June 07, 2022
Birds in My Backyard
This spring is the first spring I spent in this new-to-me house and backyard. Backyard bird photography has been a lot of fun this spring to see what birds come in my backyard to feed or drink water. Of course, the usual backyard birds have been my visitors so far this spring. However, there has been a lot of activities with these birds. So, I thought I would share some of my images from the birds enjoying my backyard.
Northern Mockingbirds
Learning to Stand on Suet Feeders
Over the spring, it has been fun and hilarious at times to watch these mockingbirds try to feed on the two suet feeders that I have in my backyard. The mockingbirds had trouble with their feet and being able to stand on the suet cage and feed from that position. However, towards the end of May, they finally got the knack of how to stand on the suet cage and get some suet food.
The mockingbirds have easily been the most often seen birds and photographed birds in my backyard. This spring I have seen a cute little family of four, two adults and two fledglings. I am not sure where their nest was, which was not in my backyard, but the family has come into my backyard frequently. The adult mockingbirds have been using the suet food to feed their two fledglings.
Other Backyard Birds
Two species of backyard birds that I have seen and photographed frequently are a pair of downy woodpeckers and a group of American robins.
I believe the downy woodpeckers may have a nest in one of the trees that hang over into my yard. They are always zipping around my backyard and going up into those trees.
I hear them pecking on the trees often, especially earlier in the spring, and they have been enjoying feeding on my suet feeders.
Another very frequent bird visitor has been the robins. A group of robins find the worms plentiful in my backyard especially in the early mornings. A pair of robins did build a very nice nest on one of my utility boxes by the side of the house. However, after the one day of seeing them building it, I never saw the robins on or near that nest again. I believe they must have abandoned the nest due to it being in the side of the house where much bird action occurs between my backyard and my neighbors backyard. Robins do like to find flat surfaces to build their nest. That spot was a perfect flat surface but not ideal to being hidden from lots of other birds.
Other Backyard Birds
Some of the other backyard birds that I have photographed this spring include pair of northern cardinals, robins, a pair of black-capped chickadees, brown thrashers, and blue jays.
Backyard Bird Photography Tips
I thought I would share a few quick tips for taking pictures of backyard birds. The most important tip is create a backyard habitat in which birds will want to come visit, feed and drink. Have several places for birds to perch in your backyard where they can have a view of a bird bath or bird feeders. Also, provide water and food sources for birds. If you regularly sit outside in your backyard, the birds will get use to your presence which makes it easier to photograph your backyard bird visitors.
Backyard Bird Photography Techniques
Here are a few quick tips on photography techniques to help you with your backyard bird photography. First, use a longer lens. I use a Tamron 150-600mm G2 with my Canon camera. The longer reach of this lens provides ample space for the birds and allows me to stay a good distance from my bird subjects.
Lighting is very important to regard when photographing. I usually go out late afternoon to evening time as that provides the best frontal lighting for my backyard bird habitat. In addition, paying attention to your background is very important. Having a non-cluttered background will allow the focus to be on backyard bird visitors. You can do this by blurring your background by using a small f-stop number (wide aperture) such as f/5/6 or f/6/3.
Hope you enjoyed reading my blog post on my spring backyard bird activity.
Click here to check out my previous blog post about my backyard butterfly garden being certified as a Monarch Waystation.
Thank you for reading my Field Notes Blog, and I hope you will share this post with others.
Let’s protect our wildlife and nature!
All the very best,
Lori
Copyright © 2022 Lori A Cash
Absolutely Awesome! Love your backyard, your birds, your butterfly garden! Wonderful posts and beautiful photography!
Thank you very much, Katy!