Going through the photographs of my recent trip to the Oder Delta in the west of Poland, this photo of a White-tailed Eagle seems to sum it all up.
Experiencing these magnificent birds (often very close by) in a healthy population makes me extremely thankful. Having abundant apex predators means that the ecological system is healthy. But from a personal view as well.
This year I started with my workshops sessions in the Oostvaardersplassen. My goal is to prepare nature photographers on all levels for their “trip of a lifetime”. It doesn’t matter where you go, the plains of Africa, the Amazon, Yellowstone or Iceland. What I try to teach people is to get used to being in contact with large wild animals. I want to stress the fact that the program I developed is very accessible for all levels of photographers. The only thing needed is the desire to get in touch with nature and wanting to and document that.
Every year I give myself themes to focus my activities and build my portfolio. Last year it was the Common Kingfishers and the Grey Seal pups. This year the overall theme is what I call small landscapes. With that I try to capture common or regular animals in our direct environment.
You can start on the ground work for your natural garden now you know how you want to use your garden and what you want to achieve. This is the moment the actual digging starts. You don’t have to do all at once but if you do it in stages make sure you start with the base projects like borders and terraces.
As mentioned in Part 1, I will walk you through how I did this based on a number of questions. Although a large part of what is my garden today has been a natural process I did think about these questions.
While I am sitting on the porch writing this, I have a true African experience. A Tusker beer in front of me and in the background the unsettling yet comforting sound of lions grumbling in a bush not far away! There is simply no way to express how that makes you feel.
The impact of this trip is slowly building up, teaching me new lessons, revealing more and more about the fragility of natural balance.
The first day out in the Murchisons Falls park. These waterfalls were named after Roderick Murchison, the founder of the Royal Geographical Society. On our way over, we encountered two of the rarest birds in Africa: Shoebill Storks. These birds look like a big grey Stork with an alligator mouth. They where a bit far off in a marsh, and I was determined to get closer for some nice shots.
Time flies when you’re having fun. And believe me, this is even more the case on a trip like this. We have only done one hike so far, but it feels as if we have been on the road for more than a week
My first hike this morning was without the group. My companions wanted to visit the swamp lands and I wanted to spend more time with the Rhino’s.
After a reasonable drive over well-built roads, we arrived in Ziwa around lunch time. Rhino’s tend to sleep during the hottest time of the day, so we had some time to kill in the compound garden.
The compound is a beautiful campsite with a big variety of birdlife. Some small black and white weavers I have never seen before and some bunting species. Besides the birds there is a myriad of different flowers.
So here I am, yet another African country in another African nature photography adventure. I arrived 1 day before the rest of the party, who are due to arrive tonight. Being diabetic, I didn’t want to take the risk of being off balance when we start the very intensive trip ahead of us.
And I am happy I did. The last couple of weeks have been very hectic and this extra day was a welcome break, acclimatizing and exploring the capital while getting my bearings.
