That was such an awesome evening Geoff! Really enjoyed it, and hope we can do that again sometime in the future. Either in Scotland again, or here in the Netherlands :)
Fantastic video! Full watch with pleasure. I like your way of filming and editing. It was also so exciting to hear the Tawny Owl: male and female! And the rain didn't discouraged you at all. Amazing! Thanks for sharing this and showing your sweet little baby 😃 Greetings.
Thank you very much Jakub, glad you enjoyed it :) It was really fun making this one - I really enjoyed the fact that the owls were loud enough to be recorded in the video! As for the rain, well, in Scotland if I stopped photographing when it rained I might as well sell my kit..!
Superb Geoff. There's a pay off I believe, for being alone. I feel I'm right to think those incredibly special, intimate and personal encounters during the second half of your night would have probably not happened should you have still not been on your own. Its great to have company, be inspired and share experiences but, unfortunately (maybe? I dunno...), it never seems to makes for the right dynamic that affords you the deeply treasured almost stolen encounters as those that you experience when you're alone. It didn't need footage at all, the tale and how the moment was visceral with your persona was magic and authentic and the most wonderful part of this upload. Wishing you a wonderful start to fatherhood and hoping we get to see you again in the not too distant future. Simon.
Thanks very much Simon :) I agree with you about the experiences when you're out alone - you're much more able to be present in the moment and part of the subject's world when you don't have other people there... Also, you're much more likely to be moving about in silence (unless vlogging of course) and so you're less likely to be noticed! Having said that, it is very nice to get out and about with like minded folk from time to time, especially this year when so many plans have been lost to the pandemic!
I can't believe I missed this video Geoff. Fantastic stuff and starts to explain a lot of things ...lol. Love the Beaver dragging the log. Congrats on becoming a dad! Cheers Keith
Cracking stuff Geoff & Jeroen, great setting and some lovely footage! The best bit of all is seeing you with your newborn! It was a magical moment when my boy arrived! Great film, awesome news! All round Geoff, bloody cracking! As discussed we will get together soon, all the best and enjoy being a new dad! Hope mum is doing well👍🙏. All the best R :-)
Great work guys lovely get together great encounter with the beavers. Good luck with the new born. You seem to have the same problem I have with the vlogs its not easy to get video and stills! But got there in the end awesome👍😀
Thanks very much - yes, it's always a trade off and I guess quite rightly the photography and videography of the subject comes first, and the vlog footage afterwards if there's time!!
This was something that just had to be done & let's hope you can do it again Geoff & Jeroen. Two of the best channels. I like the alarm you use. Very clever. The "Tracks of West European Animals" book is a fascinating wealth of information that you can take with you on field trips. Some tracks look identical, but Jeroen shows you how to tell the difference.
Thanks very much Steve :) It was great fun meeting up and watching the beavers with Jeroen, and yeah, the book is awesome! As with so many neat little tricks in wildlife photography, the crow / natural sound alarm idea is pinched from Morten Hilmer :D
@@GeoffCooper I might have known it was from him. A Crow is quite a good idea - as it's annoying enough - but doesn't alarm nature (pardon the pun). My only problem is that I have almost edited out the sound of seagulls from my mind due to sleeping with the window open. I think I might opt for a baby crying for food.
@@fusion-music Gulls would not work for me for similar reasons - we had lesser black-backs nesting on the roof about 3m above where we sleep this summer! Amusingly, I have heard crows on the roof a couple of times now and thought I'd set an alarm by accident :) As for a baby crying... well, that is certainly working as a pretty effective alarm for me these days!
Flippin brilliant you two! Top vlog! Nice to see Jeroen over! I'm threatening to go over and see him lol 😂.... again great stuff buddy, all the best JP 😉
@@aquaticcolledgefishing Thanks very much :D Great to hear - hope you're getting some good stuff.. I imagine if you keep a camera to hand while fishing you will see all sorts of things while waiting!
One of the perks of being ex Infantry is that I absolutely refuse to carry any large amount of weight on my back ever again unless it's absolutely necessary 😂 So jealous of your Scottish land laws BTW! Congrats on becoming a father!
Thanks :) Fair enough Joe - I guess doing that you'd have had to carry a lot of stuff and not in the nicest conditions either! Yeah, the ability to just rock up somewhere and wild camp is pretty neat - I've almost forgotten what it's like South of the border these days!
@@GeoffCooper Well if you believe the media it's probably a Rona apocalypse lol Your land laws are my favourite bit about Scotland if I am honest! Can't wait to visit one day.
Thanks very much :) Obviously I'll not be going on any big trips for a while, but I've got a few local projects to work on once things calm down a little here!
Nice Vid. Have you ever seen black beavers? I could observe one this summer the first time ever here in eastern germany (lusatia) and he was completely black. He already had a little family off 1 dark and 1 bright baby. The mother was bright which I already observed last year and should be a "Castor fiber albicus". I could not find much information about the black ones. What I got so far: There are eight beaver subspecies and 5 of them are common in europe: "Castor fiber albicus", "C. f. fiber", "C. f. galliae", "C. f. vistulanus". The other 3 are rare, endangerd asian subspecies "C. f. pohlei", "C. f. tuvinicus" and "C. f. birulai". I wonder if the black ones are morph or subspecies.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it :) Very interesting about the different colourations and subspecies - all of the ones I have seen here in Scotland were the most common 'chestnut brown'..
Loved this one as per usual, I am taking great solace from your videos, as I prepare to go back into ITU to help the staff who already work in ITU, I have asked permission to take my Camera in & hopefully I can, as things we photograph become part of history, I cant wait for your next Video, & the news of ur new family member, Good luck & Peace
In Europe we are so unfortunate in the wildlife department. I admire wild life photographers spending time and energy on animals that in Africa for example go unnoticed. I photograph coypu were I live cause that's in relative abundance and I need to test equipment and keep up my skills but I so much wish I had some larger and more exotic wild-life nearby to photograph :-)
I'm not sure I agree with the sentiment here - I think there is exciting wildlife everywhere as long as you look for it... It doesn't have to be big and showy - getting to know your local area is also important I think and personally I'd much rather spend time in the Northern European woods or in the mountains than I go off to Africa or South America... though the high arctic would certainly be interesting :)
Geoff Cooper Tnx for your take and congrats on the baby - best wishes to mum too. I wouldn’t be that excited about the arctic (-20 C) the coldest I’ve been and it is no fun taking pictures at such temperatures plus most gear malfunctions at such extreme temperatures. But I’m very excited about Africa n the Americas. I just wish I could stay there for prolonged periods. May be it is the allure of the different/what one does not have.
Congratulations on the birth of your daughter, Geoff. 20 odd years from now you'll get your life back, maybe;-) Only kidding... My two daughters are the best things I've ever produced. My wife did help a bit, of course:-) Love your videos, especially as I'm also in the west of Scotland and you are really inspiring me to get out and explore the wildlife here. My pet project is Otters, so any advice or a video or two on the subject would be great. Keep up the great work.
Thanks very much Andrew, glad you enjoy the videos :) The wildlife we have here in Scotland is pretty great! I love otters and would love to photograph them sometime - I have some plans for next year but of course the wildlife will need to cooperate too ;)
Awesome content. I'm trying to film some local beavers and since their dam/home is in a busy city park it's tricky getting footage without foot traffic scaring them off. I'll keep trying. Subscribed and liked!
Great video! I love your content, thanks to Jeroen's channel I found you! I got very lucky this summer to get very close shots because they built the den near a path hardly anyone uses, but mine look so different! Maybe they are not as cool as Scottish beavers! Keep up the great work! Congratulations on the new baby!
Hi Geoff love the video and the way you’d tackled the challenge can I ask approx how far you where away from the beaver when using your 300 f2.8 ? Congratulations on your birth of your daughter
Have just discovered your videos Geoff and am so enjoying them. The amazing footage of wildlife, the lovely chat and seeing your camp. Very relaxing and with the laid back music too. I have a few more videos to catch up with. Six weeks ago we installed a wildlife camera in our garden, putting it in various places to video the animals that walk through at night - mainly foxes, occasional deer and badger. I came across you when looking for videos other people had taken of wildlife in their gardens. I am looking forward to catching up with your past adventures and future ones to come.
Thanks Janet and welcome to the channel - definitely some more videos coming up :) Having a wildlife camera in the garden is such a great way of discovering what passes through when we're not watching - for example we'd have never imagined that we had a fox coming to drink from our garden pond just a few weeks after digging it!! Sounds like you have a great garden for wildlife with what you've listed there..
@@janetsummers1208 cool idea - hope it works! I take it the camera you're using is purely movement sensing rather than looking for warm bodies / IR movement since frogs might not trigger it otherwise...
@@GeoffCooper Hi Geoff, Yes the camera is purely movement. Apologies for taking so long to reply and let you know the result of leaving the camera beside our pond when we went away in April 2022. We were hoping to catch the frogs spawning and came up with something unexpected. We saw the usual foxes taking a drink and neighbours cats roaming around but then!! A tawny owl swooped down, grabbed a frog and flew off with it. Didn't see the frog at first but then slowed down the footage. Alan put it on UA-cam and it can be found if you Google 'Alan Sonnex Owl taking frog from pond'. He posted it on 21st April, 2022.
That was such an awesome evening Geoff! Really enjoyed it, and hope we can do that again sometime in the future. Either in Scotland again, or here in the Netherlands :)
Thanks Jeroen! Absolutely, it was a great evening and yes, we will definitely have to meet up again sometime :)
Ah HA! Lovely update, congratulations to you both on the safe arrival of your little girl! Lovely video.
Fantastic video! Full watch with pleasure. I like your way of filming and editing. It was also so exciting to hear the Tawny Owl: male and female! And the rain didn't discouraged you at all. Amazing! Thanks for sharing this and showing your sweet little baby 😃 Greetings.
Thank you very much Jakub, glad you enjoyed it :) It was really fun making this one - I really enjoyed the fact that the owls were loud enough to be recorded in the video! As for the rain, well, in Scotland if I stopped photographing when it rained I might as well sell my kit..!
Congratulations on your daughter Geoff ! ❤
Thanks very much :)
Superb Geoff. There's a pay off I believe, for being alone. I feel I'm right to think those incredibly special, intimate and personal encounters during the second half of your night would have probably not happened should you have still not been on your own. Its great to have company, be inspired and share experiences but, unfortunately (maybe? I dunno...), it never seems to makes for the right dynamic that affords you the deeply treasured almost stolen encounters as those that you experience when you're alone. It didn't need footage at all, the tale and how the moment was visceral with your persona was magic and authentic and the most wonderful part of this upload. Wishing you a wonderful start to fatherhood and hoping we get to see you again in the not too distant future. Simon.
Thanks very much Simon :) I agree with you about the experiences when you're out alone - you're much more able to be present in the moment and part of the subject's world when you don't have other people there... Also, you're much more likely to be moving about in silence (unless vlogging of course) and so you're less likely to be noticed! Having said that, it is very nice to get out and about with like minded folk from time to time, especially this year when so many plans have been lost to the pandemic!
I can't believe I missed this video Geoff. Fantastic stuff and starts to explain a lot of things ...lol. Love the Beaver dragging the log. Congrats on becoming a dad! Cheers Keith
Thanks very much Keith, glad you enjoyed it :)
That last beaver shot was awesome! I really love the music you use in your videos.
Thanks very much Verlene, I was really pleased with the last shots with the beaver and the branch :)
Cracking stuff Geoff & Jeroen, great setting and some lovely footage! The best bit of all is seeing you with your newborn! It was a magical moment when my boy arrived! Great film, awesome news! All round Geoff, bloody cracking! As discussed we will get together soon, all the best and enjoy being a new dad! Hope mum is doing well👍🙏. All the best R :-)
Many thanks Richard, we're all doing well :) Glad you enjoyed the video!
Great video as you say the best of the three. Congratulations to you and your partner on the arrival of your daughter. Enjoy her they soon grow up.
Thanks very much Phil :)
Fantastic video Geoff, and congratulations on the wee one!
Excellent Geoff, fantastic video and stills, congrats on the new edition to your family 👍
Thanks very much 😊
Thanks once again for another great episode. I really enjoyed.
Looking forward for more episodes from your experiences with wildlife.
R.
Thanks very much Rino, glad you enjoyed it :)
Congratulations on the birth of you're new baby & another cracking video well done!!
Thank you Andy, glad you enjoyed it :)
Great work guys lovely get together great encounter with the beavers. Good luck with the new born. You seem to have the same problem I have with the vlogs its not easy to get video and stills! But got there in the end awesome👍😀
Thanks very much - yes, it's always a trade off and I guess quite rightly the photography and videography of the subject comes first, and the vlog footage afterwards if there's time!!
Congratulations on your daughter Geoff! Great video, and really nice seeing the 300 2.8 in use again ;)
Thanks very much Kjell :) Yes, sometimes the f/2.8 is just the right tool for the job!!
Excellent video and beautifully edited with a beautiful new daughter. Congratulations and thank you for an exceedingly enjoyable 1/2 hr.
Thank you very much Kath! Glad you enjoyed it :)
This was something that just had to be done & let's hope you can do it again Geoff & Jeroen. Two of the best channels. I like the alarm you use. Very clever. The "Tracks of West European Animals" book is a fascinating wealth of information that you can take with you on field trips. Some tracks look identical, but Jeroen shows you how to tell the difference.
Thanks very much Steve :) It was great fun meeting up and watching the beavers with Jeroen, and yeah, the book is awesome!
As with so many neat little tricks in wildlife photography, the crow / natural sound alarm idea is pinched from Morten Hilmer :D
@@GeoffCooper I might have known it was from him. A Crow is quite a good idea - as it's annoying enough - but doesn't alarm nature (pardon the pun). My only problem is that I have almost edited out the sound of seagulls from my mind due to sleeping with the window open. I think I might opt for a baby crying for food.
@@fusion-music Gulls would not work for me for similar reasons - we had lesser black-backs nesting on the roof about 3m above where we sleep this summer! Amusingly, I have heard crows on the roof a couple of times now and thought I'd set an alarm by accident :) As for a baby crying... well, that is certainly working as a pretty effective alarm for me these days!
I love watching your videos, congratulations on becoming a daddy. Also very good choice of collaboration with Jeroen.
Thanks very much Natasha, glad you enjoyed the video :) I totally agree, and I don't think it will be the last collaboration with Jeroen!
Flippin brilliant you two! Top vlog! Nice to see Jeroen over! I'm threatening to go over and see him lol 😂.... again great stuff buddy, all the best JP 😉
Thankls very much JP :) Looking forward to seeing what you two get up to if you head over!
@@GeoffCooper up to no good probably lol 😂..... be next year now i suppose buddy..... 😩
This is going to be something really marvelous.
Great video Geoff, lovely to see you out and about, doing collabs!
Best wishes with your baby, and hope to see you out there in the future! =)
Thanks very much Andy :) It was so good to actually get a collaboration done this year when I thought they were all cancelled for sure!!
@@GeoffCooper Yeah I bet! =)
Last of the Mohicans music. Nice.
Nice vlog.. how weird you were just talking about the big branch and it happened the next day 👌
Thanks 😊 Yeah, that was really great to see after we’d discussed it - sometimes the wildlife reads the script after all!!
@@GeoffCooper love it! I'm just getting into wildlife photography, you're inspiring and congrats on your little girl 💜
@@aquaticcolledgefishing Thanks very much :D Great to hear - hope you're getting some good stuff.. I imagine if you keep a camera to hand while fishing you will see all sorts of things while waiting!
@@GeoffCooper yes ive encountered a nice water vole and the usual waterfowl. I'm trying the staged perch format this winter
One of the perks of being ex Infantry is that I absolutely refuse to carry any large amount of weight on my back ever again unless it's absolutely necessary 😂
So jealous of your Scottish land laws BTW! Congrats on becoming a father!
Thanks :) Fair enough Joe - I guess doing that you'd have had to carry a lot of stuff and not in the nicest conditions either!
Yeah, the ability to just rock up somewhere and wild camp is pretty neat - I've almost forgotten what it's like South of the border these days!
@@GeoffCooper Well if you believe the media it's probably a Rona apocalypse lol
Your land laws are my favourite bit about Scotland if I am honest! Can't wait to visit one day.
Lovely jubbly, hope the edit is going well. Si.
I loved this vlog, I'm waiting to see the next one. And Congratulations on becoming a dad.
Thanks very much :) Obviously I'll not be going on any big trips for a while, but I've got a few local projects to work on once things calm down a little here!
Nice Vid. Have you ever seen black beavers? I could observe one this summer the first time ever here in eastern germany (lusatia) and he was completely black. He already had a little family off 1 dark and 1 bright baby. The mother was bright which I already observed last year and should be a "Castor fiber albicus". I could not find much information about the black ones. What I got so far: There are eight beaver subspecies and 5 of them are common in europe: "Castor fiber albicus", "C. f. fiber", "C. f. galliae", "C. f. vistulanus". The other 3 are rare, endangerd asian subspecies "C. f. pohlei", "C. f. tuvinicus" and "C. f. birulai". I wonder if the black ones are morph or subspecies.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it :) Very interesting about the different colourations and subspecies - all of the ones I have seen here in Scotland were the most common 'chestnut brown'..
Congratulations on becoming a dad..:-)
Thanks John :)
Congratulations with a beautiful, new, family member. :-)
Thanks very much Stein :)
First, congratulations on your daughter! I became a grandfather x2 this year!
Thanks very much John, and congratulations to you too :)
Loved this one as per usual, I am taking great solace from your videos, as I prepare to go back into ITU to help the staff who already work in ITU, I have asked permission to take my Camera in & hopefully I can, as things we photograph become part of history, I cant wait for your next Video, & the news of ur new family member, Good luck & Peace
Thanks very much :) Hope all goes well with that - mush be pretty difficult but as you say, documenting history as it happens..
What an experience Geoff, loved the video. We have Beaver coming to Derbyshire soon so hopefully I’ll get to see them soon.. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks very much Stewart :) Hope the beaver introduction there goes well
Congratulations on becoming a dad.How do you find the focus on the 500mm compared to the 300mm? Loved the video,keep them coming when y can
Thanks :) I find both are very good / accurate and pretty quick on my Z7 + FTZ.. The 300mm is probably a little faster.
There absolutely amazing aren't they another great video to add to the pile 👌
Thanks very much Hagan :) Yeah, beavers are really great!
Nice vloge and geroen klopenburg make it more intrusting......😍
Great beaver video Geoff ! Like & Sub my Friend 👍
Thanks very much David, welcome to the channel :)
Thanks! Please check my Rainforest macro channel when you have the time 😀
Outstanding video Geoff really well thought out and put together.
Thanks very much Harrison, glad you enjoyed it :)
In Europe we are so unfortunate in the wildlife department. I admire wild life photographers spending time and energy on animals that in Africa for example go unnoticed. I photograph coypu were I live cause that's in relative abundance and I need to test equipment and keep up my skills but I so much wish I had some larger and more exotic wild-life nearby to photograph :-)
I'm not sure I agree with the sentiment here - I think there is exciting wildlife everywhere as long as you look for it... It doesn't have to be big and showy - getting to know your local area is also important I think and personally I'd much rather spend time in the Northern European woods or in the mountains than I go off to Africa or South America... though the high arctic would certainly be interesting :)
Geoff Cooper Tnx for your take and congrats on the baby - best wishes to mum too. I wouldn’t be that excited about the arctic (-20 C) the coldest I’ve been and it is no fun taking pictures at such temperatures plus most gear malfunctions at such extreme temperatures. But I’m very excited about Africa n the Americas. I just wish I could stay there for prolonged periods. May be it is the allure of the different/what one does not have.
Congratulations on the birth of your daughter, Geoff. 20 odd years from now you'll get your life back, maybe;-) Only kidding... My two daughters are the best things I've ever produced. My wife did help a bit, of course:-) Love your videos, especially as I'm also in the west of Scotland and you are really inspiring me to get out and explore the wildlife here. My pet project is Otters, so any advice or a video or two on the subject would be great. Keep up the great work.
Thanks very much Andrew, glad you enjoy the videos :) The wildlife we have here in Scotland is pretty great! I love otters and would love to photograph them sometime - I have some plans for next year but of course the wildlife will need to cooperate too ;)
Brilliant video. Many thanks for sharing.
Awesome content. I'm trying to film some local beavers and since their dam/home is in a busy city park it's tricky getting footage without foot traffic scaring them off. I'll keep trying. Subscribed and liked!
Thanks very much, and good luck with your project - hope you get some good footage :)
Please colab with Olle Nelson (Swedish)
Great videos your doing! Love them to bits!
Congratulations on becoming a dad!!
Thanks Dave :)
Nice video, Greetings from Italy :)
Thanks very much Peri :)
Great video dude, new sub
Hi Geoff, first of all congratulations to the birth of your daughter ! Thanks for this great video . Nice to see you together with my countryman.
Thanks very much Nanco :) It was great fun collaborating with Jeroen and I have a feeling it won't be the last time..!
Wonderful video! Pretty animal and beautiful human encounter with Jeroen
Thanks very much - it was a great evening with Jeroen and it was awesome that the beavers came and I could get some nice shots :)
I'm a simple man. I saw "Scottish beavers" and I clicked.
I hope you were not disappointed ;)
Great video! I love your content, thanks to Jeroen's channel I found you! I got very lucky this summer to get very close shots because they built the den near a path hardly anyone uses, but mine look so different! Maybe they are not as cool as Scottish beavers! Keep up the great work! Congratulations on the new baby!
Thanks very much :) Cool to have beavers living close to you! These reintroduced scottish ones are quite shy and elusive..
@@GeoffCooper They look so adorable and fluffy even when wet! And much lighter brown than I would have thought.
Yeah, I think they might be a lighter colour than their North American cousins - at least based on the ones I've seen...
Congratulations to you both on the birth of your daughter .Brilliant vlog again .
Thanks very much Gary :)
a awesome video Geoff and congratulations on the birth of your baby
Thanks very much Rudy :)
Hi Geoff fantastic wildlife vlog really enjoyed it.
Thanks Martyn :)
Hi Geoff love the video and the way you’d tackled the challenge can I ask approx how far you where away from the beaver when using your 300 f2.8 ? Congratulations on your birth of your daughter
Thanks very much :) It video in the night was from around 10-15m away and the swimming beaver with the branch (300mm + 1.4x TC) was around 40m..
@@GeoffCooper thanks for the reply, only asking I only have a sigma 150-600c at the minute cheers Paul
Another great video, and congrats again 👍🏻
Thanks very much Martin :)
That was awesome, thanks for sharing with us
Thanks veru much Ruben :)
Have just discovered your videos Geoff and am so enjoying them. The amazing footage of wildlife, the lovely chat and seeing your camp. Very relaxing and with the laid back music too. I have a few more videos to catch up with. Six weeks ago we installed a wildlife camera in our garden, putting it in various places to video the animals that walk through at night - mainly foxes, occasional deer and badger. I came across you when looking for videos other people had taken of wildlife in their gardens. I am looking forward to catching up with your past adventures and future ones to come.
Thanks Janet and welcome to the channel - definitely some more videos coming up :) Having a wildlife camera in the garden is such a great way of discovering what passes through when we're not watching - for example we'd have never imagined that we had a fox coming to drink from our garden pond just a few weeks after digging it!! Sounds like you have a great garden for wildlife with what you've listed there..
@@GeoffCooper We are planning to put the camera near our wildlife pond soon to try to catch the frogs spawning.
@@janetsummers1208 cool idea - hope it works! I take it the camera you're using is purely movement sensing rather than looking for warm bodies / IR movement since frogs might not trigger it otherwise...
@@GeoffCooper Hi Geoff, Yes the camera is purely movement. Apologies for taking so long to reply and let you know the result of leaving the camera beside our pond when we went away in April 2022. We were hoping to catch the frogs spawning and came up with something unexpected. We saw the usual foxes taking a drink and neighbours cats roaming around but then!! A tawny owl swooped down, grabbed a frog and flew off with it. Didn't see the frog at first but then slowed down the footage. Alan put it on UA-cam and it can be found if you Google 'Alan Sonnex Owl taking frog from pond'. He posted it on 21st April, 2022.
@@janetsummers1208 WOW! That's incredible - I just watched it! What an amazing moment to have captured
Brilliant video as usual
Glad you enjoyed it :)
@@GeoffCooper always a tour de force
Thanks Geoff, what a great video well thought and interesting to watch! Keep producing such a great content!
Thanks very much Ariel, glad you liked it :)
Congrats Dad :)
Thanks Ted :)