Sushi

Albeit not a very impressive one, the Dutch Lions gained their second victory at the Worldcup in South Africa. This time, they beat the Japanese squad with 1-0. To be honest, it was one long boring game to watch, and if it had not been the Dutch that played, I would have turned off the tv. In the end, a terrible mistake by the Japanese goalie was needed to score the only goal of the game.

Not so for the Kingfisher male, who does not need luck at all. He uses a terrific combination of speed and skill to score his sushi on a daily basis. And even his discipline is completely up to par, as he returns to the nesting pipe with fresh seafood exactly every twenty minutes.

Looking at the size of the fish, it seems the chicks have grown a lot since last weekend. The female also brings in fish, but she has the nasty habit to not use the perch and fly directly towards the nesting cavity. Both the male and female do not dive into the stream directly after leaving the nest to get rid of the fishy smell.


They did so last year, which back then provided me with lots of photographic opportunities, as the first perch they came across after coming out of the water was mine.
I'll keep an eye on the couple. As soon as they start to leave the nesting pipe backwards, the chicks will be near the entrance and can fledge any day. I still hope for a shot of several chicks on one perch.

Common Kingfisher with Sushi; Canon 1D Mark III w. 500/4 IS; 1/200s at F5 and ISO 500; tripod and camo cloth.

100th Post

My 100th post on this blog since I started in August, 2008. No foxes this week, as the family seem to have moved to a larger residence. I spent 5 hours waiting at the den, but to no avail. A closer inspection of the den showed no fresh prints in the wet sand. Some 50 meters further, a new den had been dug, but that too did not look inhabited. I don't have the time nor the motivation to spend yet another few days to find the new residence, so time to go and look for new subjects. I'm happy with the moments I have been able to share with the foxes, and will definitely go back next year.


Because of all my efforts with the foxes, I completely missed out on the kingfishers. The first brood fledged some five weeks ago. I had good hopes the couple would try for a second (and maybe third) brood. So two weeks ago, I paid a short visit to the site and within minutes, the male came out of the nesting pipe with soil on the bill. Good news: the nest was being cleaned and redecorated for a second brood! I went back this weekend and both the male and female arrived with very small fish in the bill. So the chicks must have hatched recently. I'll be going back in the next weekends, as the amount of fish needed to feed the chicks will rapidly increase, which means more visits by the parents and more chances for good shots.

As a nice coincidence, the kingfisher features the colors of our national flag. Very appropriate, with the Worldcup having started and the Orange Lions beating the Danish Dynamite with 2-0!

Common Kingfisher male; Canon 1D Mark III w. 500/4 and 1.4x; 1/200s at F5.6 and ISO 400; Tripod and camo cloth. 

Reservoir Dogs

Mr. Pink: You kill anybody?

Mr. White: A few feathers.

Mr. Pink: No real birds?

Mr. White: Just feathers.


Slightly changed quote from the ingenious Quentin Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs (1992)


I went back to the five little gangsters this weekend. When I arrived at 5.30 am, they were already outside the den enjoying the first rays of the sun on a beautiful day. Of course, they fled into the den when I took my position, but within ten minutes they were back as if nothing had happened. They sure know it when I am there and keep a keen eye on me, but only every now and then. The majority of the time, they do what adolescent foxes do: sneak up on eachother, step on a brother or sister, lift someones leg, bite tails, dig holes, fight playfights, run through the den, taste feathers, laze around, and so on.

Amazing how much they have grown, both in size and appearance, in just a week. It's now easy to see that these fox cubs are built for no good, they are meant to scavenge, kill, betray and just be cunning, vicious and sly. The warm directional sunlight in this photograph illustrates this better than I could do with a thousand words.

Fox cub duo; Canon 1D Mark III w. 500/4 IS and 1.4x; 1/250 at F5.6 and ISO 800; tripod and camo cloth.