Photography in Northeast Wisconsin's Fox Cities, just after sunrise, mid-March. The objective: find any waterfowl or other birds returning as Spring gets underway. The challenge: can we get in a short photowalk along the canal before the rain sets in?
Looking out the window at the dim, gray skies, it certainly appeared likely to rain, or even thunder and lightning a bit, for the first time in 2025. This was inconvenient, and a check of the weather app confirmed that rain was likely within 45 minutes.
Well, that was just enough time for a brisk walk to see what might be around.
I broke out the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV for the walk. Anticipating this a few days ago, I already had mounted the Canon EF 35-350 f/3.5-5.6 L lens to the camera. This is not the best lens at any single thing, but the incredible zoom range makes it extremely useful when you don’t know what you are going to be shooting.
Wildlife and birds? With 350mm on the long end mounted to the 1D Mark IV’s APS-H sensor and it’s 1.3x crop factor, this lens gives me 455mm of reach on the long end. While not sharp like a 400mm prime, it’s acceptable for what I was looking to do. Plus, it has all the focal lengths down to 35mm (45mm on APS-H) and this would let me shoot anything else that might present itself. Talk about utility!
First thing, out the gate, were Turdus migratorius, the ever-present and cheerful American robin. One was posed on a rock singing its happy Spring song. Along with the redwing blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), the reappearance of the robin is a sure sign of Spring. No blackbirds presented themselves to photograph, but they could be heard in the distance.
Though the songbirds of Spring were making themselves known, the snow of winter was not yet gone. Ahead of us in the Fox River Canal, still drained of water for the winter, were significant patches of snow.
While looking down the canal, a group of five whitetail deer, all does, walked down the bank and into the canal proper, making their way over the snow to the small stream of water in the center of the canal where they began to drink. They were quite a distance away, but I was able to get a shot. Not a great shot, but one that documents the scene nicely.
View Full Gallery:
The same was true of what happened next. A great blue heron (Ardea herodias) launched itself into the air and flew up the canal right past us. Naturally, I didn’t have the 1D Mark IV set up for birds in flight. Instead, the camera was set to single-shot autofocus and not to AI Servo mode and high-speed continuous shooting. I still managed to get one shot of the heron as it flew by. It's not a great shot and the focus is not spot on, but it’s something.
Leaving the trail along the canal, we headed up the road next to a large and active quarry. Not having been this way for several months, were were surprised to see that the quarry was being expanded and areas that once had been covered in large oak and hickory trees had been cut and cleared as part of the expansion. While sad to see the big old hardwoods go, especially since they had long contributed to making this particular area of the Fox Cities more attractive, the newly cleared land opened up a new vista on the northern “skyline” of the city of Kaukauna.
Setting the lens to its widest setting, I shot six shots panning from left to right that I later blended into a panorama. To view the full panoramic image, view the gallery above.
All-in-all, the quick walk before the rain resulted in several interesting images.
And, in the end, it never did rain.
Equipment Used & Affiliate Links
We used the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV camera with the Canon EF 35-350 f/3.5-5.6 L lens.
The 1D Mark IV was Canon's professional sports and wildlife camera dating to around 2009 and was the "flagship" in the lineup until it was replaced with the EOS 1DX. The Mark IV is a phenomenal camera that is highly weather sealed, shoots 10 grams per second and has an accurate and advanced autofocus system. For the time, it was one of the best cameras for shooting in low-light situations that you could buy from any company, and it still performs well today. I have no reservations about shooting this camera for professional results.The lens, as mentioned, is not the sharpest but it may be the most versatile and that makes it one of my favorite lenses. Once, when both the camera and lens were new, they were fabulously expensive, with the 1D Mark IV coming in around $5000 or more. Today, on the used market, these are an incredible bargain if you can find on in good shape.
If you'd like to get your own copy of this camera and lens combo, and support us a bit at the same time (which we appreciate), we recommend shopping at MPB.com.
