Hans Overduin Photography

Workin’ days…

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:35:00 +0000

These days a lot of the smaller birds are feeding their chicks. The Blue Tits (Pimpelmees) in the nesting cage, attached on my first floor balcony, are raising eleven (!) chicks at the moment. Since the cage is ‘camera-equiped’ we can follow this on our TV-screen. It’s great to watch and a lot of friends are visiting us to have a look at ‘our’ babies. The Marsh Tits (Glanskop) are the new neighbors of the Sparrow-hawk couple I have been monitoring over the last weeks. They have their nest inside a tree and use a real ‘entrance’ and ‘exit’ for their nest. Collecting food, feeding the chicks, and taking the garbage out. And this hundreds of times a day.. That’s what we call ‘workin’ days’. On the upside: the young will leave the nest within a couple of weeks….

Oh yes: these shots were taken close to the nests. Nesting photography is a delicate issue, but rest assured: I kept a good distance from the birds, all shots are cropped heavily. The feeding process has not been disturbed while taking these pictures !

Lunch !

admin — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:05:15 +0000

This female Sparrow-hawk (Sperwer) had quite a good lunch by the looks of it. She took her time eating it, even the prey’s (a songthrush?) feet found their way to the Sparrow’s stomach. May is the month of ‘eat’ and/or ‘be eaten’….. While I took these shots, behind me two Blue Tits (Pimpelmees) were flying on and of feeding their young

Nextdoor

admin — Thu, 10 May 2012 09:46:15 +0000

Trying to keep my sorrow back in shape, I made some short walks in the area where I live. Walking the same round several times, I got some suspicious looks from a local Jackdaw (Kauw). In the forest next to my house I found among other birds a Robin (Roodborst) and finally the four young Tawny Owls (Bosuil) I had been looking for the last couple of weeks. Three of them were huddled together, the fourth was some 2 meters away on an other branch….

Some days are better than others….

admin — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:11:43 +0000

Last friday I twisted my back in a – successful – attempt to get a low angle shot of the Hoopoe (see post last friday). Sitting behind a desk and a computer doesn’t make it any better, so I went for two small therapeutic walks today: in de the morning I went in search for a male Bullfinch (Goudvink), which I found together with some Common Whitethroats (Grasmus). My first shot of a Bullfinch, not that great – but still… In the afternoon I checked upon the Sparrow-hawks, but could only find the male during my stay. It’s attitude seemed pretty obvious, so I decided to call it a day for now

Full Service Provider

admin — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:54:47 +0000

Some days ago I wrote that ‘my’ female Sparrow-hawk was waiting in vain for food and hence finally caught her own. Apparently the Hawks also read my blog, since today I witnessed a change in the male’s behavior, this time he provided a full service session! When I arrived, the female was sitting on a branch – looking slightly bored. After some 30 minutes, suddenly her fiancee arrived, and in mid-air handed her some appetizer. She positioned herself on a branch and started working on the food, whereas the male perched itself some branches away waiting for her to finish this late lunch. It looked as if he was already in anticipation of what was to come. After she finished eating, he took a dive and for some 4-5 seconds had a go at her. As you can tell from the last picture I am not sure whether or not she appreciated all this…. . Well, at least – after several weeks of putting in time and energy – I finally have my mating shots. Even with ISO’s between 2000 and 2500 I am more than satisfied with the result. And the upside of clouds and light rain? No shadows!

Hoping for HooPoe

admin — Fri, 04 May 2012 10:30:13 +0000

The Hoopoe (Hop) for me is one of the most interesting birds. Beautiful and weird at the same time. I was lucky enough to see them in France, Spain, Greece, Africa and Asia, but never in the Netherlands. Which makes sense, since they do not live around here. Sometimes however one decides to take a look and check if Holland is really as liberal as one is told. The last two days a Hoopoe has been reported in a place not too far from home. So this morning I decided to give it a try. I couldn’t find it at first, so first spent some time taking pictures of a Common Grashopper Warbler (Sprinkhaanzanger). These birds are very good at singing, but also at hiding themselves. Still I could make at least an identification shot ! After that I continued my search for the Hoopoe, which was found in the meantime by two other bird photographers. No sun, light rains, but still some nice shots, or so I think Anyway, this Hoopoe will surely have it’s doubts about the Netherlands, since it finally flew of when a low-flying army helicopter passed… So far for our reputation

Thirsty, hungry Female looking for single Male, pref. with snack….

admin — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:59:05 +0000

This female Sparrow-hawk was apparantly thirsty and hungry. Since the male didn’t provide services besides mating, she first went for a drink, then did some stretching of the feathers and finally found something to eat. A passing Jay took some interest in the leftovers, but went for some nuts instead…. Strange things happening in the woods these days

Impressions of China

admin — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 07:20:39 +0000

The last days I was traveling for business in China. Although most of the time in meetings, I tried to make some shots while traveling from one meeting to another. Just to have some memories of everyday life in China as I see it when traveling in the industrial areas in the South-East.

Sparrow-hawks Continued

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:21:22 +0000

Since I will be leaving for a trip to the Far East soon, this morning I paid a (for the moment) last visit to the Sparrow-hawks again. There’s a lot to say about them, but the best thing is to look I’d say. Enjoy the pictures, I enjoyed making them . They are such a fantastic couple !

A normal day again

admin — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:34:35 +0000

After the amazing events with the Sparrow-hawks, today was a normal day again. Some work, some leisure. Some rain, some sun. Some birds, others (Tawny Owls) couldn’t be found. I just missed a mating session again I heard of others, but found the Lady all right, so could make at least some pictures of her…