Tag Archive for: Pentax
Cormorants are fascinating birds that inhabit various parts of the world. They are known to live near bodies of water and primarily find their food in the water. Their habitat ranges from coastlines and rivers to lakes and ponds.
The lifestyle of cormorants is closely tied to their ability to hunt both underwater and in the air. These birds have a sleek body structure with long necks and sharp beaks that enable them to catch fish and other water-based prey. They are excellent divers and can cover remarkable distances underwater to pursue their prey.
A remarkable behavior of cormorants is their takeoff pattern. Unlike many other birds that take off from trees or the ground, cormorants usually launch directly from the water. There are several reasons why they prefer this takeoff method.
Firstly, taking off from the water provides them with an efficient way to wet their wings. The feathers of cormorants are not water-resistant like those of ducks or geese. By dipping into the water before taking off, they can saturate their feathers, which helps them during flight by reducing their buoyancy and making them lighter.
Secondly, cormorants typically find their food in the water before taking off. Since they primarily hunt fish, they dive underwater to catch their prey. Taking off from the water allows them to stay close to their hunting grounds and immediately dive back into the water if they spot another opportunity to capture prey.
Lastly, taking off from the water also offers some safety for cormorants. When they are on the water, they are less visible to potential predators and can quickly escape by simply taking flight.
Photos were taken with the Pentax K3 III and the Pentax 560 mm F5.6.
Mallard ducks are boring animals to photographers? I don´t think so. Of course we lose the sense for recognizing the beauty of common animals you can find in every city. You need a closer look and some lost patience to see the beauty again.
I really enjoy seeing the colors and structures of these bird feathers. You can practically see the water repellency of this bird skin.
The photos were taken with the Pentax K3 III and the Pentax 560 mm F5.6 + 1.4x Teleconverter.
Great crested grebes are enchanting-looking water birds and certainly one of the most popular photo opportunities for nature photographers.
However, especially during the mating season, these elegant birds can also become extremely uncomfortable with one another. 
Photos were taken with the Pentax K3 III and the Pentax 150-450 mm F4.5-5.6 in Berlin Spandau.
Insects are often depicted in absolute close-up with a macro lens. Here I took the old lens Pentax M 50mm 1.7 out of the closet and used the maximum aperture to photograph insects a bit surreal in their own world.
The mandarin duck is a particularly beautiful duck that originally came from East Asia. Due to its splendor of colors, it was kept as a pet in Europe, but was then also able to spread into the wild.
These photos were taken in Berlin Spandau. Despite their familiarity with humans, the animals are more shy than mallards and must therefore be photographed with a telephoto lens.
I used the Pentax K1 II and the Pentax 300mm F4.
The tiger snake is a very photogenic snake that occurs in China, Korea and Japan and impresses with its intense colors of green and red.
The snake likes to live near lakes and rivers, feed on fish, amphibians and other reptiles that it hunts in or near water. The snake is considered venomous because it processes the poison of its preferred food, the common toad, and can chew this poison into bite wounds. Although it does not have poisonous fangs like a viper, the bite is certainly not to be underestimated.
Furthermore it is poisonous as it also has the peculiarity of bein able to squeeze out the poison from the head via a poison gland, so that predators such as foxes can be repelled. 
Photos were taken 2018 with the Pentax K3 II and the Pentax 150-450mm F4.5-5.6.