March 2023: Amazing Kenya extra!

My previous upload of images taken during my photographic safari in Kenya already gave you an idea about the beauty of nature and wildlife. As mentioned, its a great country with amazing wildlife and beautiful people. Both Amboseli and Masai Mara delivered what I expected and the result is a great number of stunning images. Hereafter you see a couple more images of this trip. All these images are available in fine art print, on dibond and on acryl glass.

March 2023: Spring has arrived!

Climate changes (or soft winter temperatures) may have initiated early blooming this year while some birds are slowly returning from their winter residence in Africa. Other birds, such as the Bittern (Roerdomp/ Botaurus stellaris) and Great Crested Grebe remained in The Netherlands and started their spring preparations already.

During one of my recent trips I was able to locate some elusive Bittern and to take some nice images while they were hiding in the reeds. Ain’t they just amazing birds and with their great colors totally blending into their surroundings?

December 2022: Amazing Kenya!

It’s been a while that I’ve uploaded some information and images. Be assured I’ve been busy with a lot of activities, including some photo trips.

One of these trips was to Kenya. A great trip and for me a home coming. What a great country, amazing nature and wildlife and friendly people! Planning this trip I thought about the images I would like to make. Naturally all depending on circumstances and opportunities in such a short number of days as it was going to be. Based on that I included both Amboseli and Masai Mara in this trip. Amboseli merely due the big herds of elephants (with the Kilimanjaro as background) and for the big tuskers in that conservancy, and Masai Mara for the predators.

Yes, as mentioned, I had some great shots in mind, and I was lucky enough to achieve most of my goals. Amboseli was awesome and awful at the same time. Great sightings but also too many dead animals due the draughts. Water enough in the wetlands but no rain and, consequently, lack of grass for the grazers!

Long story short, I enjoyed every minute of this trip and left with a lot of great images and a painful hart….

Interested in such trip? Just mail me for more information about the program. Interested in one of the images? Mail me for more information. Images are available in different sizes and material.

September 2022: Winner Bronze Award at the wildlife category of reFocus Awards!

Proudly announcing that one of my kingfisher images has won a Bronze Award in the “One Shot Photo Contest” of reFocus!

August 2022: It’s a great time for birders!

There are so many young birds at the moment and they are so beautiful to watch. Not only their behavior but also their feather details are great. I was lucky enough to photograph some Northern Goshawks, including a two month old juvenile, in a Dutch forest a couple of weeks ago! You may notice the difference in feather details in the below images. This young northern goshawk was really dominant towards the mature goshawk, showing up at the same spot almost at the same time. The images below show the approach of a 2-years (?) old northern goshawk, the protective cry of a juvenile, a portrait and the protective pose of a northern goshawk! You may even notice the tongue of the juvenile in the portrait image!

August 2022: Image nominated for the People’s Vote Award.

I’m proud to share that my work, “The King fishing!”, was recently nominated to win a People’s Vote Award at the 2022 reFocus Photo Awards.

I would be grateful if you would consider voting for my image. It will take less than a minute of your time. Please use the link below to quickly vote. 

https://refocus-awards.com/people-vote-award/the-king-fishing

June 2022: Little owls / Athene Noctua / steenuil.

Early morning capture of some beautiful little owls at a nice orchard in the Southern part of The Netherlands. Weather conditions acceptable (dry and almost no wind) but difficult light conditions. During this visit I managed to take some images of both parents and chicks. The chicks had just left the nest the previous day. Personally I like the wet feathers and the stare at one of the images. The images were taken last week.

June 2022: A new exposition of my wildlife images.

I am thrilled to announce a new exposition at the Town Hall and City Hall of my home town Nieuwkoop in The Netherlands. The exposition commences from June 21 until September 21.

May 2022: Exposition “promotion”!

On the last day of May I was informed that information about my small exposition at the “House of Art” in Woerden, The Netherlands, has been placed on the following websites/agenda’s:

https://www.beleefwoerden.com/nl/agenda/uitagenda/1224989452/expositie-robert-kok-house-of-arts

https://www.groenehart.nl/agenda/agenda-overzicht/1224989452/expositie-robert-kok-house-of-arts

The exposition at House of Arts ends at July 14th.

What a nice promotion!

April 2022: Blooming tulips! It’s that time of the year again! 

Millions of blooming tulips and other flowers color the fields at many places in The Netherlands. Tourists to The Netherlands are duly informed about the famous Keukenhof (“Kitchen garden”), with its 32 hectares and 7 million of tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, irises and other flowers. Beautiful colors, attracting millions of spectators each year.

But did you know that you can find tulip fields in the whole area around the “Keukenhof” and also at other parts of The Netherlands? A lot of people (locals and tourists) visit the “tulip” fields around the “Keukenhof” as they can easily (and without entrance fee) enter these fields and make some family shots between the tulips. Some photographers even use the fields for a photoshoot. In many instances they disobey the restrictions imposed to protect the bulbs.

The images below are taken near my home town about 30 km from the “Keukenhof”. I tried to get some late afternoon shots with a colored sky but unfortunate that didn’t happen. The dark clouds however made up for that! Hopefully you like the images anyhow!

April 2022: New exposition

I’m excited about a new exposition of my wildlife images in the next month. Eight beautiful images of Dutch and African wildlife will be exhibited at the House of Arts in Woerden, The Netherlands (http://www.houseofartswoerden.com ). The House of Arts (art shop and cultural center) is located under/next to the locally well known mill in city center. The images will be exhibited from May 06 until July 14, 2022.

_{March 2022: The courtship process!}

Spring has arrived and nature is responding!

This week I spend some time observing the Great Crested Grebes at my backyard anticipating some courtship behavior. The objective was too get some dynamic action shots of their behavior and possible fights between male competitors. As you may know, there are different moments in the courtship process including head shaking, “admiraal sailing”, dancing with reed in their beak and sometimes a fight between competitors.

This week luck was on my side when all of a sudden there was a lot of noise at the waterside next to the deck at my garden. Two male grebes started a heavy fight while a female was just watching at close distance. Grabbing my camera (with a long lens) I ran to the deck and and quickly lay down as to get some shots of this intrigue action. A real spectacle and a little close for my long lens (500mm). After a while (it looked like minutes) they stopped their fight and all three moved out to the end of the ditch. Surprisingly the female then started the well known head shaking dance with each of the competitors. This behavior was totally new to me but, obviously, she was still non-decisive on whom to choose as her partner!

_{Photo exposition January/February at “t Reghthuys in Nieuwkoop ((NLD).}

The recent exposition at ’t Reghthuys has been very successful in terms of visitors, interaction and sales. I’ve visited the (dual) exposition at this historic, though small, building almost every day to meet with the host and visitors, sharing some background on the displayed images. Below are some images of the building, the build-up of the exposition and one of the sold photos (Common Kingfisher on acryl glass, 50 x 75 cm).

February 2022: Dutch Icons!

Due all covid restrictions it has been almost impossible to travel abroad and more precisely to the safari-regions. We even had to cancel our planned trip to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa. Hence, the focus was more on opportunities in my own country, which was, due the bad weather in December and January, a real challenge. Despite the bad weather I was able to make some nice wildlife shots at a beautiful hide in the southern part of The Netherlands. Next to that I’ve also tried to improve my landscape photography skills while visiting our capital city and an area with some beautiful windmills. Some of these images can be seen hereunder. Naturally, if interested, you could contact me via the contact page or via Instagram to order one of these images. Any size and material is possible.

January 2022: Foto Exposition!

Proudly announcing that from 12 February 2022 and during three following weekends, a selection of my (wildlife) images will be exhibited at the locally well known (cultural) art society ’t Reghthuys in Nieuwkoop, The Netherlands. It will be a “dual” exhibition together with a wood-sculpture artist.

Considering the anticipated visitors and their interests, it was a real challenge to select 15 images for this exhibition. To give the visitors an idea of possibilities some images are printed on Dibond (print on aluminium), some prints are framed with passe-partout and some are printed on Acryl. In fact everything and every size is possible!

In due time I will give some feedback on the exhibition and I will then also upload some of the displayed photo’s.

November 2021: Autumn has arrived!

With the arrival of autumn the weather has changed too. Its getting cold and there are, in my opinion, too many rain showers. The good thing about the season change however is that nature is turning into beautiful colors, creating for spectacular sceneries and awesome backgrounds!

Unfortunately I returned from my recent trip to Austria with a knee problem, limiting me in my photography trips. Fysiotherapie should solve the problems in the coming weeks! Although the knee problems restrict me at the moment, I’ve been able to make some nice images in the last moths:

September 2021: Another day at the forest!

I spent another day at a beautiful hide in a Dutch forest. Weather forecast: acceptable light conditions. The objective of this day was to try-out some new settings to test my new lens while getting some close-up images of the Northern Goshawk. And what a day it turned out to be: I guess about 10 Common Buzzard visits and 6 Northern Goshawk visits throughout the day! The cherry on the cake however was the visit of an awesome and elusive Eurasian Sparrow Hawk taking a long bath at close distance!

July 2021: Woudaap – Little Bittern – Ixobrychus minutus

What a thrill to find some secretive Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus) not too far away from my home town. Actually it’s the first time I was able to take some reasonable flight shots of this amazing little heron. Their length is approximately 35 centimeters and their wingspan about 55 centimeters. This water bird or wading bird is the smallest breeding heron in Europe. Yes, they are from the same family while it is believed that there are only about 20-40 breeding couples in The Netherlands. So it really was a rare sighting. To put their size in perspective: just compare them to the Blue Heron. The images taken are adult birds busy with feeding their youngsters hidden in the reeds. As you can see the youngsters have a totally different feather pack.

June 2021: Little owl – Athena Noctua – Steenuil

Last week I went out to capture some little owls at a farm close to the location where I captured the Eurasian Bittern (see previous blog article below). As you may know they are really small little owls with an estimated size of 21 to 27 cm while their wingspan is believed to be approximately 55 cm. They have yellow eyes and a white eyebrow making it look like if they are constantly frowning!

The Little owl is widespread across Europe and they are territorial. They hunt from poles or other high positions on mice, worms, insects etc. and they even eat little birds.

The images below are from last week and from some time ago.

June 2021: Eurasian Bittern – Roerdomp – Botaurus Stellaris

The last couple of days I went out to an area where some Eurasian Bittern had been reported. As you may know these very shy birds tend to hide in the reeds and they hunt at swallow water at the waterline looking for fish, small mammals, amphibians and insects. Unlike other family members the Bittern fly with retracted neck.

Bittern belong to the Ardeidae family (including the more common heron). The estimated number of population of Eurasian Bittern is between 110,000 and 350,000 and their status is believed to be “least concern”. Worldwide there are 14 different Bittern species known. The Eurasian Bittern is believed to be one of the largest Bittern (in size) within the Ardeidae family.

Secretive as they are it’s a bonus to find them and get some acceptable images. Getting up early and with some guidance of a friend I found some Bittern and managed to get some shots of the youngsters (3) and food providing mother. As the images show they are very special birds with beautiful feathers providing for perfect camouflage.

March-May 2021: The Courtship process!

During the first months of this year I tried to capture the courtship process of the Great Crested Grebes. Despite the non-cooperative weather I managed to get some reasonable images, including the “love dance”, the “weed-dance” and the “cat-dance” (also called “admiral sailing” – translated form Dutch). A very interesting process and hard to capture due the unpredictable movements of the Grebes. E.g. during the Cat-dance the female swims underwater towards the male who is waiting for her with his wings spread wide open! They also often separate and come together at some distance making it hard to prepare for some acceptable shots.

March 2021: The beautiful European Kestrel!

I spent a whole day at a hide to capture the mating process of European Kestrels. Great weather conditions and cooperating Kestrels. However, and although I managed to get some beautiful Kestrel images, the mating process happened at a less desirable position!

February 2021: Images published.

Dr. Jose R. Castello, a medical doctor, naturalist and wildlife photographer, recently published a new book with the title: “Felids and Hyenas of the World”. A fascinating book with great photos and a lot of information about these species. Two of my images are included in this new book. The images of the nocturnal Aardwolf were captured while on safari in Kenya, East Africa (see photo credits).

January 15 2021: Velduil / Short-eared Owl / Asio flammeus.

Early January I’ve visited a location in upper part of The Netherlands to shoot some images of the beautiful short-eared owls. As they are not common in my country you may understand that I was excited to go there and try to get some inflight images. Another goal for this trip was to get an image of an owl sitting on a pole! The images below are the result of this trip. Obviously the image of an owl on a pole remains on my wish list!

December 2020: Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)!

While traveling to Africa I’ve always managed to return home with some nice images of the fastest predator on land: The Cheetah or Acinonyx jubatus! This beautiful and slender cat with its long legs can reach a maximum speed of approximately 130 km/h! That ability is essential while hunting during daytime. 
Their usual prey is small or medium sized impala or antilope, while Cheetahs themselves are on the menu of lion and hyena!   Female Cheetah normally give birth to a maximum of five cubs. They raise them all alone. I have been fortunate to watch them hunting and with very small cubs (see the images below).
Their population is threatened by several factors, including human interference, hunting and due smaller territories. In fact their population has decreased to around 7,000 only and they are now listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List!

September 2020: The Blue Arrow!

How I love to see and watch that little blue arrow! Flying low over the water they announce their arrival with a loud whistle. This amazing little bird, with an approx. 16 cm length, has a striking blue colored upper feather deck. The difference between male and female is in the beak: females beak is partly orange (lower part) while the male’s beak is completely black. It feeds mainly on fish, caught by diving. During the dive a cover membrane (in Dutch: knipvlies) protects their eyes during the dive while they still can see the fish. Common kingfishers are highly territorial. Once you understand their behavior and know the location of their nest (they usually dig a hole along the steep waterfront) you may be able to watch and capture them with your camera and without disturbing.  Below are some images of diving Common Kingfishers. 

August 2020: A heated conversation!

Somehow Common Buzzards and Northern Goshawks don’t really get along! When they appear on the same site at the same moment you can expect some action. That’s what happened last week when I stayed at a bird hide in the southern part of The Netherlands. Weather condition (after 8 hot dry days) was acceptable but the forecast also predicted some rainfall. Despite the light challenges I was able to get some nice action shots of two great raptors.

August 2020:

In the last weeks I have been out to capture some little owls and kestrels. A real challenge to get some good flight shots of the little owls as they move without making any sound. The kestrel with prey shot was taken against a great background providing a nice soft bokeh.

July 2020: Images displayed at art centre.

I am proudly announcing that from July 16 until the end of August some of my wildlife images are on display at the “Koetshuis /Hooiberg of Hoeve Rijlaarsdam”, a well known art center with gallery and sculpture garden in Nieuwkoop, The Netherlands. Below is one of the displayed images: an approaching White-tailed Eagle in an autumn setting (Dibond 100 x 100 cm).

A link to their website and my photo’s: https://rijlaarsdam.nl/portfolio-item-category/dieren/ and https://rijlaarsdam.nl/schilderijen/

May 2020:

Following the Corona virus restrictions the famous “Keukenhof” with all its blooming tulips stayed closed for the public! A disappointment for thousands of spectators, not to say for the organization itself. The Dutch and local government also strongly advised to avoid visiting the area preventing too many people gathering together. Lucky enough I found some nice tulip fields near my home town allowing for some nice photos!

April 2020:

I made another quick trip to a nearby wetland to capture the courtship behavior of the Redshank. A real challenge to get some sharp images as they are so little, constantly -and unpredictably- moving during their courtship dance and a little far from my position. The below images were taken with the Nikon D850 with the 500F4 lens and 1.4 extender. Distance to the Redshanks approximately 50 meters. Heavy crop.

April 2020: They are back!

Despite all the imposed Corona-virus restrictions, including border controls, the Black-tailed Godwit and Redschank (just to name a couple of waders) returned to The Netherlands. It’s great to see them back in our meadows and wetlands. Many of these waders depend on our wetlands and lucky enough there is some increasing awareness to maintain them. While obeying the restrictions and avoiding contact with other birders, I managed to get some nice Black-tailed Godwit and Redschank images. It’s really spring now!

March 09 2020:

The mating of Common Kingfishers is a spectacular sighting and as such it was on my wishlist for this year. It’s still early for mating Kingfishers but surprisingly some action was reported in the Northern part of The Netherlands! A trip was quickly organized and after a long and very early morning ride I reached the site. It was cold and windy and not really inviting for the Kingfishers to do their act! However, during the day I managed to take some nice images of a fish transfer and a quick mating! How wonderful are these colorful little birds!

March 09, 2020:

This week a nice photo of a dancing little owl was sold to a real estate broker. The photo will be printed on an acoustic cloth to cover one of the walls of his office space. Naturally I am always pleased if someone likes my photos! The photo below will be replaced in due time with the photo displayed on their office wall.

February 2020:

The month started with low temperatures and a lot of rain! Not really inviting for a photo trip. However, yesterday the weather changed with higher temperatures and a partly cloudy sky. It didn’t take long to decide to take my heavy equipment and visit one of the nearby nature reserves to shoot some red foxes. After a hour walk over paved roads and through sand dunes I found a beautiful red fox and it was curious enough to come close allowing for some nice images. I walked around 11 km’s and crawled a lot to get the images. I nice workout for sure!

January 2020:

This cold and wet month is not really inspiring to go out and take some wildlife photo’s. Perhaps it is my age, but more and more I long for a warm climate providing more energy and better photo opportunities! 😁

Taking advantage of the weather I’ve cleaned the camera bodies and calibrated some lenses for the Nikon bodies (including the new Nikon D850). Some spics were removed and they are all clean and perfect working condition. Not only for short term activities but also for my upcoming trip to Kenya in June. Yes, I finally return to the Masai Mara with their great wildlife and nice people! I am already excited while making preparations for this trip. The goals for this trip are to return with some great memories, have some extraordinary sightings and to capture some awesome actions (predators and mammals).

December 2019:

The number of birds of prey in The Netherlands is increasing according to the latest information! Isn’t that great news? Personally I love the raptors and especially white-tailed eagles, goshawks, kestrels and sparrow hawks. Naturally the buzzard is a great raptor too, though, in my humble opinion, a little less spectacular in terms of colors and feather detail.

November 2019.

I finally managed to make some changes to my website, although I am still not satisfied with the whole set up! Bare with me until I manage to make some final updates in the coming weeks!

October/November 2018:

I’ve traveled to wild Poland in 2018 to photograph the “endangered” White-Tailed Eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla). During this trip all came together: light, detail, focus, poses, interaction and beautiful autumn background! Some spectaculair images of this trip are published in my newest book which can be purchased via the Blurb Bookstore (https://www.blurb.com/b/9703155-white-tailed-eagles)!

The White-tailed Eagle is a so called “Bird of prey” (sometimes called raptors, which is derived from the Latin word rapio). Their wing-spread is about 2,4 meters! Although their numbers declined (mostly due human interference and human activities, including destruction of habitat, the use of pesticides and hunting) they are now slowly recovering in numbers, though still listed as vulnerable. White-tailed eagles are part of the Accipitridae family (including hawks, kites and harriers and other sea eagles).