It is now September. Autumn is now here according to the meteorologists and the garden is very quiet. Having reared their young, most of the birds seem to be taking time off to recuperate. Many of them are moulting, ready for the coming winter and consequently not looking their best.
There is an abundance of natural food available, especially for the seed and berry eaters, so there is no great incentive for them to visit my feeders. It all means that I have fewer subjects for my photography.
I am, therefore, using the time to experiment with different ideas, ready for the winter. I have most of the technical issues sorted out but still need to work on getting the bird in exactly the right place at the right time.
The main problem is that most birds fly straight to the feeder instead of landing on my perch on the way. I have tried working out the line of flight from the nearby trees, but they still fly straight past the perch. I then tried drilling holes in the top of the branch used as a perch and hid seeds in them. I did get more birds using the perch, but most had their head down, looking at the seeds near their feet.
For flight shots, I need the line between the perch and the feeder to be parallel to the camera axis. I can then focus on this plane and hopefully catch the bird as it takes off from the perch towards the feeder.
My latest idea is to use a feeder with a more limited access, forcing the birds to queue up, using the perch as a waiting area. I have mounted a window feeder on a pole so that the birds can only access it from one side. Unfortunately, not many birds are using it at the moment, so, once again, they tend to fly straight to it!
When I do get a bird to cooperate, I am pleased with the results. This female chaffinch did exactly as I hoped she would.
There is an abundance of natural food available, especially for the seed and berry eaters, so there is no great incentive for them to visit my feeders. It all means that I have fewer subjects for my photography.
I am, therefore, using the time to experiment with different ideas, ready for the winter. I have most of the technical issues sorted out but still need to work on getting the bird in exactly the right place at the right time.
The main problem is that most birds fly straight to the feeder instead of landing on my perch on the way. I have tried working out the line of flight from the nearby trees, but they still fly straight past the perch. I then tried drilling holes in the top of the branch used as a perch and hid seeds in them. I did get more birds using the perch, but most had their head down, looking at the seeds near their feet.
For flight shots, I need the line between the perch and the feeder to be parallel to the camera axis. I can then focus on this plane and hopefully catch the bird as it takes off from the perch towards the feeder.
My latest idea is to use a feeder with a more limited access, forcing the birds to queue up, using the perch as a waiting area. I have mounted a window feeder on a pole so that the birds can only access it from one side. Unfortunately, not many birds are using it at the moment, so, once again, they tend to fly straight to it!
When I do get a bird to cooperate, I am pleased with the results. This female chaffinch did exactly as I hoped she would.
