When the Heath is in Bloom (Holm Sand-Mountains, August 2017) Canon EOS 5D It's this time of the year again. In late August the Heath in Northern Germany is starting to bloom. Now, the largest and by far best-known heath area is the Lueneburg Heath, some 50 kilometers South of Hamburg. The Holm Sand-Mountain area (in German: Holmer Sandberge) is much smaller, less known and only a 20 minutes bicycle ride from my place (which is at a Western suburb of Hamburg). It combines a relatively large area of natural sand dunes with heath and pine trees and is surrounded by a forest. The sand dunes were formed during the last ice age from the former glacial valley of the River Elbe. Large open sand dunes with "tree islands" of bizarre pine regrowth make this a unique landscape. Heaths and dry grasslands are spreading, and rare animal and plant species are finding habitats. #hamburg #holmersandberge #nature #naturephotography #natur #naturphotogtaphie #canon5dclassic