TomKal foto

After all, this gallery, the gallery of one photo, so far, had to be set. There are several reasons. The picture was taken in Wadi Rum (the Valley of the Moon) in Jordan, and here is an oddity – with 70-millimeter lens. I have to explain to photographers what is the reason the photo is so poor. Although it was not another bird's trip, taking 500mm lens when going to such a different exotic area, which was Jordan, Israel and Egypt was compulsory to me. As for my travelling with such a lens, the opinion of the service of the border-crossing point  in Jordan was quite different. X-raying and searching of my backpack caused such emotions in the border control point that the number of border agents explaining to me that in Jordan such lenses, CB radios or drones are forbidden, increased to 8! It was a serious and unpleasant situation. There was no way to convince them that it was not a spy lens but my camera set to take photos of  birds. I showed my pictures of birds on my mobile, but it was useless. What was more, when they saw the masking tent with the masking net that I had used when shooting the kingfisher in Poland it aroused a sensation like the lens itself. It was definitely in collision with their security rules. To shoot in Jordan with such a lens you must have a special permission, unanimously announced the agents of the border control. There was no way, I had to leave my lens on the border, in the deposit. I received a piece of paper on which only my signature was understandable to me. I was really disappointed about what happened. In the following days Jordan turned out to be a tourist-friendly country. There were no unpleasant situations beside that on the border-crossing. In the desert in the place where people and camels used to be I could sometimes observe several species of birds, which could be photographed from a few, or a dozen or so meters, so the perfect situation for a 500mm lens - which unfortunately was stored in the border deposit. I have been to many countries with long lenses and never had problems like in Jordan. It did not come to my mind that something like this might happen. For these reasons I mention this in the information on my site to warn other photographers, as the entire photographic adventure in Jordan may end at its border-crossing point.
The white-tailed wheatear was on my list of birds that I definitely wanted to photograph in Jordan. Of course, my motivation was the fact that this species was formally included to Polish fauna after its one visit to Poland. The picture shows a young representative of the white-tailed wheatear and for the moment it initiates the gallery of this species on my website. In Jordan, I was able to photograph the (links) Hooded Wheatear, the Tristram's Starling, the Desert Lark and the Sinai Rosefinch.
Last minute news-01/2022-Egypt
After taking my first documentary photo of the White-crowned Wheatear in Jordan, of course, I wanted to improve this gallery, supplement it with new, better photos. As it turned out, it was not that easy in Egypt.I looked for this bird wherever possible. At that time, I photographed the Mourning Wheatear, Hooded Wheatear and Desert Wheatear. But if you don't try, you won't succeed. A several-kilometer walk through the desert terrain had an effect on the last day, two hours before sunset. A little resigned, I thought that again not this time, when suddenly two birds appeared: Desert Wheatear and White-crowned Wheatear. After their brief quarrel, the birds split up, and of course I went to the White-crowned Wheatear. The bird, however, did not allow the distance between us to be shortened. A distance of several dozen meters is the distance it has established. After a dozen or so attempts, I gave up and sat on the ground. I think my effort was appreciated by the White-crowned Wheatear, because with three flights in my direction, it narrowed the distance so much that she was in full frame for a moment. This is probably a reward for my determination and persistence. Unfortunately, it is still an individual with first-year plumage, because it does not have such a characteristic white cap, and the bird did not speak, so there is no soundtrack. But the progress in the gallery is enormous and the gallery belonging to the fauna of Poland with a documentary status has finally disappeared, and this is important to me.
Last minute news-03/2023-Morocco
Finally, I’ve taken the photos of the adult male White-tailed Wheatear, so characteristic of the species, which were missing from my gallery. And where were they created? -in the Sahara dessert. In its natural habitat, there was no problem with the observation. I would like to remind you that in Poland it has been observed once and is included in the fauna of Poland. During my stay in Morocco, several species of birds had to be found, "going out" looking in the desert, sandy, rocky areas. Meanwhile, the White-tailed Wheatear posed for me both at sunrise and sunset while photographing the sandy part of the Sahara. The bird occasionally sat at a distance of 4-6 metres and was not particularly timid. Unfortunately, the whitethroat did not speak and no voice recording was made. Nevertheless, the gallery has been rebuilt and given the status of a very good gallery.