My niece has 5 young kittens so it is easy to make 100's of shots! They are so adorable I could take them all home with me.

Tags:   animal cat Netherlands Nederland Outdoors Outdoor portrait Sony the Netherlands telelens Wimvandem GoldDragon coth5

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As earlier stated I love cows, and earlier I posted several of them. Also the scottish highlander (www.flickr.com/photos/115540984@N02/31933123737/in/datepo...), and while that calf was already adorable, this one is the "primus inter pares" of tearing down every wall that you have inside.

Life goes on, with or without Corona!

Tags:   animal behaviour ethology cow nature Netherlands Nederland Outdoors Outdoor Nikon the Netherlands Wimvandem Wildlife Scottish HIghlander Huis ter Heide (NB) Natuurmonumenten mammal noord brabant Nature Through The Lens

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One of the nicest things of my trip were the animals in those countries roaming around freely. everywhere there were cows, sheep, horses, goats dogs and cats, camels, dromedaries, and pigs. I am a biologist, and I feel very connected to animals. It always fulfills me with joy if I see them around.These two calves melted my heart away, and I think the expression of the left one, will do the same to you!

Another thing is the amount of flowers in the fields, and it is probably related to the animal life outside. What a difference with my own country, and the ecodeserts there.

This picture was taken in Georgia, in the village of Ushguli (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ushguli). The wonderful architecture, the great landscape and the millions of butterflies will for me be ever engraved into my memories (I will post later more of this wonderful place).


Almost two months ago I came back from my journey over a part of the Silk Road to and through Central Asia. 4 months of traveling through 14 countries (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran) before I flew home from Teheran. An impressive journey in countries that are extremely beautiful, with lovely and welcoming people and diverse cultures and history.

Intense traveling with more than 20000 kilometers in our mobile home on sometimes roads that hardly could be called that way. We saw many villages and cities (some wonderful, others very ugly), countries that are transforming from the old Soviet era into something more related to older cultures and the way people live, often funded by oil readily available around the Caspian sea. We saw the amazing mountains south of the Black Sea, the wonderful Caucasus, and the high mountains in the far east close to China with peaks over 7000 meter, and not to forget the (Bulgarian) Alps!

We crossed the great steppe of Kazakhstan. a drive of at least 5000 km, the remnants of lake Aral, once one of the biggest lakes of the world, saw a rocket launch from Baikonur (this little part is Russian owned), we crossed many high mountains passes, and drove the breathtaking canyon that comes from the Pamir, beginning at ca 4500 meter, and going down for ca. 400km to an altitude of 1300 meter, driving for 100's of kilometers along the Afghan border.

And then the numerous lakes with all sorts of different colors from deep cobalt blue to turquoise, and one rare spectacle in Turkmenistan where a gas crater is burning already for more than 40 years. And finally and certainly not the least to mention an enormous amount of wonderful, hospitable and welcoming people. The woman often dressed in wonderful dresses, and bringing a lot of color in the streets of almost of all countries we visited.

Tags:   animals cows Ushguli Georgia Svaneti region Caucasus color colors colours colour cloud clouds flower Green Landscape Mountain mountainscape nature Outdoors Outdoor Sony sky scenic Valley Wimvandem animal mammal GoldDragon flickrTravelAward

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Last year I had some lovely encounters with cows.

In this scene I was walking in Schinnen where we encountered a herd of Scottish highlanders in a small forest.

When we were sitting there for a while observing them, this calf approached, and came closer and closer, curious to know who we were but also a little bit afraid. Here it seeks comfort with its mother.
Clearly it wanted to get to know me, and sniff my feet, So when it had found courage it stepped towards me.

Tags:   animal behaviour ethology cow nature Netherlands Nederland Outdoors Outdoor Sony the Netherlands Wimvandem Wildlife Schinnen GoldDragon NGC Nature Through The Lens “flickrTravelAward”

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About a month ago I went to the Waterduinen, trying to find the young foxes Don Oppedijk had put on his flickr page. Although I presumably have seen the mother in a flash, the young were not to be found. Fortunately there were enough other young animals around, most of them like this lovely young fallow deer. A great outing with lots of nice shots.

Tags:   animal deer fallow deer Minolta apo 200 nature Netherlands Nederland Noord Holland waterduinen Outdoors Outdoor Sony the Netherlands Wimvandem Wildlife greatphotographers “SonyflickrAward Astounding Image Simply Superb ABigFave

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