Backyard Bird Photography Basics

Hello BirdSpyBlog readers!
Today I decided that since I love both birds and photography, I would share some tips with you all concerning backyard bird photography.  I will say from the get go that these tips are meant to help improve your photography skills, but will by no means produce National Geographic cover results from shot 1.  So without further ado...here we go!

Tip 1- Know Your Camera
I know this sounds like a very basic, why-do-I-need-to-read-this type tip, but it is something that many people overlook.  Do you know how to set a quick shutter speed? Do you know if your flash is going to fire or not?  Take some time to sit down with your camera.  Whether you have a basic point and shoot digital camera, your phones camera, or a $3,000 DSLR, taking time to figure out what settings are where, what buttons do what, and how to manipulate your camera will save you many a flustered moment and missed shot.   For simple shots of the birds that visit your feeder, setting your camera to Auto mode will be more than fine.  Digital cameras these days are advanced enough to choose the best settings for the picture and you will get good shots this way.  In trickier lighting situations(dusk, dawn, overcast or stormy), you will need to know how to turn off your flash if you are shooting through glass, otherwise you will get a glare in your picture and miss the shot.  A fast shutter speed is also needed to be able to freeze the birds in motion. Auto mode in good lighting will usually be enough to do this, but knowing how to dig into your cameras settings(usually in Manual Mode or Shutter Speed Priority Mode) will allow you to set a speed of at least 1/400th of a second or faster so that you know you will capture the birds in motion with any shot.

Tip 2- Know Your Birds
Again, most of you who are reading this are probably very experienced birders and will scoff at this tip. But for those who are new to birding and bird photography, this is important.  Some birds feed on the ground and will never come to hanging feeders, so if you want a picture of a dove, junco or certain types of sparrows, be sure to set up a platform feeder or spread seed on the ground to improve your chances of attracting these birds to your yard.  If you want chickadees, goldfinches or woodpeckers, put up hanging and suet feeders will bring these birds in.  Some birds are more docile and don't move as much while others are quick in and quick out, so knowing what birds fall into these categories can help you time and choose your shots.

Tip 3- Choose a Point to Pre Focus On
Spraying and praying(photographers term for taking a bunch of shots fairly randomly) will not net you many good photos.  Instead of firing off shots randomly and hoping you get something good, choose a point(aka feeder perch, tree branch, feeder, etc) and focus your camera there, and wait.  That way, when a bird lands at the spot, your camera is already focused and all you have to do is fully press the shutter button. This will greatly increase your chances of getting a clear, sharp photo.

Tip 4- Use A Long Focal Length
Focal length is the amount of zoom/magnification that your lens/camera provides.  The big lenses that you see many professional and top notch bird and nature photographers use are lenses with long focal lengths, allowing them to get a large, close up shot of birds.  If you are looking into buying a camera for bird photography, look for a camera that has 10x zoom or greater.  If you have a DSLR, buy a lens of 200mm or longer. These zooms/focal lengths will allow you to get fairly close to the birds and get good photos.  The longer the zoom or higher the focal length the better though! I personally have a 55-250mm lens that I use, which is good and I can get some great photos with, but I can't wait to save up and get a 400mm or bigger lens.

Tip 5- Make Your Yard Bird Friendly
Birds won't come to your yard, and therefore, you won't be able to do backyard bird photography, if you don't have anything to attract them to your yard! This is another no brainer but can make a world of difference.  Instead of just setting up one feeder, set up two or three and put different kinds of seeds in them.  A variety of seeds will attract a wider variety of birds. Set up a bird bath. Next to a feeder, a bird bath will attract a larger variety of birds than anything else you put up in your yard.  Bird baths will also attract birds to your yard that wouldn't normally come visit your feeders. Bird baths also allow you to witness and photograph some exciting bird behavior as well.

And finally,
Tip 6- Practice, practice, practice
If you are serious about taking great pictures of birds in your backyard, then the more you shoot the better you'll get! You'll learn your camera, you'll learn the birds and you'll learn your eye as a photographer.  The digital age allows us photographers to take hundreds of images without having to shell out tons of money.  Learn from your mistakes when you make them and figure out what would have made the shot perfect.  The more you practice, the better pictures you'll get and soon you'll be taking breathtaking pictures of the birds that are visiting your yard.

Good luck photographing birds! If you read this and put these tips into practice, I would love to see the final results and even publish some of the photos here with the stories behind them!

Happy birding!
-Daniel-

Spring is in the Air

Ah...spring. The season where the weather gets warmer, days get longer, flowers start blooming, trees leaf out and, of course, spring migration occurs.  The time of year birders dream about, with the birds showing off in their brightest plumage, ear delighting songs and surprise appearances.  Though it isn't quite spring yet, the birding is picking up and March is probably my second favorite month to bird(second only to September).   I haven't been able to get out to bird much, but that looks to change in the coming months as due to a variety of changes in life, my schedule should be freeing up.  That means more birding adventures which in turn means more activity on my blog.   I was able to squeeze in two hours of birding yesterday at the wondrous Walden Ponds in Boulder.  I absolutely love that place and one of my earliest birding memories is of my dad taking me their to bird early in March many years back.  Well enough of the daydreaming about the coming spring and nostalgic talk of years past, let's get on to the birding trip wrap up.

Walden Ponds is a gem of a birding spot located in Boulder, Colorado. Walden has a diversity of habitats that attract birds ranging from swans to warblers, Sora to Osprey, and a trip at any time of the year(but especially during the months of March-June) will be productive and fun.  They have done some renovations to the trails and boardwalk, but nothing that changed any habitat.  My friend let me borrow his Canon Rebel t2i/550D, so I was very excited to put it through its paces and see what pictures I could take.  I got to Walden in the early afternoon.  To my surprise and delight(I haven't checked the rare bird alert lately, otherwise it wouldn't have been such a surprise to me), 12 Tundra Swans were gracing the lake with their presence.  A multitude of other waterfowl, including Canvasback, Redhead, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye and more dotted the surface Cottonwood Marsh.  I didn't have my binoculars with me but my car kept 8x21 monocular provided decent views as the light was good.  The t2i paired with a 55mm-250mm  lens took good pictures and provided a good viewing medium as well.  Outside of the waterfowl, there was not much bird activity.  I walked along the boardwalk and along the trails to Sawhill Ponds, but no birds showed themselves outside of a distant Red-tailed Hawk.  Some geese were setting up territories on one of the Sawhill lakes.  With the bird life being very quiet, I decided to head back to Cottonwood Marsh and see what other birds showed up, as well as to meet my dad and bird with him for a little bit.  I met up with my dad about 20 minutes later, and we had a nice conversation with another birder about bird life at Walden.  My dad and I spent about an hour birding, scanning the lake, walking the boardwalk and chatting with other birders and locals we met along the walk.  The bird life didn't change much, outside of a very distant Northern Harrier. A couple other birders had seen the Great Horned Owls by the South Boulder Creek, but we didn't have enough time to walk that far.  A wren made a flash appearance and disappeared into the weeds before we could get a look at it beyond a quick glimpse.  Red-winged Blackbirds started popping up and call-defending their territories.  There weren't many small birds at all, but the waterfowl made up for it.  I was very impressed with the t2i and had a very enjoyable day of birding overall, and can't wait to go back in the coming months to see what surprises Walden has in store later in the year.

Just a handful of the waterfowl on Cottonwood Marsh.

The Tundra Swans.

The new boardwalk.

Looking out over one of the Sawhill Ponds ponds.

A Red-tailed Hawk flying over the lake. 

Here comes the dad.

A Ring-billed Gull providing a nice photo op.

More pics of the swans.

Red-winged Blackbirds setting up their territories.

Great Backyard Bird Count at Two Ponds 2013

Today's GBBC bird walk at Two Ponds NWR was a great success today! Five local birders showed up to go on the walk with my dad and I.
The weather was very cooperative this year, with much less snow and much warmer temperatures that last years GBBC bird walk.  A balmy 33F temperature greeted us this at 7am this morning and by the time the walk ended two and a half hours later, the temperature was comfortably in the 40s.
The Count started with a Cooper's Hawk sitting in the trees above the entrance.  American Crows, Rock Pigeons and a few other common birds made appearances as well.  Once our group was together, we headed off into the Refuge to find and count birds.
We were more than excited to have two brand new birders with us, and help introduce them to the wonderful world of birds and the wonderful birding habitat of Two Ponds NWR.   Red-winged Blackbirds were busy setting up territories and singing.  Hordes of Canada Geese flew by throughout the walk, as did multiple Black-billed Magpies and Northern Flickers.  Walking through the wetland preserve side section of the habitat yielded another Cooper's Hawk and a few more of the birds we had already seen.  Crossing into the canal area, Mallards, a Dark-eyed Junco, Belted Kingfisher and a few Blue Jays were added to our list.  Three coyotes graced us with their presence, affording nice views of this wonderful mammal.  We followed the canal to the entrance of the prairie grass preserve section of Two Ponds.
Black-capped Chickadees called from some cotton wood trees, and a lone Herring Gull provided a quick glimpse as it traversed the sky above the refuge as it headed toward Standley Lake.  With time starting to eclipse 9am, we headed back toward the main part of the refuge to compile the list and head off.  Along the way back, a small flock of Common Mergansers flew by, a nice surprise.  A couple White-breasted Nuthatches called but did not show themselves.  We were finally able to track down a couple chickadees to view.  Shortly before reaching the parking lot, a Rough-legged Hawk  made a very brief appearance.
This was a wonderful bird walk and yielded a total of 23 species.   We had a great time introducing some new birders to Two Ponds and the birding fun.   We will be sending our list and count information in to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for their Great Backyard Bird Count records.  Hope you all are having a good time counting birds and happy birding!
-Daniel-

Morning at the Refuge. 

Looking at some Red-winged Blackbirds.

Spotting far away birds. 

Thank you Joyce for getting this all set up!

Male Mallard swimming along the canal.

Watching the Junco.

One of many geese flocks. 

Can you find the coyote?

A spotting scope helps. 

Out in the open.

Female Mallard and a muskrat.

Prints in the snow. 

List total for the count:

Cooper's Hawk: 2

Black-billed Magpie: 43

Ring-billed Gull: 4

Red-tailed Hawk: 1

European Starling: 12

Rock Pigeon: 20

Canada Goose: 200

Cackling Goose: 15

Red-winged Blackbird: 63

Northern Flicker(red-shafted race): 11

American Crow: 22

Mallard: 12

Blue Jay: 3

House Finch: 15

Belted Kingfisher: 1

Dark-eyed Junco: 6

Black-capped Chickadee: 10

White-breasted Nuthatch: 2

Rough-legged Hawk: 1

House Sparrow: 3

Herring Gull: 1

Common Merganser: 4

American Robin: 1

GBBC at Two Ponds NWR!

Another bird walk scheduled for Saturday the 16th at Two Ponds NWR! My dad and I are very excited to be leading another bird walk here at Two Ponds!

Join us on the Refuge for the Great Backyard Bird Count on Saturday, February 16th, 7:00 - 9:00 am.  Our guides, Nathan and Daniel McAdams will help us identify and tally bird species on the Refuge, and the data will be submitted to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  Meet in the parking lot on West 80th Ave. at 7:00 am.

Hope to see you all there!
-Daniel-

State List Update

Upon reviewing my state list, I discovered that I have not seen a Canyon Wren  in Colorado previous to the ones I saw during the Roxborough State Park CBC last year.  So this brings my state list up to 251 birds! Looking forward to adding many more birds to that list this year!

BirdSpyBlog App

Special announcement! I have created a smartphone app for the BirdSpyBlog. I have not uploaded it yet to the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store, but I do have a QR barcode that smartphone users can scan, allowing them to download the app. This is is therefore exclusively available only to viewers of this blog!
The app allows for easier access for following the blog. Below is the picture with the barcode.
-Daniel-

Video Slideshow and 1000 Views!

First off I want to thank everyone who reads my blog, as we have just hit 1,000 blog views(not including my own)!  I have had BirdSpyBlog up for less than a year and I had hoped to have 1,000 page views within a year, so thank you all much! I hope you are enjoying the blog as much as I am!

Secondly, I completed a short video slideshow highlighting some of my favorite birding moments of 2012.  There were many, many, many great birding moments last year so I wasn't able to fit everyone of them in.  I have it up on YouTube on my channel, BirdSpyFilms.  Hope you enjoy and happy birding in 2013!

Link to the video:
BirdSpyFilms- In Review: Birding 2012

-Daniel-