Friday 15 January 2010

Reed specialists

The Oostvaardersplassen is always rewarding for bird photography; 2 specialists of this important wetland:
The colored Bearded Tit (Panurus biarmicus/Baardmannetje). In winter they feed on reed seeds. What an acrobatic posers are they.
The Bittern (Botaurus stellaris/Roerdomp) is seldom seen, as it leads a retiring life under cover of extensive reedbeds. Its presence is usually only revealed by a conspicuous call, resembling a foghorn. When ditches and lakes are frozen, hunger drives them to the few scarce places with open water. The first photo freezes a catch action. On the second photo the Bittern adopts the characteristic camouflage posture. Note that especially the dark breast markings work well.
I spent about an hour with it and shot over 4Gb of images … and then drove home with a very smugg grin on my face!

1 comment:

Jarno van Bussel said...

Wauw, heel mooi!
De roerdomp was zeker geluk dat je die zag? In iedergeval heb je die mooi kunnen platen! En het baarmannetje is mij helaas nog niet gelukt...
Groetjes Jarno van Bussel