Actually, I went out for something else, but nature did not show it this morning. Happily, this common pheasant was around and gave me at least a photo to bring home.

Although December is already at the corner, golden colours of fall are still around, here at Hoekelum. This area has one brook transporting the water from a source to the canal of the Hoekelum castle.

Beautiful colours of fall everywhere, like here at NP the Veluwe.

Sheep shepherdess Daphne is guiding her herd at the heaths of Elspeet, the Netherlands.

The yearly memorial of Operation Market Garden has a special flavour this year, as it is exactly 75 years ago that this military operation took place, in September 1944. The “Market” part of the operation is the dropping of Airborne forces. One of the areas where these forces landed is the “Ginkelse Heide” near Ede. We went there to witness the memorial with several droppings. A very impressive event and important to pass the stories of our parents to the new generations.

Another year, another mating season for the red deer at NP the Veluwe. The photo is slighty different from the photo I took last year in the same area.

After the extremely dry summer of 2018, many experts predicted that the heather land in the Netherlands was damaged and would need several years to recover. However, unexpectedly, the heather land coloured beautiful purple in August 2019, like here at NP Veluwezoom.

More than 1,5 million wildebeest (or gnu’s) migrate in an enormous loop every year in Tanzania and Kenia, following the seasonal rains, hence green grass to eat.
This migration is recognized as one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World. We have witnessed parts of the migration during our earlier journeys, but never watched one of the famous river crossings. This year we had the luck to witness two crossings at the Mara river in Tanzania. These crossings are very dangerous for the animals. They can get hurt by jumping in and out the water, or can be attacked by the many crocodiles in the river.

Ticking the checkbox of a line item of our wishlist: visiting Cambridge (UK). The beautiful college buildings seen in British dectives on TV, inspired us for a short city break. We were lucky with the many graduate celebrations in the city centre. Especially the backside of the academic gowns is remarkable with the hoods of white fur. For this time it is interesting to make a photo of people’s backs.

When returning home from our yearly wine-trip to France, we had a stop-over in Troyes. It was a big surprise for us that the Bachata dance event was scheduled during our stay, giving the city a friendly and vibrant atmosphere with dancing on all larger squares of the city centre.