My 10 best images from January

Already at the end of last year I could spot this Dunlin on a pier. However, at that time I was on the wrong side of the channel and I had to gradually make my way home. A few days later, but already in the new year, I tried again. This time I was on the correct side of the channel and the Dunlin was practically in the same place as before. The only change was that it was joined by another conspecific.

The two were not shy at all and did not let themselves be disturbed by me at all. Nevertheless, I approached them very carefully so as not to disturb them. Apart from a couple of cautious glances, the Dunlins showed little interest and continued to rest. This allowed me to experiment with different compositions and framing.

A few days later I was again standing at an alder tree on which numerous siskins were climbing around. These birds were even more cooperative than the first ones and so for some photos I actually had to walk back a bit so that the lens could still focus. One male siskin in particular stood out in the group. This one looked as if it was a yellow glow stick hopping through the tree. I was particularly lucky and exactly this male finally landed only a few metres away from me on a branch without any disturbing picture elements nearby. Fortunately, the siskin also stayed in the same place for a relatively long time and so I was able to make sure that I got a really sharp photograph of this magnificent specimen.

Together with Levi, I was actually looking for eider ducks this afternoon. But they were not very cooperative. This mediterranean gull made up for it though. It was quite active and was used to the people in the harbour area. The sun was already setting when the mediterranean gull flew past us one last time. The photo is not the most exciting image from a technical standpoint, but the colours and the fact that this was my first mediterranean gull in Switzerland still make this one of my favourite images of the month.

When it started snowing that afternoon, I was still sitting in school programming a simple circuit in the supplementary subject. I could hardly wait until the school bell finally rang. When I arrived home, I quickly exchanged my school backpack for my photo backpack and got back on my bike. Because of all the snow, I didn't make too much progress. But I didn't really have to go far, because just a few minutes later I spotted a couple of stonechats. They must have been surprised by the snow and were looking for food on the lakeshore. One of the females was quite confident and landed in the snow just in front of me. Fortunately, I had already anticipated this and adjusted my camera accordingly beforehand. Therefore I just had enough time to get one sharp photo before the bird moved on.

Overnight it had snowed a little more and the next morning I went in search of more songbirds. I didn't find the stonechats again, but I did find several other songbirds in the forest. While most of them were rather far away, I had more luck with this goldcrest. As is typical for goldcrests, this one was very twitchy, but thanks to the fast autofocus of the D850 and the 500mm f4, it was just enough to get a good photo before the bird disappeared into the thicket. As with the siskins, this was a first for me. Beforehand, I had never managed to get a good image of a goldcrest.

Although I see kingfishers practically every day in winter, I have never been able to photograph them well in the last two years. This kingfisher here, however, was surprisingly tame and I was finally able to get a good photo of this beautiful species. The kingfisher even changed his perch twice and came closer and closer to me.

After some time, the kingfisher flew away. However, it did not fly away from me, but zoomed right past me and away. What a beautiful experience!

In winter, various songbirds can be observed at bird feeders. I looked for a nice branch on the forest floor and attached it to my tripod. In addition, I borrowed a bird feeder, which was attached to a bush next to the forest path. The birds didn't take long to land on the positioned branch. Especially great tits and blue tits landed on it again and again before jumping onto the bird feeder. That morning, several heavy snowfalls passed by. But the birds were not discouraged by them and I was able to take some photos of these birds in the snow. This photo of a great tit is my favourite of all the photos.

The temperature was hovering around zero that day and there was a strong wind. The snow kept thawing until the next snowfall covered the landscape in white again. It was constantly dripping down from the trees and so after a few hours I was completely soaked. Due to the quite strong wind, I soon had cold and wet fingers. Apart from the shutter release and the button for the autofocus, I couldn't really operate the camera well anymore and so I decided to pack up. I was just about to take the camera off the tripod when, out of nowhere, this long-tailed tit landed on my branch. As quickly as it came, it was gone again, but the time had been enough and of the 5 photos taken, exactly one was perfectly sharp.