Soldiers from Mars

No time to go out and photograph this weekend, lots of household chores to do, as well as a quickstart to the annual springcleaning. So here's one from last week. Back then, temperatures rose to double digits for the first time, a sure sign that the annual Toad migration would be on the verge of happening. So I went out late one evening to photograph the Toads on their quest from the hibernation spots to the spawning grounds. Although the peak was said to have been on Friday, we still found hundreds of Toads on Saturday evening. Enough subjects to photograph.


The place I usually go to photograph the Toads is a sandy forest trail. As amphibians tend to have a moist skin, sand and other forest debris sticks to it and the Toads are sometimes completely covered. Some of them look like creatures from another planet. Here's a couple (called an amplex), lit only by a torch. I also took lots of photographs with the use of flash and some sort of a large softbox. Those shots look more as if they have been taken during daytime. I prefer the secretive, nightly look of the ones lit by the torch.

Common Toad amplex; Canon 1D Mark III w. 150/2.8; 1/60s at F2.8 and ISO 1600; resting on ground.

Sailor's Choir

It's that time of year again. From the middle of March on, when temperatures rise into the double digits and the air is a bit moist, male Moor Frogs come into heat. Thanks to an ingenious physical process, their bodies take on a beautiful blue color. Moreover, the males make plopping sounds. Imagine hundreds of people opening bottles of beer, and you may get an idea of what it's like. All this display of color and sound to attract a female. When found, the male clings onto the female, only to let her go when she has dumped her spawn in the water. The male then fertilizes the spawn and floats between his own offspring, so to say.

Many Moor Frogs die in the process. Some females are simply crushed between fighting males, while both males and females will fall victim to a hungry heron or egret. Clumps of translucent jelly are the silent witnesses of these small dramas of nature. But of course, enough spawn is created to make sure the Moor Frog population will survive another year. Next year, about the same time but certainly the same place, they will gather again to perform one of natures small wonders. If you want to be a witness, keep an eye on the thermometer and pay several visits to their expected habitat, as the whole process hardly ever lasts for more than a few days.

Moor Frog Amplex; Canon 1D Mark III w. 150/2.8 macro; 1/160s at F5.6 and ISO200; handheld lying in water.

Ice Age

The ice age is coming to an end, at least for this year. Only the nights and early mornings can still be very cold. The result is a tiny layer of remaining ice on small bodies of still water, like rainwater that cannot drain into the earth because of the still partly frozen ground. This thin ice can make for a very interesting subject for abstract images. Because of cracks, airbubbles and the underlying soil shining through, lots of lines, shapes and forms appear.

I spent about two hours photographing a tiny rainpool of about 20x20 centimeters.

I got so taken up in the process that I did not notice a small group of 7 roe deer that had sneaked up on me. Normally it's the other way around! When I finally moved to stretch my back for a minute, I scared the heck out of the roe deer and they ran of quickly into the undergrowth. Those are the encounters that make nature photography so addictive and keep me going out at unearthly hours of the day time and time again.

Ice Structure; Canon 1D Mark III w. 150/2.8; 1/8s at F11 and ISO200; Tripod.

Coming in!

Spring is coming in, and it is coming in fast! The last few weeks had been grey and dull, but finally the sun is shining, colors are starting to take over the dullness and birds are preparing for the breeding season. Only the nights are still freezingly cold, but that means good chances for early morning fog and beautiful predawn colors in the sky.

For the first time in ages, I got out of bed very early to be in the right place when the sun would rise above the treeline along the local (former) fishingponds.


When the first warm rays of the sun hit the reeds, two Mute Swans came to investigate me and made for wonderful subjects. Whilst busy photographing them, I saw a black torpedo coming my way, and like spring it was coming in fast! I quickly turned the camera in the direction of the unknown flying object and pressed the shutterbutton like crazy. In the end I took eight shots of what turned out to be a Cormorant in breeding plumage that had decided to start a swimming routine right in front of me. This one has the best wing position, and although the horizon is not exactly what I would call straight, I think that makes the image even more dynamic. A good start to the spring season. Only one bummer: the big lens does not cooperate with the camera that well anymore and urgently needs a service check. Hopefully nothing serious!

Cormorant coming in; Canon 1D Mark III w. 500/4; 1/500s at F6.3 and ISO200; Tripod.