As I made my way to the old tree yesterday I spotted a guy with a tripod slung over his shoulder, walking past the now world famous Swedish Whitebeam. A few minutes later after I had taken my snap of the tree I caught up with him. This is Kimmi Kangasvieri from Tyresö. A very dedicated birdwatcher. He found this spot earlier this year and have been back a few times. He had already spotted the fox family that I have tried to photograph this Summer. Kimmi has 405 birds on his list. The record in Sweden is around 450 species. He had seen five owls here, ( I have the worlds worst photo of one of them). Kimmi had a very expensive Swarovski spotting scope with him. It costs more than twice what I paid for my full-frame Canon! The tripod was also of a very high quality, as was the binocular in his left hand. He told me that last year alone he spent more than 800 hours at Sandemar, a nature reserve a few miles from here that he has been visiting for five years now. Kimmi also informed me that he is one of those guys that will jump into his car and drive for a few hours if there's a report of an unusual bird somewhere in the country, that is dedication!
6 comments:
I knew as soon as I looked at this shot Kimmi would be a serious birder Steffe, all that gear is a definite give away :) Super shot here.
A terrific photo of a dedicated photographer and bird watcher. Fascinating equipment, and for me, an uninformed Westerner, his name is unusual.
You have to love nature to spot so many different birds.
Greetings,
Filip
Excellent portrait. It sounds like he takes it very seriously.
Very nice portrait. I'm afraid that I don't have the patience needed to be a birdwatcher. If one happens to fly by, I'll take my chances but they are usually blurry and then deleted :)
I have always thought that birdwatchers are a little strange and you have a good illustration here. And how does he afford all the expensive equipment with so many hours in the field?
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