Birds at last!

In my previous post I mentioned how slow the birds were in coming to the feeding station I had prepared for the last 6 weeks.  This was obviously due to the mild weather and there being plenty of food in the woods and fields to satisfy them.  But with this sudden spout of cold weather they are now coming in in droves!  Species so far as follows though not all photographed…blue tit, great tit, coal tit, marsh tit (pretty sure not willow), chaffinch, goldfinch (yes!) robin and great-spotted woodpecker.

Tuesday was my first attempt.  I positioned the two feeders (one with nuts the other with niger seed) about 2m away from what I think is a blackthorn bush (sorry, I’m not totally sure…happy to hear from someone to put me right) and photographed them as they perched before going to the feeders.  I often go for this way of working as opposed to placing perches for them to alight on since you get a variety of poses in one sitting.  It also looks more natural I think since that is how we more often than not view them…flitting in and out and amongst hedges and trees.  There are times however when I will strategically place perches particularly if I am after a clean background.  It was a beautiful day and although the p ictures certainly looked punchy and colourful, the light just seemed too harsh and the images lacked ‘soul’. 

  I decided therefore to use a technique I’ve employed in the past when photographing plants which is to shoot either end of the day and while the subject is in shade the background is illuminated by the early morning/late afternoon sunlight.  The effect is unusual but I have to say I like it quite a lot.  You need to use a wide aperture to really throw the background out of focus and there is just a small window of opportunity before the light on the background becomes too harsh.  I arrived shortly after sunrise and once settled the birds began to perch and feed giving me just enough time before the sun illuminated the bush.

 

I also went this afternoon and obtained more images, yes even more blue tits! But the highlight was at around 3 o clock a common buzzard flew within 4m of the hide and perched in an oak tree just feet above me.  It was so close that as it flew towards me I thought at one point it was going to join me in the hide!

Tags: birds, blue tit, buzzard, technique, winter, woodland