PIT VIPERS FROM THAILAND JUNGLE JULY/ AUG 2018

The wet Thailand jungle mirrored upside down in raindrops on a male Gumprechs Pit Viper

Nikon D5, Sigma 180 2,8, f/9,0, 1/400, ISO 2800

Once again I have been back in the Thailand jungle looking for snakes. To find other species & habitats than last time (2 years ago in Southern Thailand) we did central & central/northern Thailand spending 11 days & 11 nights continuously looking for snakes. Pretty demanding schedule, but no critical incidents this time ... except when I stepped on a wasp peppery in the dark in the thick, impervious jungle, and had a frantic escape loosing my glasses (very expensive !!), did damage to one of my cameras (very expensive !!) and had my unavoidable wasp stings (painful, ... but for free). 

The 20 pictures I present here are only pit vipers. All pictures are shot with Sigma lenses.

If I get inspired (??) I will present other snakes from the project in another post later.

A warm thank you to Ton Smits, Tan of Tontan Tours, Parinya "Aood" Pawangkhanant, Thor Håkonsen & Pål Sørensen. Incredible knowledge of reptiles and Thai nature, great organised and very, very, very nice company !!    

Female Gumprechs Pit Viper (Viridovipera gumprechi), one of the largest pit vipers of the Thailand jungle. 

Nikon D5, Sigma 180 2,8, f/4,0, 1/500, ISO 2000

Female Gumprechts Pit Viper from habitat with altitude 1500 m

Nikon D5, Sigma 180 2,8, f/4,0, 1/500, ISO 1250

Male Gumprechts Pit Viper

Nikon D5, Sigma 180 2,8, f/4,5, 1/500, ISO 450

Female Gumprechts Pit Viper shot through the a "window" in the thick bush

Nikon D5, Sigma 180 2,8, f/4,0, 1/500, ISO 900

Thailand jungle is a wet place through the monsoon rains. Female Gumprechts Pit Viper

Nikon D5, Sigma 180, 2,8, f/7,1, 1/640, ISO 3200

The Kanburi Pit Viper (Cryptelytrops kanburiensis) is endemic to Thailand and is only found in a restricted limestone district in central western Thailand, in other words : extremely rare ! 6 persons spent 2 days & 2 nights looking for it .... with no success. It was the needle in the haystack ! As we had resignedly given up the Kanburi project, one of us had to go to the bush of natural reasons. As he was sitting there in his hunched position with his trousers down around his ankles ready to give something back to the nature, he turned his head to the side... and there, only a meter away from his most vulnerable parts, was a male Kanburi Pit Viper in ambush position ! 

Santa Claus is still around !!!

Nikon D5, Sigma 180 2,8, f/14,0, 1/320, ISO 2800   

Male Kanburi Pit Viper

Nikon D5, Sigma 180 2,8, f/10,0, 1/1600, ISO 6400 

Male Large-eyed Pit Viper (Cryptelytrops macrops)

Nikon D5, Sigma 180 2,8, f/6,3, 1/500, ISO 2500 

Female Large-eyed Pit Viper (Cryptelytrops macrops)

Nikon D5, Sigma 180 2,8, f/6,3, 1/400, ISO 4500 

Female Popes Pit Viper (Popeia popeiorum), Kaeng Krachan NP

Nikon D5, Sigma 180 2,8, f/14,0, 1/500, ISO 7200 

Female Popes Pit Viper (Popeia popeiorum), Kaeng Krachan NP

Nikon D5, Sigma 180 2,8, f/6,3, 1/500, ISO 2000

Female Popes Pit Viper (Popeia popeiorum), Kaeng Krachan NP

Nikon D5, Sigma 180 2,8, f/5,6, 1/1000, ISO 4000

Male Popes Pit Viper (Popeia popeiorum), Kaeng Krachan NP

Nikon D5, Sigma 180 2,8, f/4,0, 1/500, ISO 900

Female Whitelipped Pit Viper (Cryptelytrops albolabris), Kaeng Krachan NP

Nikon D5, Sigma 180 2,8, f/6,3, 1/400, ISO 500

Female Vogels Pit Viper (Viridovipera vogeli), Khao Yai NP. 

The biggest pit viper in Thailand jungles, up to 1,3 m. 

Nikon D5, Sigma 180 2,8, f/16,0, 1/500, ISO 5000

Meet Mrs Vogel !! A big, grumpy & venomous old lady from Khao Yai NP. 

Vogels Pit Viper (Viridovipera vogeli) 

Nikon D5, Sigma 180 2,8, f/11,0, 1/640, ISO 2800

Of course a daily drama in the jungle, still but rarely seen by people : Female Whitelipped Pit Viper (Cryptelytrops albolabris) har just grabbed a frog from her ambush position in a low bush and stabbed it with her long fangs injecting venom. 

Kaeng Krachan NP. The situation was difficult to shoot with very little light.

Nikon D5, Sigma 105 2,8, f/3,5, 1/250, ISO 4000

Female Whitelipped Pit Viper. One of the long fangs into the frog is visible

Nikon D5, Sigma 105 2,8, f/5,0, 1/400, ISO 22800 (!)

Female Whitelipped Pit Viper with frog prey shot in the light from a headlamp

Nikon D5, Sigma 180 2,8, f/4,0, 1/320, ISO 2200

Female Whitelipped Pit Viper with frog prey shot in the light from a headlamp. It took a long time for the frog to die in jaws of the viper. Since frogs develop a certain degree of immunity to the snake venom, the snakes accordingly have to increase the toxicity in the venom. 

Not good for people who get bitten !!

Nikon D5, Sigma 105 2,8, f/5,6, 1/320, ISO 5600

Pål Sørensen, Thor Håkonsen, Tom Dyring, Tan of Tontan Tours, Ton Smits & Parinya Pawangkhanant. 
What a team !!!

CURLEWS, VEGA ISLAND, NORTHERN NORWAY

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I had the pleasure to spend a week at Vega island, Northern Norway, in early June this year. Vega is an island with incredible wildlife and also human cultural history ... with a World Heritage Status ! 

Since I happened to be there just after the curlew hatchings .... I quickly realised that my main photographic project this time would not be eider ducks or eagles ... but : 

Curlews (Numenius arquata). 

Since the newly hatched chickens are extremely vulnerable for flying predators like the bigger gulls, crows and ravens, all the pictures are shot with the highest level of ethical standards. All pics of birds on the ground and chicks are shot from the car which they easily accepted. I could spend hours watching them at close range. Great experience ! 

Hope you like them :-)    

Curlew ... very upset !! / storspove (I did not venture into the field, the picture shot from the road)

D5, 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/6,3, 1/2500, ISO 4500

Curlew flight / storspove

D5, 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/6,3, 1/2500, ISO 5000

Curlew / storspove

D5, 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/6,3, 1/2000, ISO 1400

Curlew / storspove

D5, 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/6,3, 1/800, ISO 1800

Curlew / storspove

D5, 600 4,0, f/6,3, 1/1250, ISO 1400

Curlew / storspove

D5, 600 4,0, f/6,3, 1/1250, ISO 1400

Curlew closeup / storspove

D5, 600 4,0, f/6,3, 1/1250, ISO 1250

Curlew with new etched chicken / storspove

D5, 600 4,0, f/6,3, 1/640, ISO 900 

Curlew chicken / storspovekylling

D5, 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/6,3, 1/1600, ISO 1250

Curlew chicken / storspovekylling

D5, 600 4,0, f/6,3, 1/800, ISO 1800

Curlew chicken / storspovekylling

D5, 600 4,0, f/6,3, 1/800, ISO 800

Protective greylag goose / grågås

D5, 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/5,6, 1/640, ISO 1250

Redshank / rødstilk

D5, 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/6,3, 1/800, ISO 1400

Midnight rambler 1

D5, 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/5,6, 1/640, ISO 2200

Midnight rambler 1

D5, 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/6,3, 1/800, ISO 4500

Midnight rambler 3

D5, 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/5,6, 1/640, ISO 3600

Hare

D5, 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/6,3, 1/800, ISO 640

Hare

D5, 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/5,6, 1/640, ISO 2200

Stranded fishing boat

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FLOATING HIDES WITH MRJANGEAR IN LATVIA

Rednecked grebe / Gråstrupedykker (Podiceps griseigena) in mating display

Nikon D5, Nikkor 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/5,6, 1/800, ISO 360, MrJanGear floating hide, drysuit.

In late April & early May this year I had the pleasure to be invited by MrJanGear to test floating hides in Latvian wetlands. The floating hides from MrJanGear (check www.mrjangear.com ) are basically constructed for walking the bottoms more than for swimming and consists of a lightweight inflatable tube construction with a fixed board for tripod head and a tented cover. The height of the cover may seem unnecessarily high, but when you need to cross very shallow waters walking on your knees you will understand why you sometimes need the hight. With a good plan for the day and a slow approach with lots of patience the hides performed very well with the birds, and in the end of the day as pack your gear and go home, the entire hide will fit into a medium sized softbag ! 

During 7 days I daily spent approx 5 hours in the water (making altogether 35 hours in the water), and with water temp`s between 5 and 10 degrees C you really need a good drysuit and lots of isolation.

Our photographic focus was primarily for rednecked grebes and migrating geese. 

Rednecked grebe : The beautiful "redneck" has a distinct eastern distribution, from the Baltic sea eastwards into deep Russia. The bird mostly stays in the thick reed and is not seen much in open waters, and hence : difficult to shoot. However with many attempts and lots of patience I got my shots.

Migrating geese : Every spring migrating geese come to rest in a small, shallow lake in the Orenisu Diki. It is said that there can be up to 60 000 geese resting on the lake at the same time. The migrating geese are mainly white fronted goose (tundragås) & bean goose (sædgås), and these species are extremely shy birds ! Normally you would not come closer than 500 m to them, and they will even avoid a moving floating hide with "considerable" margins. One day I hid with the hide at the edge of a reed island in the lake and sat still for 5 hours. It was an amazing experience to have theses super-shy birds close enough to shoot shoulder shots on them. I will never forget this situation !

Thanks to : MrJanGear & Jan Goddefroy for idea, invitation, gear and a great nature experience

Guesthouse "Stikani" & Ilze Vilskereste for indespenable support & super accommodation

Minna Lindroth, Markus Varesvuo, Tuomas Heinonen & Misjel deCleer for inspiration & great company,     

MrJanGear floating hide .... in action ... with Markus inside 

MrJanGear Floating Hide : inflatable floating tube with fixed board for tripod head and tented cover including balusters.

Rednecked grebe / Gråstrupedykker (Podiceps griseigena) in display

Nikon D5, Nikkor 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/6,3, 1/2000, ISO 800, MrJanGear floating hide, drysuit.

Rednecked grebe / Gråstrupedykker (Podiceps griseigena) in mating display

Nikon D5, Nikkor 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/6,3, 1/2000, ISO 720, MrJanGear floating hide, drysuit.

Rednecked grebe / Gråstrupedykker (Podiceps griseigena) swimming in open water

Nikon D5, Nikkor 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/6,3, 1/1000, ISO 800, MrJanGear floating hide, drysuit.

Rednecked grebe / Gråstrupedykker (Podiceps griseigena)

Nikon D5, Nikkor 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/5,6, 1/1000, ISO 500, MrJanGear floating hide, drysuit.

Rednecked grebe / Gråstrupedykker (Podiceps griseigena)

Nikon D5, Nikkor 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/6,3, 1/1600, ISO 1000, MrJanGear floating hide, drysuit.

Rednecked grebe / Gråstrupedykker (Podiceps griseigena) closeup

Nikon D5, Nikkor 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/6,3, 1/2000, ISO 1100, MrJanGear floating hide, drysuit.

Rednecked grebe / Gråstrupedykker (Podiceps griseigena) in open water

Nikon D5, Nikkor 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/5,6, 1/1250, ISO 800, MrJanGear floating hide, drysuit.

As a whitetailed eagle comes flying by 10s of thousands of geese burst out in massive flight. 

These are whitefronted geese & bean geese / tundragås & sædgås

Nikon D5, Nikkor 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/11,0, 1/1250, ISO 3200, MrJanGear floating hide, drysuit.

Whitefronted goose / Tundragås (Anser albifrons)

Nikon D5, Nikkor 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/5,6, 1/800, ISO 360, MrJanGear floating hide, drysuit.

Whitefronted goose / Tundragås (Anser albifrons)

Nikon D5, Nikkor 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/11,0, 1/2000, ISO 3200, MrJanGear floating hide, drysuit.

Whitefronted goose / Tundragås (Anser albifrons)

Nikon D5, Nikkor 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/11,0, 1/2000, ISO 2800, MrJanGear floating hide, drysuit.

Whitefronted goose / Tundragås (Anser albifrons)

Nikon D5, Nikkor 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/11,0, 1/2000, ISO 2500, MrJanGear floating hide, drysuit.

Bean goose / Sædgås (Anser albifrons)

Nikon D5, Nikkor 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/11,0, 1/2000, ISO 2800, MrJanGear floating hide, drysuit.

Whitefronted goose / Tundragås (Anser albifrons)

Nikon D5, Nikkor 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/11,0, 1/2000, ISO 2800, MrJanGear floating hide, drysuit.

Male marsh harrier / sivhauk (Circus aeruginosus)

Nikon D5, Nikkor 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/6,3, 1/1600, ISO 560, MrJanGear floating hide, drysuit.

Whooper swan / sangsvane (Cygnus cygnus)

Nikon D5, Nikkor 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/6,3, 1/1000, ISO 500, MrJanGear floating hide, drysuit.

Flying geese & moon

Nikon D5, Nikkor 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/5,6, 1/640, ISO 28800

Flying geese & moon

Nikon D5, Nikkor 600 4,0 + 1,4 converter, f/5,6, 1/1000, ISO 32000.