Helgoland is an island in the North Sea that was part of Denmark, Great Britain and now Germany.
The island is very popular with birdwatchers and nature photographers, because it is an important breeding ground and stopping place for various species of seabirds such as the northern gannets, Kittiwake, Alk, Guillemot and Northern fulmars.
The neighboring island of Düne is the place where the seals can be found
From 6 to 9 June 2014 I went to Helgoland together with Henk Schuurman and Roy Witbreuk to photograph the seabirds breeding there. We left on 6 June from Haaksbergen to Cuxhaven to sail to Helgoland by boat. After a nice and easy sailing of one and a half hour we arrived at Helgoland. Now we still had to get to the apartment, the walk upwards looked nice but with all that luggage we did not see it that way and Henk quickly arranged a taxi :-) At the apartment we quickly unpacked our suitcases and then walked to the cliffs where the birds breed. Our first impression was really great, really amazing how close to the northern gannets sitting there and flying, you can almost touch them !
The second day I spotted Northern Fulmars that unfortunately flew too low to put them on properly.
Really a wonderful kind with them large beak with a tube on it that allows them to separate excess salt from their body.
There were times when the wind occasionally started nicely with the result that the fulmars were flying higher, this was the moment to be beautiful on the To be able to put a picture, that was really great!
The neighboring island of Düne is a beautiful place to photograph seals and seals. From helgoland every half hour a sloop goes to Düne for 5 euros. When you walk up the beach you can see the groups of seals relaxing on the beach. The photographers are expected not to come too close because of disruption. After having spent a while at the seals we walked around the island and met several waders. we also saw females eider ducks with their offspring.
We also used the last day to take pictures, we decided to make some landscape photos with light material on the road. The northern gannets had a great attraction and we could not resist spending the last few hours there. Accompanied by a few other photographers it was very cozy on top of the cliffs. There was also a strong wind from the sea set up and the fulmars flew at a beautiful height in front of us, really bales if you then have the good lens at the apartment. Yet this was a nice ending to this wonderful weekend Helgoland is highly recommended for the nature photographer and birdwatcher and will definitely come back again!