Got A New Set Of Sticks

New sticks, new shots, great captures!
Karen

Thanks Wayne, Hung, Downy, Rick, Alan, Sindri, Mark, Bill, Grizz, Craig and Karen.

Rick, I have set up my back yard so the feeders and sticks are at advantageous angles from my bedroom window. The sun is at my back in the morning and to the left side later in the day. Late afternoon it is in my face, but, I can then move out to the porch if I want to shoot more, or on cloudy days it doesn't matter. The normal shooting angle is straight and level, however, one of the new sticks is about 9 feet tall, which the birds fight over to get to the tippy top perch, where that House finch is just below the very top of.

Heres a couple of shots of the yard. The first one below, you can see most of the new sticks, only two of them. The one on the right is just jammed right into the dirt and is about 7 feet tall. The one with the finch feeder and bird on it is about 9 feet tall and as you can see in the second image, it's end is jammed into a rot hole in the crotch of that stump I cut to hold it. It has another stick in the top hole that goes over to a little barn shaped feeder on a metal yard table, just out of the frame. The distances of open air behind the sticks is what gives you that nice bokeh, which is just out of focus background.

This may sound corny, but I'm a boomer as are some others here, and, as we all know, there is a real need for all of us to do less driving and to use less gas. This setup has given me innumerable hours of pure delight and some very fine pictures of our little friends. Not only in fall, spring and summer, but even through the winter. And I can sit in the comfort of my own room to do the shooting. I don't have to drive anywhere, I don't have to pick ticks off me when I'm done, and the computer is right here where I can take a few shots, then process them. And think of the advantages for those housebound or handicapped people. Also, the longer you have feeders set up, the more and varied birds you will get to come to them.

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Nice ones ...I love the stick detail ..giggles

Nice series Mitch.You've got some very bright coloured birds over there.

Lovely images and a very good setup. Like em all Mitch.

Putting pre-planned perches around my back deck and bird feeders has produced the best bird shots for me, by far. It's not really cheating, is it???

Thanks for the tips on setting up for bird shots. Us new guys appreciate the help.

And the comments about conserving: right on the money!

Oh, and very nice shots - always!

These are outstanding Mitch! You're so good at getting them to come right to you and you make the best of it with the camera. Great work!

Thanks again Deb, Adi, Reyno, VI, Brian and Dennis. If you have a yard, I don't think it matters where you are, town or country, if you put out seeds and make them feel comfortable being there, they will come. Even if you live in an apartment and have a balcony, I think you could bring in the birds. All it takes is one to find the seeds, the rest will follow.

canonloader wrote in post #3218438
Thanks guys. The longer I interact with these guys, the more respect I have for them. They are far more than little mindless balls of feathers. At another long time feeder I know of, the birds will land on your hand. That's what I have in mind here.

Being retired, I spend a lot of time with the birds in my backyard and patio. I expect a lot of skepticism on this, but I have a pair of Bluebirds that I can open the door going out to the patio and they will feed from my hand in the doorway.

I decided to see if the birds would come into the hallway a few feet, it didn't phase them at all, they came in, and seemed at ease eating in my hand and carrying worms to their babies.

I'm not advocating that anyone should do this. I guess what I'm saying is that the birds and I have adopted and trust each other.

Another great series here Mitch.... all nice and sharp
always look forward to ypur posts
Chris

Thanks Robert and Chris. Robert, There is a bird feeding station in one of our county parks that someone set up years ago. There are enough locals that know about it that it is kept stocked fairly regularly, and every day during the winter someone is sure to stop by and put seed out. The Chickadees, Nuthatches and several Downy Woodpeckers will come right to your hand, even onto the dashboard of the car if you put seeds or peanuts out. I was working on getting a Hairy Woodpecker to take peanuts from my hand and one day he made a close approach, but at the last second sheered off, still afraid.

When you think about, theres nothing odd about it. If you watch in a busy park on a summer day when a lot of people are there with picnics and food, after awile the birds get use to the people and nobody is paying attention to them, they will be back on the grass, even landing on tables to snatch scraps when no one is looking. Birds want to be friendly and get involved.

Our camera club has a new member that had never seen a Bluebird. He photographed the birds eating out of my hand. I gave him some food and the birds fed from his hand also.

A quiet, reserved professional with a very responsible position, he is still talking about seeing and having Bluebirds eat from his hand.

It was nice seeing someone else get a thrill.... well, he was estatic, over seeing and feeding Bluebirds.

I doubt there are many hobbies that are as rewarding and as many faceted as Photography.

Beautiful shots Mitch and an interesting staging area.

Thanks Dennis. While it's really about the birds, it's the new sticks that made it so easy. I think every bird in the neighborhood was there at once when they first went up.

Birds will do that to people.