Just wait...
Stand and wait...
Stand and wait...
Stand and wait...
(perch)
Gotcha!
Yellow Warbler image © 2007 Mike McDowell
posted by Mike McDowell @ 1:22 PM
3 comments
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Stand and wait...
Stand and wait...
Stand and wait...
(perch)
Gotcha!
Yellow Warbler image © 2007 Mike McDowell
3 Comments:
comment number 1,947,563 to you to learn more about field technique:
So basically you focus on a place that looks like it would make a good photo if a bird perched there, and then just wait? Do you keep an extra camera for photographing other things you see, while the scope is focused on the potential perch?
I carry one camera, my Nikon 995. When it comes to digiscoping birds, I almost always have a specific location in mind that I generally have to walk to. On my way in or out of an area, I’ll photograph wildflowers, insects, scenery, or whatever happens to catch my eye along the trail. So, I guess the subjects I choose are compartmentalized to a degree. When I’m photographing birds, I tend to concentrate on them and not much else – getting in the zone, so to speak.
Some perches seem so optimally placed. In the morning when birds are busiest with song and foraging, it’s only a matter of time. This Yellow Warbler was perched in the same dead tree (different branch) as the Brown Thrasher that I photographed that same morning. That morning, the following bird species also perched there: Song Sparrow, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Willow Flycatcher, Red-winged Blackbird, Northern Flicker, Common Yellowthroat, Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Indigo Bunting. Some of them I managed to photograph, others were missed. Sometimes a bird stops to sing, other times it seems like it’s a resting spot before resuming important activities. I never expect to be able to photograph every bird that perches in front of me, but finding perches like this virtually guarantees you’ll walk off the field with at least a few excellent images.
There was another such dead tree at Pheasant Branch Conservancy, but a storm finally felled it. Over the years I tallied the number of different bird species I had seen during one time or another and recall that number being in the nineties. Location factors huge in my technique.
Mike
WOW I never would've thought that so many different birds would perch on the same spot, but I guess if the spot is optimal like that one, it just stands to reason they'd perch there to broadcast their songs, etc. Thanks for the excellent lesson!
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