A Squadron of Pelicans

The Fontenelle Forest Wetlands hosted a squadron of American White Pelicans this morning (March 30).  They dropped in to relax and do a little fishing.  There are several names for groups of pelicans - Squadron, Pod, Brief, Pouch and Scoop.

 The calendar says that Spring has started.  For the most part, the wetlands still look like Winter.  One tiny area has started to change.  Grass is sprouting and an American Robin is hopping around.  Spring is here.

 A North American Bullfrog is hiding in the remains of last summer's foliage.   

This Lincoln's Sparrow is migrating through Nebraska today.  It was searching for food in the forest path. 

Good Luck and Being in the Right Place at the Right Time

I've photographed the Sandhill Crane migration many times.  I produced some of my best images ever today - March 18.  It was my lucky day!

My day began at 4 AM in Bellevue Nebraska.  I drove to Crane Meadows Nature Center - near Grand Island and arrived at a viewing stand on the Platte River shortly before sunrise.  The cranes sleep in large groups on islands in the river.  I didn't see nearly as many cranes there as I expected so I was concerned that I was days early for the peak of the migration.  As the sun rose, thousands of cranes ascended into the air.  Even so, the numbers were down compared to previous years.

The cranes leave the river during the day and fly to fields in over 1000 square miles of surrounding farmland.  I've had the best luck traveling the 50 miles between Grand Island and Kearney along dirt and gravel roads just south of the river.  The cranes feed in fairly large groups in the fields.  I use an 800mm lens with a 1.4 extender for 1120mm of magnification for the majority of may photographs.

Even with this magnification, it is difficult to find cranes that will allow me to approach close enough for the photographs I want to take.  The four cranes in the photo above are leaning into the wind, ready to take off.  Today was somewhat overcast.  I have to shoot at f8 aperture wide open so I'm limited in the amount of motion I can stop in the morning hours.

I take a tripod along with me but I seldom use it.  Any crane brave enough to allow me to approach in my car immediately takes off when I get out to use the tripod.  If they remained, they would  be to nervous to engage in dancing moves as shown in the photo above.   I handhold my lens while resting it on my open car window.  It was windy today and my car rocked with each gust.

I've learned that the first few hours of the morning are the most productive.   Later in the day, heat waves radiating from the ground distort the distant cranes rendering most images useless.  Thermal radiation is a problem on cold days as well as warm.  The photo above shows a few signs of  this problem.  Notice how each of the cranes and stems in the background hove multiplied into several nearly overlapping copies.  The eye of the crane is still fairly sharp but much critical detail is already missing.

Most of the cranes feed in fields that were used for growing corn or soybeans.  A super-telephoto lens has extremely shallow depth of field.  Most of the time, out of focus areas of the photo have a soft pleasing bokah.  Corn stubble is an exception.  I find the bokeh in corn fields to be very distracting so I try to avoid them. Notice how soft the background in in the photo above and how  your eye is drawn directly to the eye of the crane.

There were several reasons that today was so successful for crane photography.  The smaller number of cranes meant a smaller number of crane watchers.  It was a week day as well so many people who watch cranes were at work.  When I found cranes to photograph, there was less traffic on the roads to scare them away.

It was a warmer day than normal for this time of March.  I expected to have more trouble with heat wave distortion as a result.  However, it was a very windy  day.  Apparently, the wind cancelled out most of the heat distortion.  The wind helped out in another way.  It provided additional lift as the cranes danced so they danced higher and longer.

It was my lucky day.  In addition my success was assisted by being in the right place at the right time of year and picking the best backgrounds at the right time of day with the right equipment and experience.

A Long Way From the Sea

I heard that Daniel Boone was once asked if he had ever been lost.  "No Sir" he said, "but I was a mite confused once for a month or two".  The sea gulls I saw at Fontenelle Forest this morning (March 15) appeared to be a "mite confused" - they were over 1000 miles from the nearest ocean.  Closer observation revealed that they were Ring-billed Gulls migrating from the Gulf of Mexico to many northern inland locations.

The wetlands have thawed enough to attract migrating waterfowl.  These two Canada geese were perched in the trunk of a tree that was 25 feet off the ground.  I don't know if they were the same couple that nested there last year.  It may be a safe place to build a nest but the first step out will be a problem for their goslings.  

Several migrating American Goldfinches have arrived for the summer.  This male is still wearing its winter plumage.  In a few weeks, it will change to its golden yellow feathers.

 I enjoy photographing American Tree Sparrows because they are such a challenge.  This one was on a constant move in a tangled mess of brush.   Notice how similar its colors are to its habitat.  The Spot Focus on my Canon camera usually wanted to focus on a branch instead of a sparrow. 

How I photograph Sandhill Cranes

Half a million Sandhill Cranes stop over along the Platte River between Grand Island and Kearney Nebraska each spring.  The "Central Flyway is considered one of nature's greatest migration spectacles.  The cranes have been making this journey for thousands of years.  2012 has already been an unusual year.  For the first time in recorded history, several thousand cranes wintered in Nebraska.

It's hard to explain why I became "hooked" on Crane Photography.  Crane Photography is a challenge.  They all look alike.  Neither they or the surrounding fields are very colorful.  There are hundreds of thousands but they like to remain in the distance.

The cranes spend their nights on sandbars in the river.  Very little of the land along the river is open to the public at night.  There are a couple of blinds in good locations that can be rented if you are willing to pay more than the cost of a good motel room for the privilege.    Even there, you will find that the random nature of the cranes could mean that no cranes will be in sight.  Depending on the day, the cranes will not arrive until it's too dark for photographs and will depart as or before the sun rises the next morning.  I've rented blinds on several occasions with mixed success.

A couple of places provide guided tours that enter blinds near the river before sunset and depart after dark.  I've done this twice and didn't get a useable photo either time.  The blinds are in good locations so you can usually hear and see cranes.

 

When sunset is near, the cranes fly overhead in flocks looking for a safe place to sleep.  There are cranes everywhere and you can get some impressive sunset shots - as long as you aren't in a blind.

If I get up soon enough, I can arrive along the eastern portion of the river before sunrise.  The nearest sleeping cranes will be in huge flocks at least a quarter of a mile away.  It is very impressive to see them wake up and leave as a group.

The next two hours are crucial.  The light is good and the cranes are more active than they will be later.  They fly lower looking for friends and good places to eat.  They break into dances to celebrate the new day.  I drive along the gravel roads until I see cranes near the road.  Using my vehicle as a blind, I get as close as I can without disturbing them.  The cranes aren't fooled.  If they don't fly away immediately, they begin a slow retreat so that I have an increasingly smaller and smaller view of their backsides.  Even so, I get my best photos this way.  

During the remainder of the day, I can take a break from crane photography.  The cranes are not as active.  The sun heats up the ground enough to cause heat waves that distort my photos. 

I plan my afternoon journey to put me into a good position at sunset.  I usually don't position myself at the river at sunset because it is hard to see the setting sun there.  With a long lens, even a wisp of colorful clouds can make a mediocre sunset look spectacular.

You get the best crane photographs when  you are in the right place at the right time.  Longer lenses provide more opportunities but any lens can produce spectacular results.