During weekdays when I have to commute to my daytime job, I curse at snow and ice covering the roads, making it difficult and even dangerous for me to arrive at work. But during weekends, it’s sheer joy when I see a fresh white snow cover. On days like these, I don’t travel far to take photographs. Instead, I rather visit the places close to home, as they look completely different from what they normally look like.
On Friday, I spent 5 hours in a hide at a newly erected feeding station. Not a lot of birds, but I got a few nice images of Jays in falling snow.
These ‘cops of the forest’ usually are very suspicious and difficult to photograph, but with a dense snow cover, they cannot resist the nuts put out for them at the feeding station. On Sunday, I went to the local fishing ponds. Because the area is closed to visitors who don’t have a permit, it is a quiet place and it therefore teems with birds and mammals. Unfortunately, there were hardly any holes in the ice, so my hopes for foraging Bitterns, Rails and Kingfishers went idle. As for the mammals, I found loads of animal tracks in the snow and on the ice. At least 4 different fox trails, a lot of Roe Deer hooves and tiny tracks of mice and squirrels. But, no fur in front of the camera. I did photograph some landscapes I am happy with and also some rather graphic images of Coots and Blackbirds in the snow. Above an example.
Common Blackbird; Canon 1D Mark III w. 70-200/2.8 L IS II; 1/60s at F5.6 and ISO400; handheld
