Flamingos' fly

While the spring already shows his rays over the bay more than a hundred of flamingos prepare themselves for the long flies ahead. They mainly rest in the marshes situated at the bay2s north end where the delta meanders and the salt basins offer a perfect "gîte et couvert" (board and bed).

Introducing Izmir - Bird Paradise (ızmir marshes)

I recently post 3 pics about Izmir marshes (https://plus.google.com/u/0/107861794963671398272/posts/6gSJBNSUchG or http://etiennecalamescapes.blogspot.com/2011/10/izmir-marshes-have-beendomesticated.html), a personal work in B&W. Here is an introduction to the other face of the marshes. On one side the inhospitable salt fields and on the other side thousands of birds feeding and breeding just 500mm away.

For my gear and my experience I do not make wildlife or ornithology. My longest focal length is a 200mm boosted since. I use a APS sized body. Still the fullframe equivalent 300mm is a bit short for this sport. Anyway I tried to bring you a preview of what you may meet if you ever visit the marshes, that we call here “the bird paradise”. Over 200 species and thousands of birds stop by or permanently live here. Cormorants are common in Izmir, we often see them not so far off the coastline drying their wings at the sun. Easy game even for a non-specialist. Pelican often come in small group close to the shore where the water is not deep and fish is abundant, I saw some of them coming ashore for a walk among the table of the teashop. But in the Bird Paradise cormorants are thousands, pelicans hundreds, and we got Flamingos in flock. One can see a few herons but they are shy and fly as soon as a camera is in range. Flamingos make the point. The majestic bird stays away from the road, if too close he flies away as soon as you get in view. This is where a 200mm APS-C is a sort of short. I manage to catch only one of them, not perfect shots but enough to show you the chance we have to host these birds just 30 an hour away from the city.