Last days of autumn in the sunny dunes with the Sony A1 and 200-600mm
Full screen gallery below
Now already a few weeks ago but this was the best last day of autumn. The sun was strong and you felt the last sunny days and warmth of the season. This made that there was also a lot to see and photograph. I think a saw the most birds species in this short time frame ever in the dunes. I was there for maybe 4-5 hours, so I guess I was lucky!
I started my hike as usual at the carpark where I normally are not starting, so this meant a new and refreshing walk. I told myself (I have been here before) to take the first unknown path I’d see. That path was the one directly to the right, straight into the forest. To my surprise the forest was still very quiet. Not to worry I was looking for Gold crests and long-tailed tits. They usually fly in flocks and tend to get to the more bushy area than the forest itself.
As I approached an open area I figured I’d just sit and wait and within 10 minutes you could here tits, not long after the unique sound of the long-tailed tits and I knew it would be a question of time when the Gold crests would appear as well. It took another minute or two and there were two Cold crests. Perfectly positioning in the low bushes. Yes!
Carrying on I did not get a long-tailed tit perfectly in the frame. Walking towards water I saw more bushes and another flock of tits flying over. Long behold a long-tailed tit just landed before my eyes probably 5 meter away from me. Another perfect shot, well perfect it can always be improved. Still got one!
Trying my luck with a colony of cormorants I got some nice shots in the sunlight, here it was where you could feel the last real warmth of the sun. Walking on I saw an Eurasian sparrowhawk flying over, had not seen that before so my day could not have been better. At the end even an Eurasian blue tit posed right before a yellow bush. Talk about colour coordination.
A really good day! All shot with the Sony combo! And don’t hesitate to leave a comment or an e-mail. Click to view larger in a light box and navigate with mouse or arrow keys. Enjoy!
