Bird Blinds and Bird Photography
In simple terms, bird blinds are natural or artificial structures that keep the photographer hidden from the bird.
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For photography purposes, you can usually divide birds into the relatively more skittish and relatively less skittish varieties. The degree of skittishness usually means the distance you can get to a bird prior to its flying off.
The White-faced Ibis in the picture on the left rank among the most skittish birds in the United States.
They are wading birds that tend to fly off when they see you approaching from as far away as forty feet. Using a bird blind generally helps with bird photography involving the Ibis or any other extremely skittish birds.
I used tall grass in the area as a natural blind in the instance of the Ibis picture. The time was late summer morning. Earlier I had seen a flock of Ibis in the general vicinity. They flew away when they spotted me.
Returning to the area later in the morning, I spotted the flock before it spotted me, and was able to reach it by crawling behind the grass. After about two minutes of shooting through tall grass, the Ibis's intruder radars went off, and they flew off.
In addition to tall grass, any natural object that helps obscure a bird's view of you will help improve your photography efforts. Familiarizing yourself with your prospective photography destinations prior to heading out, or during slow birding times while out, improves your photography opportunities. Different species of birds tend to hang out or feed in different types landscapes at different times of the day. Knowing bird living and eating habits helps you situate yourself in bird blind spots at their favorite hang outs during optimal lighting conditions.
Natural blinds come in as many shapes and forms as there are natural objects in your backyard. Any tree, bush or stump that effectively hides you from the bird's eye view will do.
The number of artificial blinds available to the average household is equally long and they range in price from relatively inexpensive do-it-yourself projects to more expensive commercial products. Creativity is the key to devising a low cost artificial blind.
Cardboard boxes, blankets hung over a clothes line or tents, with openings cut out to make room for the camera lens, are common types of mobile blinds amenable to any backyard photography session. Set up one of them in your favorite bird spotting places and make yourself comfortable waiting for your visitors to drop by. Also, don't discount a good indoor setting. Open windows, carefully covered with drapes or blinds and situated near prime bird perches, are often very good picture taking positions.
Commercial blinds are manufactured along the same lines as their homemade cousins. The portable types are variations of a tent, easy to set up with built in viewing portals. Normally they are covered by camouflage materials. Most commercial bird blinds are dual designed for either bird hunters or bird watchers and can be purchased at outdoor or specialty stores.
Whether you are indoors or outdoors, using artificial or natural blinds, it's important to remember to keep your movements to a minimum. There's no sense trying to hide from birds, all the while scaring them off because you become more fidgety than them.
Many species of back yard birds, the seed and insect eaters such as sparrows and woodpeckers fall on the less skittish end of photography spectrum. If you stay calm, you can often approach these species at close range, at least three feet. Many bird photographers equally enjoy photographing birds without the use of blinds.
© 2002-2007. Patricia A. Michaels. All rights reserved.