Godwit staring at a fly

The black-tailed godwit is the “national bird” of the Netherlands. Every year, they migrate from West Africa to the Netherlands to breed. In doing so, they cover 4,000-5,000 kilometers—one way! They arrive in early March and leave again by late June/July.

This spring, I made it a project to photograph the black-tailed godwits: I visited them several times a week to photograph these beautiful birds. They often perch on posts to keep an eye on their nest and chicks from a height. As soon as a predator approaches, they fly up and chase the intruder away with a lot of noise. Because of this, these beautiful birds are relatively easy to photograph compared to other birds.

For this photo, too, I was photographing a black-tailed godwit on a post when a fly landed at his feet. He looked at it with great interest but did nothing further with it; the fly escaped safely.