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The Land God Made in Anger


The Land God Made in Anger
Photo Information
Copyright: Annick Vanderschelden (vanderschelden) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2712 W: 78 N: 7405] (30147)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-12-09
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon EOS 1D Mark III, Canon 400mm 2.8 IS
Exposure: f/10.0, 1/800 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Travelogue: Namibia, a photographer's dream
Theme(s): Brown Fur Seal colony at Cape Cross, Birds of Africa I, Birds of Southern Africa II, Birds of Namibia [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2009-01-16 12:59
Viewed: 1061
Points: 34
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
James uploaded a South American Sealion and Steve is going to post some more Australian Fur Seals soon. Thanks!

This bird is also captured at the Seal colony in Cape Cross. I couldn’t find its identification though.In the background you see the constant, heavy surf on the beaches as described below. Identification bird in progress..

Something more about Cape Cross. It’s situated 60km north of Henties Bay and 120km north of Swakopmund. I left Swakopmund in the morning and drove along the Atlantic coast line. To the west I saw the Atlantic and to the east the desert. The road is the C34, called the saltroad.

Itinerary :Swakopmund-Henties Bay-Cape Cross(seal colony)-Henties Bay and then leaving the coast line, driving northeast through the Tsiseb Conservancy towards Damaraland(Uis).

We cover two Cape Cross keywords:
The Skeleton Coast and Diogo Cão.

From Wikipedia…
The Skeleton Coast(German: Skelettküste) is the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean coast of Namibia and south of Angola from the Kunene River south to the Swakop River, although it is sometimes used to describe the entire Namib Desert coast. The Bushmen of the Namibian interior called the region "The Land God Made in Anger", while Portuguese sailors once referred to it as "The Gates of Hell".
On the coast the upwelling of the cold Benguela current gives rise to dense ocean fogs (called "cassimbo" by the Angolans) for much of the year. The winds blow from land to sea, rain fall rarely exceeds 10mm annually (.39 inches) and the climate is inhospitable. There is a constant, heavy surf on the beaches. In the days of human-powered boats it was possible to get ashore through the surf but impossible to launch from the shore. The only way out was by going through a marsh hundreds of miles long and only accessible through a hot and arid desert.

From Wikipedia…
Diogo Cão (in old Portuguese Cam) (pronounced [diˈoɣuˈkɐ̃ũ]) was a Portuguese explorer and one of the most remarkable navigators of the epic poem of the discoveries, who made two voyages sailing along the west coast of Africa in the 1480s.He is well known in Angola, because of him the country was a portuguese colony & has close ties with Portugal .
He was the first European known to sight and enter the Congo River and to explore the West African coast between Cape St. Catherine and Cape Cross almost from the equator to Walvis Bay.

Update:
with keyword #3
Special thanks to Ivan(Argus)..
Actually I was thinking 'plover' and 'sandpiper'.
But couldn't find the exact species. Plus the winter plumage of course...in the summer:-)


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) is a small wading bird, one of two species of turnstone in the genus Arenaria. It is now classified in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae but was formerly sometimes placed in the plover family Charadriidae. It is a highly migratory bird, breeding in northern parts of Eurasia and North America and flying south to winter on coastlines almost worldwide. It is the only species of turnstone in much of its range and is often known simply as Turnstone.
eng55, Argus, pekkavalo1, rousettus, Adanac, ferranjlloret, Jamesp, jusninasirun, uleko, red45 has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To Jamesp: I believe you, James.vanderschelden 1 01-16 16:29
To pekkavalo1: Thanks, Pekkavanderschelden 1 01-16 13:28
To Argus: Hello Ivan,vanderschelden 1 01-16 13:19
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • eng55 Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1161 W: 32 N: 1196] (3668)
  • [2009-01-16 13:03]

Hi Annick,
Beautiful capture.I liked POV,pose of bird,framing and composition are excellent.
Thanks for posting.

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3831 W: 190 N: 11410] (35161)
  • [2009-01-16 13:18]
  • [+]

Hello Annick,
Wonderful action shot of a Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)in winter plumage. Great freeze as he is about to hop down taken with technical and esthetic excellence.
Well done and thanks,
Have a good weekend,
Ivan

Hi Annick,
Excellent capture of this wader that looks to me like (Ruddy) Turnstone which is the same as in Europe. Some of them are wintering as far as Namibia. Looks that Ivan came to the same conclusion just moments before. You have great POV and composition, nice pose about to jump, pin sharp details and great natural colours.
TFS
Pekka

Hello Annick, my neighbour
nice to see another great capture of yours. You captured this beautiful wader bird with wonderful POV, focus, composition with rock. Plain BG, eyes contact and of course frame great. This bird is one of my dream species. Nice to see it from your lens. Thanks for sharing, best wishes
Ahmet

  • Great 
  • Adanac Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1169 W: 1 N: 5208] (17609)
  • [2009-01-16 14:39]

Hello Annick,
The quality of this image is outstanding. The colors are splendid and natural, the detail is spot on. Great work Annick.
Rick

Hi Annick,
Nice capture of this Arenaria interpres. Excellent compo and POV. Well done!
Thanks for sharing. Best regards. Ferran

  • Great 
  • Jamesp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1351 W: 0 N: 5494] (16524)
  • [2009-01-16 16:25]
  • [+]

Hi Annick

Great pose and excellent isolation here. A really lovely composition.

I actually knew it was a turnstone - not the exact species though (I am not a bird specialist).

James

  • Great 
  • nagraj Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 570 W: 94 N: 1198] (4904)
  • [2009-01-16 17:28]

Hi Annick,
Another beautiful image from Namibia, leaving the ID to experts, the image is perfectly composed with the sea as background which connects the bird to its environment. what I liked here is the shape of the bird and details. It also looks like ready to plunge in to the waters or curiously reading your notes. tfs.
nagraj.v

Hi Annick,

Catchy title with the image captured so beautiful. The perch at the tip of the rock like it is going to slide down is amazing. Tact sharp focus and very well silenced background. I like it and best regards,
Jusni

Hi Annick,
I was looking at this shot thinking that your bird looked like a Turnstone, then read your note.(photographed one very similar on a wharf at the mouth of the Grey River recently.)
Those wading birds sure get around.
Cheers
and TFS
Steve

Nice posture Annick
Quality as usual
the large emptiness at the right and top affords a quite special atmosphere (maybe a little too large though)
Regards
Patrick

  • Great 
  • uleko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3002 W: 162 N: 991] (2901)
  • [2009-01-17 2:08]

Hello Annick,
Excellent close view of this Turnstone showing its lovely markings and colours.
Nice pose at the edge of the rock too and a fine composition.
TFS and regards, Ulla

  • Great 
  • red45 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2705 W: 74 N: 8864] (30243)
  • [2009-01-17 2:21]

Hi Annick!

This bird looks like participant of Ski Jumping World Cup :-)Funny pose, excellent details. I really like composition with grey BG and piece of rock.

hallo Annick
wat een mooie opname
mooi van kleur en scherpte
hoe krijg je hem er zo op
maar ja daar ben je Annick voor ,toch?
groetjes lou

Hello Annick

Excellent DOF and POV.
Well composed,the OOF BG is lovely.The surf looks terrific.
Excellent focus and sharpness.
Great job.
TFS

Wolf

  • Great 
  • foozi Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1343 W: 0 N: 2585] (9117)
  • [2009-01-18 3:58]

Hi Annick,
superbs clarity and excellent moment of capture.A very convincing andi mpressive positioning of the bird at the corner lot.
Well expressed and beautifully emphasiszed. I like the serious face of about to dive there.
Lovely presentation.

regards,
Foozi

Hi,
Lovely, Timing is superb.Specially the details on the feather make it very prominent. Love this shot and wish to capture like this.
Regards.

Hi Dear Annick, vey good shot. The bird's pose is very good. Clear background, nice colors, good DOF. Thanks for sharing. Regards.

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