Annoying little bugger finally captured.

This European Otter managed to outsmart me for almost an half year. Quick as water, never sitting still long enough, or always at the wrong spot. Getting a decent shot ( did not even dream about a good one) seemed cursed. Until today. I was trying out my new toy and knew he was out there, watching me.
He took a short peek. GOTCHA!!


K10D, Sigma AF APO 100-300/F4 DG, ISO 200, F4,5 @ 1/1600 sec.
Martin.

Cracking shot Martin - so much more difficult than it looks.
I bet he wasn't still even when he stopped moving!
One for the wall there - I love otters - ridiculously cute
nice one.

Congratulations on a great shot, lucky you.

that is a nice shot!
sometimes we're just not fast enough to get the critters! happened to me the other week.

Gerri and I took our youngest, Micheal, to the zoo......
I saw this squirrel sneaking up behind Gerri, (who was snapping stills), "Watch out Honey...squirrels after ya' again!" I yelled.

"Mommy get him! That skirl would make a great Hamster!!!" Micheal shouted.

But of course the little bugger was gone, before my video cam booted up!
Gotta love that near instant on with the d-slrs, which in hindsight was camera I shoulda grabbed!

Great shot Martin. Does this otter live in the wild around your neighbourhood :

That would have been my question also. Is this a local otter that you keep seeing in the same place :

Lovely image - he looks a friendly chap.

further to my first reply Martin, and I'm not sure if you are after constructive comments but to my eyes the image has a yellow cast. Not just evening light (it wasn't evening was it?).
This is in no way a criticism, it's all subjective, but I know I would want to know how other people percieve my images

very warm toned....but I like it just the way it is, I wouldn't change it.

Hi All,
Thanks for the nice words.
It was taken early afternoon, with some clouds passing by. I warmed it up a bit, post processing in Bibble. Maybe a tiny bit to far. But I like my pictures generally on the warm side of the spectrum. It was taken at Nature Reserve Park Lelystad. Located in the central part of The Netherlands. It is not a zoo in the general meaning of the word. All the species there have so much space provided for them, for each species tailored to there own habitat. Fences are unknown there, just restricted areas for the public. They use water ways and lakes as natural defense lines.It could very well be they don't show them selfs for days. The otter place for instance is an area of 2 by 2 miles, with water, swamp and everything else an otter is used to. There are some areas were public is allowed. The same goes for the other guests of that park. To name a few. Wisents(European Bison), Moose, Cranes, Storks, Wild Boar,Stag, Father David Deer, Wild Prewalski Horses, Beavers ( they are there, but never spotted them) and hundreds of different species of water birds. I guess the whole area has about the same square millage as a medium populated city.
And the biggest plus? Entrance is free, except for a parking fee of €2,50 a day. A great place to spend your free hours.
Here are two more pictures from that day.



and this muddy creature:


All taken with the K10D and the new Sigma AF f4/100-300 EX APO DG.
Martin.

Sounds like a fantastic place!

Dan

It is
The reason for creating that place is less great. A few years before the Chernobyl disaster happened, the dutch Gov. decided to built a educational Zoo conform the idea I mentioned above. It was not intended to be as big as it is nowadays. Directly after Chernobyl happened, Poland asked several EU country's to offer shelter for their Wisent population who lived in the last pieces of Native Forest in the east of Poland. The fallout was a direct threat to that population. The Netherlands offered them a place at Lelystad Nature Park. Well , the success of that action drastically changed the original plans for that small scaled zoo to be. There was a lot of space available over there and the knowledge of the people in charge made it possible to introduce more species who needed saving from extinction. Or take part in programs to re introduce species in areas who used to be there originally. One rule was stated,though! Only species would be accepted who have their roots in Europe. With the exception of birds who decided to stick around while
migrating from the North or South during the winter.
So ....thats the story of a very bad disaster turning around in something good after all. To bad that this piece of luck wasn't shared with the people exposed to the terrible consequences of nuclear contamination
Martin.