Friday, May 23, 2014

At the Feeder

The kids have a very active feeder that attracts goldfinches. I think they so so well because there is a small wooded area behind their house. If we put one up here in our subdvision, we would get zilch.

So one day last week, I set up my camera on a tripod, backed a long way off, and clicked using a remote trigger. These are some of my results. Sorry Gail, you can't look because they are not up to your standards.

Because I didn't know whereabouts on the feeder the birds were going to land, I shot the whole thing and cropped later — quite a lot. I may just pick a perch next time.
 
One of my first photos. From the distance I couldn't tell that there was a bird behind until I uploaded the photo.
Just settling in for a good feed.
I decided to merge two photos together for balance since there were never two birds there at the same time.
Then I tried a similar collage using all four perches. The problem was that the birds never used the bottom perches, so I moved two images from the top perches down to the bottom. So this is actually four photos merged into one. I am pretty sure that the bottom birds on both sides are the same ones as those directly above, just shot at a different time.
I must go back someday and experiment some more.

Oops. Almost forgot this one, taken sans tripod at a longer distance. It was one of the few appearances of the mature male.

14 comments:

Country Gal said...

Nice photos ! Our Gold finch are now off nesting so they aren't at my feeders that much right now , but I have plenty of birds still hording the feeders in the mean time !. I like to have camera in hand and study the birds and animals at the same time I never use a tripod the good thing about my Nikon D3100 is my camera and lenses have vibration reduction so even the shakiest of hands can get a good clear photo and my camera and lenses are light in weight . Thanks for sharing , Have a good weekend !

troutbirder said...

Ah the goldfinches. They're like little drops of sunshine after the long winter...:)

TexWisGirl said...

sweet! heck, very few folks in blogland post to gail's standards. :)

Donna said...

Wow...The shots are wonderful Ac!
hughugs

Tabor said...

What fun you are having! Goldfinches are here and there at our place. Waiting for my sunflowers to bloom I guess.

Shammickite said...

Oh, these are lovely photos, even though you have manipulated them to show more birds than were really there at one time.... I like the idea. There are goldfinches around here too. I have a hummingbird feeder and as soon as I put it up last weekend, the humming birds arrived about a hour later, they must have been waiting and watching in the bushes!

Gail Dixon said...

A/C, I am blushing, thank you. I think these are really great! The goldfinches are so sweet and such a joy to have in the yard. Your photos bring out their little personalities. :)

Lorna said...

I have never before seen a goldfinch.

I have now seen too many.

Dale said...

Mum and Dad watch finches (gold and purple) at the feeder outside their kitchen window. I can spend hours there. Great shots, AC!

EG CameraGirl said...

I bet goldfinches would visit a feeder in your yard too. It's amazing how friendly goldfinches can be if you provide food. ;)

Mara said...

My living room is facing the road and the fields and not my garden. So, I never get to see what lands in my garden or the trees. Which is a shame really, since I am sure there must be really pretty birds there!

Good thing others are luckier and can post lovely photos of yellow birds!

Ginnie said...

Gail must be a real pro if she can do better than you did, AC. These are lovely.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Don't underestimate yourself yourself, John, as you can see by the previous comments and mine as well we all think you did a great job, including Gail!

Pearl said...

nice! we mostly have sparrows and jays.