Marco Nef

Lurking River Kingfisher

I never got closer to a kingfisher (Alcedo atthis). Starting at twilight, I was waiting under the camouflage net for its appearance. Suddenly a male sat only approximately two meters away on this branch. Again it was not impressed by the clicks of the shutter. That allowed me to take about thirty pictures before it left again.

Kingfisher

Last week I had seen seven kingfishers on a single morning, at least five different individuals. So the population is very good at the moment. I therefore decided to go to my kingfisher hotspot once again. Time was relatively short, but I was able to see a kingfisher sitting in front of me for about two of the three available hours. This photo was taken when it sat down about five meters away on a fallen tree above the creek.

Kingfisher

Once again a successful photo tour to the kingfishers. This time in the evening, to use the best light of the day. Again I was able to realize many photos during approach and surfacing from the water. This male is calling for the female that was sitting very close by. For about ten minutes I was listening to their evening conversations at a distance of about six meters. Unfortunately I still miss the moment of the handing over of the bridal gift. Nevertheless, I have so many photos in the meantime that I will probably soon create an own page for these beautiful birds.

Kingfisher

This is a Corona photograph, so to speak. Today I went for the first time this spring by bike to the nearby nature reserve and sat down under the camouflage cover. It is not even as safe as here at home, because here I am all alone. At the moment I get up almost every day at four o'clock in the morning to do the first hours in the home office before the family wakes up. For a change, I allowed myself a visit to the kingfishers, which I had photographed for several days last fall. And I was rewarded, I think. Besides, today was the first time I saw a beaver on land ever. And then a buzzard sat on a branch right above me. A fulfilling day, I'd say.

River Kingfisher

Almost two years after my latest viewing of a river kingfisher in the area of the Rohrer Schachen near Aarau I was riding my bike home when I discovered a kingfisher about to change its seating place along the Aare river. So I stopped and got off my bike, got under the camouflage. Shortly after I realized that there were three kingfishers who dived into the river almost non stop just in front of me. Just after each dive they retuned to some branch nearby. Once that branch was just above me. That is when I took this picture.

Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) landing

In autumn there is a larger number of cormorants along the river Aare. That morning I was already hidden under my camouflage cover before dusk and waited for the awakening of the animal world. Several times I saw kingfishers, great crested grebes and mallards passed by, until I could finally take a picture of this cormorant in the warm morning light.

Crested Tit (Lophophanes cristatus)

I spent two days on the Col du Marchairuz to take pictures for a new project. Unfortunately, the motif I was looking for was not to be found. With the Crested Tit I was still able to find a species that was missing in my photo collection, although it occurs frequently in Switzerland. The reason is that the Crested Tit tends to live in higher altitudes than Aarau, so I can't find it at home.

Red Kite

It is an interesting fact that the number of Red Kites is growing in Switzerland in contrast to most other countries. It is nothing unusual to see one of these raptors in the sky. Still it was quite special when I could see about ten of these animals flying in circles above me. The reason was a farmer who was cutting the grass and by that probably made available some food that they were diving for. I could even observe as one of the birds caught a big dragonfly in flight.

Great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)

After a break of two years, I was lucky again to observe a family of great spotted woodpeckers. Nest photography is a critical task, because you consciously take the risk of disturbing the birds, which in the worst case could lead to a breeding stop. But the fact that I was able to observe countless feedings, take more than 900 photos and also some films in a single morning is a clear sign that I approached and behaved considerately under the camouflage cover.

Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio)

On two days I visited my old home county, the canton of Thurgau in Eastern Switzerland. Besides foxes, deers and rabbits I found this Red-backed Shrike. This beautiful bird is quite famous because it spears its prey - mainly large insects - on spines. This strange behaviour serves in food storage for times with bad weather when the hunt for insects is not so fruitfully.

Moonlight Sonata

In this picture the scene seems very peaceful. But those who have ever witnessed the thousands of crows taking their stands for the night in Aarau and the noise they make, they will probably not think about Beethoven. The moonlight allowed the reduction to the silhouettes of the animals.

Morning song

Colorful autumnal light surrounds the song of this Great Tit.

Grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea)

Beside the quite frequent white wagtail there is also the mountain wagtail in Switzerland, which occurs however some more rarely. It is mostly found on the gravelly banks of watercourses, and contrary to its name, also in the lowlands. While I was watching the kingfishers, I suddenly noticed that there was another bird near the water. Since it did not notice me under the camouflage cover, I was able to photograph it for a few minutes.

See you later...

Together with its male companion this mallard invaded the carved out territory of a coot in a pond at the Rohrer Schachen near Aarau, Switzerland. After some minutes of loud twitter the coot started an attack and the mallards took their heels.

Insufficient Privacy

Along the steep coast line of the british islands there are various free standing rocks that are full of birds. This picture shows a rock of that kind, located at Farne Island, Northumberland. Just before the main breeding season I'm sure it got even denser the following weeks.

Guillemots

Guillemots are among the most common sea birds along the coast of Great Britain. On Farne Island they breed in huge numbers. A intersting visual mark of this birds is a color variation that can be seen at about every eighth bird in this area. It is a white ring around the eyes. So the two birds on this picture are the same species.

Arctic Tern

I could observe two Arctic Terns hunting around a little pond in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. They were flying their circles around the pond and from time to time they plunged into the water to catch little fishes. They ignored the signpost clarifying that it was a private area and fishing was forbidden.

Arctic Tern

There are not only puffins that can be found on Farne Island in Northumberland but many other kinds of sea birds. One of the most prevalent are the arctic terns (Sterna paradisaea). They are quite easy to take pictures of just before landing. Then they use to fly quite still in the adverse winds.

Puffin, Farne Island

On a photography workshop with Alan Hewitt on Farne Island I had the focus on this puffin for quite a long time. I waited for it to start another flight. Unfortunately it was very happy there and had no intention to leave. Anyway, I think I got paid well with this picture.

Puffin, Farne Island

During our second holidays in Northumberland I joined Alan Hewittfor a very intensive, but also very successful photography workshop on Farne Island. I was hoping for beautiful pictu­res of puffins, this is one of the resulting images.

White-throated dipper

Fast, small and difficult to find they are, the white-throated dippers (cinclus cinclus). Standing along a stream and looking for them chances are quite good to see them. They are the only kind of singing birds that not only know swimming but also diving. This picture was taken at the Rohrer Schachen near Aarau, Switzerland.

Schwan

Kontrastreiche Aufnahme eines weissen Schwans an der Aare

Early morning Mallard

As it can be seen quite often along small lakes Etang de la Gruyère in the Swiss canton Jura had ground fog just above the water line. This mallard did not care, and I was happy about the opportunity. By the way, this picture is not black & white.

Entenflug auf Öl

Am Aarschächli konnte ich diese drei Enten im Flug photographieren. Erstaunlich ist für mich der Unterschied des Verhaltens der Enten hier im Vergleich zu jenen nur wenige Kilometer entfernt in Aarau. Dort kann man sie fast streicheln, im Naturschutzgebiet haben sie ihre ursprüngliche Angst vor Menschen behalten

Pool frog (Pelophylax lessonae)

Quietly it was sitting on the branch swimming in the water. As always when approaching pool frogs I had to be very careful because the slightest movement on my part would force it to jump into the protecting water of the pool. That would mean that one has to wait for a long time for its reappearance - hopefully at the very same location. I could take this picture of the pool frog from a very low position through the reed.

Pool frog (Pelophylax lessonae)

I took pictures of pool frogs in the Rohrer Schachen quite often. Usually they immediatly take flight when you approach and it takes longer telephoto lenses than there are in my possession. Or they hide in the reed. There they are very difficult to see. When I took this picture the light was a big help, the result was a study in green.

Aggressive crab

One evening on my holidays at the North Sea I was sitting on the floor at the mudflat when the sea was receding. I was hoping for some good pictures of sea birds when something rather unexpected happened: Some crabs suddenly started comming out of the water and were looking for a hide behind stones. This crab was pretty sure that I was a stone. It was difficult convincing it that I wasn't a stone and that I didn't want to be one until I started pushing it softly with my feet.

Beaver

It had been quite a long time since I went to the nature reserve Auenschutzpark Aarau-Wildegg to take pictures of beavers. Since recently the work of these animals has become ubiquitous in the area I was once again motivated to lie in ambush in the early morning hours. Successfully as it should turn out. But not at all surprising as I know very well where to find beavers. Occasionally some nutria and mallard ducks passed by as well, so it was diversified.

Marmot

Usually you only see or hear marmots from far away. This time I could approach this male and its female as close as about five meters and observe the two for a longer time. Sometimes the male wanted to tag its patch with its loud whistles. That can be seen on this picture because of the wide open mouth.

Deer

While spending summer holidays in Northern Germany, in the countryside not far from the Baltic Sea, one evening I decided to go to a forest where I thought there could be some animals. And yes, shortly after I had installed myself under the camouflage four deer approached and enjoyed eating on the lush pasture. Later they were joined by some hares. When I had decided to return home something thrilling started: An off-road car was approaching me across the pasture at high speed. As it turned out it was the local hunter to whom the ground belonged where I was just standing. We had a nice chat. As I had to learn the hunt season had already started. Means that it is somehow dangerous strolling around forest in Northern Germany.

Rehbock im Wasser

Während ich frühmorgens am Steiner-Kanal im Rohrer Schachen hockte und auf einen Biber wartete, erschien plötzlich am anderen Ufer ein Rehbock. Ohne zu zögern schritt er die Böschung hinunter und begann, den Bach in meine Richtung zu queren. Das nutzte ich durch das Gebüsch hindurch für dieses Photo. Er entschied sich dann zwar, wieder zurückzugehen, aber Angst hatte er offensichtlich nicht.

Bei späteren Besuchen in diesem Naturschutzgebiet habe ich während Gesprächen mit anderen Leuten erfahren, dass schon mehrfach beobachtet wurde, wie Rehe das Aarschächli, einen kleinen See, durchschwommen haben. Zu gerne würde ich das selber einmal beobachten.

Eichhörnchen