Tracking the winter Ptarmigans

Every experienced photographer and birder knows, that the best moments are those when you observe certain species in a place that has not been shown to you – photographing birds from commercial hide is option for many but it cannot really satisfy genuine naturalist. Finding such a place in the nature requires that hours and hours are spend strolling around in the new terrain, often without any photo taken and sometimes it is worth checking the place without heavy camera, just with the binoculars in your hands...

Birds of Namibia 3/3

The last time we ended up close to Orupembe watching the beautiful Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters on the way back from the Angolan borders. The other day we continued south and spent the night in the Purros campsite – yes, the same Purros that we had passed through some 10 days earlier on the way towards Skeleton Coast park. As I already mentioned before, the campsites were the best places to watch birds – not only they accumulate birds from the neighbourhood, the birds are also quite tame being used to people presence...

Winter goes on

This year alike the last year the cold rules the winter in Bergen, Norway. In spite of a common thought of Europeans from south, this part of Norway usually experience only a few days of snow and cold spells during winter time, the last winters seem to be rather exceptional in this respect. Just to confirm this, the snow was falling again over last two days although we already expected spring to come…

Birds of Namibia 2/3

Last time I ended the first episode of the series about birds of Namibia in Hoarusib valley near Purros with a bunch of birds gathering around the river. The same day we left the fresh valley and turned into the hot arid planes towards the Skeleton Coast Park...

Birds of Namibia 1/3

As always when visiting brand new places, I was curious what birds will appear in front of my camera during the trip to Nambiia. I had certain ideas and strange dreams before we left to south but the reality was, as usually, completely different from what I had expected. Knowing that Africa is the hot spot for every wildlife photographer but having in mind that our geological field trip was scheduled to miss all famous parks of Namibia I was getting into the plane with reasonable pessimism at the end of September 2010...

Night shots from Namibia

The night-sky photography in Namibia was the main reason I took my tripod along with me. The amazing visibility of southern night skyscape with no light pollution was very tempting. And watching the stars on the desert was really a spectacle...

Sossusvlei - Deadly beautiful desert

There are places in the world so magic and beautiful that one just cannot really conceive; places where you must simply sit down and watch all the beauty around that nature has created. That is exactly what I would do in Namibian Sossusvlei desert last October if we had more than just one morning for visit of this wonder from another world…

Waxwings invade Bergen

I remember the winter 2008/2009 when large flocks of Bohemian Waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus) appeared in Czech republic and other European countries – it was a spectacle for ornithologists and photographers. I was lucky to spend few weeks at home during Christmas time and watch these beautiful birds flying around and feeding on frozen fruits left on the trees. Although a good number of these birds appeared, I managed to take a few pretty bad shots with only two of them being of an average quality...

Southern Masked Weaver – the master builder

Although the main goal of my photographic efforts in Namibia were by no doubts the wildlife animals, surprisingly enough, one of the best bird shots I have made in the backyard of Steiners house (see previous article Namibia’s highways and byways)! Right after the arrival to the house I noticed spectacular grass-woven ball-shaped nests attached to the bush and beautiful yellow males of Southern Masked Weaver (Ploceus velatus) flying around them...

Namibia’s highways and byways

Florida XIII – some more birds

Florida XII – Fort Desoto

In my mind, Fort Desoto Island in Florida will remain as the best spot for bird photography. If you want to see many bird species in one place, go to Fort Desoto, you will not be disappointed...

Florida XI – close-up

What fascinates me today – after several years of bird photography – is the detail! The best bird photographs are of course those with some action but such pictures are often a matter of coincidence or long wait in a hide. To photograph birds sitting still might seem boring but one is often surprised when the details are visible during the close-up view. I am a big fan of close-up shots – the pictures where you can virtually see every feather. In these moments you can fully appreciate the beauty and variability of the nature. Florida was great place to make such photos – birds are very tame so one can easily get so close to make „portrait“ snapshots – here are some of them…

Florida X - Egrets and Herons

Florida is a country of sun, oranges and Egrets and Herons. These birds are everywhere. If you check your birding guidebooks, you may find out that Florida regularly hosts 12 out of 13 Egrets and Herons that can be found in USA. How many can you see during short visit of Florida? Count with me...

Autumn migration – some pictures

I like Autumn – it is a time of bird migration to South and time to watch species that are not around during the summer time. The last weekend I visited Herdla nature reserve near Bergen – this flat meadow at the northernmost coastal tip of Askoy island is ideal resting place for migrating birds and their regular refueling station before the long trip to South.