Birdshooting Photography

Redpolls, Redpolls and more Redpolls

There are different species of redpolls and not always easily identified in the field...

Hornemann’s Arctic Redpoll Autumn 2017

What does the Hornemann’s Arctic Redpolls look like after moulting their plumage? To answer this question, I took the plane to Greenland at the end of October 2017...

Hornemann’s Arctic Redpoll Spring 2017

I don’t know exactly why, but for me Arctic birds are wonderful creations. In March 2017, I traveled to Greenland to photograph redpolls...

Kumlien's Gull

In January, 2017, I visited St. John's, Canada for a week. My main target was to photograph Kumlien's Gull at the Quidi Vidi Lake...

Barrow, Alaska

Like Greenland and Spitsbergen, Barrow (at the last northern part of Alaska) is a dream location for any bird photographer...

Arctic Redpolls, Kaamanen, Finland 2015

In March, 2015 I visited Kaamanen, Finland for a week. Main target was to photograph redpolls...

Azores Bullfinches

The gems of the Portugese Azores are the endemic Azores Bullfinches...

Marzipan in Norway

Never before had the days leading up to a bird photography trip been so bad...

Sneeuwuilen in Canada

In January, 2010, I visited Canada to photograph Snowy Owls...

Baikal Bullfinch, Baikal

Sunday February 10th, Monday February 11th
After a flight from Amsterdam via Moscow I arrived at the airport in Irkutsk. There I was picked up by my guide Sasha (Alexandr Povarintsev) and our driver Nicolay, arranged by Rubythroat Birdingtours of Michiel Valkenburg. This first day (-34^oC) we visited some locations for orientation. Photographing Baikal Bullfinch (Grey Bullfinch or Pyrrhula cineracea) would be difficult, there were not many birds of this species observed last winter. I took some pictures of a Waxwing with backlight. After a traditional Russian meal, we went to bed early...

What are the differences between an Icelandic Redpoll and a Greenland Redpoll?

Redpolls from Greenland and from Iceland are called one (sub)species by some people, namely rostrata. I think this is not correct, because both redpolls are quite different.

Redpolls from Barrow, October 2018

A fascinating place to watch redpolls is Barrow, in the north part of Alaska. Are the redpolls in this remote arctic place Mealy Redpolls (flammea) or Arctic Redpolls (exilipes)? Good question!

Ross's Gulls Barrow

Together with Edwin Winkel, we travelled to Barrow, Alaska in October 2018. And all this to photograph Ross's Gulls!

Moult limit

In this article I’ll try to write about a ‘redpoll issue’, namely a wrongly claimed moult limit in the wing of a redpoll.

Wood Warbler

Wood Warbler, Katwijk, the Neterlands

Nutcracker

Nutcracker, Triberg, Germany

Bullfinches in Sweden

In March, 2018 I visited northern Sweden for a week. My main target was to photograph Bullfinches...

Parrot Crossbills in the Netherlands

The Parrot Crossbill is a scare visitor in the Netherlands…

Bufflehead

A Bufflehead is staying in Barendrecht, the Netherlands for many years…

Coues’s Arctic Redpoll, Arnhem, February 2018

A Coues’s Arctic Redpoll is staying in Arnhem, the Netherlands for a few weeks (February 2018). The bird joints a group of approximately 30 Mealy Redpolls…

Ross’ gulls in the Netherlands

As a child, looking in my bird guide, I really liked the paintings of the Ross’ gull. I was believing that I would never see this beautiful Arctic bird in real life...

Florida

When you regularly stay in the far north, it is a nice change to book a trip to Florida. So at the end of November 2017, I traveled together with my wife to this beautiful and sunny State. I promised my partner not to spend too much time on bird photography, it should be a romantic holiday. I’m not sure if that worked out well...

Hornemann’s Arctic Redpoll Autumn 2017

What does the Hornemann’s Arctic Redpolls look like after moulting their plumage? To answer this question, I took the plane to Greenland at the end of October 2017...

Wallcreeper

Long, long time ago, as a 15-year-old-boy, I saw the Wallcreeper in The Netherlands, at the VU-building in Amsterdam (1989). From that moment on I fell in love with this bird.

Hornemann’s Arctic Redpoll 2017

Most men have a hobby. Some are encouraging their favourite soccer club, some become a wonderful cook, other go running, start saving stamps or maybe even start saving tattoos...

Kumlien's Gull

In January, 2017, I visited St. John's, Canada for a week. My main target was to photograph Kumlien's Gull at the Quidi Vidi Lake...

Redpolls overview

Here you'll find an overview of all redpoll-articles of my website. Enjoy reading...

Autumn photography

I like urban birding, especially in Autumn because the colours are so beautiful!

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Red-breasted Flycatcher, adult, Oostende, Belgium

Italian Sparrow

In two weeks’ time (September 2016) we went from Bologna via Florence, Sienna and the picturesque village of Pienza to Rome. The reason: holiday!

Test pictures Canon 5D mark iv

Since September 2016 I’m the proud owner of a Canon EOS 5D mark iv…

Photograph owls

Almost everyone has a weakness for owls. Of course we knew that long before Harry Potter. I have yet to meet a person who doesn't love these birds.

Sand Martin

The Sand Martin is not only our smallest swallow, it’s also the swallow that, compared to other swallows, arrives the earliest in Springtime. You would already see these amusing birds in March...

Bulgaria 2016

In June 2016, Gerard Visser and myself visited Bulgaria to shoot Wallcreepers.

Less is more 3.0

This is my third article about ‘less is more’ it surely won’t be the last! (see link to second and first article). ‘Less is more’ has become really my favorite thing. I'm even considering selling my 500-mm-telephoto lens as it’s lying around in my basement uselessly (that being said, I keep using it regularly).

Iceland 2016

Act I: I grew up in the city of Rotterdam together with my parents and my older brother (Henk). But as a four year old, I suddenly got a new brother: what a nice surprise! My brand-new brother, named Jaap, was already around thirteen years old when he was introduced to our family...

Norway 2016

Some people are born in the wrong body. They feel like a man trapped in a woman’s body or, of course, the other way around. Since a few years ago, when I first visited Scandinavia, I knew that I also had a problem. Not that I was born in the wrong body, but in the wrong country. Like some sort of ‘trans-countrier’.

Great Grey Shrike, Noord Brabant, 2016

The Great Grey Shrike is anything but boring, it’s a beautiful bird and a dangerous killer. This former breeding bird is now a scarce winter guest in the Netherlands; you’ll find these birds in moorlands, which is their favourite place to be.

A Hypocrite?

Like everybody knows, the Siberian Rubythroat is of course an escaped cage bird. But no one dares to be critical because everybody want to add this beautiful bird to their personal birding list despite the strange colours of the chest and legs, the odd time of the year (January!), the fact that the bird is tame and a wintering Siberian Rubythroat was never seen before in Western Europe...