A pond in the air!!
21st February 2019
I always thought it would be nice to have a pond where I could take photographs of birds reflected in the water but this is easier said than done. There are various problems, the main one being that you have to get down to eye level in order to do this. This means either lying on the floor for hours or digging a large pit – neither of these alternatives really appealed to me.
Then a few days ago it dawned on me – why couldn’t I raise a small pond up in the air. Ridiculous you may think, but no, not quite as it may seem!
I had a plan in mind:
As I have mentioned previously, I have already constructed a bird photography hide in my little wildlife garden, so firstly I knocked some treated roof battens into the ground about twenty feet away from the hide, then I attached some braces, also made with treated wood to stabilize them. I cut them off to the height I thought was appropriate and put a spirit level across them to make sure they were dead level. I had already bought a plastic octagonal tray that builders use to mix cement, it is about one metre around, I bought it on ebay for £15.00. I placed this tray on a piece of chipboard that I had and drew around it leaving about two inches to spare. I cut out the shape of the tray using a jigsaw and covered the exposed areas with some spare roofing felt that I had kept, I don’t throw things away! I then attached this platform onto the top of the roof battens and again checked for level. I placed the tray on top of the platform and then filled it right to the top with water and checked the view from my hide to make sure it was right for reflections. When I was satisfied I fixed the platform solidly to the battens to prevent any strong winds dislodging it and then also screwed the tray onto the platform. I placed some pieces of wood with Ivy wrapped around them into the tray to act as props.
For the first two days the birds completely ignored this construction and that’s the way they are with anything new – so no problem.
However, today they started to drink from the tray and as I hoped they were reflected in the water, as I intended. I will have to re – arrange the props from time to time, but the beauty of this is that I can put whatever props I like in the water – stones or wood, wrapped with flowers, berries, blossom etc. etc. I’m quite pleased with the way it’s started off – it’s cost me £30 and a little bit of work but I think it’s worth it because as the weather gets warmer and water becomes a priority for birds to drink there will be a lot more candidates for a reflection.
Here's the first reflection, a Siskin.
The background will always be dark which is good because it accentuates the subjects but the best images will be taken on calm days to maximise refections.
I can also have wider images, depending on what birds perch on the tray.
Then a few days ago it dawned on me – why couldn’t I raise a small pond up in the air. Ridiculous you may think, but no, not quite as it may seem!
I had a plan in mind:
As I have mentioned previously, I have already constructed a bird photography hide in my little wildlife garden, so firstly I knocked some treated roof battens into the ground about twenty feet away from the hide, then I attached some braces, also made with treated wood to stabilize them. I cut them off to the height I thought was appropriate and put a spirit level across them to make sure they were dead level. I had already bought a plastic octagonal tray that builders use to mix cement, it is about one metre around, I bought it on ebay for £15.00. I placed this tray on a piece of chipboard that I had and drew around it leaving about two inches to spare. I cut out the shape of the tray using a jigsaw and covered the exposed areas with some spare roofing felt that I had kept, I don’t throw things away! I then attached this platform onto the top of the roof battens and again checked for level. I placed the tray on top of the platform and then filled it right to the top with water and checked the view from my hide to make sure it was right for reflections. When I was satisfied I fixed the platform solidly to the battens to prevent any strong winds dislodging it and then also screwed the tray onto the platform. I placed some pieces of wood with Ivy wrapped around them into the tray to act as props.
For the first two days the birds completely ignored this construction and that’s the way they are with anything new – so no problem.
However, today they started to drink from the tray and as I hoped they were reflected in the water, as I intended. I will have to re – arrange the props from time to time, but the beauty of this is that I can put whatever props I like in the water – stones or wood, wrapped with flowers, berries, blossom etc. etc. I’m quite pleased with the way it’s started off – it’s cost me £30 and a little bit of work but I think it’s worth it because as the weather gets warmer and water becomes a priority for birds to drink there will be a lot more candidates for a reflection.
Here's the first reflection, a Siskin.
The background will always be dark which is good because it accentuates the subjects but the best images will be taken on calm days to maximise refections.
I can also have wider images, depending on what birds perch on the tray.