Tiny Teals

Another weekend went by without me touching the camera. Believe me, I had wanted to, especially with the first real signs of winter out there. It's just that other (not always pleasant) obligations have kept me from exploring the natural world around me for three consecutive weekends. The good news is I expect to be out again next weekend, and if the weather forecast is right (which it hardly ever is...) it will still be winter. Actually, it is snowing right now outside of my office window. So back to the archives it is. Here's another one from the recent trip to the UK.


We found a flock of Turnstones and a few pairs of Common Teals (Anas crecca, Wintertaling) at a small pebble pool along the Norfolk coast. The Turnstones did not care about our presence at all, but the Teals took a bit longer to get used to the new humps in their territory. After about an hour lying down on the ground (which kept us out of the fierce wind), they decided to come closer and continue their feeding routines. Only when they got close to us, did I notice how tiny these beautiful Teals are. The males feature beautiful reds and greens on the head, that subtly change hues with the change of light. Very nice!    

Common Teal couple; Canon 1D Mark III w. 500/4 and 1.4x; 1/640s at F5.6 and ISO400; lensfoot on ground.

Beachrunners

When at the beach with the seal colony, it is almost impossible not to see any Sanderlings (Calidris alba, Drieteenstrandloper). They run along the tideline looking for small invertebrates. The best way to photograph them is to get flat on the ground some 20 meters away in the direction they are moving in. They will inevitably come your way, and when a wave comes, they can even run right towards you, because (strange enough for a wader) they seem to hate wet feet. When I say run, I really mean run. Man, are these little beachcombers fast! I selected the middle focus point but was not able to keep it on the bird.

The bird was not even in the frame! So I switched to the leftmost focus point. Because the bird ran faster than I could follow with the lens flat on the beach, the bird ended up against the right edge of the frame, but at least the Sanderling ended up within the borders of the frame. I think I even like the tension created by the bird running against the frame-edge. It gives a sense of speed, something these white bullets deserve!

What I was hoping for before venturing off to the UK was a sharp image of a running Sanderling with both feet off the ground. Mission succeeded, and even in beautiful late afternoon light!

Sanderling running; Canon 1D Mark III w. 500/4 IS; 1/1000s at F5.6 and ISO400.

Navy Seals

I have just returned from a short trip to the UK. Together with colleague Gerard Schouten, I spent two days with the Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus, Grijze zeehond) colony at Donna Nook and two days searching for daylight hunting Barn Owls (Tyto alba, Kerkuil) in Norfolk.
Days spent at the seal colony were great; we were blessed with wonderful weather (and sunsets), only a handful of other photographers on the beach (due to a few very determined wardens that adviced everyone not to go onto the beach because of possible disturbance) and a lot of activity in the surf.

Pictured above is the mother of a day-old pup attacking a smaller seal that got too close to the pup. Mum must have spent about half an hour besieging the other seal. It was a hefty confrontation, with bloody wounds resulting from the nasty bites they inflicted onto eachother. During the fight, the pup helplessly searched for its mother, hauling up onto everything that even remotely resembled a mother seal. It even came very close to my position. I must have looked like an attractive seal, lying on the wet sand in a neoprene wading suit.

The two days with the barn owls turned into a huge deception. Weather was no longer in our favour with galeforce winds, lots of rain and typical English grey skies. The owls seemed to rather stay inside instead of hunting the fields. We did get to see a few hunting owls, but not as many as expected and never any closer than 150 meters. Fortunately, we did get a few nice photographs of Common Teal (Anas crecca, Wintertaling) and Turnstone (Arenaria interpres, Steenloper).

Grey Seal fight; Canon 1D Mark III w. 500/4 IS; 1/640s at F5 and ISO400; tripod.

Lobende Erwähnung

Lobende Erwähnung. That's German for Highly Commended (eervolle vermelding in Dutch) and exactly what my close-up photograph of two tiny mycenae received at the 2010 European Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, organised by the German GDT. I am very happy and proud to be amongst the winners of this year's competition, as it is widely considered to be one of the most important nature photography contests worldwide. I had previously entered the competition for 4 years in a row without any success, but my images did get farther and farther every year. Now I have finally succeeded, and hopefully not for the last time.

Among the winners usually are a few fellow Dutchmen, and this year is no exception. Theo Bosboom received two HC's (and did a very fine presentation on Iceland), Paul van Hoof and Misja Smits received one HC, like me, and Mees de Bruijne won a runner-up position. Full results will be published shortly on the GDT website. Check it out, it is a good source for inspiration!


I went to the GDT festival last Saturday and enjoyed a few very nice presentations by Theo Bosboom, Niall Benvie and Ingo Arndt. Hannu Hauttala and Lassi Rautiainen did a very humerous presentation in a combination of Finnish, German and English. They reminded me of Waldorf and Statler of the Muppets. What I enjoyed most is meeting old and new friends, some of them I only get to see and talk to once a year at the festival. Thanks to Wilco Dragt for taking a picture of the proud photographer!

Update November 2, 2010: the winners are now online.