NOVEMBER 2011 – A Northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita) passes the Berlin Falls in South Africa. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
When we visited South Africa in 2011 we did not just head for one of the highlights of our trip – the Kruger National Park – but also explored the adjacient attractions. One of these is certainly Berlin Falls, a waterfall in Mpumalanga, located close to God’s Window and Lisbon Falls, the highest waterfall in the region. (We drove to God’s Window but it was entirely hidden in low hanging clouds, so we did not spend a lot of time there.)
Now, I had seen a fair number of waterfalls up to that point, and Berlin Falls were – nice. I took a couple of shots of the waterfalls and enjoyed the splashing sound of the water. Suddenly a bird was approaching the waterfalls. A large bird. Within a split second I positioned the fyling bird in the upright frame while it was still in front of the waterfalls. I did not use the full 400 mm focal length – just 285 mm – because I had to act quickly. If had had used a closer crop I probably would not have found the bird fast enough, let alone follow its flight if found.
Later I realized that this was a rare bird: A Northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita), a threatened species that is fortunately on the way to recovery. Well, I like the bird for its super wide wings and its brave flight so close to the waterfalls.
Here’s a cropped image:
This made the side trip to Berlin Falls unforgettable. Just wow.
The high resolution image
| Capture Date & Time | 23-NOV-2011, 16:13 |
| Location | Berlin Falls, South Africa |
| Camera | Canon EOS-1D Mark III |
| Lens | Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM |
| ISO | 1000 |
| Exposure | 1/1000 sec at f/5.6 |
| Digital Image Source Format | Canon Camera RAW (CR2) |
| Edited Image Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Dimensions | 2592 x 3888 Pixels |
| Copyright | © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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