Backo Gradiste & Becej Fishponds - First Field Trip

12th March 2006. The weather that day was overcast and everything looked gray, but I was very excited about going up on my first field trip with Milan and his friend Dimitrije, so it didn't bother me much, I just hoped it wouldn't rain.

We all met up in Novi Sad and headed to Backo Gradiste by bus. This is where I saw for the first time wintering roost of Long-eared Owls. There were lots of trees in the center of the village all crowded with Owls. Milan explained that during winter time LEO's gather in wintering roosts to spend the winter together, and they split during spring time when breeding season starts. He also explained that Owls are very useful to people because they feed on small rodents, reducing their numbers and therefore helping people, but on the other hand old people sometimes see Owls as some sort of mystical creatures and try to chase them away, even kill them. :( While my birdwatching friends were counting the Owls (I think they counted over 50!), and writing all the data in their notebooks, I started to photograph. I was surprised how the Owls were not disturbed much by our presence. They just sit up there on the trees looking at us with their big orange eyes. Some people say that Owls have that wise expression on their "faces", and they really do... but to me they looked more like cute fluffy teddy bears :)))
After B.Gradiste we headed over the big pasture toward Becej Fishponds. Pastures are always great places to see lots of different species. Huge flocks of Starlings in the distance looked like black moving clouds. Funny thing was, since Milan and Dimitrije were counting and writing everything down, when a big flock of starlings flew above us, the two of them looked at each other and in unison said: "220 Starlings!" and I was like... o_O no kidding guys?! :)))

Here and there we saw Lapwings, Grey Herons, Cormorants, Mallards, Gulls and also a flock of seven Spoonbils flew over our heads. In reed beside the ponds, all kind of small birds could be seen: Blue Tits, Tree Sparrows, Reed Buntings...



As we walked across the muddy terrain Milan said something like "Stay on alert now, a Hare might show up, so you wouldn't wanna miss a chance to photograph it." I looked around surveying the parameter... very short grass, only a small bush here and there, and wondered how can a hare even hide around here? To my surprise, few minutes later a hare really jumped out of nowhere and started to run away like crazy. I quickly pointed my camera toward running hare and tried to find him through the viewfinder but he was just too fast, and I was still not experienced enough to track a moving "object" with my camera, so I didn't manage to capture any pic... to tell you the truth I barely managed to even see the Hare before it disappeared in the distance.

Pore little thing, he was really scared. With all the people coming here with guns to hunt Hares, no wonder that he was running for his life by the speed of light.

Short after another hare jumped out of very small bush and also started running away! In all the excitement for getting another chance to photograph it I quickly pointed my camera again but along the way, I stumbled in some hole on the ground, tripped and fell on my back! Instead of photographing it, I found myself stuck in mud, on my back, like a turtle truing to flip over and get up. Oh man! It was downright embarrassing moment! I expected that my two new friends are gonna laugh at this sight but no... Milan just extended his hand and helped me to get back on my feet.

A light rain started falling... I was already muddy, and now I was getting wet as well, but I didn't seam to mind. As we sat on a stone bank to share few snacks, I had that weird feeling toward my two new friends... like I've known them forever, not like we've just met for the first time on that day. They were like the kind of sincere friends you usually have in elementary school when you are just a kid... the one you go to childish adventures, share your sandwich on a school brake... kinda like Hobbit's fellowship :)))

Like Humphrey Bogart would say: "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship". Read more...

The Begining Of Things - Photography & Birds

The most common question that people ask when they see my photographs is how this interest in wildlife photography started in a first place, so in order to start this blog in chronological order, I must answer this first...

Did you ever had that feeling that when something bad happens, it can also produce a good thing? Well, in my case it actually started with a crash! (back in summer 2005) My first beloved digital camera Canon A60 accidentally slipped from my sisters hands and broke. Oh man! I loved that little camera. Cried buckets on that day, and when I found out that it can't be repaired I was pissed at my sister big time! Next thing you know I was looking to buy a new camera.

At that time I used to hang at local message board "Zivotinjsko carstvo" - magazine for lovers of nature and animals, where I met Goran (the board owner) who was already photographing birds from time to time. Since I really liked the bird photos he used to post on the board, he send me few links to see more wildlife photo galleries of other people. Most of all he was thrilled with Daniella's gallery. Once you take a look at her photos it just takes your breath away and you can't say nothing less than "WOW!" and bow in admiration. Than I came across Jody Melanson's gallery and that was it... I was hooked! I said to myself - when I grow up I wanna make such pix as Jody! :)))

That brings us back to the camera, which of course I needed to buy first in order to photograph anything at all... yeah... sure... an easy task? Not! Why oh why cameras have to cost so much? *sigh* I read somewhere that "Hobby is something free of charge that costs a LOT!"... ain't that the truth :)))

Since I didn't had much savings, I decide to give it a try with cheep (8 x zoom) camera Konica Minolta Z10. Two months later I was climbing over the fallen tree trunk on the Danube river bank, trying to photograph some Mallards and all the time I was thinking "I am just too far away and this zoom is not providing me with enough reach ether!" next thing you know I slipped off the tree trunk and found myself in mud up to mu ankles. That was it! I decided to sell that camera a buy a better one.

I thought about getting a dslr camera and some good zoom lens, but it was very expensive. Apart from the cost of the camera there were also few other thoughts that were troubling my mind like: do I really need a dslr? I mean... I am not a pro, I won't be making any money out of it, so is it really worth it to invest that much? Would I make better photos with better camera? Would I even be able to find birds to photograph (apart from sparrows, pigeons and crows)? D'oh!?! I just felt that it still wasn't the right time to invest in dslr so I decided to give it a try again with some prosumer camera. I bought Sony DSC-H1 (12 x zoom + Olympus Tcon 1.7x ) sometime in December 2005. and started photographing like crazy.

Few months have passed... my collection of bird photos was growing every day. On my way to work I used to walk along Danube river bank and photograph ducks, coots, gulls, pygmy cormorants... etc. I admit that at that time I didn't know many of the species I photographed so that got me curious. I posted my photos at "Zivotinjsko carstvo" message board (all proud of myself that finally I have some photos to post there as well LOL), and I asked if anyone can identify those birds for me? That is how I came across Milan Ruzic who was also a board member. He was thrilled with my bird photos and started to identify all the birds I photographed, adding along interesting bits and stories about each particular species like... "Do you know that 5% of European Pygmy cormorant population is wintering here in Serbia?" he once wrote. Well.. no... I didn't had a clue. :) Milan was kind enough to ask me to join him and his fellow birdwatchers on their field trips and promised to show me some great locations for photographing birds.

At that time I never really thought that my interest in photography and birds would literally change my life but the story will continue in more posts to come. Stay tuned.... ;-) Read more...