Finally!! After a full day of constant sailing yesterday, we had arrived at the Biesbosch; my all-time favorite wetland area in Holland. It felt so great to be there again!! On our way there we came across a Seagull that tried to swallow something big but I couldn’t make out what it was. Actually it looked like an octopus, but that’s probably stretching my imagination a little bit too far 
I blew the shot up to the last pixel but still can’t make it out!
For the first time this year the weather was gorgeous and on our arriving day we got treated to a most beautiful sunset with warm light all around. It really made our first trip out in the little rubber boat with its silent electro motor, very special! Even the Beaver, for whom the Biesbosch is one of the few habitats left in Holland, made an exciting appearance!
I just love this area!!
I started at first light and took another walk through the beautiful ‘Rottige Meente” area. No Bluethroats this time, but the sound of Cuckoos was everywhere. Another one on the wishlist!! But they were nowhere to be seen. I headed for the huge bird-watcher’s hide; a large structure on poles, overlooking a collection of wetlands. For watching it’s perfect, but for photography too far away. But I just sat there, relaxed and enjoyed the sunrise. Until… a cuckoo landed in the tree next to the hide!! Still far away, but as this is my first cuckoo shot, I was really excited to capture it!!
Today, for the first time again in what seemed ages, we took the Tembo out on a trip again. After being totally against a boat (I regarded a boat as a floating hole where you throw money in) now I’m her biggest fan! It is so totally awesome to take her out on the beautiful rivers and wetlands of Holland. The country looks so much more beautiful from the water. So peaceful and tranquil.
Now we know how the newly planted willows are pruned 
A quiet day. Had some fun with the friendly little Nuthatch that occupies one of the countless nest boxes we have on our premises. Funny thing is that he built a ‘concrete’ fortification around the whole in the box, out of mud. Looks like a fortress! 
Through my photographical work for the municipality of Apeldoorn, a city near where I live, I got to know the forest ranger of that city. A very helpful and enthusiastic man with amazing knowledge of, and love for the terrain and wildlife in his region. Tonight he led me towards an underground hide deep in the forest, overlooking a clearing, and left me there. The first hours I spent in that hut nothing much happened. When it was nearly dark, a sudden movement in the bushes caught my eye; Wild Boar!! 2 Youngsters came and checked the clearing out and started digging for roots and plants. Not much later a sow with piglets also arrived at the scene. A most wonderful sight!!
Today a trip to the “Amsterdamse Waterleiding Duinen”, a Nature reserve in the west of Holland was scheduled, together with my good friend 
Had been invited to join Dennis Rademaker today, to try and capture the Kingfishers he’d found in his hometown. We went out really early in the morning and had the hide standing at 7AM. Almost immediately after we got ourselves comfortable (uh… well, as much as possible in the confined space of a 1m3 hide) the male kingfisher showed up, with a still wriggling fish. Spent a couple of hours with these gorgeous birds before we decided to try our luck at an area in Holland, known for the rather rare Purple Herons. While waiting for them, we got tipped off that in the neighborhood Bluethroats had their nests. I was thrilled, as this beautiful bird is so high on my wishlist, so we immediately took off. We quickly found the spot the other photographer had told us about, as his tracks were clearly visible by the trampled reeds. We set up tripod and camera and waited. And yes, very soon the Bluethroats made their appearance, flying on and off to the bramble bushes very close-by.
But something bothered us, the birds all had prey and were waiting to bring it somewhere and all of a sudden we became aware that the nest had to be very near where we were. Too near, as the bird was apparently too scared to bring the prey to the nest. As we both think that nature photography has to be done without disturbing that same nature we quickly moved away from the spot, allowing the bird to feed its chicks. We came back on the road and a fellow photographer approached. He asked what we had seen and explained that we had seen the birds, but we didn’t think that a photograph was worth disturbing the nests. The photographer totally agreed with us and talked about the irresponsibility of some photographers who’d do anything for a shot. After a while we waived goodbye and walked on to find some Terns we knew would be there. But that turned out disappointing so soon we were on our way back. Too soon for some because who do you think we caught on that exact same spot near the Bluethroats? Indeed… The ‘responsible’ photographer, snapping away, even closer to the nest than we had been.
Not much time today. Only at the end of the afternoon I got to play around a little. Went down to the river IJssel near Deventer and found this beautiful Rapeseed Field. When I figured the animals apparently had a day off I headed back home, driving along a road that snails along the river through beautiful fields.
