TomKal foto

When in April 2014 in Istanbul I met Kerem it was clear for me that it could not be our last meeting. His thorough knowledge, knowledge of the area, sense of humor - all this made us not only spend such a good time but also we could see more than twenty species of birds, without any preparation and with the shortage of equipment. Then in April our meeting was somewhat accidental, but when I heard the names of birds’ species he was talking about my eyes were opened widely in amazement. But how can you trust, if someone mentions such species as bearded vulture, cinereous vulture, imperial eagle, steppe eagle, long-legged buzzard, egyptian vulture and golden eagle. Some of these species are endangered ones and possibility to watch them in their natural environment seems to be a challenge and dreams come true for someone with a passion for nature photography. Frankly speaking I even thought that it was a mistake, a misunderstanding, but I realized that Kerem was not the kind of person who had problem with distinguishing species and he really meant what he said. His knowledge, the ability to seek and recognize birds was impressive. So having been ensured that there was no mistake and that there was a place in Turkey, where from lookouts I could observe bearded vulture, cinereous vulture, griffon vulture and other abovementioned species, we began to prepare for our tour and make agreements on the best date. It took half a year but we managed to set the schedule and time. It was the first success, the second was that except the golden eagle all the species listed previously arrived there. For me it was the best combination possible if I had to choose which bird was to be eliminated from the set of species. Of course not all photos are of the same value, results of my attempts to capture those birds are of different quality but obviously this is not a market where we can take goods off the shelf  and go out of the store with a stop at the cash-desk. As for me this uncertainty, always new and different observations, the natural beauty and the opportunity to capture it are so addictive and fascinating. So the result of my encounters with nature is various either in terms of the content of the galleries either in terms of time needed to take pictures. I managed to select images for the full-sized, well-structured galleries, rich with a variety of shots and appropriate visibility of the environment of each species, but there are also documentation galleries,  such of a one-picture because it would be very difficult to take any elsewhere. To sum up my introduction to this trip I would like to greet the best Turkish bird Guide, knowing already that it was not our last meeting. Kerem – I am sending you my regards, I admire your knowledge, passion and engagement. Your contribution to what I present here in the galleries showing the natural beauty of your country was great and undeniable. Thank you.
For the beginning we have the eastern imperial eagle, which is the first species of the family of eagles having the gallery with such an extensive content on my website. The quantity and quality of the images is impressive as for a launch gallery, at least in my opinion, and for this reason I will probably be looking at them again and again. And all that because of the lookouts. Photos taken out of lookouts almost always will be better than the photos taken when approaching without camouflaging. Although once again I was strongly surprised when some day in the afternoon going back to the hotel we met two eastern imperial eagles 200 meters from the village, where they were feeding on some carrion. Directly from the car we photographed the eastern imperial eagle, which really did not care! Amazing. They do are beautiful, majestic birds, great in their behavior and when flying. We could watch them joined together, when they fell down playing chicken, unfortunately a little too far from us to take interesting photos. Eastern imperial eagles weigh not more than 4.5 kilograms and their wingspan is about 2 meters. Therefore, in terms of size they are not record holders, but it is hard to resist their allure, their beauty. I hope in presented galleries I gave to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, but I invite you to look at and assess yourselves...
Last minute news -12/2017 - Tanzania