I'm always so jealous of countries where birding is taken seriously enough, that hides are constructed; that photographers can use. I've seen a lot of this in England and Scotland. And now here in South Africa. I have lived and birded in California and now in Washington State and I have not seen or heard of ANY hides (we call them "blinds") like these with well constructed buildings and excellent windows and shelves to put your cameras and lens.
Just found your channel last night Will Off to the Kruger today , so will be binge watching before I leave Really enjoying watching your Channel by the way 👍🏻
Thank you Sammy! My apologies for the late reply (I haven't got the YT comment section fully under control yet!) Really appreciate your feedback and hope to see you around on YT :)
Great video. Lovely location , it looks like a lot of thought was put into the building and placement of the hides. Over here (Australia) most hides I have visited are very haphazardly placed with little thought to where the sun rises and sets and often they are up high looking down on the birds. I usually end up not using them and just lay on the ground, luckily there no dangerous animals to worry about (except maybe the snakes). Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience.
Thanks for taking a look! Yes, you're right, they were designed by an avid bird photographer, Wally Tollemache. He was the GM of the mine at the time and went to a lot of trouble building them and also a small park for wildlife in the area. Most of our hides are pretty poorly considered here too. The exceptions being this one, Giants castle vulture hide and the low-level hides at Zimanga.
@@WillGoodlet yes i will i have a panasonic camera the G9 with the 100 300 lens which isnt perfect but with the right light it can perform ok . The best thing is its light .
Hi Will, not sure if you'll see this comment in time. I'm planning on going there tomorrow morning, what lens/focal length would you recommend on a crop sensor body for shooting at that hide? Thanks.
@@WillGoodlet Awesome thank you. I only have a 75-300 (not very good quality) and 70-200 f2.8. Hopefully, I'll get lucky with something close. Thanks for your advice👌👍
@@WillGoodlet It was quite cold so there weren't many birds. I only went to the one at the small dam and it was not flooded, but last December I went to the others and the one water level one was flooded and some of the wooden planks had been broken. I couldn't even get inside, and with the whole covid thing I doubt that they had fixed it.
great place.an excellent bird hide without any spy glass.i come often in SA (i'm back 10 days ago) and i didnt know this hide.about the settings i largely agree with you but with new cameras and good light i prefer to work auto iso in full M mode.anyway congratulations
@@WillGoodlet i have been there 16 times since 2009!!! but i usually do not stay in Gauteng.next august i will do mokala ,ktp (again) and later caprivi strip.SA is a wonderful country
@@stefanoromei1094 16 times! But I have to agree with you, southern africa is beautiful and there is so much still to see, even for me (and I live here).I haven't been to Mokala yet, just haven't found the right time. I want to do a long road trip out that way one day.
@@WillGoodlet i want to go mokala because some rare bucks are quite easy to approach and i would like to do some photos in good light or sunset back light to roan or sables...here you can see my photos www.flickr.com/photos/stefanoromei2012/
I'm always so jealous of countries where birding is taken seriously enough, that hides are constructed; that photographers can use. I've seen a lot of this in England and Scotland. And now here in South Africa. I have lived and birded in California and now in Washington State and I have not seen or heard of ANY hides (we call them "blinds") like these with well constructed buildings and excellent windows and shelves to put your cameras and lens.
Just found your channel last night Will
Off to the Kruger today , so will be binge watching before I leave
Really enjoying watching your Channel by the way 👍🏻
Thanks Jay! Enjoy Kruger :)
@@WillGoodlet
Thank you ...and you're welcome
Love the videos 👍🏻
wow what a place!!! looks amazing! i love the low down shots of water birds in the water, they just look so much better.... great vlog!
Great Video Will, thank you, shall visit one day 😀
Really nice video and well worth watching! Thanks Will
It's an old one, glad you enjoyed it! Thanks Dennis.
Another quality video for a bucket list destination Will!
Thanks Craig!
Another lovely video . thanks so much . loved it
Thank you Sammy! My apologies for the late reply (I haven't got the YT comment section fully under control yet!) Really appreciate your feedback and hope to see you around on YT :)
Great video. Lovely location , it looks like a lot of thought was put into the building and placement of the hides. Over here (Australia) most hides I have visited are very haphazardly placed with little thought to where the sun rises and sets and often they are up high looking down on the birds. I usually end up not using them and just lay on the ground, luckily there no dangerous animals to worry about (except maybe the snakes). Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience.
Thanks for taking a look! Yes, you're right, they were designed by an avid bird photographer, Wally Tollemache. He was the GM of the mine at the time and went to a lot of trouble building them and also a small park for wildlife in the area. Most of our hides are pretty poorly considered here too. The exceptions being this one, Giants castle vulture hide and the low-level hides at Zimanga.
Amazing bif shots. Thanks for sharing
Great tops for birds in flight will try that method
Thanks Toby, really appreciate the view and the comment - let me know how you get on please!
@@WillGoodlet yes i will i have a panasonic camera the G9 with the 100 300 lens which isnt perfect but with the right light it can perform ok . The best thing is its light .
Great video, thanks Will! Just stumbled across your channel with this video...looking forward to seeing more :)
Thank you Renae! I really appreciate your encouragement :) I'll definitely be making more.
Hi Will, not sure if you'll see this comment in time. I'm planning on going there tomorrow morning, what lens/focal length would you recommend on a crop sensor body for shooting at that hide?
Thanks.
Chain_Ring MTB you can use 400mm and up
Good luck
@@WillGoodlet Awesome thank you. I only have a 75-300 (not very good quality) and 70-200 f2.8. Hopefully, I'll get lucky with something close.
Thanks for your advice👌👍
How was it? Hope the hides were ok (not flooded) and you got some shots?
@@WillGoodlet It was quite cold so there weren't many birds. I only went to the one at the small dam and it was not flooded, but last December I went to the others and the one water level one was flooded and some of the wooden planks had been broken. I couldn't even get inside, and with the whole covid thing I doubt that they had fixed it.
Super 👌 merci beaucoup 😉
Thanks Marc
great place.an excellent bird hide without any spy glass.i come often in SA (i'm back 10 days ago) and i didnt know this hide.about the settings i largely agree with you but with new cameras and good light i prefer to work auto iso in full M mode.anyway congratulations
Thanks Stefano, I'm glad you liked the hide. Great that you visit SA too!
@@WillGoodlet i have been there 16 times since 2009!!! but i usually do not stay in Gauteng.next august i will do mokala ,ktp (again) and later caprivi strip.SA is a wonderful country
@@stefanoromei1094 16 times! But I have to agree with you, southern africa is beautiful and there is so much still to see, even for me (and I live here).I haven't been to Mokala yet, just haven't found the right time. I want to do a long road trip out that way one day.
@@WillGoodlet i want to go mokala because some rare bucks are quite easy to approach and i would like to do some photos in good light or sunset back light to roan or sables...here you can see my photos www.flickr.com/photos/stefanoromei2012/