At the end of August I hired a specialist raptor hide on the Belgium-Dutch border. I wanted to get some more diverse shots of birds of prey for the presentation that I would be giving for Panasonic on Bird Photography at Photokina. 

From what I had seen prior to my day in the hide, this hide had been delivering some fantastic images of Sparrow Hawks and Buzzards, as well as Great Spotted Woodpecker and Black and Green Woodpeckers. So it was certainly a great time to have the hut reserved and at the end of August the weather was really great too. 

When I arrived at the hide I was full of enthusiasm and optimism that I'd be getting raptor sightings. The hide owner warned me a little extra patience was needed and I was more than prepared for that. After all the key requirement of a wildlife photographer is patience. If you don't have patience you'll struggle to be a wildlife photographer.

But as the day unfolded, the wait continued, and continued and continued. You can watch what happened in the video I made for my You Tube channel here:

In the end here were the shots that stood out...and I kept myself amused and my photographic mind occupied with the frogs!

A very tough day, but that's how wildlife photography sometimes goes. 

Until next time...

Jon