News and reviews

At the end of January, I was guiding a trip to Lake Kerkini, the location of the beautiful Dalmatian pelican. This was my third consecutive year to Kerkini with Natures Images and I was really looking forward to returning and sharing the experience with fellow guests. I always enjoy photographing the same species and returning to the same place; you observe different behaviours and experience varying weather & light conditions, so it’s the best way to build a portfolio of a specific species.

The trip ran over a weekend, staying on the Bulgarian border in a cosy guesthouse with gorgeous home made food & wine, and our host, Blago was very generous with his hospitality! A short hop into Greece every morning took us to Kerkini for a full day’s photography.

Lake Kerkini is a man-made reservoir created in the 1930s. A small number of pelicans apparently inhabited the lake a number of decades ago, however it wasn’t until the local fisherman started to provide a food source for the pelicans that they started to attract the birds to Kerkini in increasing numbers.

The Dalmatian Pelican is globally rare and endangered ~ drainage practices in the Danube Delta have placed immense habitat pressures on the pelican population, so it is ironic in a way that a made-made reservoir has provided a valuable refuge for this incredibly beautiful species.

The weekend trip provided plenty of opportunities to capture the banker shots; flight, fishing and swimming. It’s possible for the pelicans to venture very close to the shore, and so a small range of lenses, from a telephoto to a wide angle and fish eye provided a great range of images.

The weather treated us really kindly and we had the best conditions that I’ve seen so far. Beautiful light, calm water, early morning mist, nigh on perfect reflections… we were well and truly spoilt. When you get these conditions, you need to make the most of the light, reflections and the colours, and it’s a good way to be creative and get something a bit different. By focussing on the tip of the beak or playing with the water, you can achieve a different perspective of this beautiful bird.

I love taking portrait images and the pelican is a fantastic subject, given its size (9-11 ft wingspan), red-coloured bill and amazing feather textures. You feel like you’re sharing a moment when he’s preening, eyes shut, meticulously grooming those feathers. I could watch them for hours, they put a spell on me.

So there you go, a few images from a weekend trip to Kerkini. It was a brilliant few days and I’d like to say a big thank you to Emil, Blago, and fantastic guests Sarah, Steve, Greg and Matt for all the laughs and shared memories.

I’d also like to thank the local fishermen who took us around the lake in their boats, and here’s one of them, Thomas. There’s always a warm & friendly welcome and it was great to see him again!

And finally here’s one of Thomas’ friends hitching a free ride.

The Dalmatian pelican will always have a special place in my heart. So until next time, it’s goodbye from me, and it’s goodbye from them!

Ellie