Talking about birds
A few minutes ago I arrived home after visiting one of our local Residential Aged Care homes. Our ladies’ fellowship group at church had arranged to hold one of their meetings in a small meeting room in the home. I was the guest speaker for the meeting.
I was asked to speak about birds and show some of my photographs of the birds of this area using a PowerPoint presentation. I was asked to keep the talk to about thirty minutes and this was to keep their attention. The old folk tend to drift into the Land of Noddy after that. With my considerable collection of photos and my tendency to rave on a little about my favourite hobby, restricting me to thirty minutes was a challenge. (Or perhaps the organiser knows me too well!)
Anyway, I managed to cull the presentation down to thirty photographs and I mentally gave myself one minute to talk about each photo. Mission accomplished: I only went over by about five minutes. In fact, it took longer to get all the old folk to the room in their wheel chairs and walking frames than it took to give the presentation.
Many of the folk thought the presentation was great with much praise for the photos. And I only heard heavy breathing coming from one person, despite the very warm room. It was a pleasing experience.
Below is one of the photos I showed this afternoon.
Updated Nov 2013.
Mallee Ringneck Parrot
Do I need a camera?
Frequently asked questions about birding #13
Do I need a camera when I go birding?
No.
But I guarantee you will be saying “If only I had a camera” far too many times.
I carry a small camera bag containing a small digital camera when I go birding. They are so small, light and easy to use. I’ve got so many wonderful photos over recent months that it has totally renewed my interest in photography.
A word of warning: always take spare batteries. I had a wonderful opportunity to take a photo of a rare bird once and the batteries died just a few minutes before. I now carry TWO sets of spare batteries! I’m a slow learner.
Update November 2013:
Since writing this article I have taken many thousands of photos, both here in Australia and overseas. I have included the best of them on this site. Browse through the archives for articles which might interest you; most have at least one photo. Below is a selection of just a few.
Red-collared Lorikeet at Adelaide Zoo
Crested pigeon
White-browed Woodswallow
Sacred Kingfisher
How to be a Birder part 14
Hint # 14 Use a camera
With the advent of cheap, easy to use digital cameras with great zoom facilities, bird photography has become accessible to everyone. One doesn’t need to buy big, expensive telephoto lenses to get great shots of birds. An added bonus is that you don’t have to lug around a wheel barrow load of camera equipment, lenses, tripod, flash units and other assorted gear. If that turns you on, fine. Go ahead and ruin your back. Only joking. If you want to go down the professional photographer path you probably will need a truck load of gear, but for the ordinary birder, the modern digital camera means light, compact, ease of use and great results.
When I purchased a new digital camera in the middle of 2005 I rediscovered my interest in photography. Many years ago, over 30 years ago in fact, I bought a cheap SLR. I even got to the point of developing my own slide photos. I couldn’t really afford too many extras like expensive telephoto lens, and gradually the interest waned. The digital age has reignited a passion for photography.
I bought a Canon Powershot S2 IS digital camera with a 12x zoom facility. Now this was something of compromise. I bought it especially for the trek in the Everest region I did last January (read my travel blog for details of my adventures). I wanted a powerful camera with plenty of zoom but it had to be compact. I didn’t want to carry a great deal of heavy equipment, and the Canon, while something of a compromise, was ideal.
It has proved to be amazingly adept as a great camera for bird photography. It is easy to carry, even with binoculars around my neck. I have a loop tied in the strap so that it fits over my wrist and just dangles from there when not in use. This way it doesn’t bang against my binoculars. Nor does it interfere with viewing a bird using the binoculars. It is simple and quick to use and the 12x zoom facility is brilliant.
UPDATE: The model of camera I write about above has been through a series of different models and seems to be no longer available. Several new series of models have replaced it, and prices have dropped in recent years. Check out your favourite camera shop.
Updated November 2013.
Silver Gull
Birds of Tasmania
One birding site I often visit, mainly for the photos is Birds of Tasmania which features the birds of Tasmania. Some of the photos are quite beautiful.
Here some other sites featuring photos of birds:
Hampel Photo Gallery – am I allowed to list mine first??Sorry – we’ve closed this site.
- Ben Cruachan Blog – Duncan’s photos from SE Victoria.
- Woodsong – Dances with Moths – about birds, moths, animals and more.
Bird Photos on the Net
From time to time I spend time surfing the net for photos of birds from different parts of the world. Numeriscopages is a site from France. It includes beautiful photos of birds, insects, butterflies, animals and flowers. It’s worth spending a few minutes looking at this extensive site. Warning: the site is in French, but there is minimal text to worry about. The photos speak for themselves.
Updated Nov 2013.