BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY IN NORTH AMERICA

Opportunities to photography birdlife abound.  A variety of techniques work well.  The simplest, where roads approach watercourses, for example, is to use a vehicle as a blind and attach the camera to a window mounted tripod.  Or, more simply, just jam a standard tripod between the seat and the door.  Usually one needs to find a nest or a commonly used perch to capture quality images of action.  The perch can be used for stationary portraits or for flight shots.  Observe the behavior pattern carefully, and anticipate the launch.  Time the shutter release and try to position the bird off-center in the frame with more room (empty space) along the exit path.

Most of my bird pictures were taken with a long telephoto lens.  This permits a substantial enough working distance to avoid disturbing the wildlife.  I have used both a 560mm Lietz, and an converted 800mm Takahashi Flourite Telescope.  On several occasions, for nest or tree-hole photography, I have used a shorter lens (300mm) with the camera mounted on a tripod and fired remotely using a long electronic cable release.  I hide in the bushes several yards away.  Although this setup does not readily permit minor pointing adjustments, it is easier to orchestrate than the standard photo-blind routine.  After hanging a camouflage cloth over the camera-tripod rig, there is a much smaller intrusion for the birds to get used to.

One extensive project we did in the late '70's was a documentary of the behavior and ecology in a large herony in Boulder Colorado.  This was carried out  by setting up an 80 foot ham-radio tower with a cubical blind four feet on a side mounted at the top.  Being poor struggling photographers, we bought the flimsiest radio tower, which had only a 6 inch cross section.  Our first forays up the tower were interesting in that cows liked to come and remove ticks by rubbing on the guy wires.  Big piles of thorny brush were quickly piled up over the anchors.  Sitting on the top for hour on end, twisting slowly in the wind, we captured on slides and 16mm film the complete cycle of courtship, nest-building, territorial defense, egg-laying and chick rearing of blue herons, black crown herons, great horned owls and other smaller species.  The materials were used to help convince the County of Boulder and the landowner to protect this location from development. 

I have been lucky to have had the chance to pursue this peaceful activity, to observe and photograph some rare endangered species, and to document unusual behavior.  Since moving on to 3D photography recently, I have considered returning to some ornithological pursuits, because in 3D, flight shots, especially, are just awesome.