BLACK THROATED DIVERS / STORLOM

Male bird

D3s, 600 4,0 + 2,0 x converter = 1200 mm

After 4 days and 4 nights on the Finnish red throated diver marsh (check out my previous blog) it was time to work with it`s larger cousin : The black throated diver. The black throated diver is in fact even more difficult to shoot than the red one, ...simply because it is shyer (one of the shyest !!) and normally stays on open waters at larger lakes where it is IMPOSSIBLE to approach it without getting detected. Shooting birds on nests is absolutely no issue for me, so on advice from Eero Kemilä we decided to work with hides in combination with sounds and a decoy-diver (!) The bird did not react visibly on sounds (but I did ! the black throated divers loud call over a black misty lake gives me the creeps down my spines !!), but Eero`s decoy diver named Marco (beeing made of XPS and looking pretty rough to me) actually seemed to work !! Especially the male diver was interested in this newcomer, as he kept coming slowly closer, inch by inch, all the way from at least 150 m down to incredible 15 m at the closest. I actually had to take off my converter ! As the bird came closer I was overwhelmed by the striking beauty of this shy and "unattainable" bird. I have never been this close to a black throated diver before.

I tried to get my photo-angle as low as possible, actually placing the hide in the shallow water on the shore of the lake, with camera "floating" just above the water surface (Eero`s invention), and we managed to get that black shady forest mirrored in the lake. What I saw in the viewfinder was almost black and white, ...with just a little dash of color added in the reflections. I will never forget this sight.

It was hot and humid in there, I had on long waders, but sitting motionless for such a long time with the water up to your chest is actually ....hard. I killed time by watching insects around my legs in the water.

Now I`m off for Alaska !!

Male bird

D3s, 600 4,0 + 2,0 x converter = 1200 mm, f8,0, 1/200, -1,0, ISO 800

Male bird

D3s, 600 4,0 + 2,0 x converter = 1200 mm, f 8,0, 1/200, -1,0, ISO 800

Male bird

D3s, 600 4,0 + 2,0 x converter = 1200 mm, f8,0, 1/320, -1,0, ISO 800

Male bird

D3s, 600 4,0, f5,6, 1/1000, -1,0, ISO 800

Male bird

D3s, 600 4,0, f5,6, 1/1250, -1,0, ISO 800

15 m was close enough for the male bird

D3s, 600 4,0, 1/1250, -1,0, ISO 800

The black throated diver family. Male bird left.

D3s, 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter = 850 mm, f8,0, 1/2500, -1,0, ISO 400

Female bird with chicks

D3s, 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter = 850 mm, f6,3, 1/2000, -0,67, ISO 800

Female bird with chick

D3s, 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter = 850 mm, f6,3, 1/1250, -0,67, ISO 800

Female bird

D3s, 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter = 850 mm, f8,0, 1/640, -0,33, ISO 400

Female and male bird. Male with a slightly thicker beak than female.

D3s, 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter = 850 mm, f8,0, 1/640, -1,0, ISO 400

Female and male bird

D3s, 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter = 850 mm, f8,0, 1/320, -0,33, ISO 400