Thanks, Alan. I can sneak up on some of the birds, but the bluebirds are the wariest and the most alert. They are, of course, also the most beautiful birds we see in this part of the world on a regular basis. (They are also a great help in keeping down the flying insect population.)
My longest lens is also a 300mm. (Actually, I have a 500mm f8 reflector lens with a screw mount that I could use with an adapter, but the quality is not great and the bokeh very distracting.) I think I need to go out in stronger light, although of course the birds are most active at dawn and dusk. I guess the other option is to use high ISO, but that also has its drawbacks. Dan Matyola http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola On Sat, Aug 9, 2014 at 4:36 AM, Alan C <[email protected]> wrote: > Dan, I really enjoyed reading your tale. I have only 1 bird feeder which is > quite enough for my budget - they guzzle about 1Kg/day. I hate to think how > much seed you were going through. I haven't seen any small animals or large > aggressive birds at the feeder yet. We have a lot of species nesting in our > yard & the adjoining parkland including those I have seen at the feeder. I > find I can easily sneak up on them behind larger foliage but it is much more > difficult in the park. I have considered a portable hide (the type with a > built in chair) but haven't bought one yet. A longer lens (500-600) would > help a lot too but for the moment the 300 will have to do. > > Have a look at this site - a lot of useful info there. > > http://mikeatkinson.net/tutorials.htm > > Alan C > > -----Original Message----- From: Daniel J. Matyola > Sent: Saturday, August 09, 2014 7:57 AM > To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List > Subject: PESO: Bluebird of Happiness > > > The bluebird of happiness flew up my, ah, nose. <G> > > For decades, I had kept a number of bird feeders in our back yard, as > many as eight at a time. For much of that time, I recorded my > visitors under a program run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I > really enjoyed watching the birds enjoying my feeders. > > In recent years, however, the deer and squirrels attracted by the bird > feeders have become a bigger and bigger problem. We also had > occasional visits by racoons and black bear, which were very > destructive, not to mention dangerous. > > Three years ago we got a new puppy, and we have been trying very hard > to train him to stay in our yard, so he could tun free, at least in > that acre or so. The deer and other critters attracted by the bird > feeders became a major nuisance, so very reluctantly I decided to give > them up. > > The lack of bird feeders the last couple of years has greatly reduced > the number of deer and squirrels in our yard, and made it a lot easier > for our Malamute to enjoy playing in the yard. There has been a > surprising side effect, however; there are a lot more birds nesting > in our yard than before. I suspect that the more aggressive birds > attracted by the bird feeders, like blue jays, cardinals, starlings, > grackles and crows, had been intimidating smaller birds and > discouraging them from nesting in our yard. Last year we had two bird > houses that were occupied with small birds. This year, we had five > occupied bird houses, plus a nest in a tree and one on one of the > floodlights on my house. Better yet, for the first time in decades, > we have bluebirds nesting in two of our bird houses. > > One of the bluebird houses is on the edge of the woods, and I see the > birds infrequently. The other is close to the house, however, and we > see them several times a day, often when we are at the pool or in the > hot tub, which is quite close to the house. > > I have, of course, been trying to capture some images of the > bluebirds, with little success. They are quite shy, and disappear as > soon as they see my camera. (How do they know what I'm up to?) Even > when I manage to sneak up on them, they are so quick in and out of the > house that there have been very few opportunities. > > This weekend, I decided to give it yet another try. I set the tripod > up on the deck, but they saw me and kept hidden. After an hour of no > sightings since I brought out the camera and tripod, I gave up. As I > was putting my gear away, I had an idea: They don't seem to mind us > when we are in the hot tub, so why don't I try hiding behind the hot > tub, resting the camera on the cover? I knelt behind the hot tub and > set up the camera. after a few minutes, the female flew out of the > house, and back in a few minutes later, but she was too quick. > Besides, I couldn't get in a position to focus properly through the > view finder or even the LCD. I pre-focused on the surface of the bird > house, and waited, with my finger on the shutter release and the > camera set on multiple images. > > After about 20 minutes, my back was aching, but suddenly the male put > in an appearance. I fired off several rapid-fire shots, and then > tried to follow him when he rested in a tree and then on the top of > the dog run. > > I wasn't able to get a good sharp image of the male, so I plan to try > again this weekend. This is the best I have been able to manage so > far: > > http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=17830976&size=md > Comments are appreciated. > > Dan Matyola > http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. > > --- > This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! 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