Spring flowers

There's a saying in Holland 'Bloemen houden van mensen', meaning 'Flowers love human beings'. I'm not a typical macro photographer, but last weekend I got the change to join an excursion to a nature reserve for a highly vulnerable plant species, snake's head frittilary. About 80% of the Dutch population can be found in the wet grasslands on the outer banks of IJssel and Vecht, around the small town of Hasselt. This plant belongs to the lely family and gives beautiful purple or white flowers in the last weeks of April. Our guide learned us some interesting facts. Did you know that it takes about 7 years to reach their flowering state? It was quite confronting to see their need for extensive agriculture on the grasslands surrounding the nature reserve. No flowers at all! Manuring and early mowing of the wet grasslands have a devastating effect on them. It's a good thing that this vulnerable species is nowadays protected. We celebrated an ultimate spring morning with beautiful weather.


Cheers,
Dirk-Jan

Bluethroat

One of our most colourful summer residents that arrives in April is the bluethroat. These beautiful birds, with their almost radiating blue throat, inhabit our marsh lands and reed fields. Once the males found a suitable habitat they make regular flights in their small territory and sing from their favorite posts in order to attract a partner for the coming breeding season. Their behaviour is quite predictable. Yesterday evening I found such a territorial male and followed him for about 4 hours. Precious moments with a small friend ................

Dirk-Jan

Yikes ...... Snakes!

Dear all,

Early spring is the ideal period to get out and observe the Dutch snakes. These cold-blooded creatures need sunlight to warm up before they get active. They leave their shelters as soon as the temperature is above 10 degrees Celcius on sunny or partly cloudy days. In early spring their warming takes quite some time and they can be found in moorland on wind-sheltered spots while taking a sun bath for hours. Last weekend we had planned a snake excursion with some friends. We were very lucky with our guide and also the weather conditions were perfect. Thus far I had only seen a few snakes in my whole life, but last saturday we found about 15 of them. Most of them were the dangerous European adder, but we also found one smooth snake. We had a wonderful day with lots of fun, learned a lot, and took some nice pictures of these beautiful animals.

Cheers,

Dirk-Jan

Spring is in the air!

Dear visitor,

Spring is at our doorstep. Slowly, but steadily, the temperatures are climbing, although the nights are still frosty. The signs of the approaching season are clear in nature. Last weekend, we enjoyed the display ceremony of some pairs of great crested grebe. Please enjoy them dancing their honeymoon dance.

Best regards,

Dirk-Jan

Photography on Vlieland

Hello,

Vlieland is one of the smallest Wadden islands of the Netherlands. The island is free of cars and the tourists visiting this Wadden island are usually searching for quietness and nature experience. Last weekend we visited the island together with Sandra's sister and her family. Last winter on Texel (see blog December 2008), we made plans with them for a Wadden island hopping tour in the coming years. Isn't this nice? 'TVTAS' (Texel, Vlieland, Terschelling, Ameland, Schiermonnikoog) is the right order of the Dutch Wadden islands, so this year Vlieland was on our list. The weather conditions may change rapidly on the Wadden. In 3 days we had rain, snow, fierce wind, fog, clouds, and sun. Fast changing weather provide excellent photographic conditions! 'Bad weather is good weather' according to one of the chapters in John Shaw's book on landscape photography. At some occassions I 'simply' had to go outside and leave our comfortable residence, leaving some questioning faces behind. Their faces were even more surprised when I returned an hour or two later, wet like a drowned cat, but smiling.

Hope you enjoy the pictures,

Dirk-Jan

Renewed website

Dear all,

Today we put our renewed website online. Please take a look at http://www.ifornature.nl/. Cees de Valk, webmaster at V2visueel ... www.v2visueel.nl ..., did a marvelous job in the last months. The modifications are based on feedback of our visitors and in summary, the following major changes have been made:

1) the gallery is updated with recent photos

2) the image quality of the photos in the gallery is improved

3) every photo in the gallery contains a short story, plus its technical information

4) behind the scene is a new page, where equipment and technique is explained

5) the list with links has been updated

I hope you enjoy the renewed website and would be happy to hear from you,

Dirk-Jan

NP de Hoge Veluwe

Hello to all of you,

Winter is a fantastic season! There's a lot of complaining around me from people that have had enough snow and ice in the last 6 weeks. Sure, winter can cause problems in traffic, health, etc. But, no complaining from me. Every weekend and day off is funtime! Last weekend we visited NP de Hoge Veluwe to get our permits for 2010. Sandra, Max and I enjoyed a refreshing walk through the snow-covered heather fields. Lots of animal tracks to discover for Max. He was so proud that he got his own personal membership card. It felt like he became a ranger! It was partly cloudy and, between the clouds, the sun drapped the landscape in a golden winter light. The purple, yellow and white tones accentuated the landscape in a beautiful manner. The National Parc is well-known for its healthy red deer population. At the end of the day they appear from their daily shelters. It's just to wait for them on the right place at the right time. We were lucky enough to observe two groups of about 25 males.

Cheers,

Dirk-Jan