstances. I find the behavior fascinating while also chilly waiting to see how everything played out. And remember thinking one of them flew to another branch probably only to continue the battle of wills another time and another day.
Sometimes when trying to photograph wildlife at various parks and preserves in Siouxland I swear they really work at trying to avoid me and my endeavors. A red-headed woodpecker a year or so ago would always land near me and make its call. And just as I raised my lens it would fly off, only to land nearby and start the process over again. I guess on some mornings I was cheap entertainment.
Watching wildlife feed and stalk its food sources is fascinating. And although some of these birds are the same species I have photographed many times before, they still give me a challenge in capturing their movements. Autofocus is great, but sometimes that muscle memory and manual focus is a needed skill. But with age and glasses, technology is still welcomed. And I am happy to utilize focus peaking when manually focusing. Most mirrorless camera bodies now incorporate that feature, which is great for crowded subject fields as well as shooting in low light situations.
Recently on an outing in Siouxland at Brown’s Lake and Snyders Bend in rural Woodbury County, a number of American White Pelicans numbering between 100-200 were seen between the two places and bodies of water. Moving in tandem they swarmed and fed together circling areas of water then turning bottoms up while others soared overhead and skimmed the water’s surface, just enjoying a day out as they migrated back to wherever home is.
The pelicans put on quite a show and their graceful agility is pretty amazing to watch. Recently a few numbers can be seen flying about various parts of Siouxland soaring high on the air currents and circling climbing ever higher until they swoop toward the earth only to repeat themselves.
Watching nature is always fascinating I believe, and away from all the white noise and other distractions that so easily encroach on one’s days and time. It’s just good to get away and birds times appear ready to perform their floor shows while on the road.
I also find it challenging to photograph them depending on the day and environment. The stark whiteness on an especially bright sunny day works well on the water in early morning light but more difficult as the day moves forward. The light skimming the area accentuates the blue water which contrasts nicely with the white bodies. Skyward, not so much. The images taken at Snyders Bend was the same morning as at Brown’s Lake, but the direction of the sun and the movements of the birds were different thus creating totally different types of images as the sun lit the two areas in a much different fashion. But still, capturing the pelicans’ movements and antics was still fun and nice being out in nature.
Sometimes when visiting places in and around Siouxland, I find it best to try and blend in at whatever event or place I am visiting in order to photograph various scenes. And I am assuming the same is true in nature as animals do quite a good job fading into their surroundings.
Recently visiting the Owego Wetland Complex with a friend, we watched a Northern Harrier raptor flying over some ducks and Canada geese on the ponds. Eventually the ducks bolted even though they were in some respects the same size or larger than the raptor. And so it was surprising as I was editing my images after that outing to find the Northern Harrier flying in amongst the ducks, maybe sizing them up, or just enjoying itself in creating a little mayhem. No complaints, it just made a more interesting image I didn’t realize until later.
Only after photographing animals outdoors in nature do I sometimes realize symmetry of some of the photographs. In some cases nature happens in twos. I am assuming the pairing of birds is one or the other mate staying nearby while they are out feeding either looking for something or at a backyard feeder.
Currently reading a book titled “Slow Birding”, one of the book’s chapters deals with House Wrens and whether or not mates are faithful and how this affects reproduction and the gene pool of the species. And it is amazing to see at what length researchers go to achieve a result without a pre-determined outcome on their part.
And it makes sense that humans reflect nature and visa versa from some sort of instinctive intuition for self-preservation, although I often have my doubts about humans because of the terrible things some individuals do to others. But that is a choice, a poor choice by most standards, but a choice nonetheless.
So time spent observing and appreciating nature is more enjoyable that reading about the cruelty the human race just can’t seem to get beyond.
Sometimes it is possible to find species sharing a little space without much fuss. At least in the animal kingdom. Over winter I went to Stone State Park and spent some time along the Big Sioux River which runs just on the outskirts of the park. And it was amazing to find various creatures within “spitting” distance of one another, minding their own business and focused on whatever task was at hand.
When I began in earnest in photographing birds and other critters a few years ago in Siouxland, I began to slow down and observe the little creatures as I walked about nature preserves like Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve and the antics they displayed at various times. Sometimes it’s in watching them that these characteristics become apparent and entertaining to a certain extent.
A white-breasted nuthatch danced around a couple feeders, checking out its surroundings before giving into the temptation of a meal. Making certain its foray would end well and not imperil it as hunger made it move closer to a food source. I thought it was quite a “floor show” as the small bird danced about, attaching itself to the feeders, retrieving a morsel, flying away, devouring that morsel, then returning for another. All the while contemplating its advances to the food. Maybe humanities ancestors did the same when hunting for food in the beginnings of time, as opposed now to visiting a restaurant and getting in line at a buffet. Then returning again and again until sated.
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 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 