Share your Backyard Birding Setups

[kinghong1970]

I was looking at this youtube video where a guy uses driftwood branches (for more of aesthetic flare) and uses a hide to take pics of birds...

i guess this fall, i want to go venture off and see if i can find some dead branches i can use... of course, the issue of squirrels comes to mind...

wondering if you guys have some images of your bird feeders, branches and any/all setups for the backyard birding that you care to share?

thanks in advance,

Al

[artyman]

Might as well do it in comfort



gets me this

[brandrum]

great idea for a thread

[txcanon]

Here are a couple threads I found about feeder/perch setups that I think will be helpful.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=579601
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=577626

[Kevin Hall]

Al, you'll find all kinds of photos and info here.

[kinghong1970]

that does it... imma go out to my yard with my chainsaw...

thanks for the links...
and please, feel free to continue posting pics of your setup... it's a ton of help for us noobs!

[ScubaDude]

Took these photos of my birding setup today, but not in the back yard. I set up in a parking pull-off spot on the beach.

Just got the blind in the mail yesterday. Appears to be the same one as used in the video posted by Kevin Hall, above.


Birding by ScubaDude1960, on Flickr

The view from the blind:
I was set up facing directly away from the sun. In theory, birds land in the top and side of the bushes, anywhere down the row, striking perfect profile poses, and then fly away gracefully as I snap away, getting awesome photos. The camera, mounted on the 'pod, is lower and the distant row of trees is not in the shot.

0311 by ScubaDude1960, on Flickr

In practice, no birds ever showed up. I should have been setup before sunrise; it was already fairly hot by 8:00 am and they may have already been hiding from the sun. It's a place where I've seen birds before (they're always there when I don't have my camera). I waited about 1.5 hours... no birds. And, I could have moved back a good bit or used the 70-200 + 1.4x extender; the 400mm gave a pretty small area of view from where I was set up.

Flower in upper center of above shot. Uncropped view @ 400mm:

0334 by ScubaDude1960, on Flickr

[Kevin Hall]

Eric, it looks to be like mine, hope you have fun with it. Here are a couple of ideas to consider:

I use my pop up blind in the backyard or when I am setting up away from a parking spot or trailhead. When I set up right next to my vehicle I don't bother with the blind but use the van instead. It's a faster set up and tear down and it works just as well as the pop up. It often looks like this:





I black out the windshield behind me with a sun shade, hook up a 3D poncho across the back lower part of the tailgate, and put some camo mesh curtains on a bungee along the top. The birds don't see vehicles as a threat and I am employing shadow and material to mask my movements inside the van. It's a great way to work.

When I do use my pop up, I set my tripod up deep in the blind so that my back is up against the door. This way, my lens is recessed way back into the shadow of the blind - it does a better job of hiding my movements. Sometimes I will leave it with just the window open but other times I will also use mesh curtains for better coverage, especially with very skittish birds like thrushes. This works so well that I've often had birds come and sit on the open window of the blind and even had a few fly into the tent itself.

[chrisa]

Is camo really needed for a bird blind? I would think any structure that hides your movement would work.

[Kevin Hall]

No camo is needed, a blind works by hiding movement. It certainly doesn't do a thing inside my white van except it is dark which works well with shadow. It's camo because that was what was lying around, it could have easily worked with floral print drapery.

Now if you want to hide your blind from two legged critters, camo may be just the thing.

[chrisa]

I have some other interesting props setup for the birds to perch on.

[recrisp]

Originally Posted by chrisa

Is camo really needed for a bird blind? I would think any structure that hides your movement would work.

Nice shot of the Goldfinch!

No camo is needed, that is true...
BUT... Twice I have been in full camo and birds have landed on me. I was hunting (That was years ago, I no longer hunt) and even my face was painted, both times the birds were Tifted Titmice. The first time I was at the edge of the woods in a slough, and I laughed out loud as it happily hopped around on my shoulder, it was a very nice experience. The second time I was not far from there, but I was on a pier, one landed on me while I was standing still. Also, I've had ducks swim right up to me (10 feet or so) in duck season at that same pier or area, when people had been shooting at them, all day, so you know that if they were thinking I was human, that wouldn't have happened either.

So, while it's true that you don't need camo, it sure doesn't hurt, all depending on where you are though, because had I not been wearing any camo, I wouldn't have had those two experiences.

Personally for me, in the Winter I wear all of the camo I feel is needed, I just ordered a really nice face camo cover that won't be uncomfortable, and will hide my face pretty good I feel that anything that you can do to make them think you are not a human is a good thing. I also squint my eyes when there are birds around that I feel may be able to see them, it seems to work. (That's an old duck hunting thing, I believe)
For me, I like to stand beside a tree, or better yet, beside bushes and be very still, usually, not long after a bird, or birds will appear, and the more I blend into the foliage, the better.
I'm sure that there are people that have good luck without though, but how much better would it be if they did have it on, we'll never know.

Randy

[ilsiu]

Originally Posted by Kevin Hall

Hi Kevin -

That's a very interesting water drip setup; I'd like to do something similar for my backyard. What kind of equipment (pump, hoses, fittings) did you use?

Thanks!

[Jeff Dyck]

You may wish to check out Alan Murphy's eBook "Guide to Songbird Set-up Photography"- it is an instructional on backyard set-ups (and you will be very hard-pressed to find anyone better at set-ups than Alan - you can get a taste of his techniques in his (all too infrequently updated!) blog)

[Kevin Hall]

This is the planting pot saucer that I use for the bath.

Because water weighs 8.345 lbs to the gallon and my bath contains about a gallon, I reinforced the underside with a 12 inch x 1/4 inch thick aluminum disk.

The bath sits on a Sirui T-1005X 5-Section Aluminum Tripod. I chose it because it weighs 2.2 lbs and supports 22lbs. It is adjustable so I can position it to whatever height I need. This is important in allowing you to control the background in your photograph - a higher bath will allow a more distant background which helps to throw it out of focus. The bath and disk bolt down to the 3/8 inch threading on the tripod, the bolt in the bath is then silicone sealed.

The pump is a Maxi-Jet Model 400. It uses 7 watts of electricity and moves the water quietly. It has a 1/2 inch discharge so I use a 1/2 inch inner diameter hose to connect to the fountain. The fountain is a 1/2 inch brass elbow that allows me to bubble the water up through some rocks that I drilled holes in. It now looks similar to this:



To run it you will need a source of electricity, I use a Buff Vagabond Mini, but you could just plug it in to an extension cord in your backyard.

Hope that helps, I'm not Alan Murphy but then you didn't have to shell out $50 for a CD or $2500 for a workshop either.