Wildlife photography

On August 9 my brother in law Peter had his birthday. Since we were all away on summer holiday he still hadn't had his birthday present.
On my recent mothers birthday he finally got his present. We gave him a "Hoge Veluwe Photo Experience".

I would go with him to the Dutch national park "De Hoge Veluwe" to have a day together filled with photography.
He was thrilled about it and immediately wanted to go. Well, why not. We both had a free agenda on Sunday and the weather forecast looked great. 

Peter even bought a new camera for the occasion. He wanted a new one to replace his (and my former) Canon 40D for a long time and this trip made him buy one. Yesterday we went to Groningen and he became the proud owner of a brand new Canon 80D. Great camera!

I picked Peter up at 08.00am today and after a 2 hours drive we arrived at the gates of the national park. Tickets were bought and off we went.
Coffee and apple pie first of course. Then we scouted the park and by 13.30 hours we found our spot to capture red deer (if we would be lucky...and oh boy we were lucky!).

We weren't alone though. In the morning already we saw a few cars with people on chairs behind it, with cameras and tripods. By 13.00 there were even more; and by 13.30 we joined them. 
Then the waiting game began. But it was all worth it. Around 17.00 hours the first red deer appeared. As time went by, and the light became more beautiful, more and more deer appeared. The large male deer was busy keeping all his hinds together. What a great experience to watch for almost three hours. When I looked around I saw, I think over 150 people, cars and cameras. Really??!!What??!!

By eight o' clock the park closed and we had to leave. 
After a nice dinner we arrived home around 22.30 hours.

We certainly will go back again, and I hope we will very soon.