Nicole E. Mettler

25/10/2026

Kalender „Wildnis Schweiz 2027“ jetzt vorbestellen!

- 13 schönsten Wildtier-Fotos aus der Schweiz inkl. Titelbild
- A3 Querformat
- Papier: Matt
- Preis: CHF 35.- zzgl. Versandkosten

Liebe Naturfreunde, Die vergangenen Monate waren abwechslungsreich und voller Erlebnisse. Von warmen Sommerabenden in der Schweiz über lange Wanderungen in den Alpen bis hin zu einem einmonatigen Aufenthalt in der Kalahari im südlichen Afrika. Dabei sind nicht nur viele neue Bilder entstanden, ich...

20/10/2026

• Common Buzzard — Mäusebussard •

A common buzzard silhouetted against the first light of the day, with layers of autumn mist drifting through the landscape. Sometimes the most beautiful wildlife encounters happen when you’re not even looking for them...

17/10/2026

• Roe deer — Europäisches Reh •

Yesterday turned out to be a pretty good gamble…

I’ve wanted to photograph roe deer for quite some time, but so far I’d never really had much luck. The evening before, I was studying the weather forecasts, trying to figure out where I might find the right fog conditions around sunrise.

I had three possible locations in mind, but all of them were a bit of a gamble. In the end, I decided to try somewhere completely new. I’d heard that there were quite a few roe deer in the area, but I had no idea where to find them or whether I’d be able to get close enough to photograph them.

And then there was the fog. I was hoping for low-lying mist over the wetlands, with the rising sun illuminating it from behind. But a slight difference in the fog level could have meant standing right in the middle of it, without being able to see much at all.

When I arrived, I simply started exploring the area. About ten minutes before sunrise, I suddenly spotted the silhouette of a male roe deer in the distance. I slowly made my way closer and eventually found myself photographing three roe deer, with possibly even more hidden somewhere in the mist.

As the sun appeared above the horizon, the entire layer of mist began glowing in the most incredible shades of orange and gold.

What made the morning even more remarkable was something I discovered afterwards. When I checked the webcams of the other two locations I’d considered, I realised that this was actually the only one where the fog had reached just the right level.

A completely new location, my first proper opportunity to photograph roe deer, and some of the most beautiful sunrise conditions I could have hoped for. I really couldn’t have been luckier with my choice that morning.

15/10/2026

• Wood Pigeon — Ringeltaube •

The plan that morning was actually to focus on landscape photography. But knowing me, I can hardly spend a morning outdoors without also keeping an eye out for wildlife.

As the sun began to rise, the fog was slowly moving through the landscape, creating beautiful layers between the trees. The first sunlight started illuminating the mist, turning everything into soft shades of gold, blue and orange.

While I was enjoying the scenery, several wood pigeons were flying around, and eventually one of them landed at the top of a tree further down the hill. With the little bird silhouetted against the golden mist and the layers of trees disappearing into the background, I had exactly the combination of wildlife and landscape photography that I enjoy so much.

13/10/2026

• Red Deer — Rothirsch •

I’ve wanted to photograph the red deer rut for years, but somehow it never quite worked out. Either university got in the way, or I simply hadn’t found a place where I could observe them close enough to photograph.

This year, that finally changed.

On my first evening exploring a new area, I had absolutely no idea what to expect. The landscape alone already looked incredibly promising, but as I started making my way up, I heard the first stag calling in the distance. The further I went, the more I could hear. Eventually, there were at least six or seven different stags rutting around me.

For about 15 minutes, the clearing was suddenly full of red deer. The stags were calling & moving between the females, while I tried to make the most of the little light that was left. Then, as quickly as they had appeared, they were gone again.

After trying for so many years, I could hardly believe my luck. Of all evenings, my very first visit to a new place had turned into an encounter I had been hoping for for a long time.

10/10/2026

• Springbok — Springbock •

During my three weeks at the Kalahari Research Centre, springbok became a familiar sight.

Almost every morning, I got up before sunrise and headed out with my camera, usually without much of a plan other than seeing what I could find. Springbok were among the most common larger mammals on the reserve, so more often than not, they became my subjects.

What I particularly enjoyed was photographing them as part of the landscape rather than trying to get as close as possible. Depending on the morning, that meant finding them between the camelthorn trees in the first light of the day, watching a group move through the open grassland or coming across them again as the last sunlight disappeared in the evening.

After three weeks, I probably had more photographs of springbok than of any other animal. But with the light and landscape changing every morning, photographing them somehow never became repetitive.

08/10/2026

A few special encounters from the Kalahari:

The Golden-tailed woodpecker was actually one of the first animals I photographed after arriving at the research centre. On our first evening, we went for a short walk around the area near camp and came across a pair of woodpeckers in one of the trees.

The bat-eared fox was a much more unexpected encounter. We were driving back to camp after a day of data collection when two of them crossed the road shortly after sunset. Most of our other sightings were after dark, but this individual stopped around 30 metres from the car and stayed for just long enough to photograph it in the last remaining light.

The final image was taken at the end of our trip. On our final day, we went on a morning hike. Near the gorge of the Augrabies Falls, we came across a group of rock hyraxes, or dassies, resting on the rocks. Instead of getting closer with the telephoto lens, I switched to a wide-angle lens to include them as small silhouettes in the rocky landscape.

04/10/2026

• Springbok — Springbock •

The low light around sunrise and sunset gave me the perfect opportunity to experiment with slower shutter speeds and intentional camera movement. Instead of trying to freeze every detail, I moved the camera during the exposure, allowing the trees, grass and warm light to blur across the frame while trying to keep just enough of the springbok recognisable.

It involved a lot of trial and error. Small changes in shutter speed and the speed or direction of the camera movement produced completely different results, and most of the frames ended up being discarded except these three.

28/09/2026

• Meerkat — Erdmännchen •

The first three weeks of our time in South Africa were spent at the Kalahari Research Centre, where meerkats were part of nearly everyday life.

Several groups around the research centre are habituated to humans. They are completely wild, but have become accustomed to the presence of researchers, allowing their behaviour to be studied at remarkably close range.

One morning during our fieldwork, we had the chance to join one of these groups. For me, that also meant getting down to meerkat level with my camera, switching between close portraits and wider images that showed a little more of the Kalahari around them.

A few days later, I unexpectedly came across another group on my way back from one of my usual sunrise walks. While some stood, watching their surroundings vigilantly, others of the group were foraging for food.

16/06/2026

• Waldkauz — Tawny Owl•

Some of my favourite wildlife encounters happen when I’m actually looking for something else.

Earlier this spring, I spent the mornings searching the forests near my home for fox dens. One morning, I stumbled across something I had never photographed before: Perched quietly in a beech tree only a few metres from the path sat a tawny owl.

At first, it seemed completely unaware of my presence, sleeping peacefully in the morning sun. Only when a deer moved through the forest did it slowly open its eyes and scan the woods around it. For another fifteen minutes, it remained exactly where it was before silently disappearing into the forest.

I’ve often heard tawny owls calling at night from my bedroom window, but seeing one in daylight is a much rarer experience. Finding one so close, and having the chance to observe it for so long, felt incredibly special.

Sometimes nature rewards you when you least expect it.