BACKYARD BIRDING WHILE ON LOCKDOWN / APRIL 2020
As lockdown swept across the planet the past few months, I continued to get out and shoot, working on my photography. I have never been much for backyard/ small song birds. I had always been drawn more towards the larger birds…birds of prey, such as eagles, osprey and larger wading birds like great blue herons and great egrets. But with the stay at home orders across the country, I spent more of my time setting up and shooting in the backyard.
Over the course of weeks, I would use several methods and setting up different perches for all types of birds to land on before going to our feeders. It took some time for them start being used regularly, but once they they did, I made for some decent photos. I hope to work on our set up in the backyard and make some changes to help improve backgrounds and luring the birds to the feeders. Below are some images of the various birds that have visited the feeders the last few months.
Blue Jay stealing peanuts from the squirrels
The blue jays have an ongoing battle with the squirrels. This one waiting to make his move.
One of several blue birds watching the action on a downed limb I set up as a perch
Continuing to watch the squirrels run and hide the peanuts from the blue jays
European starling in morning light after an evening storm the night before that knocked out the power to portions of the neighborhood
Starling looking for mealworms for breakfast
Munching hard on mealworms
Managing to hang on to a small perch for mealworms
One of several squirrels that frequent the backyard for peanuts from my wife
Cardnial on one of our feeders looking like he’s smoking a cigar
Female blue bird looking for dinner and watching the rest of the action