Great bustard (Otis tarda) and an interesting model of sustainable conservation

[Juan Aragonés]

Hi to everyone. The past weekend I went to Extremadura (western Spain) to spent four days photograping some of the fantastic bird richness of that part of the country and to try to photograph one of the most prized species here in Spain: the great bustard in breeding display. I spent a complete day, about 14 hours, in a blind waiting for this magnificent birds with the hope of witness the courtship display, an amazing nature spectacle. Well I have to said that I failed in my attempt to photograph the display because the displaying birds were too far from me ( I would need a Nikkor 6000 mm 2,8 :D) but I enjoyed a lot and now I have a decent lot of great bustard images. This one is one of my favourites due to the atmosphere, the soft light and the pose of the male trying to impress another adult male. This is a very, very shy and endangered species and to avoid disturbance,photographers have to spend all the day in the blind so you have to wake up very early in the morning. You have to be inside the blind before the sun rising and stay there until the daylight dissapear. The blinds are managed by a conservationist organization and the fees for the use of the blind are mainly for the owners of the lands were the bustard lives. This is a fantastic model for sustainable conservation because the people can obtain important benefits from the conservation of the bustard (and many other steppe bird species). Is very nice to see how the people change its point of view about conservation when they can raise funds. The small villages of the area obtain benefits from the photographers (hotels, restaurants, souvenirs...) and the farmers, land owners too. I am talking about a lot of photographers from many parts of Europe (you have to book with a year of anticipation!). This model is very sensitive to the conservation needs of the bird species in order to be sustainable and is closely surveyed by the conservation authorities. By the way, once the displaying season finish and begin the nesting season the photographing activities are cancelled. Many other bird species living in the same habitat of the great bustard are protected under this interesting model: little bustard, hoopoe, sandgrouses, harriers, larks, bee eaters, little kestrels, eurasian roller and many more. Hope you enjoy the image and feel free to made your comments and critics. [/font]

Nikon D2X AFS Nikkor 500+1,4XTC Wimberley head, tripod, blind 1/160s f7,1 ISO320