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Buzzard for lunch
It looks like I have a connection with buzzards. Even though it’s really cold today, I took my camera to work and went out into the field during my lunch break. After 15 minutes I was almost frozen and decided to call it a day and was about to tuck away my gear, but decided to do in the warmth of the office – I was lucky, because this buzzard was sitting at the bridge over the Nidda, right a the entrance of work. He was just tearing apart its prey, so it was lunchtime for him as well. I wouldn’t have noticed his sight if a large dog approaching, who was just taking his master for a walk, hadn’t stared at him as if spellbound. Suddenly he flew close to me and crouched in the tree above me. Well… pictures turned out to be quite nice portraits, but the gray weather, dull colors and the trees in the background dampen the experience. I need to practice more here.
Comoroant in the wind
As common on islands you get a fair bit of wind and storms. The last three days have been up to “Orkanböen” (hurricane), hence wind up to 10-12 Beaufort at times. Sun and rain kept coming and going in the usual 5 minute turns and I had a hard time to keep my lens out of wind direction, as it blew up a lot of sand which acted as flying sandpaper.
Animals are used to be outside the whole time and can deal with harsh conditions better then we humans do, although the cormorants don’t seem to be happy about the flying sand either. They kept shaking off the sand and rather stayed ashore. Only could get a few shots from behind, as they were sitting in a restricted breading area where passer were asked not to step in.
panthera unica
A short trip to visit my oldest and one of my dearest friends Alex in Zürich, Switzerland. The last time we met with our families was five years ago so it was about time for an overdue visit. The kids hit it off emidiately although Josh und Juliette can’t recall the last time they met. Sunday was time for the Zoo in Zürich. A Wonderfull park and so huge that we only saw about two thirds of it. Not much time for planning pictures and waiting for photogenic poses when you go with the kids and friends, but I got some decent shots that will turn up on this blog the next days.
Snow leopards… I didn’t know that Zürich is home to those gorgeous cats. In fact they do have a whole family that you can see on this pictures. If you understand German you can see all the details here: Schneeleoparden
mouse
When you walk in the woods mice are almost everywhere. To spot them is not so hard, to take picture of them is tiny challenge already. This fellow was so kind and just sat a few moments and stared at me.
buzzards nest
The nature around Bad Nauheim is really great, especially the Jacobsberg with its “Fallobstwiese am Steinberg” – a classical meadow with apple trees that has been taken over by NABU and made ready for birds and nature to do its thing. During my few days here I visited this spot almost every other day and right at my fist visit I was greeted by two buzzards taking their turns far above my head.
Yesterday I heard their call but it took some time till I found both again and they were near the old spot. Explanation to this: they got the nest up in on pine tree – so far remote and behind branches that I can’t take good shots of it, but here are some in flight pictures.
Friedrichsweiher
I never thought about taking pictures of animals at Friedrichsweiher. I have been living close to it for all my life and am well aware of its fauna, but somehow I always believed it is too busy with its playground, screaming kids and dog walkers that shouldn’t be there at all. Yesterday, when the weather picked up for a short time, I went there to shoot the young egyptian goose offspring, I noticed three weeks ago. The youngsters had already grown exceptionally well, although there were only 8 left, of the initial 9. Probably a stray cat or the fox that shows up from time to time got it. On the other hand: nine new goose is an impressive number for one family. The above mentioned conditions helped me very much. The animals were used to all that noise and scurried around them so that I could get very close to them. I stayed far enough away, not to disturb them in their routine, as many other people did. They thanked me with those pictures and both parents even stayed calm, when one of the toddlers almost was at my feet.
A bat showed up as well, being quite early underway – it was about tea time – but I did not get a good shot. This needs more time an patience than I he’d left for this short trip.
Robin
May I introduce you to one of the my beloved bird friends. This is Robin or Rotkehlchen, as they are called here in Germany. They are very common and are all but shy. Quite the opposite: they are very curious and are not afraid of getting close to you. Whenever I come across one of them, if feels like it is rather watching me instead of me watching it.
This little fellow didn’t even move when I approached him with my bike and stayed when I hit the my squeaking brakes and stopped a few meters away from it. He took notice of me, fiddling with my gear and the big lens, was so curious and came closer. In the end, it even sat on my bike, right beside me as it wanted to have a nice chat with me. Love it!
Maunzenweiher
Following Tin Man Lee for quite some time, it was only about two days ago – while bringing the kids to bed – that I read his great guide about taking sharp picture. Immediately I felt the itch to grab my cam and go out hunting again. The next morning after kids where out of house, I dusted off my cam bag and – oh wonder – one batterie was still holding some current. It was about than that I realized it is a good idea to take the batterie out, as the cam drains them, even when not turned on.
With my bike I went for a three ours tour to the nearby Maunzenweiher and the animal “wild” life was quite nice to me. A crane, some exquisite water birds (haven’t checked for the speciss by now) and a great sunrise. Little did I know that Covid would catch up and make me stay at home, the next day for at least a week.
bambi jump
From the dike outside Werben you can have a good view across the Elbauen. This ist true for both: humans and animals, hence they are quite used to people passing by and don’t care that much if there are still about 100m inbetween. I spotted this roebuck ind the distance right when i climed the dike. Sneeking up to it took me 30 minutes. Luckily an big old oak tree gave me some cover and so I got close enough for pictures. As most of its kind, the roebuck spent most time with its head down eating, so I chose to give it some reason to look right at me and cracked a branch on purpose. Probably should have just stayed longer and sneaked closer, but those meadows are home to a greedy bunch of mosquitos. It ran off of me and jumped like a rubber ball and I was too late with my camera. A couple of seconds later, it came back my way… another stroller and his dog where crossing his escape route and gave me second chance. Sun was fairly low at that point and the roebuck was quick, so this is not the sharpest experience.
Thunderstorm @Werben(Elbe)
Werben is the smallest Hansestadt of all. This really helps the fact that it does not have any big port and the population is slowly decreasing as there is not much infrastructure around. On natures side this is a big advantage. We strolled through the Elbauen (meadows) to the so called “beach”, let loose, let the kids play and just relaxed and enjoyed. Wind was picking up and the big clouds rolled it. Needless to say we got really wet, but the picture were all worth it.
There’s a red moon on the rise…
Lately there seem to be many cosmic things going on. Wasn’t it at the beginning of last year, that we had the blood moon in the sky? The special thing about last time was, that the moon was on its nearest proximity to earth. Anyway, this time around the spectacular happened around my usual getup time.
Although being really cold outside, I stuffed my gear on the rear balcony and could get some more or less decent shots. I am really out of practice, when it comes to photography. Need to do it more. Who else?
new years seal
After two years of absence we finally managed to return to an old habit to spent New Year’s Eve in the Netherlands, together with friends. Today went for a nice little walk along the beach and were observed by this little seal. Guess he just wanted to wish you all a happy and delightful new year – so do I. Happy new year!
starry night
Every 5 years, I meet up with some friends from highschool and usually we rent a old shed in Isny/Allgäu to spent a long weekend together. This year we were too slow and undecisive and the Hammerschmiede (that’ s the name of the old house) was already occupied. We ended up with a new stay nearby which was, in contrast to the old one, atop of a vast meadow, with tons of birds around and plain view. This night I sneaked away from the daily booze and chat and setup my camera. No real startrails, but nice, non the less. Looking forward for the next meet-up in five years.
tekla
Okay, it is not wearing a bandana and isn’t that cute like in the old kiddie flick Biene Maja, but beautyful in a way. Found it in Karins garden, not far from our veranda.
Preikestolen
Day 7 of our trip and we reached Preikestolen, a huge plateau, 604m above the sea. Here’s the spectaculare view, along the Lysefjord. Sadly, the sun won’t come out but is still a great sight.
cookies anyone?
One picture form the first set, I took with my new D50. Weather was fairly bad that day and sun was about to disappear. I had to hunt down something in my appartment. So Krümelmonster, as he is calledn in germany, was my first victim. I should have undusted him in first place, but I bet you know what it is like to have a new toy: You don’t care about details. That’s why the whole image is not sharp eather. I just wanted it to be the first post here, as it was almost the first picture I took. Better to come.