May 1st is often a good time to enjoy a long weekend. This year it was even on a Thursday, and with only one day off, I could spend four days photographing. Two hours from Hamburg is the Mecklenburg Lake District, a paradise for nature photographers thanks to its many lakes and nature reserves. I rented a small hotel near Malchow to have the shortest possible driving distances during the four days. To say it in advance, the four days were not only successful in terms of relaxation, but I also collected many good pictures and memories.
White-tailed eagles
Just 10 minutes from my home in Hamburg, a pair of white-tailed eagles is breeding, and I have visited them several times. I also took some pictures, but they are only documentary due to the distance to the nest. The nest is not particularly accessible. This is a good thing because white-tailed eagles only have one clutch of eggs and are very sensitive to disturbance and, in the worst case, will abort the brood. Due to the good conditions in Mecklenburg, the density of white-tailed eagles is many times higher than in Hamburg. There are places where many white-tailed eagles gather, as the hunting conditions there are excellent. One such spot is on Lake Plau, which I visited this weekend.
On the first day, I was out and about in the evening. As you can see in the picture above, the lighting conditions were not the best because it was extremely backlit. Nevertheless, I was able to take some photos. On the second day, I went out in the morning. The light conditions were much better, and the sea eagles were more active. The thermals were much better, and the flying was much better for the sea eagles.
I have never seen so many sea eagles in one place and was happy to observe the behavior. Up to 20 sea eagles were present at the same time and more or less active. In the picture below I have four of the sea eagles in one picture.
Other animals
Nature is still intact here, and I could see, in addition to the white-tailed eagles. The white-tailed eagle was at the forefront. I didn’t see it hunting together with the white-tailed eagles, even though it was nesting very close to the road. Perhaps the sea eagles simply outnumbered it, and it preferred to hunt elsewhere. Some information on ospreys and sea eagles can be found on the Wiki page.
In addition to ospreys and white-tailed eagles, a few other animals dared to appear in front of the camera. These included a chiffchaff, a wagtail, a reed warbler, and black and red kites. As I was walking near the ospreydenly appeared in the evening nest, a fox sud. He hadn’t noticed me. Fortunately, he walked away, and I followed him slowly and carefully. I had the opportunity to take several pictures and watch him searching for food.
Conclusion
The weekend was more than worth it. The large number of sea eagles alone was an experience I would like to have more often. Unfortunately, the habitats for these animals are few and far between in Germany. When the weather is so great and the animals are out in large numbers, it’s fun to be a guest in nature and photograph them.