Guests Galore

I was able to spend a little more time in my blind and photograph some more in my backyard bird habitat with a few new visitors as well as a surprise guest. In the first photo I took a photo of the full view of my setup.



Here is our state bird none other than the robin

These next two birds I do not know looks like I have some research to do.

Here is the surprise guest he decided to get a drink from the pond unfortunately the stick I place in the pond for the birds to perch on got in the way.

And here he/she is again and was a great joy to work with so willing to pose and work it for the camera LOL.

And here is a gold finch enjoying the pond I am really having luck with the pond it is proving to be a great addition to the bird habitat.

First try with the backyard habitat

Well I was able to get out today and sit in the blind. I may move it a bit closer as I don't have a lens with substantial reach nor do I have an extender so moving closer is my only option for now. I was hoping to get a shot of the cardinal that was around yesterday but he was a no show oh well perhaps next time. Here are a few photos of what did pay a visit. Now I tried finding the bird species for each photo to the best of my ability so if you see any that I have wrong please do not hesitate to correct me.


1. Sparrow

2. House Finch or Pine Grosbeak (not quite sure)

3. Thinking this may be the female

4. Unknown

5. Mourning Dove

Making my backyard bird habitat

I said in a recent blog that a backyard bird habitat was going to be one of my future projects. I decided that it would be a good idea to include photos of this from start to finish.

So in this series of photos I will walk you all through what was involved. I decided the best place to set this habitat was at the corner of our yard by one of our lilac trees for a few different reasons they are I needed an area of the yard that tends to go udisturbed by our dog and children.

This area of the yard is off limits due to the garden being there so it should be safe. Another reason is as the sun sets I felt this was a fairly well lit part of the yard in the afternoon.

And of course we do have a frequent visitor that I know the song birds will appreciate the lilac tree as shelter from if he/she decides to pay a visit and that would be a hawk that I have seen from time to time.

In the first three photos you see I dug a shallow hole "I sure wish I was in a part of the state that had sandy soil rather than clay" this did not seem to be as difficult when I was a child digging holes all over my parents lawn. Well what this hole is going to be is a shallow pond for the birds to bath and drink. I could just use a store bought bird bath but what I hope to acheive is as natural looking photos as possible so the birds appear to be in the wild with no enticement.


In this next photo you see the lilac which I hope that the song birds see as a great perching area I think it would be a great prop in my photos but I will have to see. I am also going to do some much needed pruning.

Well I must admit when I got going on this project there was no stopping. So unfortunately I did not photograph as much of the details that I hoped to. I will explain it as best I can. After I had dug the hole I went to the local hardware store and picked up a roll of 10' x 25' 4 mil black plastic ( didn't have shorter length rolls ) it came to just under $20. I then cut it about twice the length of the hole and lined it with the plastic. Then in the last three photos it shows how I placed rocks, logs, branches, and other natural materials along the edges of the pond. Then filled it with water I would say not much more than 6-8 inches deep. Sadly I have been unable to get out in my ground blind to photograph the many birds that have given their approval of this water feature I have built. I hope to get out in the near future and post photos of these birds soon.

A few things on the horizon

Wow it has been a very long time since I have posted anything. Well spring is well on it's way and I have a few things going on right now.
I am attempting to start flowers and veggies by seed this year for gardening so I hope to photograph the progress of that and share as the season progresses.
Also I have gained inspiration from a fellow wildlife photographer thanks Mike for your very informative blog on your backyard wildlife set up
I am going to be working on my own setup in our backyard to photograph birds that decide to make an appearance. It should be lots of fun and challenging again with this I plan on photographing and sharing on setup and hopefully possitive results as well wish me luck and hope to get blogging again real soon.

My niece's first game of 2009

Well I am very excited to be shooting soccer again. Hard to believe it has been a whole year already. Well my son unfortunately did not want to play this year however my niece decided to play and of course I agreed to shoot her games as photographing sports I have found is becoming very addictive.

This is one of my favorites from the game although it is the back of my niece. Her oponents facial expression displaying her determination is priceless.

And this is also a favorite of mine alot of action in this shot and the intensity on the faces says it all.

And had to get in a sportrait as well

I have been fortunate enough to get a few of her face but she plays defense and her back was to me alot more than not. ( if I only had that 300mm or 400mm with an extender for when she is on the other end of the field) OH Well all in good time

Thanks for looking

Chad