Day of the Buzzard

Three weeks ago, I went to the Boerenglop bird hide in Klazienaveen with a fellow photographer. It was a bit of a spontaneous trip, as I only found out the day before that I could join. A buzzard and a green woodpecker had been spotted there regularly in the days before. Even though these birds had been seen there recently, you never know whether they will show up at the moment you are there. After all, these are wild animals that do whatever they want, and that is exactly what makes wildlife photography so exciting and enjoyable.

Of course, the squirrels were there again as well. They are such fun to watch, so it is no surprise that I took a lot of photos of them. However, I am becoming more selective when choosing which photos to keep. In my opinion, they should not look too much alike. I am starting to feel the same way about birds, which is why I photographed quite a few fewer birds this time. But once you start going through and editing the photos, they are often just too good to leave out.

After a few hours, the buzzard finally made an appearance as well. It came and went, and this continued for quite some time. At one point, there were even two buzzards, which was pretty amazing to see. They kept a close eye on each other, and my fellow photographer even hoped they would get into a fight, as he thought that would make for some great photos. I had my doubts about that. Of course, it is part of nature, but whether it is really enjoyable to watch and photograph, I am not so sure. Fortunately, they never actually started fighting, but one of the buzzards did start feeding. It was not particularly pleasant to watch, so I decided not to take any photos of it.

The green woodpecker unfortunately did not show up while we were there. I was a little disappointed, but that is simply how nature works. What was even more frustrating was that the buzzard took a bath just fifteen minutes after we had left, and that the green woodpecker showed up later that afternoon after all. Of course, there is no point thinking too much about it, because hopefully I will get another chance to photograph moments like these another time. Despite missing out on these opportunities, I had a great day. Although, somehow, I still ended up coming home quite chilled, right in the middle of summer!