Autumn feeding in my garden.
06th October 2023
I have started to set up my feeding station in my garden, a little early perhaps but I want to get the birds used to feeding there. There is some nice fruit around in my garden at the moment in particular an ornamental apple tree which has a fantastic blossom every spring and a huge crop of fruit in the autumn – now!
In my little wildlife garden I have been busy erecting an elevated platform with a natural wooden frame around it filled with whatever I can find – fallen leaves, conkers, chestnut husks, cones and acorns because I want to try and get some natural photos of birds foraging for food as well as perched shots.
However, I saw an opportunity yesterday to get a perched shot, and I cut a very small branch off this ornamental apple tree and held it in a clamp fixed to the elevated platform just above the feeding area. The birds are starting to get used to feeding among the fallen leaves etc. but it will take time to totally wean them off the usual perches.
I have some shots of the birds amongst the litter but I have to keep arranging things in an effort to make the images look natural, which they are really, just elevated instead of on the floor.
There are also some unintentionally comical shots from time to time.
The background behind this platform is dark because it looks into the depths of the small wood that is situated behind it and I have thinned the foliage out removing hanging ivy and growing nettles that tend to accumulate over the summer. There is plenty of other ivy in this area for the wildlife to feed on anyway.
There is a small flock of Long Tailed Tits coming to the garden in the last few days and they are expressing an interest in the food I have provided. With this in mind I set up my gear in my permanent photo hide and waited …………
After quite some time the Long Tailed Tits came in and flitted around the area until one finally landed on my apple perch. The sun was shining brightly onto this perch illuminating the ornamental apples and it made quite a photogenic scene with the dark background accentuating the subjects.
A few hours wait for one decent image but that’s bird photography!
In my little wildlife garden I have been busy erecting an elevated platform with a natural wooden frame around it filled with whatever I can find – fallen leaves, conkers, chestnut husks, cones and acorns because I want to try and get some natural photos of birds foraging for food as well as perched shots.
However, I saw an opportunity yesterday to get a perched shot, and I cut a very small branch off this ornamental apple tree and held it in a clamp fixed to the elevated platform just above the feeding area. The birds are starting to get used to feeding among the fallen leaves etc. but it will take time to totally wean them off the usual perches.
I have some shots of the birds amongst the litter but I have to keep arranging things in an effort to make the images look natural, which they are really, just elevated instead of on the floor.
There are also some unintentionally comical shots from time to time.
The background behind this platform is dark because it looks into the depths of the small wood that is situated behind it and I have thinned the foliage out removing hanging ivy and growing nettles that tend to accumulate over the summer. There is plenty of other ivy in this area for the wildlife to feed on anyway.
There is a small flock of Long Tailed Tits coming to the garden in the last few days and they are expressing an interest in the food I have provided. With this in mind I set up my gear in my permanent photo hide and waited …………
After quite some time the Long Tailed Tits came in and flitted around the area until one finally landed on my apple perch. The sun was shining brightly onto this perch illuminating the ornamental apples and it made quite a photogenic scene with the dark background accentuating the subjects.
A few hours wait for one decent image but that’s bird photography!