End of 2022

This year I took a whole bunch of images that didn't make it into any of the blogs, almost all of them made in the Netherlands, with a few exceptions in Germany. This blog includes all of the images that I find are worth showing off, that didn't make it into any of the other blogs. Every group of photos is accompanied by a bit of text, introducing species, locations or any other details I felt were worth describing. Enjoy!

Starting off, I spent a day in a photography hide, hoping for some interesting birds and testing my brand new camera. The species list sadly remained very limited, the only species (except for squirrels) that showed up being found in my garden fairly regularly. The squirrels provided plenty of entertainment and it was still a good test for the camera, figuring out a few settings along the way.

As per usual for me, winter was slow. Lacking in good macro opportunities, birds have to fill most of the time, but getting them to cooperate is a fairly difficult task, especially considering my switch to a full frame camera body, requiring me to get even closer in exchange for that sweet sweet image quality. An afternoon at the pier hoping to photograph seabirds surprised me with several seals crawling onto the shore. As I sat at the waters edge, one popped out of the water a meter away from me, permitting me with a curious look before calmly swimming of. One of my favorite wildlife experiences of the year and one I remember fondly! Aside from the seals, birding wasn't terrible. Included are some images made on Texel and a few other spots, some on nice sunny days and some in more wintry conditions.

I didn't have a bad macro season at all this year. Getting several nice tack sharp detailed registration images of some cool species, but also some more dreamy images, many in the Eifel. From left to right: An as of yet unidentified bee, an acorn weevil, a wood cricket and a mating pair of northern dune tiger beetles. The slightly more artistic images are of a common blue and Four-spotted chaser.

Aside from the aforementioned, I also spent quite a bit of time looking for a katydid that is very rare in the Netherlands, finally finding one on my 4th or 5th attempt and a female (so no calls) at that. This saddle-backed bush cricket was very cooperative however, and the blooming heather made for some cool surroundings. Also included is a wide angle image of the bizarre habitat that this beautiful critter resides in.

My favorite species group (herps) wasn't very widely represented. I did okay when it comes to amphibians, finding one of, if not the most enigmatic European amphibian for the first time. These beautiful fire salamanders were found in Germany and had me absolutely ecstatic. Aside from them, I spent a bit of time getting a cool image of a natterjack toad.

Autumn came around, and was quickly followed by winter. Winter hasn't come with many wintery conditions, mostly giving us gray dreary days. I found some cool macro subjects in globular springtails, a long jawed spider in a large mushroom and an awesome pseudoscorpion. Autumn macro photography means mushrooms, and I spent quite a bit of time trying to get some images with some lights, trying to give them a glowing appearance. I'm not completely happy with them yet, but they're a decent first result.

Autumn also brought a few misty days along, a few of them coinciding with my free time, allowing me to shoot some cool forest pictures. These images are from the following locations: De Hooge Vuursche, Plasmolen and my relatively local Amsterdamse waterleidingduinen.

Closing of the year I had the best encounter in a very long time. On a cold morning walk I spotted a young beaver while looking at birds. The animal was completely unbothered by my presence, and allowed me to watch it cleaning itself and foraging for quite a while, from a rather close distance. When I saw a shallow spot in the water between the vegetation I quietly muttered "please sit over there", lo and behold, it picked that spot about a minute later. What an encounter, one I won't forget for a very long time, the perfect ending for the year.