#year recap

The Beatles were in town. This was probably the most amazing encounter I've ever had and I'd dare to say I'll ever have. This was extremely quirky, unique, and incredible. Even if it shouldn't happen, and shouldn't have happened, whenever anyone asks me again if I've ever seen anything amazing, I'll say: "yeah, once I saw a mother merganser with goslings." They probably won't believe me, and I think that's fair. When I arrived to the pond and I saw the scene, I was like "ohhh... there they are! The mergansitos!" I had read about, and quickly I was like "boy, it really is difficult to tell them apart from Egyptian goslings". Then it hit me, I was in awe, and I tried to get at least one decent shot. I'm so, so glad I managed.

One happy duck. It was nice for a change to have Mandarin ducks that are used to people, but most of the credit should go to this little guy. Just chilling, just basking in the sun as I decided to photograph him. It's such a beautiful shot, because it simply shows him enjoying his duck life.

The punks. I like to pay attention to the little things, and that pays off many times. As I was about to start a new birding adventure, I watched a tiny pond where I noticed our good friend Blaumeise foraging in a cold winter morning. I thought the scene had potential, and our little friend with "food" all over its little face did the rest.

The last summer Nilgansito. I find it difficult to ignore a baby Egyptian goose. They breed everywhere, all the time, but after a short lull, a new baby emerged and I was more than happy to spend some time with it. There was only one, I took some photos, and I didn't notice anything special until I got home later. When I saw this portrait with the little one squirting water out of its nose, I just thought that was the cherry on top.

A friend is coming. A fun and unusual view of a little grebe. And who doesn't love a little grebe? I've spent so much time watching them at this place that I get ready every time they're about to walk that little separation in the pond. This time, it was a hit, resulting in a cute, funny, you label it, photo.

Unusual suspect. You might have also noticed that I'm a sucker for this kind of photos. A black background and an illuminated subject – and this pond, once again, lent itself to it. The thing is I wouldn't have tried again if I hadn't realised there were two gadwalls among the numerous mallards. I didn't have a good photo of a gadwall. Now I have an artsy one at least.

A celebrity bird. You don't actually get to see storks that close over here, so when I was heading to my destination and I turned around the corner and saw the stork, I did swear a lot from the shock. All I was thinking then was "please, do not scare it, stay, please". And as I got closer and closer until I thought I was close enough, the stork made it clear it was going nowhere. I could take as many photos as I wished, choosing the right angle and settings. And if later I was late, I had a good excuse, with evidence.

Follow your dreams (and flies). The evening light was beautiful and the goslings adorable. I just wish this photo didn't have a couple of technical imperfections (imo), but the scene is really cute as those babies were foraging in their happy hour full of mosquitoes. I did not have much time to try to make it better either.

In the sunset light. I don't know much about compositions or arguably even about photography. I have no training or background. I just decided one day that I also wanted to photograph birds. But even I can notice some things sometimes. As the sun was setting, I noticed this black kite flying low, circling around a newly ploughed field, and I also noticed that the sun was illuminating really nicely there. All I had to hope for? That when I got there, the bird hadn't gone away. Fortunately, it gave me a couple more laps and it turned out gorgeously.

An apt autumn scene. The story behind this shot (and the other) is real. I went birding, and when I got out of the station, there was the thickest fog I've ever seen. I did consider to turn back and leave, but I'm not one that gives up, and I gave it a shot. A kingfisher was at the pond (what a nice surprise), and then I noticed blackbirds going into this bush. I turned around, I took a shot quickly, and yeah, I thought it didn't turn out too bad. Of course, you can edit it later, but I still wanted to keep a bit of the misty look, because it was really foggy that day. This photo was a matter of seconds, a coincidence, and the desire of shooting at all birds, common or not.