Bird watching!

Intaka IslandsMarch 2020

What is one of your favourite calming activities that brings you peace? For me, one thing may definitely be sitting in nature and watching birds (with my camera clued to my eye)

Intaka Islands are a beautiful wetlands and bird sanctuary that is nestled in heart of the an urban area of Cape Town. This island is home to numerous bird and fynbos plant species and is the perfect spot to escape the bustle of your busy life and escape to nature where you can explore and just sit with the birds, watching the swim and build nests.

Intaka means "bird" in Xhosa.

There are many bird hides, walking trails and educational spots scattered around.

Tried my best to capture this bird in motion and accidentally caught very cool photos of the water and a blurry bird instead.

I felt so lucky to be able to see this absolutely beautiful King Fisher, he even sat so still and posed for me while I got my settings right and my lens stable and allowed me to get these gorgeous photos before he flew off.

Fun fact: bird watching is one of the fastest growing recreational activities! If you are a bird-watcher or are interested in getting into bird-watching, Intaka Islands is a fabulous place to go. Here is a link to the bird-watching checklist of Intaka.

https://intaka.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Intaka-Island-2023-Bird-list.pdf

I know a few of these photos are diagonal but I really loved how they looked and decided against straightening the horizon.

I hear that soon there will also be a kids club where you can get your little ones interested and excited about nature and birds as well! https://intaka.co.za/intaka-kids-club/

This day was one of the first days I got to really test out my brand new zoom lens... 75-300mm It took me quite some time to get used to the heavy and bulkiness of the lens and trying to actually focus on the birds far away. It also took me quite a while to manage to grab good-ish photos of the birds in motion, it was quite an experience learning new settings and how to use my new lens as well as photographing a relatively new subject for me... birds in motion.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the birds through my lens. It was such an amazing spot of paradise in the middle of Century City. A beautiful escape from every day!

All photographs are copyrighted to the author

Photography instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/ajchampz.photography/