Bearded Reedling photography at Getterön

Bearded Reedlings. That was the goal I had set for the day and that was why the clock should have rung at 4 am. As normal I woke up before the alarm went off so I canceled it so Maria shouldn’t be disturbed by it.

My idea was to go to Getterön and be there around sunrise which now is at 5 am approximately. The forecast earlier this week showed clouds and rain during the day, but the weather turned out to be much better without any showers and instead big parts where sunny.

Still there were some mist during the early hours which can be seen in the first pictures from the day.

Mist is troublesome to a degree as you don’t get the crispness that I like, but still it was more workable than during the Golden Jackal workshop in Bulgaria.

At Getterön I had the small photo hide for myself for 30 minutes before a bunch of Dutch entered the hide. Fortunately, they disappeared after 30 minutes and luckily I had the hide for myself for the rest of my stay.

It was really nice to sit inside the hide and hear the bird singing outside. I could see both the Sedge Warbler and the Common Reed Bunting, but they didn’t approach the hide until the Dutch had moved on as they were a little on the loud side. I could mostly hear the Bearded Reedling, but sometimes they also passed by just in front of the hide.

It took almost an hour before the first Bearded Reedling showed itself in front of my camera. It was a female that was searching for food. She was really quick and moved just at the edge of the reed bed not clearly showing herself at first, but at last she paused and then I got a couple of decent pictures.

Bearded Reedling female — Female Bearded Reedling 140510

I like the pose on the female Bearded Reedling as it reminds me of the Volvo truck commercial with Jean-Claude van Damme and his epic split.

I always find it interesting to see how fast and flexible the Bearded Reedlings are when they move around in the reed beds. They are a really hard subject to photo, especially as they blend in so well in the habitat.

It took another 30 minutes before the first male Bearded Reedling made an appearance. The male Bearded Reedling is more striking than the female and they also sports the famous beard.

If I look at the photos of the male Bearded Reedlings, then I would say that this is the one I like the most.

It is not the best technical photo of a male Bearded Reedling during this session, but I like this picture with the different colors that you have in the background with a clear sky and the green treetops.

I have had a hard time choosing format for the picture, but in the end I chose the 3×2 format. That meant I had to include the reed to the left of the Bearded Reedling. The straws don’t bother me, but I know that many might think I should have removed them completely from the picture. In my mind they add something extra balancing the picture in a nice way.

I hope you will enjoy the other picture from photo session with the Bearded Reedling at Getterön.