Early bird gets the worm
I shot this series back in April during the coronavirus lockdown. Maybe the need to get outside made me overcome my inherit resentment of getting up early. I arrived at the location at 5:40 am - about 20 minutes before sunrise. I mention it, because I am certainly not a morning person, so I really consider this to be a great personal achievement. I know, setting the bar really low there…
My original plan was to shoot ducks at Podhraský pond in Hluboká nad Vltavou with morning light in my back. It was really nice weather with a bit of morning mist - I couldn’t possibly wish for better conditions. However, there was nothing really happening there, so after a while I moved a bit to the Munický pond close to the old Jewish cemetery. The old oak trees there pretty much guaranteed there will be at least some commotion. I was right.
The first catch of the morning was a beautiful European robin sitting on the wall of the cemetery. It was pretty clear that it was a bit numb after a long cold night and it didn’t mind me until I got about 4-5 metres close. It was singing the whole time, but when I tried to get even closer, it disappeared in the nearby bushes. However, I found it once again few minutes after sitting on a tree branch. From photography stand point I prefer the first picture with robin singing the wall. Morning light gives it pleasant atmosphere. I have to admit, that the contrast of the second picture with a blue sky in the background is a bit too harsh.
Unlike the robin, my second catch was way more active. It was a female common blackbird which was frantically collecting material for its nest on huge broken oak tree branch. Due to fast shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second you can see small pieces bark when she torn off a moss of the tree. I even saw how she fended off some other bird (can’t remember the species) which was trying to steal it. Things one can witness with a bit of patience and focus!
After a while another surprise waited for me. It's by no means difficult to find a mallard – those wobbly talkative ducks – on Czech ponds and lakes, so I usually don’t pay much attention to them. But this time I was shocked when I saw one sitting on… a hollow tree! For any ornithologist (or anyone who knows something about ducks, I guess) this wouldn’t be surprising at all, but at the time I had no idea mallards do that!
However, my last catch of the morning took the cake - Eurasian jay. Jays are not extra rare, but in comparison with other common species I haven't had luck with taking pictures of them yet. So when I saw this one I was really eager to capture it on my camera. And it worked just fine. Especially the last picture above made me really happy. I love the colors of its wings in the soft early morning light. I only cloned out a small branch which disturbed otherwise pretty clean composition in Photoshop.
And that is what you can get when you get up early in a morning. Just watch!
