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Thread started 28 Mar 2020 (Saturday) 06:32
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ideas needed for garden hide/blind

 
FrankKolwicz
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Apr 16, 2020 13:11 as a reply to  @ post 19047479 |  #16

I've only used a couple of blinds over the years, starting with a tipi blind I built with bamboo poles and fabric, 40 years ago.

All the advice has been very good - you need full coverage, opaque fabric, dark clothes, etc. You may have to cover your face, like me, you look pale with gray/white hair and any light bouncing into the blind could light you up like a spotlight. Some birds are particularly wary and some kind of face covering will help, as will dark gloves. I use a hunter's camo face net with one eye hole cut out, a dark hat and, sometimes, anti-glare sun glasses, too. All from Cabela's.

I found that fabric blinds deteriorate rather quickly and mine have only lasted a couple of months outdoors before the fabric became so weak that almost any touch to move or adjust the blind punched holes in it or the ribs worked their way through. It would probably extend their life, if you use an easily replaceable cover to get the sun off it. I'd use spring clamps to attach it or something like them.

My physical condition is much like yours, with similar restrictions in position and movement. I use a chair blind on my back patio with a thick cushion to raise my seating position. Regular feeder birds come to within 10 feet or less, whether the chair is out all the time or just brought out when needed, less acclimated birds require more stealth and more distance as they react to the movement of the lens, even slight, slow movements, sometimes. When I plan to use the blind, I plan to be in it for at least an hour, usually more than 2, so the birds can forget about my presence or new birds come in. It helps bring in new birds, if there are a number of locals at the feeders/water supply.

Regarding your photos: the position of your blind, the birds' perches or other photo foregrounds and backgrounds need some consideration. Presumably, you have the ability to move these things around to create less cluttered and distracting objects in the images of the birds.

Best of luck.




  
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duckster
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Apr 16, 2020 13:13 as a reply to  @ FrankKolwicz's post |  #17

With fabric blinds, they are not meant to be left out forever, they will deteriorate for sure.




  
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duckster
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Apr 16, 2020 13:15 |  #18

Something like this works quite well and not very expensive.
https://www.cabelas.co​m …lind/2205671.ut​s?slotId=2 (external link)




  
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Jeff ­ USN ­ Photog ­ 72-76
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Apr 16, 2020 15:13 |  #19

FrankKolwicz wrote in post #19047597 (external link)
All the advice has been very good - you need full coverage, opaque fabric, dark clothes, etc. You may have to cover your face, like me, you look pale with gray/white hair and any li
Regarding your photos: the position of your blind, the birds' perches or other photo foregrounds and backgrounds need some consideration. Presumably, you have the ability to move these things around to create less cluttered and distracting objects in the images of the birds.

Best of luck.

back of house is south, so my chair faces North/Northwest. Small yard any other part of the back yard as the house as a backdrop and the backyard is only 25 feet deep so to keep the feeders even 10 feet from the house means I an sitting in bushes at the back. other side yard is worse than the garden. If I put the feeders along the back fence which I might I am shooting into the sun most of the day. There is only one other place to put the feeders in our pet cemetery by the back fence. The problem with that is that I would have to shoot from the west or north so most of the day it is into the sun. In the evening for a couple hours it gets sunlight the right way, and even then it is mostly shadowed by trees. If the feeders were in the area on the left side I would have to sit on the steep slope or dig a level area.
If the backyard faced North it would be ok but it faces south so bad light.
Birds are most active in the morning and the only morning light I can get is between 8:30 am and noon in the current garden, ALTHOUGH if the wife would let me I COULD put the feeders in the middle side of the front yard where I could use the morning light and there is a slightly better background but she has already said no way I am junking up the front yard, although I may try for it again but there no way she would allow a blind and I think the neighbors would call the cops if I draped myself with a camo cloth and sat in the front yard.
Once she plants her garden I will probably lose the feeders there anyway. but then she may let me put them in the front yard, but not very likely although I will ask.


I will sit out back and think where I could put some feeders for pictures. Really very few options even if I was free to put them anywhere. basically the layout of the yard and the direction of the sun is bad. Oh well....


The of the backyard picture is looking from east to west and south to the left taken about noon sun due south . The area behind the red shed is my platform for astronomy with my telescopes.

the second picture is just to my left in the heavy shade, our pet cemetery, I could probably put one or two feeders there but have to be very careful where I did and the wife keeps that one area really nice.

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"sometimes having is not so pleasing as wanting, it is not logical but it is true" Commander Spock
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FrankKolwicz
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Apr 16, 2020 15:14 |  #20

duckster wrote in post #19047598 (external link)
With fabric blinds, they are not meant to be left out forever, they will deteriorate for sure.

2-3 months isn't "forever".

For one of the Ameristep blinds I used, that's all it could stand and that much time in the open isn't unreasonable, if you're watching resident or nesting birds or even for a longish migration season. Also, how many one-week long uses in a couple of seasons adds up to a couple of months, in total? Not as many as I'd like.

Yes, I realize how cheap they are, but I dislike adding to the throw-away culture and are the more expensive ones any better? I bought a used LLRue blind that cost several hundred bucks, new, that is falling apart after being out all winter this year. I don't know how long the previous owner had it out, but when I bought it, the fabric didn't punch-through when I picked it up to examine it like it does now.

This is why I suggested the extra cover to save the original material as long as possible.

I've been trying to think of a way to re-cover the metal wire frame of the LLRue blind, but my skills don't lie in that area and it's a bit too small for me anyway, so I don't want to make the effort for it. Maybe it's time for a new tent or pop-up blind and a cover to go with it.




  
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duckster
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Apr 16, 2020 15:25 as a reply to  @ FrankKolwicz's post |  #21

Leaving one out all winter will certainly accelerate the aging/deterioration process. I don't leave them out for more than a week or two at at time and certainly not in all kinds of foul weather.




  
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Tom ­ Reichner
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Apr 16, 2020 15:50 as a reply to  @ Jeff USN Photog 72-76's post |  #22

.
Jeff,

You don't need permanent or semi-permanent locations for the feeders.

Many bird photographers who shoot feeder setups have portable feeders they put out in various different places each day. . Wake up, take the feeder outside, unfold it, place it in a spot in your yard, put the portable blind 12 or 15 feet away, and shoot for an hour or two. . Then get out of the blind, move the feeder to a different spot, move the blind accordingly, and shoot for another hour or two. . When the light gets strong, fold the feeder back up and set it agains the house or in the garage or whatever.

Then when the light is nice in the evening you get the feeder out and set it in a whole different spot of the yard for the evening session. . When the sun goes down fold 'er back up and put it away for the night. . Repeat daily, always trying slightly different places in the yard to get different light angles and different backgrounds.

The birds don't have to get used to each new feeding location. . They will associate the feeding platform itself with the food they are looking for, and as soon as they see the feeder, they will go right to it. . After a few days of being fed in very different locations, the birds will understand that their food source is mobile, and will be happy to land on it no matter where they find it on any given day. . Heck, you could even set it on top of your roof, or out in the middle of your street, and the birds would go right to it without hesitation.

You may want to fashion some portable backgrounds, as well, so that you don't end up with unsightly manmade things in your photos. . It is best to control everything in the frame. . As some famous photographer once said, "everything in the frame is either helping your image, or hurting it." . You should eliminate anything that isn't adding to the appeal of the image.

Totally portable feeders that set up in seconds, and totally portable blinds that set up in a minute or three. . That's typically the best way to do the backyard bird thing.

.


"Your" and "you're" are different words with completely different meanings - please use the correct one.
"They're", "their", and "there" are different words with completely different meanings - please use the correct one.
"Fare" and "fair" are different words with completely different meanings - please use the correct one. The proper expression is "moot point", NOT "mute point".

  
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Jeff ­ USN ­ Photog ­ 72-76
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Apr 16, 2020 17:09 |  #23

Tom,
Very good advice! I will see what I can do to control the shot, light and the backgrounds!


"sometimes having is not so pleasing as wanting, it is not logical but it is true" Commander Spock
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Jeff ­ USN ­ Photog ­ 72-76
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Apr 16, 2020 17:25 |  #24

It is funny that my top 4 liked pictures were all taken in the "poor" bird studio with bad backgrounds. of course they were only 25,25,28 and 30 likes, not that many, but I am happy with them and with the angles I shot them at they came out pretty good. I am sure that people get hundreds of likes on a really good shot but I am thrilled with what I have gotten


"sometimes having is not so pleasing as wanting, it is not logical but it is true" Commander Spock
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FrankKolwicz
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Apr 16, 2020 18:58 |  #25

Good advice about the portability of the feeder(s) and your blind, that's where the chair blind comes in handy, you can just put it on any reasonably level spot and sit down with your camera and tripod. Birds really want your food and water and some will put up with a lot of seemingly off-putting action around them, depending on the species and the personality of the individual bird.

I've used an old construction lighting tripod stand from Home Depot at times to support my feeder and/or a suitable perch. Since I no longer needed the halogen lights for painting and such, I put it to other use.It had the nice feature of having a telescoping main stand so height could be adjusted for better photos. Keep it high to stay out of reach of marauding cats, then bring it down to photo height while you're there.

Looking at your yard photos, I suggest some taller plantings along that fence, for instance. Since your wife is a gardener, she might not even mind spending some dough on taller, preferrably native, plants that will make nice backgrounds for you.

I spend a lot of time on my patio when it's not too cold and rainy or when I see interesting birds in the yard. The chair blind and the tripod are nearby, so the local birds are used to them, and I can just grab my camera and get in, then wait for the locals to come back to the seeds or the water pool. It's real handy to pop out for a meal or the john and get back in in comfort. The blind isn't all that waterproof, but it's sufficient to keep me dry and shady most of the time and it's under some shade in the summer, but could be moved elsewhere as needed.

Be aware that fabric blinds get real hot in the sun, even on moderate days. I remember having to strip down to my underwear a couple of times to keep from overheating in a tent blind.




  
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Tom ­ Reichner
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Apr 16, 2020 19:09 |  #26

FrankKolwicz wrote in post #19047792 (external link)
.
Be aware that fabric blinds get real hot in the sun, even on moderate days. I remember having to strip down to my underwear a couple of times to keep from overheating in a tent blind.
.

.
True; good point.

But what helps to negate that fact is that in temperate zones such as Massachusetts, where Jeff lives, most birds pretty much stop coming in to feeders once the mating season starts up in May, and don't come back to the feeders until November or thereabouts. . So when it's hot in the summertime, in Massachusetts, one probably isn't going to be using their blind, anyway.


.


"Your" and "you're" are different words with completely different meanings - please use the correct one.
"They're", "their", and "there" are different words with completely different meanings - please use the correct one.
"Fare" and "fair" are different words with completely different meanings - please use the correct one. The proper expression is "moot point", NOT "mute point".

  
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Jeff ­ USN ­ Photog ­ 72-76
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Apr 16, 2020 19:43 |  #27

Tom Reichner wrote in post #19047796 (external link)
.
True; good point.

But what helps to negate that fact is that in temperate zones such as Massachusetts, where Jeff lives, most birds pretty much stop coming in to feeders once the mating season starts up in May, and don't come back to the feeders until November or thereabouts. . So when it's hot in the summertime, in Massachusetts, one probably isn't going to be using their blind, anyway.

.

I get birds year round at my garden feeder including Cardinals. My wife doesn't like it because she plants indian corn and the grackles and crows and blue jays land on the stalks and break them, boy does she get pissed!

In the nice weather I will be up most of the night with my telescopes and if it is clear with doing my solar imaging. I don't mind the heat, got used to it in the Navy (72-76) the older I get I don't like the cold! I haven't been out with the astro scope since October and the solar scope only a couple times.

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Apr 17, 2020 06:00 |  #28

once the trees and "shrubs" leaf out the backgrounds will get better. most plantings up here other than evergreens that grow slow lose their leaves. My Holly bushes keep them all winter so will check their area for shots but current area gets better with leaves.
I do like shooting from the den to my current area since today the middle of April it is 30 degrees this morning with a chance of snow this afternoon and I really don't like the cold weather since my stroke and being on blood thinners.

If you look at the branches behind the squirrel you will see how the backdrop will get better in a month or so. The sparrow is on the same bush that is behind the squirrel but taken when the leaves are there.

BUT I am going to try different areas as you guys suggest. The main problem is sun, even shooting in the middle of the day I am shooting into the sun other than the bird garden and the front yard near the bird garden except for a couple hours in the late afternoon then more places open up especially the animal cemetery.


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Jeff ­ USN ­ Photog ­ 72-76
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Apr 19, 2020 18:52 |  #29

finished my blind added top and sides

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Apr 19, 2020 21:31 as a reply to  @ Jeff USN Photog 72-76's post |  #30

Looks like you are gaining a lot Jeff, let us know if you see an improvement and or success. You should have darkened the inside considerably which just has to help imo.


Steve
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ideas needed for garden hide/blind
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