CIRCLE OF LIFE

Sunrise 06.59 - Sunset 18.41

-2°C

In spite of the cold some birds sing their song, establishing their territory. The beat of a woodpecker sounds between the trees and on the plain horses graze.

At the edge of the plain I was looking for the remains of the two dead wild boars I found several weeks ago. There was hardly anything left, some bones and one skull were the only things to be found. The rest is probably become a part of the circle of life.

When I followed the path further I felt someone or something looking at me. I turned and saw a pair of brown eyes staring at me. A Roe Buck with its antlers covered in velvet. The animal wasn’t afraid at all. We looked some time at each other and when I went on the Roe Buck did the same.

BENEATH THE TREES

It is finished, hours has passed. Graphite has found its place in this fragile account of two Prezwalski horses beneath the trees.

FROST HAS RETURNED – 10 march 2013

Sunrise 07.06 - Sunset 18.36

-1°C

In the valley of a rippling creek the first Daffodils bloom. But it is cold, again. Winter hasn’t left the lowlands yet. Its beautiful, the white branches, the ice drops on the leaves but it is enough. The time of ice and snow is over, the time of spring has begun, but not on this day.

BENEATH THE TREES

On the drawing table for some time now, two Prezwalski horses grazing on a field. The small but tough horses can withstand all kind of weather. Now set free again to life on the plains as they did hundreds of years ago. The come-back of a beautiful animal.

FIBRANT COLORS

Sunrise 07.10 - Sunset 18.32

+13°C

After weeks, even months of earth colors, or just black and white and all greys in between, fibrant colors have returned. And one of the first flowers with fibrant colors is the Crocus.

SIGNS OF SPRING

Sunrise 07.12 - Sunset 18.31

+11°C

The last days the signs of spring are visible everywhere. Two days ago a flog of 8 Crane flew by. First I heard the typical trumpet sound of Cranes and then I saw them gaining height and heading east in typical V-shape formation. A special moment and the first time ever I saw them above our home. Yesterday tree storks flew by with majestic black and white wings.

Today the forest was full of singing birds like the Song Trush, Blackbirds and Great Tits. Above a small field a Marsh Harrier was searching for prey. At the edge of the same field a Red-backed Shrike in the top of a tree, the first one arrived from the south. And a Willow was starting to blossom with soft, fur-like flower buds. Signs of spring all over.

NIGHT FROST

Sunrise 07.19 - Sunset 18.25

+7°C

After a clear night, night frost is covering everything out of reach of early sunshine. The bushes and grasses have a blanket of icy crystals, light appears to be blue. The shadow side of the tree line. At the east side of trees, into the sun everything looks warm colored, night frost has vanished.

In the trees a great tit is singing its territorial song. Powerful and daring, warning others and luring a congener to mate.

FIRST LEAVES - 03 march 2013

Sunrise 07.21 - Sunset 18.23

+4°C

Slowly but steadily the forest will awake from its cold sleep. First leaves appear from there save capsules. Honeysuckle and elderberry are the bravest and take the chance to receive first sunlight. But they have to be brave (or early) because they life there lives under huge trees and it is just a matter of time before the leaves of trees take the sunlight and put them into shade…

ROE DEER

Sunrise 07.26 - Sunset 18.20

+4°C

Encounters with animals are often unexpected. Unless you are a biologist, hunter or someone else who is looking for certain species. But if you are just hiking, experiencing everything you see, an encounter with animals is exciting. This morning some roe deer crossed my path, well not literally. They were grazing in a field at the edge of the forests. An amazing site. But so was the woodpecker. Who was sitting in the top of a tree. What a wonderful beginning of a rather grey day.