It’s a jungle…
Today I’m taking a slightly different approach than usual, because on Thursday I attended the small but exquisite opening of Thomas Below-Holzers exhibition. Like me, he captures the natural beauty around our hometown of Offenbach. The exhibition’s focus is on showing that you don’t have to travel far to have wonderful encounters, which reminded me of the motto of my cahoonah.com blog: It’s a jungle out there… and yes, we are truly fortunate that the Rhine-Main metropolis offers so many green spaces and forests.
My “Frei-tag” (Friday) is a real day off, so I cycled a short loop from the old Offenbach cemetery to Lämmerspiel, past the Grünen Seen (Green Lakes) to Gailenberg, along the Main River to Rumpenheim Palace Park (first stop for wild garlic), Schultheis-Weier, and back via the Fechenheimer Gumpen (second stop for wild garlic). Not far, and everything easily and comfortably done in 3-4 hours, but I had so many wonderful encounters, like the nuthatches at the Green Lake who wanted to take up residence in a hollow in the old apple tree, but a woodpecker came by and there was a great commotion. They both flew at it a few more times but couldn’t drive it away. Then there was the green woodpecker on the Gailenberg, who immediately tried to hide from me… these are just a few of the encounters I had on Friday. You see, you don’t have to travel far or lie in wait for hours – just go out into nature with your eyes open. So get out there and let yourselves be enchanted – spring is magical! It’s worth it!… and it’s a jungle out there…
Lunch with the Sparrowhawk
A call from my mother: “There’s a bird of prey sitting in our linden tree.” Sure enough, and what a bird it was! A female sparrowhawk, if I’m not mistaken, and she’d made a fine kill… small, yellow plumage, and ringed. A canary that someone’s missing now? I’ll attach a picture of the band.
I climbed onto the conservatory roof on the second floor and slid down to within about 5-6 meters of it. Too many branches, but I managed to get a few good close-up shots. The whole garden was in an uproar. The small birds were squawking, ravens and magpies came and perched in the tree with her, albeit keeping a respectful distance. Bloody, but that’s nature, right in our gareden, in the middle city.
Encounter with another buzzard
This year, the encounters seem to happen in pairs. I’ve often seen the buzzard by the pond on the Fechenheim side of the Main River. Usually, he saw me first and flew away. Not this time! Again, he let me get within a few meters, and we eyed each other for a while. I sat down under his tree, which unfortunately is already budding and therefore doesn’t offer a clear view of him, and waited for him to take flight. Nothing! He just sat there. In the meantime, I walked around the pond twice—once to get a fresh battery, and the second time to bring my bike along—he wasn’t afraid and didn’t fly away.
As is often the case when waiting, when the right moment arrives, you’re not ready. And so it was here. He flew right to my feet, hovered briefly above me, and then fluttered off into the next tree. Too close for my lens. But I’m sure I’ll see him again. Thanks again for the lovely photos, dear buzzard!
Buzzard in the evening
two things: things always happen when you’re already on your way home, and secondly, when the light is fading. Thanks to new technology, something worthwhile usually still comes out of it. This buzzard took flight right from us and landed in a tree just a few meters away as I cycled home from training with Josh yesterday evening. And he wasn’t bothered at all, because there’s always a lot going on at this spot, by the old oak tree by the Haimbach stream. He sat completely unperturbed on his branch and let me circle him until I was about 5 meters away – him on a branch above me. When he flew, he only ever flew a short distance. It was already too dark, so I shot handheld with the large lens at 1/400th of a second. You can tell the lack of light from the pale colors and the low contrast: no shadows! But my heart soared. It’s something special when animals let you get so close.
Frogs
…everywhere! Every medium-sized puddle in the woods seems to vibrate with life. I’ve never seen so many frogs and frogspawn in one place. It’s going to be a tough year for the insects living near the water.
The frogspawn hangs in thick clumps along the banks, and if you look for a moment, it’s as if a thousand tiny eyes are staring back at you. “Banks” is a bit of an exaggeration, since these puddles will dry up completely again in the summer, but the frogs are surely used to that by now, and by then the offspring will already be on their own feet.
Frogger
They’re back again… in the same spot as every year. Frogs are apparently returning to their spawning grounds, and the little puddle that always dries up completely in the summer is teeming with life: There’s jumping and splashing everywhere you go. And there’s even a pirate frog with only one googly eye. Aye…
I’ll be keeping watch again tomorrow, because tomorrow is the first day of my new “Freitag” days, which will truly live up to their name. 😉 The bluish picture is a little art experiment…
Monsieur buse
Like every year, I hear them circling above the Döglemühle at this time of year. Their mating calls carry far and wide, and the numerous remains of nests in the trees above the parking lot show that they keep returning here. Of course, given the location—large stretches of fields and meadows along the Nidda River, the first of which is unfortunately being developed. Let’s hope it doesn’t drive the birds away. They aren’t endangered, and with estimates of up to 130,000 breeding pairs in Germany, buzzards have proven their adaptability.
Wren
The king of the fence, yes, that’s what it’s called in German (Zaunkönig), and indeed, it’s very loud for its size. Cheeky, hectic, and small, it flits through the undergrowth, letting its high-pitched chirping ring out.
Mr. Nuthatch
… likes to overindulge at the trough. But it’s an inherent desire in all of us to get enough food on our ribs. Nevertheless, he comes across here like a greedy thief, which may also be due to his bank robber’s blindfold.
Blue-winged Demoiselle
It’s so beautiful, the way it sparkles in its blue splendor. In recent years, I’ve seen them often and regularly in the summer, perched by the rivers. This particular picture, however, was taken in the Hainbach Valley, although I don’t remember exactly where I encountered it… I’m still tidying up my photos, and it’s amazing what beautiful pictures you can find. Usually, you’ve taken something “more important” that same day and simply forgotten after posting that you had several other wonderful encounters. That makes it all the more important to look through the old photos before they go into the archives.
Mr. Peacock
Striking, colorful, and proud, he can be found in the Fasanerie in Hanau. Proud?… or rather stern? I would say proud and somewhat disdainful. It’s a wonder how these creatures, which mostly strut (yes… proudly!) on the ground, can survive for so long. Hiding with those colors and plumage must be difficult.
These pictures are about a year old—a record found during the annual cleanup.
My precious
Squirrels and their nuts. You know them from movies like Ice Age, but it’s impressive when they—unlike their cinematic counterparts—can remove the thick shell from a walnut in seconds. Yummy!
Canada Geese
Originally from North America, they are now found almost everywhere in the world and stay year-round. In fact, they are the second most common goose species in our region. I think they’re beautiful.
Next level @ 600mm
I’m in love, and I finally did it! For two years I’ve been eyeing 600mm lenses to get closer to the animals. I never had the money. My trusty old Sigma 150-500mm was now a good 15 years old, and you could really only use it up to 450mm because it got blurry towards the end. On my Z6, it was a bottleneck in terms of focus speed. The new weapon in my arsenal is the Nikon Z 180-600mm, designed for the Z system, and what a difference! It zooms lightning fast, is razor-sharp at 600mm, and has a ton of other cool features – a lot has happened in the last 15 years.
I went for my first test yesterday and pinned my hopes on the old cemetery. There are usually lots of birds there, and maybe a few squirrels playing in the snow. I wasn’t disappointed; at times, four or five animals were hopping around me. This shot wasn’t taken in the snow, but it shows what the new lens is capable of. I’m blown away.
Kingfisher once more!
I hadn’t expected the weather to hold up today. All the apps were showing clouds and cold. The latter was definitely true, and it was a real slippery ride to Heusenstamm by bike – especially the last stretch to the mill ruin, which was a sheet of ice. My new, “small” travel tripod from K&F (a clone of the Rolei Lion Rock) was with me – my Christmas present to myself. 😉
When I arrived, three colleagues were already sitting on the bench waiting for the kingfisher. He came, I took some photos, and I was particularly pleased with a shot where I’d captured him perfectly in flight, only to realize I’d left the SD card in the computer. The Nikon buffers the last few pictures, but if you switch the camera off after shooting, like I did, everything’s gone… that’s how it was today. Punishment was necessary, so I stayed for another hour while the other colleagues all headed inside to warm up, and sure enough, the female kingfisher came by again (it had been the male earlier). So here are a few pictures from today, which almost cost me my toes. Despite thick socks and waterproof, padded rubber boots, you get cold standing in the stream waiting until you reach the pools. At least the tripod saved me the long pauses and waiting, and it fits on the top tube of my bike. All’s well that ends well, though I’m still cold. 😉
My equipment, both technical and digital, is at its limit at these distances. My next lens has a 100mm longer focal length, and a teleconverter is on my shopping list.
Ice, ice, birdy!
After dragging my tired butt out too late to the kingfisher party yesterday—New Year’s Day, you know— I couldn’t stay home today with the crisp wind, frozen snow, and occasional bright sunshine. The birds must have felt the same way, because there were so many of them, all posing for my camera. Even yesterday’s little friend was there, and while my fingers and toes were freezing, he managed to get a good amount of food from the water and, in his typical fashion, beat it against the nearest branch. But first, here are a few pictures of his aerial acrobatics.
More focal length, a better field of view (he always dives into the water behind the tree), and more light… I hope he’s still around in the spring and that I manage to treat myself to the new lens and a teleconverter. Topaz saved the day again.
Hello, little fellow.
A short walk with the family to get some fresh air. I had just put the camera away when Marie saw the little guy sitting here by the side of the path.
Christmas Nutria.
The day before yesterday, I was lucky enough to meet this cute little fellow. Not very shy, but incredibly clean, he groomed himself extensively and wasn’t bothered by my presence. This tameness probably led to them ending up on dinner tables quite often in the past – especially in the USA and East Germany, where nutria and muskrat were apparently frequently on the menu. I’m not sure I could handle that, but you hear everywhere that they’re multiplying too rapidly and destroying riverbanks. These pictures are a comic strip:
Merry Christmas!
White beauty.
I’m always delighted when I encounter “everyday” animals and can capture their beauty, which most people no longer even notice. For most, it’s true: seen too often and no longer perceived. That’s what I love about photography—it makes me look closely again and begin to marvel, like a small child, at all that nature can create… do you, too?
This swan was very curious and came right up to me and started “talking” (bagging for food?) love these intense moments when you don’t have to hide and rather be in contact with such a beautiful creature.
Small, blue, slow arrow
Today I went hiking with my Shaolin clique, and we marched along the Spessart route in Mernes in cold but sunny weather. As is often the case when you’re out with other people, and especially dogs, the animals usually disappear before you even see them. That was the case here too… or so I thought, until—as so often happens—a kingfisher was sitting quite relaxed by the stream called the Jossa, just before we reached the end of the hike. The dogs saw it at the same time, and so it flew off, but only to circle around and then settle back in its old spot as soon as we had walked a few meters further. I couldn’t get too close, and it scurried somewhat clumsily a little further each time. Was it also so cold that it hardly made any attempt to fly away from me, or was it hunger? At the small bridge, it briefly plunged into the water to grab a bite. Made my day!
…and as always: those who pack away their camera too early at the end of the trip often miss out on the best parts.
Kitchen sink monsters
I poured the rest of my hot tea water down the sink, and half a minute later, this monster climbed out of the overflow. Since she was already there, she had to pose for a few photos – on the way out, she spent the time resting on an apple (I didn’t have anything else handy), then climbed onto my large telephoto lens again. Nosferatu, is that you?
An hour and a half with the osprey
It turned out that I had some free time this Sunday and was near the Surfsee again. My new friend was there too! In total, I saw him come and fly back with a fish four times – I was never in the right place. Once, he splashed into the water less than 25 meters from me, completely surprising me because I was busy with the cormorants. After an hour and a half, I walked to Höllsee to have a look around, but there are significantly fewer places here from which you can overlook the lake – the osprey didn’t show up there either. From a distance, however, I saw him making his next round over the surfing lake, exactly where I had been waiting. Bad luck! But I did get a few nice shots, and I have an idea why he hunts in certain places. If I’m right, next time I’ll be right where he splashes into the water.
…where the eagles fly.
Yesterday I had three hours until my next appointment and was out and about in Seckbach. First, I cycled to the Seckbacher Ried (river marsh) and discovered that the nature conservation agency here uses large fences, preventing you from getting close to the water – a good thing, but bad for the photographer’s life. Compared to my last visit a good 10 years ago, Huthpark had also become completely tame. The lawn was mowed, and there was a lot going on in this weather. I would only see animals from a distance here, so I continued on to the Enkheimer Ried (river marsh), but everything important here is hidden behind high fences. A glance at the sat nav showed me that I wasn’t far from Maintal. I had already considered a trip to the Surfsee (surfing lake) in the morning, but dismissed the idea: too far, I thought, but the sat nav said it was only 15 minutes away. When I got there, the barbecue area was a hive of activity. Families, small children, and a few boys blasting heavy hip hop beats across the lake. I mentally made a big pass at wildlife photography for the day and looked for an empty bench at the other end of the lake to stretch my tired bones. I had barely sat down when a large shadow flew over me. I had never seen a bird with such a wingspan in our region before, but the pictures by @Paolo Ceccarelli immediately came to mind. Could it be? An osprey? Hell yes! I quickly grabbed my camera and took a picture. The shots of the fish being caught were too far away and too blurry – excitement is not good when taking photos – but he flew two more circles with his prey before a couple of young kites tried to steal the fish from him. These creatures fly in broad daylight and not a soul can be bothered by anything. In one picture you can see the boys partying in the background. Made my day!
Launch!
Heat wave… phew. Nevertheless, I had to get out and met up with a friend for an hour by the Main. The reservoirs on the Fechenheim side are always busy with winged visitors, and it was a nice lesson that if you ignore them, the animals will go about their daily business and aren’t bothered by our presence. This heron came by, fished a bit, and only when I deliberately started photographing it did it take off. Too much intention… they sense it.
Beauty!
Birds of prey, like most predators in general, are simply beautiful to behold. My guess is thatour primal instincts are at play here, and their power, speed, and the associated presence simply appeal to you and simultaneously say: Hey! Don’t mess with me. Calling seagulls majestic might be going too far, but graceful is a pretty good description. Add in the perfect evening light you get pictures like this. And yes, she stole our fries. 😉
Bathing day!
Splash! All animals groom themselves, and so do seagulls. I somehow always assumed that the daily hunt for fish provided enough water (and salt) to keep my body clean, but this seagull was bathing in a small creek by the breakwater. Sure! Ducks, geese, and other birds do it too, so why not seagulls? Another lesson learned…
Hunting Season
They’re called Seeschwalben in Germany (terns) – which translates to see swallows, and rightly so, because just like the swallows on land, they’re lightning fast. They boldly dive vertically into the water to catch small fish. Unfortunately, I wasn’t close enough to take clear pictures and desperately wished I had a longer focal length. After the debacle on La Palma, I’ve become more cautious with seawater and cameras. Perhaps the terns will hunt closer to the shore again…
Snack Attack
They say that animals that use tools are quite intelligent, and watching this seagull here, it’s definitely found a clever way to crack mussels: dragging its prey about 15 meters into the air and then dropping it. Even though it all happened on the beach and the mussels only hit the sand, it was successful. I’ve observed similar behavior in ravens with walnuts. Well then, enjoy…
Rose chafer
It tried to fly past, but it got stuck on me, so I had to get it in front of my lens. It didn’t stay particularly still, but you get a glimpse.
hypno toad
Rodgau is truly a zoo. On the way to my car dealership last week (by car with my bike in the trunk, then back by bike and back again in the evening), I found this toad sitting on the path. I wasn’t sure if it was still alive, because it wasn’t moving at all. However, by the evening, it had disappeared. Either a bird of prey had snatched it or it had made it to the other side of the road. A natterjack, if I’m not mistaken. It’s a good thing we’re not small insects and these creatures aren’t as big as a house. I’d be scared.
gold fly
Gold can fly – yes, and it looks exciting too, the gold fly. As you can see, I haven’t yet mastered freehand stacking, so there are a few strange blurry spots where they shouldn’t be, but the result is presentable. Next time, take a closer look when one of these flutters around you. They are interesting creatures, as the good Jean Henry Fabre discovered and documented.
Mr. Grumpy
Sometimes a grumpy attitude isn’t such a bad idea. This heron didn’t really care if I sat 20m away and kept getting closer. Others would have left long ago, but look at the look in his eyes. No worries… just annoyed by those stupid big two-legged creatures that can’t fly. First he hunted and then plucked its feathers. These pictures will be in another post at some point.
I messed up the shot of the catches – it’s just so hard to get the right moment. The trick would be to just point and shoot long beforehand, but that’s not really satisfying and drains the battery and fills up the memory card. I need to practice more and treat myself to a small tripod, because your arms go numb after you spend 45 minutes snapping pictures behind a little bird like that. Thanks to Tai Chi mode, I ended up only 5-6m away from him.
Young Stars
We usually go to the Allgäu region, but this time my old friends from high school class only went to the Odenwald. We were tired of the long journey for the three-night stay. Upon arrival in Schefflenz, I saw many birds, and there was plenty to discover in the garden belonging to our house. During my first walk around, I discovered the nesting hole of this starling family. With every approach, they communicate loudly: the parents caw, and the little one even adds its two cents. Taking photos at this spot was a bit of a challenge, as the light was almost nonexistent, and ISO 51k is no fun. But we did manage to get a few nice shots, and hey, I thought my kids had a lot of mouths. 😉
Black woody Jr.
My suspicion, based on the frequency of my recent black woodpecker sightings—from zero to one per week—was that the large hole in the tree where it was hanging and calling loudly last time was probably important. On Friday, I took up position, and after Josh called me back to the stag beetle. On my return I found the young sitting at the hole, looking for food. I was anything but quiet, and walkers with dogs kept passing by, which is probably why they wasn’t any feeding. After 20 minutes, I left.
Not only was the woodpecker hungry, but on top of that, the 5 kg that my camera weighs aren’t easy to hold handheld for long. Next step: Buy a travel tripod and attach it to my bike somehow. A comfortable camping seat and some camouflage would also be helpful. We’ll see if it’s still there next week—until then, unfortunately, it’s “no time” again
Wagtail on the prowl
You often see them wandering along paths, streams, or mown lawns, quickly grabbing anything edible. This one was playing hide-and-seek with me and the dandelion. In one of the photos, you can clearly see how it assesses the flying insect. Next time, I’ll take an action shot, if I can get my new Nikon to focus on the animal rather than on every blade of grass.
Happy Birthday Squink!
Just as I called my sister to wish her a happy birthday, Squink Jr. showed up and started digging into the bird food. Luckily, there are hands-free devices, so both worked: congratulating and taking photos = photulating or congratuclicking… take your pick! 😀 If that isn’t a sign, Claudi’s favorite animal is the squirrel – the board game company she founded the year before last proves it 😉
Happy birthday, Claudi… these are for you!
…and I wish the windows had been cleaned.
Pelle
Since I’m currently lacking the time to a) really get to grips with my new camera and b) go outside, here’s an older photo from the Frankfurt Zoo. The pelicans there are truly a highlight. Like the Three Stooges, they jostle each other, slap each other, whine and swear, and then eventually sit peacefully next to each other. Strangely, Lightroom has been changing the creation dates of my photos lately, but it must have been a good two years ago since this one was taken. If you were in the train carriage at my exhibition, you’ll already know it.
Frogger
Lake frogs! You can listen to a crazy frog concert just behind the fire station in Hainhausen, provided you’re calm enough to linger on the bank for a moment. If you move, all you can hear is splashing. Sure, storks and herons are hunting. But if you survive those 15 minutes, the choir starts croaking again, and the frogs even hop towards you. Unfortunately, the sun was on the wrong side… this would be a photo spot for the morning, but then you have to drop the kids off and go to work. Quark! (Means Nonsense! In German)
Adeba
Hainhausen again, and even the same day. There’s a lot going on here! Master Adeba, just like the herons, finds plenty to eat here, and there’s even a nest post just behind the fire station that’s occupied. Let’s see if I can get the chicks in my lens. It’s striking that this one is even marked.
Catch!
Hainhausen is currently my favorite spot when it comes to wildlife. This almost 500m of reed forest and flooded ridges is a dream for many animal species. There are some very beautiful spots for photographers, but also a lot of thickets that block access but thus provide peace for the animals.
My heart leapt when I reunited with the supposedly lost kingfisher – unfortunately, so deep in the bushes, with no clear view. Instead, the herons appeared and strolled around the flooded gardens, helping themselves to the lavishly laid out feeding table.
A longer focal length would be helpful… but when isn’t it? 😉
Getting artistic
From time to time, I get the urge to wield my digital brush a little harder than is appropriate for a pure nature photographer. A cormorant on a stick against a blue sky? Okay… we’ve seen that before, so let’s see if we can make it a bit more dramatic.
Yesterday’s afternoon was dedicated to cycling and photography (thanks, Nadine!), and I was able to test out my new beauty a bit. I’m halfway satisfied with the results: the focus is a bit off, but that could also have been due to the backlight. I didn’t use tracking or all that AI stuff in the reeds. There’s something about the images that I don’t like compared to the D7200’s output. The images look sharper and more artificial than with the old camera, which I actually quite like, but when I zoom in to 100%, they look like they were captured using an algorithm. There aren’t the typical JPG artifacts (I shoot in RAW), but something is different. Lightroom also seems to be a lot faster with the new images than with the old ones, even though the resolution is the same. Is something missing from the dataset? Maybe this is just whining at a high level and I’m looking at it too narrowly, but feeling is feeling.
Caterpilars, Spiders and pictures that shouldn’t even exist
My macro lens shouldn’t actually work on the FTZ either—at least, that was the previous owner’s reason for selling it. Well, I think I can live with it if it works like that. 😉 I haven’t really had time to take the camera for a long walk since Friday. I took it with me twice for events, but it stayed in my bag because other things took over the day. (One time, I didn’t even have a memory card with me, due to the fact that the Z6 II accepts one SD and one CF card. With the old one, I had two SD cards, and I never had to worry about leaving one of them in the computer… so now it’s CF again, for whatever reason.)
The pictures here were taken on my balcony table and in Jürgen’s garden. The caterpillar stayed still long enough for the stacking to work. I focused on the head and then simply “moved” over the subject with the shutter held down. If I understood correctly, the camera even has a function for shifting the focus. Oh, there is so much to discover, and I’m already looking forward to my next free afternoon and a longer trip into nature… but it will probably be a few more days.
Tits nest
As I mentioned in my last post, I now know where the woodpecker lives and the tits nest – both in the same spot, by the way, and it’s less than a minute away from Josh’s school – very convenient! The postman finally arrived today and brought the Z6 ii and the FTZ right on time at 4 p.m. I quickly unpacked and was lucky because the battery was charged. So I quickly screwed on my large Sigma, which Sigma itself says doesn’t work with the FTZ, and lo and behold… IT WORKS! So, straight into my backpack and off to the woods. Here are the first pictures, which were still saved as JPGs on the card because I hadn’t set anything large.
For comparison, here’s a picture from two days ago taken with my old D7200. In defense of the old hardware: Since the water damage, I’ve only been using a fixed 1/1000s exposure time… so it’s clear that the tit is a bit out of focus in flight.
But still, it’s as expected. The Z6 is a huge leap forward. The tilting display alone lets me squint for an approaching bird with one eye and check with the other if I’m still in focus. And, by the way, the burst mode feels like shooting an Uzi – it just rattles and rattles. I think the pictures speak for themselves. I’m happily excited!
Slow worm
Since my D7200 never fully returned to life after its dip in the waves, but getting out and taking photos has become a way of life that determines my health and well-being, I’ve taken the big step and fulfilled a secret wish. Nikon Z6 ii… I have no money now, and I hesitated for a long time, with voices in my head scolding me, saying that it wasn’t a step too far and far too expensive. The angel on the other side tells me that it’s the step forward I should take anyway, and that the up to 120 frames per second that this beast can achieve is also a relief in everyday life. With less time to devote to all this, the chances of producing fewer rejects increase. Anyway… I’m poor, excited, and happy, and I hope the postman comes soon and my lenses work with the adapter 😉
Last Sunday evening, I was in the woods again. After discovering a woodpecker hole in a tree at Josh’s school festival at lunchtime, I was drawn back there. After a while, the woodpeckers flew in and out, and on my further trip, I encountered a pair of titmice, which also had their nesting hole in a hollow branch fork. Later, I saw a black woodpecker, but it left too quickly; but they’re big! On the way home, I almost ran over this beauty, as it was lying somewhat stiffly in the middle of the path, barely moving. What a day. I felt buoyed and told myself that this abundance of wonderful encounters was a sign that the purchase was the right decision.
After the shoot, I gently asked Schleiche to leave the path because there were lots of cyclists and pedestrians passing by. The frontal portrait may seem a bit odd, as it’s a stack of two handheld images, which didn’t work very well, and there are additional frames missing between the two. My Macko lens simply has a super-shallow depth of field. I’m curious to see if I can do better with the new camera and 120 fps.
Fun fact: a slow worm is not a snake! It is a lizard without legs….
Ring-necked Parakeets
I wanted to introduce these lovely friends. We met them behind Düsseldorf Central Station, right in the industrial area, halfway to the hotel. Not the least bit shy, they weren’t bothered by my presence—quite the opposite; it almost seemed as if they were offering me a snack. Unfortunately, it was late, and we were traveling with children and suitcases, otherwise I would have stayed for another photo opportunity. Oh yes, you only see things like this when you’re strolling around on foot or by bike, so walk more and keep your eyes open, because the world is colorful and beautiful out there.
Lizardking
My Nikon has been in the oven since the day before yesterday because the humidity is simply too high and it’s still acting up – last resort! Every few hours, I turn it down to 55 degrees, rinse the buttons, dials, and contacts with isoprop, and then let it roast. Sun and wind would certainly do it better, but that would mean sitting here with the camera and making sure it doesn’t get caught in another rain shower instead of enjoying La Palma. Current status: It turns on, triggers, but I can’t adjust anything – the entire right side is dead, and the settings are now fixed: Shutter priority 1/1000 and AutoISO. You can still take photos with it, but you have to make compromises and do a lot of post-processing. The AUTO mode probably still works, but taking pictures of animals with it is a gamble.
Here’s my second attempt with the lizards – the first was shot with an iPhone zoom, and it was really painful and resulted in a mess of pixel mash, even if it might not have been noticeable on social media. This monster, a good 15 cm long, was old and experienced and just as curious about me as I was about him. Reminds me of an old bartender who looks at you askance and asks, “What do you want?”, right?
Island of falcons
When we first landed on La Palma 16 years ago, a neighbor greeted us with, “Welcome to the island of the falcons, Falk” And he was right. This is the island of the canary kestrels. The barancos offer plenty of space for food and nesting holes, the winds are ideal for catching prey with minimal effort, and so there are falcons around every corner.
The day before yesterday, I began the hour-and-a-half descent from the summit of San Antonio to the salt flats. On the way through the black earth, I found a nesting hole with a young falcon. Shortly after, a parent came and lured it out of the hole with a caught lizard. I would have liked to have spent more time there, but I had a path to climb to meet up with the family at the lighthouse, otherwise it would have been a loooong walk home. 😉
Little Ringed Plover
I’d probably seen it before, but never from such close range and in such calm. Usually, one would zoom past me and do a few pirouettes over the water before disappearing again. This one landed 15 meters away and was so relaxed that I was able to get a little closer. The lighting conditions were ideal… impressive.
The Show Business of Green Woodpeckers
How glad I am to have caught these two “dancing.” I was already questioning my state of mind, as I’ve been outside a lot this past week but hardly seen any animals. Finally, another encounter:
These two green woodpeckers were so preoccupied with themselves that they didn’t realize they were courting right in the middle of the footpath/cycle path. I had a good minute with them until—of course—a cyclist followed by an inline skater came along the path.
A beautiful dance, and I’m guessing the male is the one trying to impress the female (here with a yellow patch on her back) with cloned wing beats and a big head bob. I would have liked to have watched longer, but I’m so happy I was able to witness this ceremonyeven if I would have preferred a lower angle. But that would have required me to get off my bike, and by then they would have been gone.
A few minutes with the kestrel
Sometimes you impose things on yourself that, due to a chain of circumstances, lead to a total blockage. In my case: first sorting out the old photos and making room for new ones on the hard drive. That includes the pictures from my mobile, and there has been hardly any tidiness in the last three years, which is now quite a big mess. But, I have to move on and I have already been on two smaller photo excursions, but the website is dying and I don’t have the time to deal with it. Messed up PHP versions, distributed domains and broken SSL… all a load of crap. I decided to concentrate on the important thing: taking photos!
At first it was clear and cold and I absolutely had to get out of the door. A short ride to the Schultheisweiher and back – there was nothing exciting to see and it started to drizzle slightly. As so often, the lovely encounter came just as I had given up all hope. This young kestrel lady flew past me and sat down on the right-of-way sign right next to the Mainpark, at the top of the road. I climbed up the dyke and could see how naively it perched right on the side of the road and the cars whizzed past it just a few centimeters away. Hunger makes you fearless, I guess.
