An Unexplained Pursuit…
These Black-headed Gulls were hunting something in the reeds…
They were using a strategy of hunting in groups, flying low over the reedbeds then diving simultaneously into the reeds…it was like they were rounding something up…unfortunately I never managed to find out exactly what they were up to… 😕
A Change Of Focus
This year so far I have been more focused on bird photography although I still keep a watchful eye on the invertebrate activity even though I do find it difficult to multi-task as my eyes and ears are primarily tuned in to the birdlife…
Being a bit of a novice concerning dragonflies, I believe this specimen to be a female Black-tailed Skimmer…
A Cunning Plan…
Cuckoos have been getting very excited and full of themselves lately…my personal theory for this behaviour is the arrival of Reed Warblers on the marsh… 😉
Being There
It is a rare honour to be able to get this close to Roe Deer, I had unwittingly stumbled upon this pair while I was unsuccessfully stalking Savi’s Warblers and Bluethroats…
To get a bit closer I did crawl on hands and knees under the cover of last years reed and a conveniently placed hawthorn…the wind was blowing from the right and sometimes I was afraid that the buck caught my scent as he started making snorting sounds when there was a break in the wind…
As the wind fizzed through the reeds on a sunny evening in May…time stood still…
Continuous Anticipation…
For the last few years that I have been wandering around Earnewoude with a camera and without a clue, I had heard many reports about Black-necked Grebes…but unfortunately I had never managed to be in the right place at the right time…
On my arrival at the bird hide for the first time this year, I certainly didn’t expect to find this illustrious pair of jokers waiting for me…
A Questionable Tradition
Lapwings are currently gathering together in huge flocks for the winter, on the marsh and in the meadows…they can be quite a sight with their coordindated flight displays which are very similar to starling murmurations…
Unfortunately it is an old and outdated tradition here in Friesland to bring the first lapwings’ egg to the kings’ commissioner symbolizing the beginning of spring…and many disturb nests between the 1st of March and the 9th of April to compete for first place… 😐
Occasionally I can get quite close to solitary subjects such as this one wading in the shallows of the marsh, captured in the setting, late summer sun…
No Privacy…
…for a bathing White Wagtail…
Not only was this wagtail observed during a most private moment…photographs were made and posted on the internet for the whole world to see… 😉
Taller
Amongst the resting lapwings and snipe on the marsh, a couple of snipe suddenly get “beaky” with each other…only the slightest of elevations was neccessary to resolve this issue. 😉
Heads Up
While I was cycling to the bird-hide I was secretly hoping to maybe shooting a shoveler image or two…as I entered the hide I was astonished to find I was surrounded by shovelers!
The trick is to get them when their heads are not submerged under the water as they shovel about in the mud… 😉
A Hide for a Home
Occasionally I manage to get out at dawn to a nature reserve close to Earnewald in the hope of capturing better images from the cover of a bird hide…to my surprise swallows had taken to nesting in the rafters of the hide…
In these images a pair of swallows were busily building a nest, gracefully darting in and out of the narrow windows, while I tried my utmost to stay out of their way… 😉
Rear View Reflections
Most of the time it seems I’m just wandering aimlessly…searching for some random, ideal moment to spark my inspiration, my method is usually just walking forwards with my camera in my right hand…though whilst cycling I have my camera close to hand too and it’s possible to find me in some grass verge with my elbows resting on the handlebars trying to concentrate and capture something…whatever that something may be…
Always looking forwards though and I realised lately that I’m concentrating so much on what is before me that I forget to just glance back…and sometimes when I do I find exactly what I’m looking for. This photograph was taken early morning in the Alde Feanen in Earnewoude….before me were dragonflies, reed buntings and various warblers, all demanding my attention…
a heartical view 