# It's for the birds...



## MikeScone

One of my favorite photographic subjects is nature, and birds in particular. Birds can be particularly challenging as subjects, since they are very wary and move very fast. All but two of these pictures were taken in Ireland - locations indicated [in square brackets].

It helps to start with a long lens - you'll probably want 200mm at least. This picture of a Skylark was taken at 200mm (f/5.6 @ 1/750sec).[Inishbofin, County Galway]







Longer is better - this Ringed Plover was taken at 300mm (f/5.6 @[sup]1[/sup]/2,000sec, ISO500). The wide f/5.6 aperture, as wide as the lens will do at that focal length, throws the background out of focus and lets the bird "pop". With limited depth of field, always make sure to focus on the eyes. [Inishmaan, Aran Islands]






This Pied Wagtail was also taken at 300mm (f/5.6 @ [sup]1[/sup]/500sec, ISO200). Notice the placement of the bird, according to the Rule of Thirds, which says to put the subject on a one-third line rather than precisely centered. If you're going to do that, though, make sure that the bird is looking into the frame and not out of it - in this image, if the Wagtail were looking left instead of right it would throw the picture out of balance. 

Pied Wagtail at Slieve League, County Donegal:






If you can get the bird to look right at you, that's a plus, especially if it looks interested. The "tongue click" technique sometimes works, or a low whistle, which is what I did to attract the attention of this Wheatear (once again, 300mm, at an exposure of f5.6 @ 1/350)[Achill Island, County Mayo]:






In-flight pictures can be especially tricky. You'll want the highest shutter speed you can get to freeze the motion, but that will require a wide aperture. With the limited depth of field of long lenses at wide apertures, this is where a really good autofocus system can prove its worth. If your camera has a "continuous autofocus" mode, use it. With my Nikon in "Auto-C", I center the bird in the frame and push the shutter button halfway to activate the autofocus. The camera focuses on the bird, and as long as I hold the shutter halfway down and track the bird, the camera changes focus sensors to keep the bird in focus as it moves around the frame. When the picture is what I want, I push the shutter all the way and take the shot. 

Fulmar, taken at 280mm (f/[email protected]/2000sec) [Carrick-a-Rede, County Antrim]:






Another Fulmar, 200mm (f/5.6 @ 1/1500)[Ft. Dunree, Inishowen, Co. Donegal]:






It sometimes helps to bump up the ISO a bit to allow higher shutter speeds - this picture of an Arctic Tern was taken at ISO 500 instead of the normal ISO 200 (300mm focal length, f/[email protected]/2000). Be careful not to increase the ISO to the point where your camera introduces noise into the image - experiment a bit and see how high you can go without losing image quality. With the D7000 you can go to ISO 1600 at least, but on my old Fuji S2 I couldn't go even as high as 800. 

Arctic Tern on Inishmaan, Aran Islands:






Note that with all of the in-flight pictures I have the bird either centered, or on a one-third point flying into the frame. You never want the bird to be on one side, flying out of the frame. 

It's a plus if you can include something in the frame to indicate the bird's environment. Here, these Razorbills are nesting on a cliff face. Because they were stationary, I could afford to stop down the lens to get some more depth of field to show both the birds and the rocks in focus (300mm, f/11 @ 1/60). Normally, you shouldn't try to hand-hold a lens when the shutter speed is less than the focal length - in other words, at 300mm you should try for a shutter speed over 1/300th. This is where image stabilization (Canon's IS) or vibration reduction (Nikon's VR) really comes into its own - because the lens was compensating for any vibration in my holding the camera, I could use a shutter speed as slow as 1/60 and still get a sharp picture (40+ years of practice doesn't hurt, either). 

Razorbills [Carrick-a-Rede, County Antrim]






Sanderlings in the surf [Inishmaan, Aran Islands]:






A Jackdaw in the ruins of the Rock of Cashel, County Tipperary:






The photographs I like the best show the bird actually doing something. It can take a few tries, or a lot of patience, but if the bird is calling or singing it's worthwhile waiting for the perfect shot. 

A Rook in full cry (250mm, f/[email protected]/500)[Fota, County Cork]:






A Song Thrush singing on a rock wall (300mm, f/[email protected]/500)[Inisheer, Aran Islands]:






Catching a landing water bird can combine the challenges of flying shots and action pictures - continuous autofocus helps, if you can track the bird as it approaches to land, then shoot just as it touches down. Here, a Canada Goose lands in the pond at Cornell's Lab of Ornithology at Sapsucker Woods in Ithaca, NY: 





Finally, if you can get in really close, do it! This is seldom an option for wild birds, but you can get pictures under controlled circumstances which don't look like they were staged. Look for raptor demonstrations or falconry, or even birds at zoos or wildlife parks, where the bird is used to having people get close. This Kestrel was part of a falconry demo at Stirling Castle in Scotland (200mm, f/[email protected]/125): 





And as one bonus, a famous press photographer was once asked his rule for getting great photographs. He said, "f/8 and be there". In other words, you can't get the shot if you're not there - so get out and take pictures!


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## GorbyJobRabbits

Firstly, I want to say absolutely stunning!! and it has taken me forever to come back to this site lol. I've worked all over the country with birds, and have missed out on sooo many things because of lack of a good camera. 

I can only lay in the yard and get baby bird pics lol






Thanks for all your help again on the other thread. I may search you out for other questions in the futuer if you don't mind. =)


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## Nancy McClelland

:yeahthat: Very good catch Mike. Loved the pics. When we hit northern Europe five years ago we bought a professional Sony with a monster Leica lens. Took some really fantastic shots from a long ways off--but, needed a heavy duty tripod.


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## MikeScone

Here's my picture of a baby robin - a Scottish robin, that is, taken on the Isle of Mull:


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## gmas rabbit

These are incredible!!!!!


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## GorbyJobRabbits

still has the chubby thrasher shape like the american robins.

I just got another birding job up in N.E. Ohio, not too far from home, and before I leave I'm going to see if I can get the new lens. Would just like to have some nice stuff to share.


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## MikeScone

*GorbyJobRabbits wrote: *


> still has the chubby thrasher shape like the american robins.


As babies, yes. The adults really look very little like our robins. 










The same is true of Irish "goldfinches" - a very colorful bird, indeed, but not the same as our American birds of the same name.


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## GorbyJobRabbits

the adults do remind me more of a warbler in a way. 

and that is a stunning finch. I would think it would have a different name because of the coloring. lol


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## MikeScone

There were lots of birds on my feeder this Spring morning. Here are a few of the shots I took:

Blue Jay:





Brown-headed Cowbird:






Redwing Blackbird:






Chipping Sparrow and a pair of House Finches - the female on the left, male on right: 






Here are the House Finches alone, male first...






... and the female.


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## MikeScone

[align=center]Another colorful bird - black and white and red all over, as the old riddle says
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[/align][align=center]Rose-Breasted Grosbeak
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## Nancy McClelland

Really neat!


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## ZRabbits

Always came to this thread. Absolutely love your pictures, especially the feeder birds. Have feeders myself, but the one outside my kitchen window is being used for something else. 

A young couple were trying to build a nest in our awning. Since we only feed the small birds during the winter, instead of removing this feeder, my Husband took the plastic sides out. 

The young couple was successful. There are actually five babies in that nests. It's been such fun watching them grow.











Little off center, lol But I was hanging the camera out the window, not focusing with the view finder. 


Just look at that face. Just love those feather sticking up. They are just so funny looking at this age. 





K


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## MikeScone

These birds were around my feeder this morning. 

A male Downy Woodpecker (you can tell by the red patch on the back of his head). Hairy Woodpeckers, the other common woodpecker around here, are very similar, but larger and with a much longer beak. 






A Common Junco (formerly known as "slate-colored Junco") sitting on my woodpile, looking in through the living room window. Around here they're best known as "Snowbirds". 






Using fill flash helped a lot - without flash, the light was dim enough in the snowstorm we're having that I could not use a high enough shutter speed to avoid blur from the moving bird and swaying feeder. Also, without flash the bird was pretty much silhouetted against the brighter background. When using flash through a window like this, be sure that the flash strikes the glass at an angle, so that it does not bounce back into the lens.


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## MikeScone

A chickadee - they move so fast, it's hard to catch one in an interesting pose. Notice the blurred streaks from the seeds the chickadee was flinging around. 






From a photographic point of view (this is the Camera Corner, after all), notice that I've placed the bird off-center, on a one-third line. Most important, the bird is looking _into_ the picture frame - if I'd put him on the left-hand one-third line, he'd be looking out of the frame. That wouldn't look "right", even if a viewer couldn't explain why. It's human nature - we're wired to look where something else is looking, and if the subject seems to be looking out of the frame we find it disturbing.


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## Nancy McClelland

I was going to say "ick! snow!", but we are supposed to be getting some on Tuesday. Last time we had a good one was in 2008, 2 weeks before xmas. Love the pics.


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## MikeScone

I've had quite a few goldfinches on my feeder recently. They're so brightly colored, they almost seem to glow in the sunlight. 






The female goldfinch, peeking out around the feeder on the right, is slightly less brightly colored, but beautiful nonetheless...


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## Ilovemyrabbit

Mike, we have lots of those around our feeders as well. They are really pretty birds that's for sure!


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## MikeScone

There was a cardinal on my feeder this morning - what a spectacularly colored bird!


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## lovelops

What a great photo!


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## Chrisdoc

Fabulous photos, such intense colours, love them all.


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## Aubrisita

Gorgeous pictures.


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## MikeScone

I bought the new Nikon 18-300mm zoom, and I really like it. It's the same size and weight as the 18-200mm, but half again longer, which means that it will replace both the 18-200 and the 70-300mm zoom, a big savings in total weight and bulk (not to mention convenience). Here are some pictures I took with it at my porch bird feeder:

Brown-Headed Cowbird:






Goldfinch - notice the olive winter plumage being replaced by summer gold:





Rose-breasted Grosbeak:





Hairy Woodpecker:


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## Azerane

Fantastic images Mike, I didn't know you did bird photography, I do too  Recently I got a Canon 100-400mm which has been very exciting to use after surviving on a 55-250mm kit lens for the last four years. You seem to be enjoying the new lens so far, I hope it continues to go well for you.

Woodpeckers were definitely some of my favourite USA birds when I've visited


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## pani

I love the picture of the rose-breasted grosbeak, like he's peeking around the corner to see if anyone's there.


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## MikeScone

I stopped off at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge at the north end of Cayuga Lake on the way back from visiting a client today, and took some pictures (of course). 

I like the way the necks of these Canada Geese reflect each other:





The Redwing Blackbirds were nesting all over the Reserve - there was one nearly every few yards. 





I like to try to catch birds calling - this is a Tree Swallow on a birdhouse at the Reserve Visitor Center.


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## Azerane

Lovely photos, seeing them reminds me of being in the states, I miss seeing the many varieties of new birds there, it's so fascinating and like a whole other world. Love the photo of the red-winged blackbird, I never did get to see one of those up close.


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## MikeScone

Hummingbirds are amazing creatures. Nature's helicopters, they hover and dart here and there at great speed. 

They also have long memories. I never got around to putting out my hummingbird feeder last year. A month ago I spotted a hummingbird hovering exactly where the feeder had been, two years earlier. Of course, I put the feeder right out, and it's been busy with little birds ever since. 

Here's a male ruby-throated hummingbird, hovering next to the feeder:





This is a female, coming in for a landing:





The female, again, ready to start sipping nectar:





Mission accomplished, maximum effort climb out!


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## Azerane

Hummingbirds are so gorgeous. I only ever got to see a single bird and it was perched at the time, so I've never actually seen the amazing hovering behaviour. That's so amazing that they hovered in the exact spot of the feeder two years on. I knew they had good memories so they didn't revisit flowers, but that's amazing


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## MikeScone

The hummingbirds have just about all flown South for the year - but here's one more picture before they go.






I heard what sounded like a bird constantly cheeping on my porch - but it turned out to be this little guy...






... and about six more of his family...


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## Azerane

Oh my goodness! They're chipmunks right? I never got to see one when I was in the states, super disappointing. Such adorable little things, great photos


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## MikeScone

Azerane said:


> Oh my goodness! They're chipmunks right?



Yes, they're chipmunks. They love to clean up the spilled birdseed under the feeders on my porch. One lookout sits on the woodpile and goes "cheep... cheep... cheep..." continuously - when he stops and runs away that's the signal for the other chipmunks to watch out.


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## MikeScone

I don't often use flash in bird photography, but sometimes fill flash can help on a dull, cloudy day. Here it does a good job bringing out the shine on the blue jay's feathers.


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## missyscove

How close did you get to that jay to be able to use flash? I don't think my bird friends will let me get that close unless it's through a window.


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## MikeScone

missyscove said:


> How close did you get to that jay to be able to use flash? I don't think my bird friends will let me get that close unless it's through a window.



It was through a window, and I was on the other side of the room, maybe ten feet away.


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## MikeScone

I caught this Red-bellied Woodpecker on the feeder this morning - it's a new one for me. Quite a pretty bird. This is a female - in the male, the red coloring covers most of the top of the head, instead of only the nape of the neck.






A Common Junco, or snowbird, as they're known here.


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## MikeScone

We've had a pair of cardinals on the feeder for the last few weeks. What spectacularly colored birds! The male will perch on a tree across the street before he comes to the feeder, and he stands out against the winter grey tree bark like a beacon. 






The cardinal and a chickadee. At least the cardinal is willing to share the feeder - blue jays always chase everything else away (and then dump most of the seed on the ground).


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## MikeScone

Playing with the new Nikon D7200 this morning - here are two birds on the feeder. 

Blue Jay





Chickadee


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## stevesmum

Beautiful! Love the action shot of the chickadee!


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## MikeScone

Spring has finally arrived in Harford, New York, after a really tough Winter and cold rainy Spring. Yesterday I saw a hummingbird hovering on the porch where I hang my hummingbird feeder. I rushed it out, and they're out in force slurping up the nectar. 

The morning sun gave enough light to let me use a high shutter speed for these pictures today. At 1/500th the wings are not quite frozen, there's just enough blur to give an idea of their speed. 






Caught the hummingbird's tongue on this shot...


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## MikeScone

I've upgraded my camera to a Nikon D500 and recently acquired a 200-500mm Nikkor lens for bird and airplane photography. The combination is really great - sharp and fast and, if heavy, a pleasure to operate. Here are a few sample pictures I've taken over the last few weeks.

Cardinal





Red-Bellied Woodpecker





Common Junco - a/k/a "Snowbird"





Canada Goose landing at Cornell's Sapsucker Woods Lab of Ornithology





Another Canada Goose at Sapsucker Woods





Mallard Duck





Hairy Woodpecker





Nuthatch





Finally, a very furry bird - a Red Squirrel who frequents my feeder...


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## MikeScone

I spent three weeks in Scotland with the Scouts at the Blair Atholl Jamborette this summer. Here are some bird pictures I took over there.

The European Robin is not related to the bird we have over here - our "Robin" is a thrush. The first European settlers in this country named a lot of our birds after whatever they had known back home which had somewhat similar characteristics. So, any bird with a red breast became a "Robin".

Robin on the Isle of Arran






Baby Robin





A juvenile Gull and an Oystercatcher on the shore at King's Cave, Isle of Arran. Both of these birds are common shorebirds here in the States, as well. 





A Gannet - this is a very large bird, with a six-foot wingspan. They nest in colonies of up to 250,000 birds on offshore rocks in Scotland. 





A European Blackbird at Blair Atholl in Perthshire - again, not the same bird as our Blackbirds





Song Thrush at Blair Atholl, busily hunting worms





Finally, a furry bird to finish off with - the first Mountain Hare I've been able to capture photographically...


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