First encounter with the marsh harrier

A predator's gaze: first encounter with the marsh harrier

On 16 May 2016 we were travelling through Latvia. It was my second more serious attempt to photograph birds in flight. Even then I sensed that birds of prey would become my greatest favourites.

Marsh harriers (Circus aeruginosus, the Western marsh harrier) have a wonderful habit — when hunting for prey, they often glide very low over fields and meadows. For me, as a beginning photographer, this made things much easier. The bird soared at an ideal height and wasn't as unpredictably fast as, say, swallows. In my hands at the time I had a "Canon EOS 70D" with an "EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM" lens.

This frame, seen through today's eyes, again isn't technically perfect, but it's dear to me. It was right then that I first felt what an incredible feeling it is to watch a predator hunt up close — to see the bird hold itself masterfully in the air while its phenomenal eyesight scans the field below for a hidden vole or some bird's fledgling.

Although I later photographed harriers in the wild many more times, I never again met one bold enough to fly in this close. But hope is alive — I trust we'll meet again.

The golden rule: better no shot than harm to nature

With this story I want to emphasise one of the fundamental rules. I never chase birds or other animals just for the sake of a photograph. To run after an animal, to scare it or otherwise disturb its natural life for the sake of a nicer frame would be, perhaps, the worst thing one could do. The philosophy here is simple: better to be left with no photograph at all than to do even the slightest harm to wild nature.