Uploads from Evan Animals

Tufted Titmouse by flower

nobody@flickr.com (Evan Animals) — Sat, 25 May 2013 06:33:52 -0700

A tufted titmouse sits perched near a flower. Part of the backyard series!

Backyard Blind - w/ notes and sample photos!

nobody@flickr.com (Evan Animals) — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:33:17 -0700

I have officially been bitten by the backyard birding bug, damn you! Now all my free time/money are spent scratching this itch..

The blind and setup i have been using for a few of my recent photos. The blind (where i hang out and shoot from) is on the left, followed by the bird feeding station in the middle, with a tripod that supports a perch on the right. I am using an old bag with a bunch of logs of wood to support the tripod to prevent it from going anywhere. I will jam branches inbetween the tripod legs and around the bag of wood to create various perches.

Behind the setup is the "Wren Zone". This is where the wrens hang out, along with a few other smaller birds. I will throw some seeds in that bushy area, along with meal worms, and it is just a favorite area for them.

I decided this was going to be my main feeding area and i'm seeing how that goes. When i first started i had 5+ bird feeders all over the yard but i wanted to try to concentrate the birds all into one area. Sadly this area is under a lot of shade, i am thinking about moving it closer to where i was standing when i took the photo, but i'm afraid there is not enough cover for the birds to escape, and i have a very loud and annoying roommate so they need a lot of cover.

Any comments or suggestions on attracting birds or photographing them, or how i'm doing would be greatly appreciated.

Tufted Titmouse on perch

nobody@flickr.com (Evan Animals) — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:26:08 -0700

Evan Animals posted a photo:

i'm inching closer and closer..

Shooting from a blind in the backyard, i am still new at this and i'm starting to add flash into the mix, having the flash outside of the blind and aimed at a cluster of 2 perches that are near the feeding station.

This tufted titmouse was fun to photograph, he would land on the top perch and investigate what was available to eat. I would fire one shot off, he would notice it and flinch, and if i shot again within a few seconds he would immediately fly away and come back about 1 minute later, feeling a little more comfortable with the flash but still flying away after 2 or 3 shots. I was starting to let him get more comfortable before i fired a shot and all of a sudden i heard a bunch of squirrels making a lot of noise right behind me in the woods and the titmouse just started listening/watching for them. At this moment i was able to take about 8 shots of him without flying away.

Sadly my setup has very little light for most of the day so i have to either move it to a more open spot in the yard where i think i will get less visitors or i have to work with flash. I think, sadly, it's going to be in my best interest to use the flash, even though i would rather not use it to disturb the birds less. Ideally i would never use flash and shoot with 100% natural lighting. I am still not certain of what i will do, i could try out small reflectors instead of flash units. It just seems that flash is more annoying and will scare off more birds.

White Breasted Nuthatch

nobody@flickr.com (Evan Animals) — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:59:08 -0700

Evan Animals posted a photo:

A White Breasted Nuthatch sits on a perch for a few moments to check out a group of squirrels close by making a bunch of noise, giving me time to take a few photos.

nuthatch hop

nobody@flickr.com (Evan Animals) — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:47:49 -0700

Evan Animals posted a photo:

A white breasted nuthatch hops on a perch in my backyard.

I can almost always count on a nuthatch to visit my feeders and perches while i'm out there, along with a chickadee or tufted titmouse. This nuthatch was hopping from a nearby perch to the lower one pictured here and i was able to get a cool shot of him hopping down without him using his wings.

Gray Catbird at Algonkian Regional Park, VA

nobody@flickr.com (Evan Animals) — Fri, 10 May 2013 10:59:11 -0700

Evan Animals posted a photo:

A prettier gray catbird stays still for a moment to let me get a decent photo. Earlier in the visit to Algonkian Regional Park in Sterling Virginia I snuck up on another gray catbird that looked very dead but was actually just sunbathing and passed out, you can see the photo in the photostream.

Alonkian Regional Park runs along the Potomac River and is a great birding spot for bluebirds. There is an open field for soccer/football which is a great spot for bluebirds, that is the main reason i visited. Another photographer was shooting from his car with the lens/camera attached to his window, along with a flash. This photographer played bird songs to get the birds to come within inches of his car. I had heard about this technique but i have never seen it in person, it was mesmerizing. I didn't want to stare him down so i just checked out his setup casually and kept moving.

As i was passing his vehicle, a bluebird was flying past the hood of his car, he could have reached out and snatched the bird, thats how close the birds were coming to him because he was baiting the birds with audio playback, it's amazing. They would land on a perch near his car to investigate the bird calls coming from his speaker hanging off the side of his door.

I could see his flash across the field, so i knew when he was getting shots. While i was across the field (probably 300-400 yards) i could see him rattling off shots, he had to get over 40 in the 10 minutes or so i would say i was watching for his flash across the field.

It's making me wonder, is this cheating? Is this any different from what i'm doing in my backyard, or whistling to birds as i'm walking in the woods? It really makes you think for a second about how you can be doing things.

Gray Catbird Passed Out Sunbathing

nobody@flickr.com (Evan Animals) — Thu, 09 May 2013 19:10:44 -0700

Evan Animals posted a photo:

I snuck up on this Gray Catbird sleeping in a tree and swore he was dead! He was motionless with his mouth open, i was kind of startled on first glance. Also there was a very active cardinal just a couple of feet away while this catbird was completely still in this awkward position. Feeling sad, i slowly walked away but kept an eye on him, kind of walking closer to him just to see if he was really dead and all of a sudden he started to move, realized i was there (i was about 10-20 feet away) and ventured into the tree, what a relief!

Nuthatch Closeup - w/flash

nobody@flickr.com (Evan Animals) — Sat, 04 May 2013 08:59:12 -0700

Evan Animals posted a photo:

I really love watching the Nuthatches in my backyard, i call them the upside down bird. They are pretty nutty with their movements and their ways of investigating things, and especially how they perch on things. I consider them goofy, along with a few woodpeckers!

Flash Notes: I decided to try to do add some fill light with my flash and really liked how the photos came out. This one, along with the nuthatch closeup had the flash set at 2/3 stop over exposed while in ETTL and manual mode in the camera, shotting at around 1/300 sec and f7.1 or f8.

Titmouse Closeup - w/flash

nobody@flickr.com (Evan Animals) — Sat, 04 May 2013 08:59:12 -0700

Evan Animals posted a photo:

This titmouse visits a perch near the seeds in my backyard and politely poses for a few photos. Thanks!

Flash Notes: I decided to try to do add some fill light with my flash and really liked how the photos came out. This one, along with the nuthatch closeup had the flash set at 2/3 stop over exposed while in ETTL and manual mode in the camera, shotting at around 1/300 sec and f7.1 or f8.

Summit Point - 4/27/2013

nobody@flickr.com (Evan Animals) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 11:10:08 -0700

Evan Animals posted a photo:

I really liked this shot with the way the background came out.

ed-first-large

nobody@flickr.com (Evan Animals) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 08:43:30 -0700

Evan Animals posted a photo:

Summit Point - Shenandoah Circuit

nobody@flickr.com (Evan Animals) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 08:00:14 -0700

Evan Animals posted a photo:

Blue Jay

nobody@flickr.com (Evan Animals) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 13:57:52 -0700

Evan Animals posted a photo:

A blue jay visits my backyard in Northern Virginia. These guys can be quite noisy and will imitate the red shouldered hawk that is not too far from my home so i am always noticing these guys, along with their large stature. They are also quite beautiful, and will travel with friends of 3-4+. It is fun to see the size difference between these guys and say a chickadee.

White Throated Sparrow - from a blind in backyard

nobody@flickr.com (Evan Animals) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 13:57:51 -0700

Evan Animals posted a photo:

A white throated sparrow visits near me in the backyard. I was camping in a blind for the first time in the backyard and this sparrow was interested in my camera clicks and came quite close. He was feeding on the ground near the feeders.

Blind Notes: I ordered a ameristep outhouse blind from amazon for about $50 and tried it out this morning and loved it. I also bought a cheap $15 portable stool with 3 legs and found that to be the best height so far. Loved the initial experience!

Two Pine Siskins Chattering

nobody@flickr.com (Evan Animals) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:54:54 -0700

Evan Animals posted a photo:

Two Pine Siskins have a few words in the backyard of the home. Trying out a few things!

Eastern Bluebird Perched on Tree

nobody@flickr.com (Evan Animals) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:30:17 -0700

Evan Animals posted a photo:

An Eastern Bluebird perchs on the side of a tree in Great Falls Park in Virginia.

This little guy allowed me the privileged of watching him hunt for insects for over 10 minutes. he would perch for about a minute and dive down for bugs, stay down there for a few seconds and fly up to another perch and pose for some photos. After he finally flew away, i discovered the huge Pileated Woodpecker which can be seen in my photostream.

Pileated Woodpecker at Great Falls Park

nobody@flickr.com (Evan Animals) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:16:02 -0700

Evan Animals posted a photo:

A Pileated Woodpecker perches on a fallen tree and pauses from looking for insects to give a nice pose.

After watching the bluebird for about 10 minutes i found this guy who was near the parking area of Great Falls Park in Virginia. Like the bluebird, he didn't mind me watching him from about 30-40 feet away and i was able to watch and photograph this guy for a long time.

Chipping Sparrow at Great Falls Park

nobody@flickr.com (Evan Animals) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:16:01 -0700

Evan Animals posted a photo:

A chipping Sparrow checks me out at Great Falls Park in Virginia. He came close so i whistled a few times to him and he kept getting closer and closer to me, coming within 6 feet of me!

Bluebird at Great Falls Park

nobody@flickr.com (Evan Animals) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:16:01 -0700

Evan Animals posted a photo:

I was able to watch this bluebird for over 10 minutes at Great Falls Park in Virginia. He would perch for a minute or so and swoop down to the ground to go for insects and he didn't mind me watching from about 30-40 feet away.

wren singing

nobody@flickr.com (Evan Animals) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:57:20 -0700

Evan Animals posted a photo: