Dawn Chorus

jgs001

jgs001

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On Monday of next week, I'll be up at silly o'clock for a guided Dawn Chorus walk around the local nature reserve. Needless to say the camera will be going with me. I'm unsure about taking the tripod, although I might take it in the boot, and try a couple of before starting shots, but the monopod might not be a bad idea. I'll be taking a pair of bins as well..

Anyone done one of these can offer suggestions or recommendations ? And whether there's any specific kit would be a good idea (apart from long L glass, not that I don't want any, but it's not going to happen though :D) like filters etc.

Thanks in advance
 
I'm going to be doing the same thing - led by a National Trust warden so no chance of disturbing wildlife (or birders) that don't want to be disturbed! An absolute essential will be a 600mm f4 lens or preferably longer and faster, and no I don't have one either :D

To be honest I doubt it'll be worth trying to do much photography, although if there's lots of birds flying you could go for some flock shots with your kit lens. Other than that, just enjoy the sounds!
 
jerry12953 said:
Make sure you don't annoy the birders with your gear - whatever you decide to take....
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Good pointer, so probably no objects of support...

snowy said:
I'm going to be doing the same thing - led by a National Trust warden so no chance of disturbing wildlife (or birders) that don't want to be disturbed! An absolute essential will be a 600mm f4 lens or preferably longer and faster, and no I don't have one either :D

To be honest I doubt it'll be worth trying to do much photography, although if there's lots of birds flying you could go for some flock shots with your kit lens. Other than that, just enjoy the sounds!
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Well... I've got a 600mm ED f7.5 telescope, but it doesn't do fast focus, being pure manual, and it a tough so and so to lug about, so I think I'll leave it at home :D... This will be led by one of the nature reserve wardens, so we shouldn't disturb anything too much.

You could well be right, I guess it might be a bit dark, I'll take all my kit with me, except the flash, it all fits in the bag anyway and just see if anything happens. I'm sure it's going to be loud yet pleasantly so, and I'm rather looking forward to it.
 
why bother with a tripod, all your glass has IS, can't be much more helpful than saying shove the 250 on and get a lucky shot as the sum total of my bird experience is ducks on the canal:P
 
Actually, on a dawn chorus walk, you might not SEE that many birds. The group leader will probably be concentrating on birdsong and trying to explain what sings how. With the leaves pretty fully opened on the trees, birds will be quite difficult to see.

It might be better to go solo on another morning if you want to get any serious photography done.
 
david1701 said:
why bother with a tripod, all your glass has IS, can't be much more helpful than saying shove the 250 on and get a lucky shot as the sum total of my bird experience is ducks on the canal:P
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I was going to try and get there a little early and see if I can't get the sun rising through the trees or something... Other than that, pretty much that was what I was going to do for the birds. I was thinking about other possibilities around the area. Having just checked the time of sunrise, it'll be about halfway through the walk... :D...

jerry12953 said:
Actually, on a dawn chorus walk, you might not SEE that many birds. The group leader will probably be concentrating on birdsong and trying to explain what sings how. With the leaves pretty fully opened on the trees, birds will be quite difficult to see.

It might be better to go solo on another morning if you want to get any serious photography done.
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Thanks Jerry, I might see if they'll let me back out after breakfast then.
 
jerry12953 said:
Actually, on a dawn chorus walk, you might not SEE that many birds. The group leader will probably be concentrating on birdsong and trying to explain what sings how. With the leaves pretty fully opened on the trees, birds will be quite difficult to see.

It might be better to go solo on another morning if you want to get any serious photography done.
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Yip, I'd treat it more of a dry run for a future visit on your own.

Groups are not the best way to get close to wildlife. Not stealthy enough.
 
You could always hang back after the event, the light will be better and the birds wont have disappeared. They will be still be singing, nest building, feeding, plenty photo opportunities to be had.
 
I'm often at places for the sunrise.
You'll find it incredibly difficult to take photos of birds unless they're in direct sunlight. It's difficult even with a tripod usually until a bit after the actual sun rise. The light levels will still be really low for using long lenses and stopping subject movement (even just little twitches of the subject's head become a major issue).

Luckily though, birds really active morning period goes beyond the actual sunrise. I usually notice a big fall off in activity about a couple hours after the sun rises. Probably depends largely on the location though and the types of bird.
 
Thanks very much for all the replies :thumbs:
 
Werecow said:
Luckily though, birds really active morning period goes beyond the actual sunrise. I usually notice a big fall off in activity about a couple hours after the sun rises. Probably depends largely on the location though and the types of bird.
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And the time of year. The more advanced the breeding season, the less they sing. Right now, they'll probably be singing all day.

Randy little b*****s;)
 
jgs001 said:
:D:D
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It's not as simple as I suggested actually.

The resident species will mostly have settled down with eggs and possibly young by now, so they will be singing less.

The migrants will have arrived fairly recently and will be setting up territories, building nests, etc, and frantically copulating. So the males will be singing like mad....

It's a bit like an early shift and a late shift - with lots of overlap, of course.

Then if the early nesters decide to have second brood, the whole process starts again.
 
Ah, I guess that's why now, so it gets the end of the locals and the start of the migrants...
 
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