Winter atmosphere at the Scheldemeersen by Nicola Mathu

on a very cold morning at the avelgemse scheldemeersen, a beautiful area for walking, in this nature reserve you can spot birds, I found this winter day ideal for a landscape photo

The Avelgem Scheldemeersen is now a combination of grassland, cultivated land and an embanked Scheldt, but it used to be different. The Scheldemeersen were probably covered with scrub after the last ice age. The Scheldt had not yet been embanked back then, so the valley flooded regularly. This created a lake biotope, especially in winter.

Sand accumulated on the southern edge of the valley, on which the village centres of Escanaffles and Ruien later arose. The northern edge, where Avelgem is located, was formed after clay was deposited in crooked soils or "meersen". The northern and southern valley edges in the Avelgem Scheldemeersen are almost the only places within the valley where habitation is present.

When the Scheldt was straightened for the last time last century, several 'coupures' or cut-off arms with stagnant or weakly flowing water were created. The ʺCoupure Deweerʺ is a great example of this. In the still water of the meander, fish, plants and other organisms maintain a delicate balance. You will also find the Nature House (NEC) of Natuurpunt Avelgem.

this photo was taken on a tripod with a nikon z6 using a 24-70 lens
i used the focus stacking option with 15 photos in total and then merged them in post processing to have every detail in focus