View Full Version : Shooting garden birds advice needed.
whiteflyer
17-06-2007, 19:44
I live in a 2 up 2 down terrace house with a back yard about 10 meters (30 feet in real money) long.
I can not shoot through an open window and only have a 200mm lens. If I buy a bird feeder could I get any half decent shots and how close could I get before the birds flew off.
Advice needed please
im sure someone will give you some proper advice soon mate ..
but imho if you get a bird feeder then you will attract the birds .
but as for your shots most people " myself included" will say nice shot but can you get the birds onto something more natural ie. branch.
as for how close you can get this depends on alot of things..
1 is there anything to hide behind " bins . sheds . washing on a line all thinds which the birds are used to seeing..
or you could get a hide. one sold on here not long back " works great so i hear" .
i have a piece of wood on a wall about 20' away from where i sit and they still come . the wood has a big hole drilled into it then fill with fat balls and meal worms
hope this helps "if you want to see what you get with a bit of wood theres a few shots i took today in the nature forum
hope this is of some help good luck :shrug:
busterboy
17-06-2007, 20:15
Dave has said it all really mate..
Make sure you feed them plenty and keep the feeders full because as soon as the food has gone they will go too..;)
Costs me around £20 a month to buy feed for the birds and keep them constantly coming back but the rewards are very good.
A 200mm lens will get you a decent shot depending on how close you can yourself seated near the feeder, If you have a converter then use it, The more you fill the frame the more detail you will get..:thumbs:
http://www.zen118613.zen.co.uk/birds/friday-birds/greenfinch.jpg
superglue
:lol: :lol:
:bat: dont do it
something like this i have at the moment but im always looking to improve things..
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/862/garden-birds0026.jpg
something like this i have at the moment but im always looking to improve things..
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/862/garden-birds0026.jpg
Good shot but you dont want too many of them about on washing day! Just a thought but have you considered the neighbours & do they have cats. If you keep the feeder out of their way it should be OK.
:thumbs:
saw man all safe and sound here birds safety is well looked after the bird seen is 6' at least of the ground with nowhere for any cats to hide and jump out . the birds are pretty quick on and off the feeder.. :D
:thumbs:
saw man all safe and sound here birds safety is well looked after the bird seen is 6' at least of the ground with nowhere for any cats to hide and jump out . the birds are pretty quick on and off the feeder.. :D
Good man. Cats kill thousands of songbirds every year.
I shoot through a garage window - banished there with my pipe and have the bird table about six feet away and feeders about 9 ft. I use a 200mm lens and sometimes have a 1.5 converter on. Try and keep to iso 200 or less, but not easy for me as tree above. Half open the window and place the table in that field of view. If you are still they do not seem to worry and even fill in flash does not seem to bother most of them. Some notice the shutter sound more. Like others I keep the feeder well stocked - wheat is a good base, budgie feed is really popular - dried meal worms were very expensive and only taken by starlings, but sunflower hearts and budgie seed mixed in the feeder keeps a flock of goldfinches chaffinches and greenfincheshappy for hours when they can fight off the sparrows and starlings.
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e375/Exfangman/Food-shute.jpg
Taken last week from about 7 ft.
Good luck - http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e375/Exfangman/Birds/ shows the good bad and indifferent taken through my garage window this year.
The fellers have covered it all really. The only feeder I use is for fat balls. I scatter the seed in a couple of strategic places in the garden around shrubs etc where the birds land and offer better more natural looking shots than taking shots with a feeder in the frame.
Feed regularly and the birds will come - be patient for a few days until they find the seed. :)
WHITEFLYER
you best be posting some good shots in a few weeks time...
only joking hope you got all the advice to get you started if you need anymore help drop me a pm if i can help i will all the best mate :thumbs:
Forgot to say - have perches rigged up on the bird tables and on one a couple of bits of a thicker branch so gives a chance of the woodwork of the table able to be cropped out. Main problem is the number of collared doves!
whiteflyer
17-06-2007, 21:46
Thanks for all the advice, I'll now try and find the best place to put a feeder.
Next door has a few feeders and get lots of birds, so it should work.
If I get anything half decent I pop it in the forum.
i set up 2 feeders in my back yard 2 weeks ago and havnt had a single bird in there yet what am i doing wrong plz
Alan
What are you putting in the feeders Alan?
What are you putting in the feeders Alan?
Got 1 with small nuts in and one with various seeds bought them from pets at home there are birds about coz the little buggers sit on the roofs across the way i am sure they are laughing at me lol
Alan
busterboy
18-06-2007, 16:18
They will come in time Alan, Keep the feeders full and they will bite eventually.:thumbs:
Try some bread and other tit bits to get them coming.
Its surprising how a couple of slices of bread broken up can attract them.:)
Sherlock_Holmes
18-06-2007, 16:26
I only get sparrows still never mind and the the cat tries to get them, ill kill im one of these days http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/frech/o050.gif
At the moment finely crumbled stale bread is the favourite and taken by everything except the tits who are keeping to the hanging feeders.
Feeding very dry bread to birds is dangerous I've always thought?
Couple of links...
http://www.yptenc.org.uk/docs/factsheets/env_facts/feed_birds.html
http://forums.rspb.org.uk/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1574
I agree with what everyone has already said - the point I would most say is make sure the feeder is in a "natural looking" environment, my favourite shots of wildlife by far are the ones which look natural.
I invested in a bag hide which works really well btw, you can sit on your bench or chair with your tripod & snap away when they come close enough - I needed the extra portability over a dome hide but if its just for the garden then a dome hide may be best.
Looking forward to the results :thumbs:
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