Right outside my office window is a bird bath and also a tray feeder. They're a wonderful distraction from work (sometimes too much distraction!) and provide photo ops through the window, if the light is right.
I watched this Blue Jay come to drink. It dipped its bill in the water then lifted its head up, as in this photo, and let the water trickle down its throat. This is a typical way most, not all, birds drink.
Add bird baths to your yard, fun for you and a necessity for the birds. Hint for keeping the water clean — place your bird bath close where you can easily reach it with your hose, then hose it out and scrub with a small brush once a day, then refill. I keep the brush near the bird bath. Anything to make the task easier and keep the bath clean! The birds will thank you and more will use it.
Photo, © Lillian Stokes, 2007
3 comments:
I end up taking many of my photos through windows. What suggestions would you offer other than the obvious "clean your windows"?
Make sure you take the photo when there is full sunlight on the bird. The sun should be coming from behind you, not in front of you, so the bird is not backlit.
It helps if the bird is fairly close to you so it is covering at least a third of the frame. Shoot at a low ISO like, 100 or 200 and keep the camera steady with a tripod, or, I lean my elbows on my desk to steady the camera and I have an image stabilized lens.
I bought one of your clamp-on birdbaths at Petsmart last week for our 2nd-floor apartment balcony. It's been an all-day nonstop parade of birds hopping between the birdbath and platform feeder ever since. Today a pair of American Goldfinches got right in and splashed around. It's right outside my home office window, so I too am getting less work done, but I hope to get a few more good photos.
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