First I thought that maybe they’re trying to hide – as in trying to blend with the background. But it doesn’t make sense, because they kept doing it regardless of if someone was near them or not, plus in general these park birds are not afraid of humans (it happened once that one tried to sit on me, when I was taking a photo, and it gave me a scare, not the other way around!). So then I thought they might be protecting something – eggs, perhaps? But great tits do not make nests on the ground, certainly not in the open. So beats me, were they sunbathing or something?! Warming-up their wings? Anyone has an idea what’s behind this mystery? ;-) Anyway, they did look cute doing whatever it was they were doing – see for yourself!
OK., so I’ve been following birds with my camera for quite some time now, but I have no idea what these great tits are doing?! I mean, sure, I can see that they’re lying on the ground with their wings extended, but why?!
First I thought that maybe they’re trying to hide – as in trying to blend with the background. But it doesn’t make sense, because they kept doing it regardless of if someone was near them or not, plus in general these park birds are not afraid of humans (it happened once that one tried to sit on me, when I was taking a photo, and it gave me a scare, not the other way around!). So then I thought they might be protecting something – eggs, perhaps? But great tits do not make nests on the ground, certainly not in the open. So beats me, were they sunbathing or something?! Warming-up their wings? Anyone has an idea what’s behind this mystery? ;-) Anyway, they did look cute doing whatever it was they were doing – see for yourself!
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As a mood-booster, I took my camera on a walk through the Lazienki Park yesterday morning, hoping to hunt down something interesting with my camera. I’ve been to this park before, but although it is said to have a significant bird population, I’ve just kept coming across squirrels and mallard ducks, and not much else. But yesterday I hit bingo – I stumbled upon a small patch of green which seemed to be a Bird Central – I think there were at least 10 kinds of birds flying around, and some of them I even managed to take photos of ;-) So here is a photo-report from my small safari. First, a very available addition to my collection – woodpecker! I followed it around with the camera for half an hour at least, but it’s been extremely good at hiding and running – still, I was patient, so I got a few shots: Second came another valuable addition to my bird photo collection, since I’ve never come across this bird before – even though it’s apparently pretty popular. A pretty blue-orange bird with a “black eye-mask” called The Eurasian Nuthatch – if only it didn’t hid so well al the time in the darkest corners… And this, ladies and gentlemen, is a Fieldfare. I’ve already have photos of it, but no pretty ones – the problem being that this bird is honestly one of the least photogenic ones I’ve come across. I saw one in a book that it looks best not when it’s jumping (which it does 90% of the time), but when it sits cuddled-up in a fluffy roll – well, this one was…Still not a beauty, but it looks better than all the other photos of it which I've got ;-) And this is definitely not a trophy – magpies are very common after all – but this one was much less camera-shy than the others I’ve encountered, so I’ve shot a nice photo-session of it ;-) The Park seems to have a large population of Great Tits, which are quite accustomed to humans walking around (and feeding them, I guess). This one allowed me to come quite close, when it was lounging on the ground and probably warming-up in the sun… And finally something which might not be a bird, but which is the cutest symbol of this Park – fiery squirrels. They’re just soooo pretty!
I've been away for a few days, getting a much-needed portion of refreshing sea air and beautiful sea views. And of course while on the coast, I got to see a few interesting places and stumble across a few creative ideas - which means I'll have plenty to blog about this week.
But before I sort through all the photos from my trip, here are a few cute photos from a weekend bird-photo-hunting expedition to the area of Raszynskie Lakes outside Warsaw - little greylag geese. Aren't they cute ?! ;-) It's a good area for bird-watching, but you need a really long lens to get a good photo, the birds are not very cooperative and prefer to keep their distance... So it's a challenge, isn't it? ;-) My husband sometimes refers to me as his Squirrel. While obviously this has been inspired by the fiery colour of my hair, I’ve never been sure whether I find it more endearing or irritating – until now. Now, having actually seen squirrels in action up-close, I can tell you that I consider being called one very flattering! This past weekend we went for a walk to one of the Warsaw’s major parks (we = me + my husband + my camera with zoom lens), and I ended up shooting photos of squirrels. There are not only cute and pretty, but they move with incredible grace (regardless of what they do, whether it’s jumping, digging in the earth or eating!!!) and they look amazing on every photo you take of them. Every girl’s dream, isn’t it? Here are a few of my pictures, enjoy! The heat wave in Warsaw continues, with 34C in the shadow and the sun mercilessly baking the ubiquitous concrete surfaces. So it’s very hard to stir up some energy to do anything… But since I’m officially addicted to photography I couldn’t stop myself from doing some camera hunting even in those hellish conditions – only this time I did not wander far from home. I concentrated on sparrows – the small, greyish-brown birds which are so ubiquitous in the cities that we tend to pay no any attention to them at all. And I think that’s a mistake – they are cute, and look great in photos. Unfortunately they also seem to be resistant to the heat and these tropical temperatures do not sap their energy – they cannot sit still for longer than half a second… Here are a few shots I took yesterday – enjoy! We had another of those rare sunny days yesterday so I went on a trip to a neighbouring park to hunt down some house sparrows with my camera. These small birds are extremely common here in Poland, but not so much in the Netherlands, so I still do not have any really good shots of them. Unfortunately, the sparrows decided not to cooperate and although I could hear them, they stayed stubbornly hidden in the dense bushes. But instead I came across a duck family, and one of them was giving a really great performance. I think I should call it “ A Duck at a Spa” since what she was doing went far beyond a normal bath – there were whirlwinds, jacuzzi sessions, total immersions and more. See for yourself! This past weekend I stumbled upon a lovely if a bit unlikely photo model – a doe. She was grazing on the meadows between the hotel we were staying in and the surrounding forests. She gave me a start when I saw her, but fortunately my photo-hunting instincts took over. I started with photos taken from a long distance away and gradually kept coming closer and closer, but I shouldn’t have been afraid that she’d get spooked and run away – she didn’t. Apparently the grass and wild flowers in this spot must have been exceptionally delicious, since she kept grazing on them for a long time – enough for me to turn it into a real photo session. She was a charming model indeed ;-) I just love the photos in which you can see grass and flowers sticking from her snout, or her pink tongue reaching for them – cute! So, I’m back after the long-weekend trip and I’m happy to report I’ve survived – a fact which you shouldn’t take for granted considering all the violent storms which happened in the meantime, an aggressive mosquito invasion (the size of which hasn’t happened for at least the last 100 years) and our failed attempt at kayaking which ended with us hanging on a tree, soaking wet… But that’s a story for another time ;-)
In between all these attractions, I hunted with my photo camera. But this time I expanded a bit from the bird photography I’ve been so obsessed with lately, to nature photography in general. One result is a beginning of what I hope will become a real collection of butterfly and dragonfly photos. The fact I love most about these is that such a photo shows you a number of details you’d never have noticed with a naked eye. So here it’s the close-up photo which is the real eye-opener to how creative nature is! When I look through the window I find it hard to believe that it’s already June. Tell me, when exactly has Spring happened?! It seems that Poland did not get any of it this year – the month of May has been wet and miserable, with storms and floods all over the country. I can think of one day only – last Saturday – which was mostly sunny – otherwise it rained everyday, and if it hasn’t rained, it poured… Since I was visiting my grandparents on Saturday, I took my camera with me to their garden to look for signs of Spring. A lot of plants got destroyed by the storms, but some of them – mainly daisies and my favourite lilac bushes – proved resilient. So here is a short breath of Spring for those who crave it as much as I do! Today in Poland is the Mother’s Day. For some reason almost every country has a different date for this celebration, but every country does celebrate it – and rightly so! There’s nothing better than our Mums, so to all the Mums out there (but of course especially to mine) – all the best wishes of happiness, health, laughter and – most importantly – let your children be a constant source of delight to you! |
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August 2012
AuthorA fiery red head, a writer and a photographer in love with beautiful design and all things creative |