The unique thing about birds is, of course, their ability to fly and capturing this properly is a great challenge. Something that has become considerably easier with the new animal tracking techniques.

There are also many birds that live on or around the water. This offers great opportunities to capture them swimming or bathing. I also like to make use of the water by photographing them with their beautiful mirror image. Actually, every aspect of a bird is worth it, whether they are eating, cleaning, raising the little ones. These are all potentially wonderful (photo) moments!

Just like with fox photography, I let my feelings guide me and I simply photograph what touches me. The advantage with birds is that they are literally everywhere, so there’s no need to travel far.

At the beginning of my photography, I used to go to hotspots for rare species, such as waxwings in a berry bush or a dancing dipper in a stream. Or a night heron that managed to catch fish through a thick layer of duckweed. But, unlike many bird watchers, I am not a species hunter and can enjoy an ‘ordinary’ species just as much. I love to listen to starlings singing during courtship as if their lives depended on it. And their colors are so beautiful. And their murmurations; such an amazing phenomenon, I just so want to witness!

Sparrows, swallows, ducks or swans can make me very happy. Or those tiny three-toed sandpipers that run across the beach like wind-up animals, even in the heaviest storm! Oh, and did I mention I have a huge soft spot for herons? The funny grey herons, the oh so graceful great white egret. That fantastic bittern that, despite its somewhat clumsy appearance, can do a perfect reed imitation. And did you know that there are heron species that fish with bait? As you can read, I could go on and on about birds… Actually, each species of bird has its own charm that makes them an inexhaustible source of inspiration for me.

It applies to many animals, but especially to birds: too much enthusiasm scares them away, as it looks like you are hunting them (which is true, in a way). The trick is not to be too eager and turn yourself into an insignificant piece of furniture. Approaching them slowly and patiently helps. I first observe the behavior of the bird and if I see that it is getting nervous, then I know that there is its limit and I stop. Personally, I like to include the habitat of the bird in the image. An additional advantage is that you don’t need to get very close.

The foundation of all my photography is a genuine interest and love for my subject. I can be completely absorbed in watching a preening sparrow, a hunting heron or a fly catching duckling. I want to get to know them, understand them. I see them. At those moments, when my thinking stops and I become one with the subject and the nature around us, my photos just come automatically. I think that in this way the feeling I experience at that moment is more or less translated into the image and becomes tangible to the viewer.