Wild Bird Trust photographers of the week

It is a pleasure to see that Wild Bird Trust has chosen one of my picture this week. This time it is many great pictures of colorful wild birds and my picture is actually the only picture of a bird from Europe. I must admit that I think the European birds are more plain than the colorful birds of Asia, Africa and South America.

You can see all 25 picture chosen by Wild Bird trust at National Geographic’s News Watch by following this link.

Now my picture isn´t of one of the less colorful birds as it is of a Horned Grebe in breeding plumage. They are unmistakable in summer with the black head with the brown puffy, horn-like, tufts and the deep red eye. It was of course this that I wanted to portrait.

I think I have managed with what I wanted in this picture. I was lying down on a floating landing-stage in a small lake when I took the photo. I wanted to be as leveled with the water surface as I could be when I took my photos. This individual was clearly used to human presence even if it was wary.

I like this picture in its simplicity. I know that some people say that the background is disturbing, but I wanted to have some habitat in the picture. It is a strikingly beautiful bird and I hope to do something more next year now that I know where to find them.

Thank you Jan Ristner for giving me the tip about where to find them. This photo would never have been taken without your help.

Next year I need to try to build myself a platform for a floating hide so I can get down in the water and take photos from a lower angle. I have some crazy ideas that I need to try to realize, but that will be next year first.