Dear friends,
Before reading any further, let me invite you to first visit the weblog on the following address: http://heidehippers.blogspot.com/ This site is home to a group of birding friends that share their hobby since they were teenagers. A few times a year we organize excursions and share our memories. Last weekend we went for a one-day excursion to the cranes in the neighbourhood of Diepholz, Germany. The weather forecast wasn't perfect for photography. Nevertheless, it's no option to leave the camera and lenses home when you're going to meet thousands of cranes. During the day we saw large groups of cranes feeding on the fields in dull light conditions under light rainfall. At about 3 o'clock in the afternoon it was time to move to the sleeping places of the cranes to experience an impressive nature event of hors category, their sleep migration. While on our route to the peat-moor, the sky became brighter and brighter in the west. My friends even noticed that my state of mind became more and more excited. How come? The light conditions were perfect when the cranes and geese arrived in groups of up to a thousand of individual birds. To make a long exciting story short, we were spectators in a natural theatre observing an ancient spectacle. Please enjoy the pictures. It was big fun shooting them!
Best regards,
Dirk-Jan
