Frogstomp

The titel refers to the debut album (1995) by Australian rockband Silverchair. Music I grew up with and recently 'rediscovered' and thus added to my iPod. Check 'm out!

I went back to the inquisitive little foxes, but this time they were smarter than I was. I had put out a little bait and waited for some 3 hours, flat on the belly under a camocloth. Nothing to be seen and with dozens of mosquito bites in the pocket, I decided to take a little walk and look for other subjects. When I returned an hour later, the bait was gone and I think I saw a foxy tail dash off into the reeds.



I found myself back at the same reserve for the release of a new batch of Tree Frog (Hyla arborea, Boomkikker). For the third year in a row, a population of hundreds of juveniles was released into the reserve. This way, a healthy and stable population can be established. That the reserve makes for a suitable habitat was proven by the fact that we found an adult Tree Frog at the spot we were about to release part of the juveniles. They are not really easy to photograph, as the juveniles are only about the size of a fingernail. I had to mount an extension tube and extender to the macrolens in order to portrait the Frog large enough in the frame.

Tree Frog juvenile; Canon 5D Mark II w. 150/2.8 macro and 1.4x; 1/250s af F4 and ISO800; tripod

Adolescents

Over the years that I have been visiting the local fishing ponds, I have found a lot of proof for the presence of foxes (Vulpes vulpes, Vos). Tons of excrement, freshly killed ducks and even an unused den or two. People that, like me, regularly visit the place, often saw foxes on the trails between the ponds. Not me, I never saw one, the closest I got was steaming excrement.
Until two weeks ago, when I was there to repair the floating hide. During the hour I spent at the ponds, I saw an adolescent fox three times on the same path, all around noon. Highly unusual, but favourable conditions for a photographer.

So yesterday I went back and lay down in the wet, high grass at the edge of the trail and waited. After two hours, I saw an adolescent fox slowly make his way towards me. He approached me up to some 15 meters, looked up to check out the clicking sound of the shutter and disappeared into the dense reeds. Only to suddenly appear again two meters behind me. We were both frightened! Later on, I saw two adolescent foxes frolic around on the same path, some 100 meters away. They did not get any closer, so I decided to leave. When I almost arrived at the spot I had seen the two, they just came out of the reeds. I got flat as fast as possible, the camera still ready. To my surprise, the two curious foxes decided to stay and check me out from a safe distance. After 5 long minutes, they got bored with me and went back into the reeds they call their home. See you next time, curious little chaps!

Adolescent Fox; Canon 5D Mark II w. 500/4L IS; 1/400s at F5.6 and ISO400; tripod and camo cloth

Early Explorers

Since our return from Africa, I had not been out with the camera. Instead, I spent the time to repair my floating hide, which had been at its intented destination for more than a year without being used and the winterfrost had made the adhesive crack.

Last friday, I found myself down in the water at 5.30 am. It was only to literally test the waters, but I had great fun and will definately spend much more time there! I now know the depth of the ponds and have learnt that I need to better camouflage the peeping holes, because the grebes, coots and ducks were clearly aware of human presence inside the strange floating device.

Around 8 am, the sun was already high in the sky and I called it a day. Before heading home, I wanted to check out my kingfisher (Alcedo atthis, Ijsvogel) site. Last year, I photographed them at the end of July, when the chicks from the third brood were about to leave the nest and explore the world. Much to my surprise, I found three chicks already outside of the nest, but still close. They must have fledged that same morning, and thus some two weeks earlier than last year. No need to say I rushed back to the car and got the camera. Because the chicks are not used to humans, they allow a relatively close approach without too much camouflage. I tried to shoot through the vegetation for some natural vignetting. A black and white rendition turned out best, mainly because the chicks don't yet feature the vivid colors their parents have and thus don't stand out from the vegetation and background that much.

Common Kingfisher chick; Canon 5D Mark II w. 500/4L IS; 1/250s at F4 and ISO800; tripod and camouflage cloth