photography by Jeroen Oude Wolbers and Karin Fiedler- powered by SmugMug

Nature and Wildlife Galleries

The Netherlands - Winter 2010 :

The Netherlands - Winter 2010

Germany - Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald 2009 : Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald, in English Bavarian Forest National Park, extends along the border of Germany with the Czech Republic and covers an area of 242 km². Together, Bavarian Forest National Park and its Czech neighbor, Šumava National Park (Bohemian Forest National Park), form the largest forest preserve in Central Europe, encompassing over 900 km².

In keeping with its philosophy of letting nature take its course, the park’s slogan is “Leaving nature to its own devices.”

Indeed, nowhere else between the Atlantic Ocean and the Ural Mountains is nature allowed to grow and develop according to its most primeval laws into a wild forest, a true “wilderness”.

The spacious ranges and large aviaries found in the (2) wildlife enclosure areas provide over 30 species of mountain forest animals with a natural environment.

More info can be found at http://www.nationalpark-bayerischer-wald.de/englisch/index.htm

Germany - Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald 2009

Germany - Nationalpark Harz 2009 : Nationalpark Harz, in English Harz National Park is a nature reserve set across the Harz Mountains presenting a mountain landscape of forest, moors and flowing rivers. It was established in its current form by the merging of the Upper Harz National park and the Harz National park in Lower Saxony in 2006 following the two National Parks uniting.
The former German border ran though the Harz and large parts of the Harz were prohibited areas. Today it is a protected area covering 15,800 hectares, where numerous varieties of wildlife flourish and rare animals reintroduced.
In the National Park visitors might catch a glimpse of Red Deer, Roe Deer and Wild Boar. Some of the rare animals are the Dipper, the Black Stork, the Peregrine Falcon, the Wildcat and the Lynx. The Harz National Park is in a ten year programme to reintroduce the Lynx back into the Harz.The last Lynx known was shot in 1818. If successful there should be up to 50 Lynxes back in the Harz...

More info (in German language) can be found at http://www.nationalpark-harz.de

Germany - Nationalpark Harz 2009

The Netherlands - Autumn 2009 :

The Netherlands - Autumn 2009

The Netherlands - Nationaal Park De Hoge Veluwe 2009 : Red Deer rutting season
In September, life in De Hoge Veluwe National Park (The Netherlands) is all about the rutting (or mating) season of Red Deer. In this period, the stags compete for the attention of the hinds and they don't make any secret of it!

What happens during the rutting season?
The male herds break up during this period, as the stags compete for female attention. A stag has to work hard if he is to become leader of his group of hinds, and this requires plenty of macho behaviour and belling (the deep throaty mating roar). Actual fighting may sometimes even be necessary. The strongest males then gather a large herd around them.

More information about de Hoge Veluwe National Park can be found at http://www.hogeveluwe.nl/

The Netherlands - Nationaal Park De Hoge Veluwe 2009

Malaysia 2009 - preview :

Malaysia 2009 - preview

Botswana 2008 : Central Kalahari Game Reserve

The 52,800 square kilometres Central Kalahari Game Reserve, which was set up in 1961, is the second largest game reserve in the world. Situated in the centre of Botswana, the reserve is characterised by vast open plains, salt pans and ancient riverbeds.

“Kalahari” is derived from the Tswana word Kgala meaning “great thirst” – and it has vast areas covered by red sand without any permanent water. The Kalahari Desert is the largest sand basin in the world stretching 2,500kms from the northern regions of South Africa through to Namibia/Angola and ending in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The term ‘desert’ is however not quite accurate when referring to the Kalahari, the region receives an annual rainfall of 60mm-175mm, too high to be classified as a true desert.

After the summer rains arrive in the northern section of the reserve, from Deception Valley to Piper Pans, the vast plains burst with sweet grasses and this becomes one of the prime game-viewing areas in Botswana. Not many people seem to be aware of this and visitors are few. The clear blue sky fills with gigantic clouds and the stage is set for an amazing transformation. Into the scene enter thousands of migratory gemsbok, springbok and wildebeest. This gathering of animals is a sight to behold and can be compared with the Serengeti/Masai Mara migrations of Tanzania and Kenya.

Predators abound with plentiful lions – especially the famous Kalahari black-maned lion, cheetah, leopard and jackals. Brown hyenas and wild dogs are also found in the area.

Several species of antelopes make the trip to the sweet grasses of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve which include the eland, springbok, steenbok, gemsbok, hartebeest, kudu and duiker. Honey badgers are regular visitors as well as ground squirrels and meerkats.

In the winter months, the Kalahari is more typically a desert-type system: warm and dry. Game viewing remains productive and moves into the vegetated dunal belt and pan systems surrounding the valleys; a series of ecologically placed waterholes further enhance wildlife viewing.

Bird life is aplenty with the world heaviest flying bird – the Kori bustard being common as well as the black korhaan who continuously calls during the daytime. Ostrich are seen roaming free – usually in large flocks. Raptors from the most common pale-chanting goshawk to the rock kestrel, bateleurs and brown and tawny eagles are also seen regularly.

Moremi Game Reserve

Moremi Game Reserve is the only proclaimed wildlife reserve in the Okavango Delta, covering 20 percent of the total area. A scenic area with diverse habitats, Moremi offers an excellent year-round wildlife experience. Characterised by a combination of floodplain and the lush indigenous forests of the delta and its islands, Moremi is rich in game and bird life.

Often described as the most beautiful wildlife reserve in Africa, Moremi enjoys a wide diversity of habitat and is well known for the height of the trees in the mopane tongue, which covers the central area. However, the mainland part forms only about thirty percent of the reserve and is in many ways untypical - the remaining area being part of the Okavango Delta. Birdlife is prolific and varied, ranging from water birds to shy forest dwellers. Elephants are numerous, particularly during the dry season, as well as a range of other wildlife species from buffalo, giraffe, lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog, hyena, jackal and the full range of antelope, large and small, including the red lechwe. Wild dog, whose numbers are so rapidly dwindling elsewhere, are regularly sighted in the Moremi and have been subject to a project being run in the area since 1989 so these animals are often seen wearing collars placed on them by the researchers. It is claimed that the Moremi area contains about thirty percent of all living wild dog.

Situated on the extreme western boundary of the Moremi, the Xigera area is probably at the very centre of the Okavango alluvial fan. This magnificent area epitomises the permanently flooded section of the Okavango. Palm filled hardwood islands, hardwood riverine forests and a multitude of clear water channels and flood plains are what the delta wetland is all about. This is the land of the sitatunga antelope and Pel’s fishing owl. Water birds are seen in numbers.

A new attraction in the area is the reintroduction of black and white rhino on the biggest island in the delta, Chief’s Island. The island was originally reserved as the local chief’s hunting ground before handing it over to the park. The reintroduction is a great success so far with more than half a dozen calves being recorded. Soon the animals, which are under the tight security of the army and the wildlife department, will spread elsewhere during low water levels.

Chief’s Island is an excitingly game-rich area. When the annual inundation of water arrives during March to May each year, large mammals are able to move into the area, which contains rich resources of grass and acacia forests. The wetlands are fringed by large hardwood trees, containing shade, cover, nesting areas and food for a wide variety of mammals and birds. By September/October the wetlands have started to recede, leaving behind vast floodplains of short green grass when the rest of the large islands are at their driest.

Moremi is best visited in the dry season and game viewing is at its peak from July to October, when seasonal pans dry up and the wildlife concentrates on the permanent water. The winter months of May to August can be very cold at night but pleasantly warm with clear blue skies during the day. From October until the rains break in late November or early December, the weather can be extremely hot - both day and night.

Chobe National Park

Chobe National Park - Botswana’s second largest Park - is arguably the country’s finest destination for game viewing. Famous for its impressive numbers of elephant, with the largest continuous elephant population on earth, Chobe also boasts one of the greatest concentrations of game on the African continent.

The Park is divided into four distinctly different eco-systems: Serondela with its lush plains and dense forests in the Chobe River area in the extreme north-east, the Savuti Marsh in the west, the Linyanti Swamps in the north-west and the hot dry hinterland in between.

The particularly game rich areas are the beautiful Chobe River and the Savuti Marsh area.

Often described as one of the best wildlife viewing areas in Africa today, the Park is home to over 100,000 elephants as well as giraffe, zebra, impala, tsessebe, roan, sable, wildebeest, kudu, buffalo, waterbuck, warthog and eland. Predators include lion, hyena, jackal, bat-eared fox and even cheetah and wild dog.

Costa Rica 2008 - under construction :

Costa Rica 2008 - under construction

Iceland 2007 - under construction :

Iceland 2007 - under construction

South Africa 2006 - under construction :

South Africa 2006 - under construction

Botswana 2006 - under construction :

Botswana 2006 - under construction

South Africa 2005 - under construction :

South Africa 2005 - under construction

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