Photography by Lars Birkeskov Andreasen

Author: Lars B. Andreasen

Rabbits (Kaniner) Endelave 2024

Endelave Island – Rabbits, a Blessing or a Curse?:

A few miles southeast of Horsens Fjord lies the small idyllic island Endelave. It is only 13.2 km² and home to approx 180 permanent residents and.. thousands of rabbits. The residents primarily make a living from two things: tourism and farming.
No one knows for sure how or why these wild rabbits where introduced into the wild back in the1920’s.
So are the rabbits a blessing or a curse? Opinions are divided as they have become the main attraction and many tourist come to the Island to see them, but they also take a hefty toll on the farmers crops.

The problem with rabbits is that they breed.. well like rabbits 😉
Since the island is to far off shore for any predators to find their way there, there isn’t anything to keep the rabbit population down and their numbers have grown over the years to become a bit of a menace to the farmers. It’s pretty hard to count the little fellows, but some estimate the population to be in excess of 10.000 rabbits!

For me this has become one of my favorite tour destinations. If nothing else they sure do make for some cute subjects to photograph. On my last two trips there I really wanted to get some good shots of the rabbits in motion, but they where just to fast for me! So definitely a place I will visit again as I gain more experience to get those shots 🙂
If you fancy a visit to the island here is a link to their website: https://oenendelave.dk/

September 29, 2025
Greylag Geeze (Grågæs) 2024

The Greylag Gooze (Grågås) is one of the most common visitors we have in the migratory season. These images where shot early in my ‘career’ with a 100-400mm Tamron lens, and though not technically impressive, I still think they are worthwhile to include since it is such a handsome bird 🙂

Flaps? Check! Tail Feather Brakes? Check! Landing Gear? Check! I

I caught the image above a very early morning at ‘Klostermølle’. Again not a technical masterpiece, the sun was barely out so there was very little light to work with, but I think it illustrates quite well how this bird can both be an elegant aviator and dumpy at the same time 😉
The couple on the right where taken at the field just west of Hou Beach. I often see many migratory birds gather here while foresting.

September 27, 2025
Grave Ducks (Gravænder) 2024

In Denmark we have a quite a few species of ducks. The Grave Ducks (Gravand) are one of my favorites. With its very distinctive plumage and brightly colored beaks it makes for a great subject to photograph. The males are easily distinguished from the females by their ‘bumpy’ brightly colored beaks.

September 26, 2025
Ronja 2023 / 2024 The Eternal Puppy

Comrmorant Skarv Ålekrage

After I abducted ‘Freja’ my parents needed a replacement and bought this happy-go-lucky eternal puppy 3/4 Labrador 1/4 Golden Retriever. We bought her of a couple who bought her during the Corona period but very reluctantly had to realize they just didn’t have the time to take proper care for a dog like her once they had to go back to their full time jobs.

Though her name is ‘Ronja’ we usually refer to her as the ‘Fool’ cause she is such a playful dog.
She seems to have an endless supply of energy.
She loves to play with other dogs, as here depicted with my sister and brother-in-laws dog ‘Milo’. The two of them can go at it like this on and on for hours without tiring out…

Comrmorant Skarv Ålekrage

Ronja’s favorite thing is to play in the sea of the shore of Hou Beach. Her retriever instinct is very strong and she loves to fetch anything you will throw for her. Getting it back is another matter though…

Getting such a lovely dog was a real stroke of luck. Though bought ‘second-hand’ one couldn’t wish for a better companion with such a gentle and playful temperament.

Though it must have been hard to let her go for her previous family, we are grateful to have been able to to take over this lovable furry friend 🙂

Photographers Note:

Though some of the above photos have been captured with quite expensive equipment with animal eye subject tracking and pricey lenses, some of these photos were taken with a simple Canon 2000D / Rebel T7 with a kit lens (Second hand price 250 US$). Can you spot the difference?

September 24, 2025
Kestrel Falcon (Tårnfalk) 2024

The featured image of this post is hands down my favorite shot of 2024.
This Kestrals (Tårnfalk) territory follows Hou Beach where lots of people walk their dogs or just enjoys the environment. So this bird is very accustomed to human presence and very approachable.
The Kestral is my favorite bird to photograph because it is one of the few birds that can hover absolutely still in the air over an area while looking for pray, making it the perfect subject to photograph as you actually have time to dial in your settings while capturing a bird in flight.

Photographers Note:

One of the things I love the most about these pictures is that they where taken with the Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary. Especially the picture of the Kestrel in flight I think demonstrates that you really don’t need a 20K $ prime F4 lens to get good pictures. Having never handled such a beast of a lens, I can of course not say for sure if the image quality couldn’t have been even better, but for hobby photography I think this is plenty sharp enough!
If you want to get into wildlife photography on a budget I can highly recommend this lens. You can usually pick them up second hand for around 8-900 $. Especially on an APS-C camera body this will give you great reach for most wildlife photography.

September 24, 2025
Hare Skaarup 2024

Yet another chance encountered where nature throws up something entirely unexpected. I was out by the small village ‘Skaarup’ where I had spotted some Kites (Glente) trying to catch some good shots of them.
Whilst walking down a small road this Hare comes out of the bushes very close to me. Something must have spooked the poor fellow cause he came straight at me up the path!
And it kept on going right at me even though I had my dog ‘Freja’ right by my side…
I was a bit too slow to zoom back, if I had been a little faster on the throw, I could have gotten some good close ups because it went right by my feet at a few paces away..
Never mind that though, cause I am very happy with getting the chance to get these shots 🙂

September 23, 2025
Common Woodpeckers (Flagspætter) 2024

Getting these photos of a woodpecker catching dragonflies was a real stroke of luck! I had a tip that this was a good place to find snakes swimming on the lake.
I didn’t see any snakes that day but suddenly this little fellow landed a few yards away on a branch in a tree right next to me.
I had been trying to get some good photos of a woodpeckers cause to me it is one of the prettiest birds we have here and for weeks I had no luck. That is one of the most rewarding things with wildlife photography, when you least expect it mother nature surprises you like this 🙂
I had no time to fiddle with the settings and just a few seconds to take some quick handheld shots. They ended up with ISO 12800 but thanks to DxO Raw I was able to still get some good results.

This image was captured a bit later in the year in the peak of the mating season. I had been walking the local woods ‘Ravnskoven’ where I could hear there where at least one woodpecker in the neighborhood.
I finally got lucky and found the nest where an adult couple was flying to and from, taking turns to feed the chicks.
This allowed me to set up my tripod and test my latest addition to my gear, a Sirui Gimbal head, and it did not dissapoint. Having that gimbal made it easy to sit for hours and have the camera and the heavy Sigma 150-600mm perfectly balanced pointing at the nest ready to take the shot when the woodpeckers landed.
Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get a shot of the chicks being fed, hopefully next year the pair will return and I can try my luck again.

September 23, 2025
Heron (Fiskehejre) Ravnskoven 2024

When found in rural areas Herons can get used to humans, in some cases to such a degree they can be hand feed.
These pictures where captured in the wild, and getting these shoots took quite a lot of patience.
The pictures where taken at the end of the mating season, where two adults and two young ones would come to this little inlet almost every day.
I used a hunting hide I had set up and left there for a few days so they would get used to it not being a threat.
Whilst in my hide I finally managed to get close enough to get some good photos with my trusty Sigma 150-600mm on my Canon R7.
But one little noise or quick motion from me and puff! They would take off and not show themselves for the rest of that day..

September 22, 2025
Cormorant (Skarv / Ålekrage) 2024

Comrmorant Skarv Ålekrage

Comrmorant Skarv Ålekrage

The Cormorant is a very common bird here in Denmark. You can find them out at sea, on the shores and as well as inland near lakes.

While not the prettiest of birds, I still think it is quite fascinating to watch both while fishing, in flight and at rest and grooming.

It is an accomplished diver and fisher equally at easy under water as above it. When diving it can stay under water for quite some time, then pop up again with a small fish or a crab.

The image where it is resting on a stone I shot from my small dingy some ways off shore. I can nearly always find some at Hou Harbor as well sitting on the poles just pondering life, grooming or drying their feathers.

Comrmorant Skarv Ålekrage

September 21, 2025
Red Kites (Rød Glente) Hylde 2024

The Red Kite (Rød Glente) is probably one of the most magnificent predatory birds to be found in Denmark.
This is a shy bird to approach which often hangs gliding way out of reach of most contemporary zoom lenses. However in the harvest season when the tractors stir up critters in the hay this is a good time to try your luck, as they often come down looking for prey.
These images where taken while driving around at random, looking for places where the farmers where active in the fields. I spotted this pair being very active around a field that was being worked. I stopped and asked if it would be alright for me to walk on to the field to photograph the birds. As is so often the case, if one asks nicely most people will not object 🙂

Photographers Tip:

Predatory birds like kites, eagles, vultures, buzzards and similar often glides at a fairly high altitude. Mostly this means you will have a big contrast between the sky and the subject in anything but the most dreary days. I get the best results in these circumstances by using Center-Weighted Exposure with an Exposure Compensation of -1 to -2 EV. For most cameras this means you need to keep the subject at the center of the frame to get the exposure right. It’s a balance between getting enough color information and brightness of the shadow side of the bird while not blowing out the background completely.

September 19, 2025