Spotted Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes)
Actually this beautiful alpine bird had been on my wish list for a long time, but I had never really bothered to find it. As a result, it was still missing on my species list, until today I walked totally unprepared into the coniferous forest where probably most photos of this species are taken in Switzerland.
'Wildlife Wild' shows pictures of animals living in the great outdoors.
Spotted Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes)
The nutcracker belongs to the order of songbirds. After observing some individuals of this species over several hours, I began to have doubts about the biological classification. But then one of them actually began to actually 'sing'. They are hardly ever quiet, but the singing is clearly different from the usual calls.
'Wildlife Wild' shows pictures of animals living in the great outdoors.
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.
'Wildlife Wild' shows pictures of animals living in the great outdoors.
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.
'Wildlife Wild' shows pictures of animals living in the great outdoors.
Morning song
Colorful autumnal light surrounds the song of this Great Tit.
'Wildlife Wild' shows pictures of animals living in the great outdoors.
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.
'Wildlife Wild' shows pictures of animals living in the great outdoors.
On the verge
This great tit unexpectedly jumped on the branch. The branches form a kind of frame around the bird. I especially like this because of the graphical effect it creates.
'Wildlife Wild' shows pictures of animals living in the great outdoors.
Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)
You can see the great cormorant almost anytime in the city of Aarau along the river Aare. In the nature reserve nearby I haven't seen them often, usually just flying by. That morning I sat next to the shore of the Aarschächli in the early morning and in the fog. Suddenly two cormorants swam along quite close. In the early morning light the don't appear black, but rather shiny.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Seagull
Hidden between the rocks this seagull watches its environment from its nest in Seahouses, Northumberland. They build their nests in small holes in the rocks. That gives them protection from weather influences and predators.
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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.
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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.
'Wildlife Wild' shows pictures of animals living in the great outdoors.
Arctic Tern
This arctic tern posed on a nature stone wall on Farne Island in Northumberland. The background shows the approaching thunderstorm.
'Wildlife Wild' shows pictures of animals living in the great outdoors.
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.
'Wildlife Wild' shows pictures of animals living in the great outdoors.
Puffin taking off, Farne Island
On a photography workshop with Alan Hewitt on Farne Island I had the chance to take pictures of many puffins (Fratercula arctica). The waiting time was long before the first one of this group left the rock. Finally it took off and flew into the abyss.
'Wildlife Wild' shows pictures of animals living in the great outdoors.
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.
'Wildlife Wild' shows pictures of animals living in the great outdoors.
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.
'Wildlife Wild' shows pictures of animals living in the great outdoors.
Schwan
Kontrastreiche Aufnahme eines weissen Schwans an der Aare
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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.
'Wildlife Wild' shows pictures of animals living in the great outdoors.
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
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Mandarinentenpaar
Diese Art gehört eigentlich nicht nach Europa, sie wurde wegen Ihres Aussehens aus Asien hergebracht. Dieses Paar scheint jedenfalls zufrieden zu sein und geniesst scheinbar die Aussicht.
'Wildlife Wild' shows pictures of animals living in the great outdoors.
Seeadler auf Vancouver Island
'Wildlife Wild' shows pictures of animals living in the great outdoors.
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.
'Wildlife Wild' shows pictures of animals living in the great outdoors.
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.
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Pool frog
Rare picture of a pool frog that is not in the water or at least on close proximity. My idea was to come close at a very slow speed and to finally motivate it to jump. So I could get a picture of the flying frog. It really jumped, but the picture does not exist.
'Wildlife Wild' shows pictures of animals living in the great outdoors.
Teichfrosch
Ja, diese Art heisst tatsächlich so. Ein beschreibender Name, wie ich ihn bisher nur im Grand Teton Nationalpark in den USA als Vogelname gehört hatte: "Yellow eyed black bird". Alles klar.
Im Rohrer Schachen hört man zu dieser Jahreszeit die Frösche mindestens ebenso gut wie die Vögel. Es ist auch recht einfach, sie zu photographieren: Hören, lokalisieren, langsam anpirschen, dann ruhig bleiben und warten, bis einer möglichst nahe als Motiv auftaucht. Oft muss man allerdings den Schilf ein wenig zur Seite drücken, um eine tiefe Position der Kamera realisieren zu können. Erstmals konnte ich heute die Schallblasen aufnehmen, die diese Froschart beim lauten Rufen unterstützen.
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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.
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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.
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Biber
Im Juni muss man sehr früh aufstehen, wenn man Biber sehen möchte - hatte ich mir gedacht. Also stellte ich den Wecker auf halb vier Uhr und war bereits um vier Uhr im Naturschutzgebiet. Es war stockdunkel, und überraschenderweise mucksmäuschenstill. Aber schon etwa eine Viertelstunde später, die Dämmerung begann einzusetzen, ging das Pfeiffen der Vögel im Wald los. Im Gegensatz zur vorher herrschenden Stille war das schon ein richtiger Lärm. Ich sass an diesem Morgen vier Stunden möglichst ruhig unter meinem Tarnnetz. Dreimal sah ich einen Biber, erst beim letzten Mal schaffte ich es, Photos zu machen. Allerdings hätte ich mir das frühe Aufstehen sparen können, denn der Zeitpunkt der Photos war fast derselbe wie bei meinen vorangehenden Sichtungen vor zwei Monaten.
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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.
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Reh im Schilf
Im Jægersborg Deer Park beim Vorort Klampenborg von Kopenhagen, Dänemark, habe ich im hohen Schilf zwei Rehe bei der Tagesruhe entdeckt. Sie waren so gut versteckt, dass sie wohl kaum einer der vielen anderen Besucher des Stadtparks gesehen hat. Spuren zeigten, dass sie regelmässig an der Stelle ruhen
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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.
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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.
'Wildlife Wild' shows pictures of animals living in the great outdoors.
Eichhörnchen
'Wildlife Wild' shows pictures of animals living in the great outdoors.
