Although I always hope to sight an eagle and get close to such a majestic bird, I deeply admire the smaller kinds as well. One day, I followed a path that I hadn’t hiked for long. It gets steeper the deeper you go. I stopped halfway where the area opens up, sat down on an inviting piece of rock and immediately a Robin landed in front of me.

The Robin came close to me, as close as my feet and rested for awhile there. When I began taking photos it flew from one point to another, sometimes became invisible but always would come back near to me. A personal attention from a bird in the wild. When it was time to return home I did it with hesitation. Yet, the bird would surprise me again.

On the way back I stopped from time to time to look behind me and noticed that the Robin kept following me. At every stop it would fly and land in front of me. This happened over and over again until four young people came down the opposite direction. That was the end of it – leaving a wonderful feeling of affection. An encounter of almost an hour.

A family of wild boars surprised me at the border of a forest area. They didn’t seem to be bothered by my presence – while keeping an eye on me nevertheless. One of the four little boars was curious and came closer and closer to me until their scrutiny for food came to an end and the family moved back into the forest, not to be seen anymore.

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