Leica FOCUS ON WILDLIFE User Manual
Edition
02
Focus on
Wildlife
Marek Borkowski POLAND
Andrea Corso ITALY
Wolfgang Dreyer GERMANY
Dick Forsman FINLAND
Jean-Yves Frémont FRANCE
Ricard Gutiérrez SPAIN
Killian Mullarney IRELAND
Bill Oddie ENGLAND
Ian Sinclair SOUTH AFRICA
Lars Svensson SWEDEN
Charlotte Uhlenbroek ENGLAND
Arnoud van den Berg HOLLAND
Editorial
Well, here it is, the second issue of
Focus on Wildlife, the magazine that
brings you closer to some of the bestknown birdwatchers and wildlife
experts from many different countries.
These are people who dedicate a large
part of their time in some way or other
to the benefit of wildlife around us, in the process helping us to learn how to appreciate the wonders of nature!
Surely, our thanks must go to the likes of Bill Oddie,
Lars Svensson, Wolfgang Dreyer and all the others represented in this issue (as well as those not yet included) for
making us aware of the immense pleasures to be derived
from observing wildlife.
In the first issue of Focus on Wildlife our aim was to
introduce you to a team of international ‘Leica Leaders’,
looking especially at their approach to wildlife observation, favourite birdwatching locations, etc. In this issue
we want to give you an insight into some of the other
activities they are involved with and how they have
achieved results which have put them at the forefront of
their chosen field.
Read how Dick Forsman of Finland has perfected his
bird photography, how Sweden’s Lars Svensson studies
Birds or how Killian Mullarney from Ireland approaches
the sketching and painting of birds for books and magazines. How does the German Doctor Wolfgang Dreyer
teach his students to memorise different bird species and
why did Marek Borkowski, Poland, bring back Tarpan
Horses to his Biebrza Marsh nature reserve? Hear the
urgent message from Britain’s Charlotte Uhlenbroek
about the plight of the Great Apes and find out what
makes bird song so interesting to Arnoud van den Berg
in Holland. Of particular interest are the comments
made by Andrea Corso, Italy, and Jean-Yves Frémont of
France about the growing popularity of birdwatching in
their countries. We also introduce you to two new ‘Leica
Leaders in the Field’, Ian Sinclair in South Africa and
Ricard Gutiérrez in Spain. Finally, we examine Bill
Oddie’s phenomenal success as the UK's favourite TV
Wildlife Presenter.
We believe there is something of interest to everyone
in this second issue of Focus on Wildlife and hope that
the profiles of some of the best-known bird and wildlife
experts will inspire you to get maximum enjoyment from
the natural world around you!
Copies of the first issue of Focus on Wildlife are still
available from the Leica agency in your country.
Uli Hintner, Leica Sport Optics
“It's really all down to training yourself to look,” said
Killian Mullarney. Perched on a camp stool, he was deftly
sketching the seabirds around North Bull Island, Dublin,
pausing occasionally to check a detail through his LEICA
APO-TELEVID 77 scope.
“Most people actually have the potential to draw
quite well, even though they may not think so. The most
important stage in producing a successful drawing is
‘the looking’. Of course, problems often arise in transferring what the eye registers into corresponding marks
on paper,” he continued, “but if you learn to SEE what is
actu-ally there – as opposed to what you ‘know’ should
be there – successfully getting it down on paper is largely
a matter of practice.”
Ian Sinclair
SOUTH AFRICA
“World birder in retirement.”
Ian Sinclair calls himself a ‘world-birder in retirement’,
which now allows him to be constantly on the move,
visiting and re-visiting all major birdwatching hot-spots
around the globe. He is a big man, born in Ireland and
now settled in Cape Town, South Africa.
South Africa is well-known for its very successful
conservation ethics, the country’s infrastructure being
similar to Europe or North America where fauna and
land is well safeguarded for future generations. With the
aim of bringing an awareness of the country’s rich wildlife to as wide an audience as possible, the first field
Killian Mullarney
IRELAND
“The most important stage in producing a successful drawing is ‘the looking’.”
vitally important. “When sketching in the field I find the
angled eyepiece of my ‘77’ scope is perfect. I try to make
myself comfortable, so that I can look at the bird and go
back to my drawing almost without having to move my
head. The shorter the time-lapse between looking at the
bird and looking at the page, the better the chance of
recording observations correctly. With Leica's superb
optics I can enjoy a really close view without disturbing
the birds at all.”
Killian makes it look easy as he has been drawing
Killian should know what he is talking about as he is
one of today's best-known bird artists and co-author of
the Collins Bird Guide, a field-guide that took 15 years to
complete which has become the birdwatchers’ bible.
“I shared the task with Swedish artist Dan Zetterström
and our aim was to illustrate as comprehensively as
possible all the birds of the Western Palearctic (Europe,
North Africa and the Middle East). It really was a labour
of love, but also a great privilege to do. We are now
working on an updated second edition, but thankfully it
is not nearly as daunting a task as it was first time round!”
One immediately warms to this charming Irishman
who considers field observation of the live bird to be
birds since childhood, but what tips would he give to
someone just starting sketching ? “It's a good idea to
begin with co-operative subjects – for example resting
gulls – and then perhaps with just drawing parts of the
bird. It might be a detail of the head, the line of the
flank where it meets the wing, or the position of the tail;
concentrating on details, and sketching them correctly
helps you gain an understanding of what you are seeing.
Another useful technique is to set the scope very
slightly out of focus. This gives you a more impressionistic, almost abstract view which may be easier to sketch
quickly, so you start-off with
a good ‘framework’.”
guide in an African language will be available later this
year and it is to be distributed to all schools.
Ian has been a birdwatcher all his life – as a young
boy in Ireland his egg-collecting developed into more
intensive birding. He was given his first binoculars when
he was eight years old – Kershaw 8 x 30s made for the
British Navy. However, he bought his first pair of Leica
Binoculars at the relatively young age of 19, 10 x 40s
which he recalls cost £62, complete with leather case.
Today he has an Ultravid 10 x 42 BR which he has used
in all kinds of conditions throughout Africa and Asia.
“Every time I look through them,” he says, “I am literally
overawed with their performance.”
Ian has written more than 20 books on African Birds
and several more titles are in preparation. His most
recent shorebird lifer was an Asian Dowitcher, which
normally migrates from North-Eastern Siberia to South-
East Asia – this was at the end of
November 2004 in South Africa, and it
was only there, Ian believes, because it
got lost on the way!
Ian likes all sea birds, but the most
interesting to him is the Wandering or
Royal Albatross with it's 13ft wingspan
– it is believed they may well live to 100
years or more.
When it comes to choosing a spot for birdwatching,
Ian’s favourite ‘local’ patch is the Mkuzi Game Reserve
in Zululand (three hours north of Durban), which has
an enormous diversity of habitat in a relatively small
area, in his opinion the best in South Africa. On a world
canvas he gets excited about the Congo Basin Rain
Forest. Ian describes the Birdlife there as amazing.
Leica 42-series Ultravid binoculars
LEICA ULTRAVID 10 x 42 BR binoculars strike an outstanding balance between high
magnification, brightness and physical size. They are comfortable to use and easy to
hold steady for long distance observation, and like all full-size Ultravid models, feature
a lightweight magnesium body with a titanium central shaft for strength.
For centuries the 250,000 acre Biebrza Marsh in North
East Poland has provided one of the prime breeding
grounds for the Aquatic Warbler, Great Snipe and
Corncrake, three species which today are under threat of
global extinction. This ideal habitat of open, tussocky, wet
sedgefields had been created by traditional farming, hand
scything and grazing, which prevented the encroachment
of undergrowth without affecting the soil structure and
water level, or disturbing birds in the breeding season.
It was a form of natural wetland management on a vast
scale.
However, massive social, political and economic
changes in Poland following World War II almost eradicated the traditional way of life at Biebrza. The landscape
Marek Borkowski
POLAND
“By using horses to manage the habitat for birds, the Tarpan Horse
has been given a chance of survival.”
began to decay, threatening the breeding grounds.
Enter Marek Borkowski. In the 1970s this naturalist
was motivated not only by the seemingly hopeless future
for the Biebrza Marsh, but also by the plight of the
Tarpan Horse. “Today’s Tarpan Horses are closely related
to the original wild horses of Europe,” he explained.
“They still roamed wild in parts of Poland as recently as
150 years ago when a few were caught by landowners and
farmers and cross-bred with domestic horses that were
genetically close to the Tarpan.
“It was back in the ‘70s that I had the idea of introducing Tarpan Horses to the Biebrza Marsh. Tarpans
are heavy grazers as well as being hardy animals and it
seemed to me that they could be used as a natural way of
controlling plant growth on the marsh, replacing farming.
By using horses to manage the habitat for the birds, we
would also be giving the breed a chance of survival.”
And so it has proved. The Tarpans have bred very
successfully and as numbers have increased Marek has
been able to reintroduce more than 20 horses to the wild
in parts of the Marsh that have now been designated a
National Park.
Marek started his conservation work long before the
Iron Curtain was lifted or the Biebrza National Park was
created. Over the years he has been buying threatened
stretches of the Marsh where he has created ‘Wildlife
Poland’ offering wildlife-watching holidays on which
visitors can expect to see around 170 bird species during
a 10-day stay (check out www.wildlife.pl
The best observation equipment is essential to
Marek, for managing the Marsh, monitoring breeding
programmes, and for helping visitors to see sights they
will never forget : ”The brilliance and clarity of the
LEICA ULTRAVID 8 x 42 BL is remarkable – my guests
are usually astonished when they take a look through
these binoculars. They have to be tough too as they take
quite a few knocks when I’m out and about. But the real
joy comes when you show someone a Great Snipe at
dusk through the LEICA APO-TELEVID 77 scope – you
can hear them gasp at the quality!“
).
Leica Ultravid BL binoculars
The black leather-covered LEICA ULTRAVID
8 x 42 BL used by Marek Borkowski combines
the optical performance of the rubberarmoured Ultravid BR models with an elegant
and compact appearance, incredible lightness
(less than 700g or 25oz!) and toughness which
guarantees longevity.
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