Hide Photography

Hide photography...03:15 AM wakey wakey; a start of a new day

Swiftly I make my coffee and sandwiches for the day, put all gear in the car for an hours drive. Today I will help a few photographer with the set-up and lingo of hide photography.The ultimate goal is to see the juvenile northern goshawk.

The ultimate goal is to see the juvenile goshawks and photograph them if possible.

Start

It's 5:15, at first light we walk into the dark forest towards the hide. On arrival we start building the perches, cleaning the reflection pond and set-up our gear.

What did I bring:

• Nikon D5, D810
• Nikon 600, 300mm
• teleconverters 1.4 &2.0 type III's
• Tripod and UniqBall ball head

Right off the bat I set-up the D5/600 combi, that works great under low light conditions, superb AF system and is fast.

Finally, it's all good and ready, little after 6 AM...coffee time 🙂

Bang 6:20 first Northern Goshawk on the perch an adult male, quickly followed by a juvenile male..... (mission accomplished!)

As the day progressed another juvenile northern hawk landed, this time it's a biggy the female. She is going to be a beauty of a raptor, pffff awesome bird.

Just before we wanted to leave the hide, there was panic amongst the little birds normally indicating that a raptor is near.It didn't take long before the last juvenile of the nest showed itself. Another fine looking young male.

So after more twelve hours tucked away in a small private hide, we had seen and photographed 4 individual Northern Goshawks. Next, to 13 other species of birds (this count was low due to a rainy start of the day and presence of raptors)I just love the adrenaline rush when these

I just love the adrenaline rush when these raptors silently appear in front of the hide and the forest goes quiet for a moment.

Every day a new day, tucked away deep in the forest.

Any comments, suggestions, and ideas are always welcome just contact me.

Cheers, Michael