Bird migration... or photography while lying down

The bird migration has begun...

At the Baltic Sea, I have the opportunity to photograph waders both on the beach and at waters with shallow shorelines or flooded meadows.

On the beach, it is often enough to lie on your stomach and wait for the animals to come within photo distance. 

It's quite different with the shy meadow waders. There, I really have to camouflage myself properly to get photos and nice observations.

But early "appearance" at the scene is also important. Ideally, I set up the camouflage for a longer period, so the animals are familiar with the surroundings and are not disturbed by it. If this is not possible, I use light and quickly assembled camouflage equipment that is set up well before sunrise. 

This way, I was able to record wonderful experiences. 

Even shy greylag geese and grey herons were not disturbed by me; a snipe even landed so close in front of my camouflage tent that I had to wait until it moved at least just over 4 meters away before I could photograph it. Unfortunately, my 600mm telephoto lens has the wrong close focusing distance for this case, and the 100-500mm, which I also had with me, I couldn't use because switching lenses would have probably scared the snipe away...

Since I do all this lying down, I also need a pad that provides me with a warm, dry stomach and at least a somewhat cushioned working position. I clearly prefer a foldable padding to rolled alternatives.

So that the horizon doesn't tilt when panning, I also preferred a tripod with a leveling head. Depending on the desired image effect very low or a little higher in combination with my all-purpose tripod head.