Dale's Garden Hide. (been a busy boy)

Kingfisher is one of the birds I miss up here tbh and love your image further back in the thread. I’ll send you some of our siskins, they are obviously tougher than yours as they see off the sparrows. :LOL:
 
Kingfisher is one of the birds I miss up here tbh and love your image further back in the thread. I’ll send you some of our siskins, they are obviously tougher than yours as they see off the sparrows. :LOL:


Siskins, feisty little things for their size, it's only when you see them next to a chaffinch or sparrow that you see how tiny they are.
 
There are some excellent ideas here. I am hoping my new move by the end of the year will give me some time out to spend it on building a hide(s) and using all these ideas. Good thing is, its in the National Dartmoor area in Devon. It has mainly 1.7 acres of woodland which is the garden of this new home. Hurray no grass to cut! And comes with fresh water pools and rest areas, all created by the present owner. It is going to be a photographers paradise.
 
Last edited:
I don't work from home anymore :( missing my bird photography fun. Glad to see it's still working for you
 
There are some excellent ideas here. I am hoping my new move by the end of the year will give me some time out to spend it on building a hide(s) and using all these ideas. Good thing is, its in the National Dartmoor area in Devon. It has mainly 1.7 acres of woodland which is the garden of this new home. Hurray no grass to cut! And comes with fresh water pools and rest areas, all created by the present owner. It is going to be a photographers paradise.


not jealous, much.

;)
 
I don't work from home anymore :( missing my bird photography fun. Glad to see it's still working for you

I'd miss mine too.


Although, this last few weeks, it's been mainly sparrows with just the odd visit from siskins, goldfinches and redpolls, I guess they are away being busy sitting on eggs and foraging for natural high protien foodstuffs. I've not spent much time out there but I have kept the feeders topped up.

So, one from a couple weeks ago, just to keep things ticking along, a windswept bluey.

tp.jpg
 
Last edited:
Plenty happening at the hide just now but not so much from a photography point of view. The light isn't great and the sparrows have taken over for the summer whilst the more colourful ones are away sitting on eggs and raising young.

I thought though, I'd do a comparison, as I got to thinking of those first images I took when I first started this project early last year, 2018. It has taught me a lot in that time, both about bird habits and camera settings, I even managed to push my old 7D out of its comfort zone and got images from it with very little grain. The 5D though is another league still.

Anyway, one of the first images from my hide's early days and a much more recent one. I've come a long way personally but there is always room for improvement.

One from last June, just about a year ago. I was quite excited about this back in the day.

tp.jpg


...and a more recent one.


tp.jpg
 
Last edited:
I took an almost enforced break from the hide of the summer months, the goldies etc had left and all I was getting was houseys, jackdaws etc. Nothing against them but there were almost swarms of house sparrows on the feeders.

Today though, things are looking up, look who's back! First goldie for about 2 months.

One of last year's fledglings I think, there was a youngster about too. Sorry for the poor pic, (hopefully much better ones to come) but it might be picking up again.

IMGL3763 web.jpg
 
Last edited:
Hey mate,thought I'd drop by and see how the hell you are...........:D cheers for keeping this going!!

Strange Dale,our numbers drop back and probably will go nuts shortly,but they don't leave us for the summer. We've had a steady stream of kids for months now. they must be having more than one clutch here. Maybe that's why we see this mass in the Autumn all the kids from the summer come back?? I dunno kiddo musing out loud. It does fascinate me though how your goldie numbers change relevent to what we see here. We also have a good dose of house sparras they don't seem to interfere with the goldies comming.

Done well on the GWS this year,lost the male just before chicks fledged mum seems to have made the grade brought one up ,both have visited all summer still coming. New male has appeared but mum gave him a right trashing the other day.:LOL: I'm not sure she approves as of yet.:) That said we did have two families early on ,but the second lot have lost out to that lone female. No male seen for month until this last few weeks. So I could have a new male or maybe the old one has come back. Fella is still coming so maybe mum will accept him eventually,but not just yet. Hard life being a bloke mate:LOL:

It's been pretty much standard here all summer black cap about and probably wood warbler, also a marsh or willow tit recently. then the usual suspects in profusion. Somewhere way back the spar killed right in front of me,ok killed above me but mantled on the floor yards away,me sat in the front doorway: I underexposed the split second grab shot but what a moment mate. Last couple of weeks the swallows built up numbers to leave and we had a hobby here. first for 28years hunting them briefly .

I've barely made an image in the garden for months Dale don't really know why, it's all there,so littlle time probably..We have one bird that hasn't visited all summer and that's the longtails,they are here but not using the feeders at all,which might be because we stopped using fat balls maggies crows and jacks were just trashing them in minutes. We will resume that shortly

Cheers again for the thread buddy as I say I've always found it fascinating to have the comparison of another fairly rural location as well as the images and that side of it all to be inspired by, Hope ya don't mind me littering up your thread;)

take care bro

stu
 
Hey mate,thought I'd drop by and see how the hell you are...........:D cheers for keeping this going!!

Strange Dale,our numbers drop back and probably will go nuts shortly,but they don't leave us for the summer. We've had a steady stream of kids for months now. they must be having more than one clutch here. Maybe that's why we see this mass in the Autumn all the kids from the summer come back?? I dunno kiddo musing out loud. It does fascinate me though how your goldie numbers change relevent to what we see here. We also have a good dose of house sparras they don't seem to interfere with the goldies comming.

Done well on the GWS this year,lost the male just before chicks fledged mum seems to have made the grade brought one up ,both have visited all summer still coming. New male has appeared but mum gave him a right trashing the other day.:LOL: I'm not sure she approves as of yet.:) That said we did have two families early on ,but the second lot have lost out to that lone female. No male seen for month until this last few weeks. So I could have a new male or maybe the old one has come back. Fella is still coming so maybe mum will accept him eventually,but not just yet. Hard life being a bloke mate:LOL:

It's been pretty much standard here all summer black cap about and probably wood warbler, also a marsh or willow tit recently. then the usual suspects in profusion. Somewhere way back the spar killed right in front of me,ok killed above me but mantled on the floor yards away,me sat in the front doorway: I underexposed the split second grab shot but what a moment mate. Last couple of weeks the swallows built up numbers to leave and we had a hobby here. first for 28years hunting them briefly .

I've barely made an image in the garden for months Dale don't really know why, it's all there,so littlle time probably..We have one bird that hasn't visited all summer and that's the longtails,they are here but not using the feeders at all,which might be because we stopped using fat balls maggies crows and jacks were just trashing them in minutes. We will resume that shortly

Cheers again for the thread buddy as I say I've always found it fascinating to have the comparison of another fairly rural location as well as the images and that side of it all to be inspired by, Hope ya don't mind me littering up your thread;)

take care bro

stu


Hi Buddy, sorry for the late reply, not really spending much time here these days but hopefully, that will change soon.

Anyhoo, I'm pretty sure the goldies here spend the summer months in the nearby woods just a stone's throw away. I often hear them and now and again, they fly over but they are not dropping to the feeders just yet. Same thing happened last year, then bam, I was getting allsorts at the hide, even a chiffchaff. A pal of mine feeds the birds too, only good stuff, hearts, niger etc etc. He lives nearer the woods than us, but I can see his garden from ours and numbers didn't seem to alter there at all, he even got a sparrowhawk kill (house sparrow) on his lawn. So, they're all about but a neighbour, who isn't particularly approachable, puts table scraps out literally 25 feet away from my feeders, which I think is attracting the wrong sort at mine and putting off the goldies etc. We'll see what happens over the next few weeks, I've just come in from the hide and had an adult and youngster goldfinch on the feeders but not the perches.

No GSWs yet, but again, can hear them in the woods.

Wow on the hobby, nice one. I'm as sure as I can be that I saw one 2 years ago on my travels. I was driving, so no chance of an image.

Away from the hide, I'm still on the lookout for kingfishers, I've left my 'own' in peace to finish off nesting, I should be able to go and check them out very soon. I have 2 other potential sites nearby and 2 a little further afield. I was at the further away ones yesterday but we've had very heavy rain and the river is in spate and has wiped out the perch I put there and my spot for my hide was under water. I think it will take a bit more time and effort to make that one work but I did visit another potential spot yesterday and had one sighting, so there's hope. I put perches out yesterday for the kingfishers to get used to and the landowner is keeping an eye on things for me. Sorry, that's not home hide related but worth the mention as I know you're following my kingfisher exploits too.

Hopefully, things will pick up at the hide soon, I too stopped putting out fatballs, the jackdaws just ragged them and nothing else got a chance. I'm sure it was the fatballs that brought the GSW in last year. I may buy a cheapo bucket from B+M and put them out, nothing to lose at the moment.

I'll continue updating the thread as and when things happen, there's still life in it yet me thinks. (y)
 
Indeed there is life in it mate ,wish I could do similar. It's a record Dale beyond the images and your learning curve others get something from threads like yours they will learn from your success and the other bits LMAO. So damn right you should continue it's a huge asset to the forum your thread mate.not blowing smoke kiddo,it really is

I largely come here to chill after a day hard enough to let me do little else. No need for apologies Dale the joy of webland for me is I can bung a mate a message and he/ she get's there when possible


Buddy,can you plant some form of hedge to screen problem neighbour. a visual barrier and security for small birds. We have both seen exactly the same thing at a similar time of year with the corvids and fat balls that's something to note mate!.

The hobby was a 100% a hobby ,I think on it's way south and lucked into a possible meal: each year the swallows come her to warm on our south facing rooves and feed before the off. Always late august, it's a wonderful thing I'd just hand counted 50 sat on next door when all hell broke loose ,a complete one off. I seem to have deleted a lot of images I never got time to stop and look at mate. I'll never actually know whether I got to that hobby before the tree. The swallows are a constant Dale done well locally this year,i worried for them not so long ago,but numbers are good this year for here .

Dale my neighbour gave me a load of niger,his feeders must be 30 yards from mine he has not one single goldfinch that will touch his feeders.............why??? I think it's all about cover . They nailed his seed in weeks when in our feeders just yards away??? . I'm seriously over grown for human ettiquette Dale but it's jaw dropping that they can be so picky over where there food is given the exact same food !!!


I can't remember when but we nabbed a bit of dead elm from a hedge,drilled 8mm holes in it and have been stuffing the thing with peanuts ever since . It was meant to be temporary Dale but we sort of got stuck The nuts are the draw , they have choice with a normal peanut feeder but GWS love that elm ............... might be worth a try ....find an attractive dead trunk growing upright ,drill a load of 8mm holes carefully placed, stuff with peanuts. Oh push peanut in from the non pointy end of nut .............one learns these things with time:LOL:


Wild things take time Dale the images aren't easily won sometimes the memories are amazing when the images aren't ha sometimes the other way round.the journey is a cool thing though mate that's what those kingies are about:)

take care kiddo
 
Indeed there is life in it mate ,wish I could do similar. It's a record Dale beyond the images and your learning curve others get something from threads like yours they will learn from your success and the other bits LMAO. So damn right you should continue it's a huge asset to the forum your thread mate.not blowing smoke kiddo,it really is

I largely come here to chill after a day hard enough to let me do little else. No need for apologies Dale the joy of webland for me is I can bung a mate a message and he/ she get's there when possible


Buddy,can you plant some form of hedge to screen problem neighbour. a visual barrier and security for small birds. We have both seen exactly the same thing at a similar time of year with the corvids and fat balls that's something to note mate!.

The hobby was a 100% a hobby ,I think on it's way south and lucked into a possible meal: each year the swallows come her to warm on our south facing rooves and feed before the off. Always late august, it's a wonderful thing I'd just hand counted 50 sat on next door when all hell broke loose ,a complete one off. I seem to have deleted a lot of images I never got time to stop and look at mate. I'll never actually know whether I got to that hobby before the tree. The swallows are a constant Dale done well locally this year,i worried for them not so long ago,but numbers are good this year for here .

Dale my neighbour gave me a load of niger,his feeders must be 30 yards from mine he has not one single goldfinch that will touch his feeders.............why??? I think it's all about cover . They nailed his seed in weeks when in our feeders just yards away??? . I'm seriously over grown for human ettiquette Dale but it's jaw dropping that they can be so picky over where there food is given the exact same food !!!


I can't remember when but we nabbed a bit of dead elm from a hedge,drilled 8mm holes in it and have been stuffing the thing with peanuts ever since . It was meant to be temporary Dale but we sort of got stuck The nuts are the draw , they have choice with a normal peanut feeder but GWS love that elm ............... might be worth a try ....find an attractive dead trunk growing upright ,drill a load of 8mm holes carefully placed, stuff with peanuts. Oh push peanut in from the non pointy end of nut .............one learns these things with time:LOL:


Wild things take time Dale the images aren't easily won sometimes the memories are amazing when the images aren't ha sometimes the other way round.the journey is a cool thing though mate that's what those kingies are about:)

take care kiddo


Cheers Stu.

I'm working on the problem neighbour, I have planted conifers, the ones that (allegedly) grow no more than about 10 feet. They'll make a great hedge but it takes time. I will have to buy a few more and keep them trimmed at the top once they hit about 6 feet.

It's really odd, the goldies, redpolls etc seem to leave my feeders during the summer, my mate's feeders that I can see from the living room window are full of different birds, he uses the same feeds as me but he does have trees and shrubs close to his feeders. Mine is still a bit sterile in comparison but it is growing in now, much to my problem neighbour's chagrin, they're not nice but that's another story for another day.

It was about this time last year the goldies started coming back in to my feeders and the same is happening again, I've just spotted 3 at my hide now from the kitchen window. I've not even put hearts out today yet but there are always niger seeds there, as it seems only the goldies eat them, although I have seen jackdaws having a go at them recently.

I'll be keeping the thread going, there's just not much to report just now but it will pick up soon, I'm sure. for its first year last year, it did well with quite a variety of not so often seen birds, highlights were the GSW, redpolls and sparrowhawk. The chiffchaff was nice to have too.

Watch this space. (y)
 
Last edited:
should have planted sommit else for the hedge me olde mate;).........hazel maybe if you don't want thorns for little lass what do you have in your hedge up there bro?? Ya want not only cover but to enhance the mini ecosystem ie your garden,you have the potential to add in a "wild" type food souce ie fruit nuts,but also using a native or cultivar thereof will help native mini things do well also ...........you have red squirrels Dale,I'm sure you told me about them???

In a few years birds may well nest in the hedge but maybe this one is worth a rethink??? I think there are bigger bangs for your buck than leyland hybrids, that actually extends beyond having a resourse for your birds but also photo ops. Nut or berry crop might bring some really cool chances for pics of differing species to what you have already seen:)

cheers
 
should have planted sommit else for the hedge me olde mate;).........hazel maybe if you don't want thorns for little lass what do you have in your hedge up there bro?? Ya want not only cover but to enhance the mini ecosystem ie your garden,you have the potential to add in a "wild" type food souce ie fruit nuts,but also using a native or cultivar thereof will help native mini things do well also ...........you have red squirrels Dale,I'm sure you told me about them???

In a few years birds may well nest in the hedge but maybe this one is worth a rethink??? I think there are bigger bangs for your buck than leyland hybrids, that actually extends beyond having a resourse for your birds but also photo ops. Nut or berry crop might bring some really cool chances for pics of differing species to what you have already seen:)

cheers

Just the 4 conifers at the moment mate, no plans for any more, just enough to fill in a spot in the fence being used by the neighbours for reconisance. ;) I'm hoping they will provide nest cover too in years to come. Other trees just now are cherry x2, apple, pear and 2 x rowan. There are some brambles, currently with fruit on at the top of the slope, I regularly prune and train them and they are out of reach of little 'un. No nut trees just now but they will hopefully go in next spring, been meaning to get a few for a while now but just not got round to it. That reminds me, the hide is due a lick of paint, been meaning to do that since June. :LOL:

Got a hydrangea, but that is struggling for some reason.

The pond liner will also be going in next spring, probably about a foot deep, just enough for whatever natural beasties might make use of it. The pond will be quite big, it's already there really, a built up mound of earth I've moved over the years to form a ring of sorts, it just needs a liner. It will have a shallow, graduated slope at one end.

We have bats, they are still zigging and zagging around tonight low over the garden and it's now chilly out there. I'm not expecting them to be out and about for much longer. I'm thinking photographing them is a challenge. ;)

EDIT, sorry, fogot to mention, no reds nearby Stu, but I don't have to travel far to see them.
 
Last edited:
buddy I might have some young cobs spare. give me a shout a bit later on in the year if you think you might want a couple. The ruddy woodmice buried a load of our nuts in a pot they grew,they are most likely a cross of, ha, wait for it................................ gunzlehurst:LOL: and kentish cob. Not sure what they will turn into as all will be unique,but likely to have massive nuts on like both parents;)
sorry brief bro rushing
 
buddy I might have some young cobs spare. give me a shout a bit later on in the year if you think you might want a couple. The ruddy woodmice buried a load of our nuts in a pot they grew,they are most likely a cross of, ha, wait for it................................ gunzlehurst:LOL: and kentish cob. Not sure what they will turn into as all will be unique,but likely to have massive nuts on like both parents;)
sorry brief bro rushing


Very kind Stu, thanks, I'll give you a nudge later on. (y)
 
Well, it's certainly picking up again, the goldfinches, siskins, even a pack of greenfinches turned up yesterday. This is one of the siskins, looking drenched in the heavy rain. Light was rubbish but for now, I'm just happy to be seeing this kind of bird back at the hide.

tp.jpg
 
I've let this one lapse a little but it's still an ongoing project. It has been kind of dead at the hide lately but the sparrows seem to be away now and the odd goldfinch is now coming in. It did start to pick up again but the recent demolishing of a local building has caused a huge increase in feral pigeons that are now fleeing the work going on there and they seem to have found my feeders. I'm constantly shooing them away.

Also, a lot of my time has been taken up with the kingfisher but fear not, the hide posts will return soon.(y)
 
Just an observation really but just to say, the 7D really does suprise me at times. I was in the hide last Tuesday/Wednesday, the light poor as you can see. There were goldfinches on the feeders although none on the perches but this Robin was in and out of one of the trees near the hide. It's great to see the birds using the natural perches now too.

As I mentioned, the light was dire, I'm not really sure why I bothered but it did prompt me to emphasise ETTR. I always do but being a 7D, I made even more of an effort with it. I've had a love/hate relationship with this camera but I have wanted to make better use of it, I've had it since 2012, it was new and it still has less than 20,000 clicks on it.

This is one of the occasions that it seemed to work, it just goes to show how important technique can be. It does lack the fine detail of my 5div but this one pleasantly suprised me, considering the conditions. I know it's not a particulalrly good image, but, ISO 1000, in that light, with a 7D? No way.


7D, 100-400L,
1/200 sec, f5.6, iso 1000.


no NR in post.


IMG_1477 CS6 JP tp.jpgbit cluttered and not a
 
Last edited:
I always found with both the 7D & 7D2 (which still isn't great with noise) that taking time to get your exposure right, and getting a fairly full frame, always led to a decent image. The problem with the 7D is when the light isn't great, you're rushing your shot, and you are going to need to crop in post, all work against you....
 
I always found with both the 7D & 7D2 (which still isn't great with noise) that taking time to get your exposure right, and getting a fairly full frame, always led to a decent image. The problem with the 7D is when the light isn't great, you're rushing your shot, and you are going to need to crop in post, all work against you....


One thing I've observed over the years is that the 7D isn't a bad camera if it gets the light.

I was though really suprised with this one, the light was fairly stable and not changing, so I was able to take my time with exposure and was all ready to go when the robin came in.

It's a fair crop too, at least 50% and also uploaded directly to the forum.
 
Dale you read my last post on another thread to Phil about owls and time in the field never wasted. What you are doing with the hide is no different to the owls or your kingies or my hares. That might sound weird......................... on the surface tis a total opposite.

Tis the same mate because of the repetition and the learning curve that goes with that .


Bro clean bkgs and birdz an beasti portraits .......................... You asked too clean and for me yup.:) Mate I'm coming to realize I love that separation that the shallow dof gives. But if my BKG is really clean really uniform ,I sort of feel I have lost something. I can sort of compensate with foreground with a ground dweller ,but with a bird its harder.

Mate this is very personal it's not really critique of your images at all............... just where all this is taking me I guess. So thoughts mate no more:


If my BKG is as clean as yours above, I often feel I've sort of missed a chance to of tell a story to my viewer.............. the bkg................ even if utterly OOF can hold shapes tones colour that give clues.... hints that might, ha MIGHT, make an image more involving. You control these BKG's in this senario Dale so yeah............ too clean .

Too clean on the goldie bro the siskin has more for me not enough but more

.

You have done all the graft explore the bkgs how can you enhance what you've earnt I think you need some props mate:LOL: ............ say Alder cones for the siskins ha the oh so obvious teasels for goldies but maybe work depth into that so the impression for me your viewer is i'm seeing a flock of goldies feeding in a field of teasels not a bird on a stem or a siskin feeding in nature. only I'm at eye level with it top of an alder tree

Mate it's a hide you are sort of creating a still's............ movie set,. for wild things which is cool . you have a degree of control and I think that could be better explored

I ain't ever going to see a goldie shouting at another on a bit of oak. am I mate you know this:) Neither of us is ever going to bumble into that situation.

But we might see them squabbling over some thistles or dandelions or. ok teasels:LOL:

Huge potential here buddy I don't know personally where you can improve bar telling a better story within the image

fair play mate !!

stu
 
Dale you read my last post on another thread to Phil about owls and time in the field never wasted. What you are doing with the hide is no different to the owls or your kingies or my hares. That might sound weird......................... on the surface tis a total opposite.

Tis the same mate because of the repetition and the learning curve that goes with that .


Bro clean bkgs and birdz an beasti portraits .......................... You asked too clean and for me yup.:) Mate I'm coming to realize I love that separation that the shallow dof gives. But if my BKG is really clean really uniform ,I sort of feel I have lost something. I can sort of compensate with foreground with a ground dweller ,but with a bird its harder.

Mate this is very personal it's not really critique of your images at all............... just where all this is taking me I guess. So thoughts mate no more:


If my BKG is as clean as yours above, I often feel I've sort of missed a chance to of tell a story to my viewer.............. the bkg................ even if utterly OOF can hold shapes tones colour that give clues.... hints that might, ha MIGHT, make an image more involving. You control these BKG's in this senario Dale so yeah............ too clean .

Too clean on the goldie bro the siskin has more for me not enough but more

.

You have done all the graft explore the bkgs how can you enhance what you've earnt I think you need some props mate:LOL: ............ say Alder cones for the siskins ha the oh so obvious teasels for goldies but maybe work depth into that so the impression for me your viewer is i'm seeing a flock of goldies feeding in a field of teasels not a bird on a stem or a siskin feeding in nature. only I'm at eye level with it top of an alder tree

Mate it's a hide you are sort of creating a still's............ movie set,. for wild things which is cool . you have a degree of control and I think that could be better explored

I ain't ever going to see a goldie shouting at another on a bit of oak. am I mate you know this:) Neither of us is ever going to bumble into that situation.

But we might see them squabbling over some thistles or dandelions or. ok teasels:LOL:

Huge potential here buddy I don't know personally where you can improve bar telling a better story within the image

fair play mate !!

stu

I hear you Bud, it has concerned me a for a while now. It should start changing now for a while, some daffs and crocus are alreay showing the first signs of poking through there, which should help break it up a bit. I will leave the grass grow a bit longer there too in the summer months, I did this in the first year of the hide and I prefered the BG in those days. It'll take a little while, down to weeks now but it should change soon. (y) This light though, uggghh, only good enough for perched at the moment but that is my challenge this year, to get a few airborne squabbles.


I've just spent a while going right through this thread. LOVE!

Thank you, much appreciated. If people can gain something from this thread, then that's very cool. (y)
 
That BG has been bugging me, so, some adjustments have been made. I trimmed and cut some trees etc last year with the intention of mulching the branches when the leaves had fallen off them. Good intentions and all that meant they didn't get mulched last year but were going to be this spring. I have scatterred some of them behind the perches on the grass. Still nice and mushy but now a bit more broken up and with some texture. Not much, but it's a start. I will leave the grass grow through them this year and see how it looks.

I went out the hide this morning just to see how things looked through the viewfinder and we actually got some brief light and a hedge sparrow (Dunnock/Hedge Accentor). Happy with that as we don't see many here.

7D, Sigma 150-600 C, ISO 1000, f8, 1/1250 sec.

tp.jpg
 
Last edited:
Back
Top