Recently, I have repaired my floating hide by giving it a new camouflage cover that better conceils me and my movements from the waterfowl. I had been dying to try it out and could not wait until my day off on Friday. But of course, after having watched four beautiful foggy sunrises from my office window on Monday to Thursday, Friday was grey with a drizzle.
I decided it was not worth the trouble of going into the floating hide, but went to the fishing ponds anyway to check out what kind of waterfowl was around and where they dwelled. What I heard and saw was promising to say the least.
I had the possibility to go back on Sunday, albeit for a very limited amount of time. Too short to use the floating hide, but long enough to enjoy a fantastic sunrise. Overnight, temperatures had hit the freezing point so naturally I had expected fog. On my way to the reserve, I could not see any above the meadows, but above the larger bodies of water, a thick layer had formed here and there. After a short while, the sun rose above the distant treeline and set everything on fire. Sure, I had photographed in foggy conditions before, but the difference was that where usually the fog is everywhere, it now had only formed above specific parts of the water and moved quickly because of a slight breeze. As a result, the landscape showcased a very dappled, mystic effect, with firy fog painted in places, but not so much it completely obscured the view. I set up with the camera perpendicular to the shoreline where the effect of the firy fog was at its strongest and only had to wait for something to swim into the frame. This Common Coot (Fulicra atra, Meerkoet) happily obliged, probably on its way to give this stunning sunrise a closer look.
Common Coot; Canon 5D Mark II w. 500/4L IS; 1/1250s at F5.6 and ISO400; tripod
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