This is a picture taken on one of my rare trips to the Neusiedlersee NP this year. Last year the place was full of birds but this year was very different. That´s why I focused on ground squirrels that day. The are really nice but very small ( the size of a chipmunk ) and shy. There is no way to take images of them if you are ourside of your car. They are just too mousy. The good thing is that it is no problem to photograph them from your car. Normally it isn´t a good idea to take images of something that small from your car because it is impossible to get down to their eyelevel. In this case the squirrels are located on an embankment and that´s why this is a perfect place to take pictures of them. Though sitting in the car it´s best to avoid abrupt movements. And it´s better to let them approach you instead of trying to get closer with the car. After a very short time the accept your present and start to behave naturally. Sometimes they were so close that the noise of the shutter scared them! You have to be really close to fill the frame with them. Even with the 630mm ( equ. ) I was only about 4 meters away when I took this shot.

I like this image because it looks like she takes a smell at the flower but the truth is that she eats it. For images like this a fast camera and lens are of great help. Even with the very fast AF-S 2.8/300 ED ( and AF limitter on of course ) it takes some practice to catch the right moment and get the composition right.

settings: M-Mode, 1/1500s@f5.6 and 200ASA, window mount tripod, WB: cloudy-3