Your backyard birding setup?

[Brownie]

I notice that most of the fantastic bird shots posted by several members here, most notably @mapleleaf56, @spudhead, and @charlyee are from their backyard (garden). Others like @Timothy Mayo post a mix. Most of my birds are from the backyard as well, mostly because as previously discussed, I'm lazy!

This is for anyone to answer, not just those named. They're simply who came immediately to mind when I was typing.

My recent shots of the Red Bellied Woodpecker were made from an unexpected location, the service door on my garage. I had moved the bird feeding station closer to the house for winter so I don't have to traipse through the snow to fill the feeder and to better see from the house. Since it's winter no one is outside much so the birds aren't disturbed. The result of that was the feeder ended up about 20' from the service door. When I realized how close it was I decided to stand in the doorway and wait. A couple of brief tries ended up with the Red Bellied shots. I have since decided to upgrade the setup to something more comfortable. I am going to change the service door window to a set of shutters that open inward. An old office chair from a drafting table and a small propane (Indoor safe) heater will keep me warm. I can sit in the garage for hours with a hot beverage, some heat, and remain completely out of view. I'll make the shutters so I can open one or both for days I want to keep more heat in. I'm also going to move the feeder a bit to declutter the background, which will actually put it a few feet closer. Now thaat I'm done testing the old Minolta lens, the weapon of choice will be the 200-600.

So, what's your setup? What tips can you give other members? Do you shoot from indoors through glass or have a good spot outdoors? Be specific. How far are you from the target area? How much time do you spend?

 

[mapleleaf56]

Hi Tim
They are great questions.
My setup is as such.
I’m totally in doors in the room I also use as my studio. I have removed the screen so I can shoot through an open window, my feeders vary in distance from my shooting position, the closest being around 20ft and the furthest about 40ft plus I have quite a few mature trees in my yard.
The bird photos I have posted over the last 2-3 months have all been taken in my yard..
Tips: Well mainly patience, but also knowing your clientele.. making sure you are putting the correct food out for the birds you are expecting and keeping them well stocked and clean your feeders regularly..

 

[Slug]

I've planted and placed native shrubs in close proximity to my kitchen window which I open to use the camera. They are as close as a meter and a half and no further than 6 from the window and have several water containers at different levels including one hanging in a Fushia bush and don't concern myself too much with having a feeder. (They tend to attract sparrows and starlings). Native birds is what I hope to attract and generally I get a good mix of both native and imports.

• ILCE-1
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/11
• 1/2000 sec
• ISO 2500

 

[Tim Mayo]

Thanks for starting this Tim. It's a post I've been meaning to start myself also as I think it would be interesting to hear about peoples different setups and any tips.

A lot of my shooting these days is also confined to the garden due to limited time, and some days I don't even get as far as the garden!

We only moved into our house back in April, so the garden and my setup still need some work. I have learned in the past couple of weeks that where I currently have my feeders and perches setup receives practically no sun at this time of year! Thankfully there's a small spot at the bottom of the garden that does catch a little sun, so I need to put something down there as well.

Currently my feeders and various perches are setup about 4 meters from the house, this let's us watch the birds whist eating dinner and breakfast but I can also poke my camera out of the window if I see something interesting or the rain is lashing down.

I have a few branches that I use for perches, although these really need replacing now. We used to have a barbed wire fence until we replaced it with something more dog and child friendly, but I decided to keep one length of barbed wire as I think it looks nice in photos. I use the hedge as well and there's a small tree just outside of our garden that also makes for a nice perch.

We get so many little birds in our garden than they are often queuing up to get to the feeders, if we didn't have so many I'd probably try to limit their perching options so that they only perch on perches that make nice photos.

I shoot from a variety of locations around my setup, often without a hide as they are quite comfortable with me. Although I might setup a small pop-up hide at the bottom of the garden when I've got something setup there.

We have a lot of trees and fields in the distance which makes is really easy to smooth out the background. Sometimes just moving only a few centimetres can have a big impact on the background, with different coloured trees making certain birds pop and others blend in a little too much.

• iPhone 13 Pro Max
• 5.7 mm
• ƒ/1.5
• 1/340 sec
• ISO 50

• iPhone 13 Pro Max
• 9.0 mm
• ƒ/2.8
• 1/99 sec
• ISO 40

I watched this video a while back that I found quite helpful. I've also got a small bird workshop booked up for early next year, so I hope I can learn a thing or two there.

 

[Brownie]

Thanks for starting this Tim. It's a post I've been meaning to start myself also as I think it would be interesting to hear about peoples different setups and any tips.

A lot of my shooting these days is also confined to the garden due to limited time, and some days I don't even get as far as the garden!

We only moved into our house back in April, so the garden and my setup still need some work. I have learned in the past couple of weeks that where I currently have my feeders and perches setup receives practically no sun at this time of year! Thankfully there's a small spot at the bottom of the garden that does catch a little sun, so I need to put something down there as well.

Currently my feeders and various perches are setup about 4 meters from the house, this let's us watch the birds whist eating dinner and breakfast but I can also poke my camera out of the window if I see something interesting or the rain is lashing down.

I have a few branches that I use for perches, although these really need replacing now. We used to have a barbed wire fence until we replaced it with something more dog and child friendly, but I decided to keep one length of barbed wire as I think it looks nice in photos. I use the hedge as well and there's a small tree just outside of our garden that also makes for a nice perch.

We get so many little birds in our garden than they are often queuing up to get to the feeders, if we didn't have so many I'd probably try to limit their perching options so that they only perch on perches that make nice photos.

I shoot from a variety of locations around my setup, often without a hide as they are quite comfortable with me. Although I might setup a small pop-up hide at the bottom of the garden when I've got something setup there.

We have a lot of trees and fields in the distance which makes is really easy to smooth out the background. Sometimes just moving only a few centimetres can have a big impact on the background, with different coloured trees making certain birds pop and others blend in a little too much.

View attachment 28802

View attachment 28801

I watched this video a while back that I found quite helpful. I've also got a small bird workshop booked up for early next year, so I hope I can learn a thing or two there.

Interesting video. It and your photos inspired me to build a platform feeder today out of a log. Turned out pretty cool, I'll get some photos. Thansk for posting.

 

[Brownie]

I've planted and placed native shrubs in close proximity to my kitchen window which I open to use the camera. They are as close as a meter and a half and no further than 6 from the window and have several water containers at different levels including one hanging in a Fushia bush and don't concern myself too much with having a feeder. (They tend to attract sparrows and starlings). Native birds is what I hope to attract and generally I get a good mix of both native and imports.

View attachment 28782

I wish I had a spot to do natural plantings. Unfortunately, between grandkids and the dog run there's no place in my backyard to call my own. In fact, every window that looks to the back is in the dog run. Probably not conducive to a good birding site!

 

[spudhead]

I notice that most of the fantastic bird shots posted by several members here, most notably @mapleleaf56, @spudhead, and @charlyee are from their backyard (garden). Others like @Timothy Mayo post a mix. Most of my birds are from the backyard as well, mostly because as previously discussed, I'm lazy!

This is for anyone to answer, not just those named. They're simply who came immediately to mind when I was typing.

My recent shots of the Red Bellied Woodpecker were made from an unexpected location, the service door on my garage. I had moved the bird feeding station closer to the house for winter so I don't have to traipse through the snow to fill the feeder and to better see from the house. Since it's winter no one is outside much so the birds aren't disturbed. The result of that was the feeder ended up about 20' from the service door. When I realized how close it was I decided to stand in the doorway and wait. A couple of brief tries ended up with the Red Bellied shots. I have since decided to upgrade the setup to something more comfortable. I am going to change the service door window to a set of shutters that open inward. An old office chair from a drafting table and a small propane (Indoor safe) heater will keep me warm. I can sit in the garage for hours with a hot beverage, some heat, and remain completely out of view. I'll make the shutters so I can open one or both for days I want to keep more heat in. I'm also going to move the feeder a bit to declutter the background, which will actually put it a few feet closer. Now thaat I'm done testing the old Minolta lens, the weapon of choice will be the 200-600.

So, what's your setup? What tips can you give other members? Do you shoot from indoors through glass or have a good spot outdoors? Be specific. How far are you from the target area? How much time do you spend?

So I do not really have any setup in regard of feeders I never really thought about positioning much, when we had lock down first time I realised this site was a bird forum mainly, and my interests needed to change, so I bought a couple of cheap bird feeders and seed and simply placed them where I could see them at first on a washing line pole. Our garden is dog legged and means I have to be outside to shoot images, so the feeders have become 4-5 now on fence panels and some have anti squirrel frames on which also stops most of the un wanted larger birds starlings etc, that tend to eat everything that is intended for the little birds. I found that some small birds will tolerant me quite close if I wear the right coloured clothing and I stay quite still and that is good because I have to be super close with the 300 mm lens because the robins and tits are tiny here in the Uk 50-75 mm tall, when I say close I am still 12-20 feet away so crop I crop a lot on 24 meg. I have a little mouse or I guess family of that visit the 2 feeders on the fence panels 24-7. I had a wildlife camera bought for me so have fixed it to a fence post by the 2 fence panel feeders and that has given me no useable shots but lets me know what visits and time etc even in the dark. So I have a large skylight window in my roof which I would use with the 200-600 lens but if I used it here in the uk I would get locked up, some one would say I was snooping, so a shame I have to stand out in the cold like yesterday in the snow and see what I can get, I like many other people am still working and that is 6 or even 7 days a week as I am the boss so the few minutes I get are mainly in the garden, many of the tree shots of birds are from very long range and not even my garden or from walks when I get time, So until retirement I guess this is it.

 

[Tim Mayo]

Interesting video. It and your photos inspired me to build a platform feeder today out of a log. Turned out pretty cool, I'll get some photos. Thansk for posting.

Sounds good Tim. When you start to put some though into it there are lots of possibilities for feeders and perches. I've found lots of nice branches and logs that have come down in our local woods which are great for perches. Ours are covered in snow today but it's really misty so the light is dreadful. Will probably try and get a couple of shots in though.

 

[Brownie]

I tried to shoot yesterday but the light was awful. With no long fast primes I was stuck at ISO 8000 using the 200-600 to get even 320 or 640. I was thinking about maybe getting a TC for the Minolta 80-200/2.8, but that'd put me right back at /5.6, so not worth it.

 

[Geo C]

Don't forget to have somewhere the birds can have a bath!! I have made a small stream with waterfalls going to my garden pond, last summer when we
had a warm dry spell the birds flocked to it. Can be entertaining too!

Bullfinch, female Blackcap, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, also had a visit from a Grey Wagtail.

They were all taken from my office window, 200-600 with 2x TC.

 

[Geo C]

Thanks for starting this Tim. It's a post I've been meaning to start myself also as I think it would be interesting to hear about peoples different setups and any tips.

A lot of my shooting these days is also confined to the garden due to limited time, and some days I don't even get as far as the garden!

We only moved into our house back in April, so the garden and my setup still need some work. I have learned in the past couple of weeks that where I currently have my feeders and perches setup receives practically no sun at this time of year! Thankfully there's a small spot at the bottom of the garden that does catch a little sun, so I need to put something down there as well.

Currently my feeders and various perches are setup about 4 meters from the house, this let's us watch the birds whist eating dinner and breakfast but I can also poke my camera out of the window if I see something interesting or the rain is lashing down.

I have a few branches that I use for perches, although these really need replacing now. We used to have a barbed wire fence until we replaced it with something more dog and child friendly, but I decided to keep one length of barbed wire as I think it looks nice in photos. I use the hedge as well and there's a small tree just outside of our garden that also makes for a nice perch.

We get so many little birds in our garden than they are often queuing up to get to the feeders, if we didn't have so many I'd probably try to limit their perching options so that they only perch on perches that make nice photos.

I shoot from a variety of locations around my setup, often without a hide as they are quite comfortable with me. Although I might setup a small pop-up hide at the bottom of the garden when I've got something setup there.

We have a lot of trees and fields in the distance which makes is really easy to smooth out the background. Sometimes just moving only a few centimetres can have a big impact on the background, with different coloured trees making certain birds pop and others blend in a little too much.

View attachment 28802

View attachment 28801

I watched this video a while back that I found quite helpful. I've also got a small bird workshop booked up for early next year, so I hope I can learn a thing or two there.

Thanks for starting this Tim. It's a post I've been meaning to start myself also as I think it would be interesting to hear about peoples different setups and any tips.

A lot of my shooting these days is also confined to the garden due to limited time, and some days I don't even get as far as the garden!

We only moved into our house back in April, so the garden and my setup still need some work. I have learned in the past couple of weeks that where I currently have my feeders and perches setup receives practically no sun at this time of year! Thankfully there's a small spot at the bottom of the garden that does catch a little sun, so I need to put something down there as well.

Currently my feeders and various perches are setup about 4 meters from the house, this let's us watch the birds whist eating dinner and breakfast but I can also poke my camera out of the window if I see something interesting or the rain is lashing down.

I have a few branches that I use for perches, although these really need replacing now. We used to have a barbed wire fence until we replaced it with something more dog and child friendly, but I decided to keep one length of barbed wire as I think it looks nice in photos. I use the hedge as well and there's a small tree just outside of our garden that also makes for a nice perch.

We get so many little birds in our garden than they are often queuing up to get to the feeders, if we didn't have so many I'd probably try to limit their perching options so that they only perch on perches that make nice photos.

I shoot from a variety of locations around my setup, often without a hide as they are quite comfortable with me. Although I might setup a small pop-up hide at the bottom of the garden when I've got something setup there.

We have a lot of trees and fields in the distance which makes is really easy to smooth out the background. Sometimes just moving only a few centimetres can have a big impact on the background, with different coloured trees making certain birds pop and others blend in a little too much.

View attachment 28802

View attachment 28801

I watched this video a while back that I found quite helpful. I've also got a small bird workshop booked up for early next year, so I hope I can learn a thing or two there.

I also use the same cage, great for keeping wood pigeons away, going to make a new one soon and adapt it to side opening so I don't need to keep lifting the roof off to refill the feeders inside.

 

[Brownie]

Reviving this old thread.

I won a photo contest at work. Actually won two of five categories, resulting in a $50 Amazon gift card. Cool. I used it to buy this new feeding stand. I already had the feeders, except for the water dish and the small screen platform feeder which were included with the stand. It also came with a fruit hook to hang fruit halves on.

Warning: Cellphone shot!