Grey herons

Dear all,

Winter is a tough season for birds. Frost makes it necessary to burn extra calories to keep warm and snow makes it hard to obtain water and food, the first necessaries of life. Grey herons are birds that I personally associate with winter. Honestly, I don't know why. Is it their colours that fit perfectly with the grey and white tones of winter? Is it their effective way to survive the harsh conditions? Is it their typical posture that communicates resignation? Nevertheless, 2010 started with an abundant winter and the grey herons were one of my favorite photographic motives during the last weeks. Some of them are usually present in the old fishing harbour of Elburg. The authentic fishing boats of Elburg, called botters, and a frozen snow-covered harbour form a nice decor. It is there where I observed the incredible fishing efficiency of grey herons. They stand motionless next to a hole in the ice (they only need a small hole of about 10-20 cm!). Suddenly they observe a fish near the surface, slowly and determined they move towards their prey, and then ............... within a split second ............. a sudden attack with their dagger-like bill. About fifty (!!!) percent of those attacks are succesfull. I saw one individual catch about 5 small fish within a quarter of an hour. It will not die of starvation. Please enjoy the pictures of these wonderful animals!

Cheers, Dirk-Jan

Happy 2010 !!!

Dear all,

First of all let me wish you a healthy, lovely, and happy 2010! My 2010 couldn't have started better photographically. Winter has taken our country in a tight grip. We haven't had this amount of snow since years and the weather forecast predicts subzero temperatures for the next week or two. Snow is one of my favourite weather conditions, but it usually remains present only for a few days in the Netherlands. I'm always getting a restless feeling when snow starts to fall. The camera simply needs to be taken outside. Take for example last saturday evening. We got about 15 centimeter of snow in about 2 hours. After a restless night I got awake at 4 o'clock and couldn't get asleep anymore. Too much plans in my head and time is limited as we only have about 8 hours of daylight at the moment! Please enjoy the winter pictures of last weekend. We had a lot of fun!

More to come. The weekend is near!

Dirk-Jan

Merry X-mas and a healthy 2010

Have fun,

Dirk-Jan

Tufted ducks

Dear friends,

After a few weeks of lousy 'grey' weather, winter arrived in Holland! Since a few days it's freezing and the weather forecast for tomorrow predicts snow. Time to take the cameras outside. Last sunday, I visited the harbour of Harderwijk. A juvenile common loon was using this harbour as its winter residence. The loon wasn't too much interested in playing the leading part. It was present but remained at intermediate distance from the interested photographers. The leading part, at least for me, was played by a couple of tufted ducks. By choosing a low angle of view, it was possible to obtain intimate portraits of these beautiful birds. They were quite cooperative as they took a rest just a few meters from me. Well, it was only a small nap ...... just have a look at the attentive eye!

Cheers, Dirk-Jan

Cranes at Diepholz, Germany

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

A view from the past

Last sunday, we had a dense fog in the northern part of Holland. We made our plans for the day and chose a historic location in the Flevopolder. You may ask yourself: 'A historic location in the Flevopolder? This part of Holland is only 50 years old!' Yes, there is some history to find. One of those locations is the authentic harbour entrance of the former fishing town of Elburg. The Zuiderzee was well-known for its eel and the typical fishing boats from Elburg, called 'botter', entered the open sea between the two dams of this harbour entrance. The fishing industry of Elburg became history after the reclamation of Flevoland. A few years ago the harbour entrance was reconstructed in its original condition. I had planned a panoramic photo from one of the two dams for some time. A view from the past. Like a fishermen's wife must have had, when she was waiting for her husband to come home. Fog gave the excellent opportunity for such a picture since the distracting elements like roads and trees on the former sea bottom remain invisible.

Best regards,
Dirk-Jan

Fall in our backyard

Dear all,

Fall is one of the most photogenic seasons because of the colours around us. Nature is full of pleasant yellow, orange, red, and brown. These warm tones usually give me a cosy feeling when the days shorten and the temperatures drop. In our backyard, there is an apple tree with a massive amount of fire-red berries. We started feeding the birds in our backyard a few weeks ago. Since then, our tree is a favourite post for them. Time to take pictures. Isn't such a colourful sight from our window a pleasure for the eye? Unfortunately, the spectacular colours only remain for a few weeks. Our tree already lost its leaves due to the wind and rain of the last days. The apples will soon follow as they are on the menu of the common blackbirds.

Best regards,

Dirk-Jan