Show your Bird Portraits

dcm

Enjoy the gear you have!
CR Pro
Apr 18, 2013
1,088
846
Colorado, USA
Very nice. Didn't realize the flickers were that willing to go in a box - must be fun!

Jack

Had a nesting box for over 30 years now with a new brood each year. Actually, this is the fourth box - they eventually peck through the sides from the inside. Secret to the box is high enough off the ground, lots of nearby perches, and protected from squirrel access. Have a pond and lawn (bugs/worms) between me and the nesting box. Often have multiple flickers in the yard and surrounding trees. M6II, 100-400LII

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Here's my hide, conveniently located in my office.
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Jack Douglas

CR for the Humour
Apr 10, 2013
6,980
2,602
Alberta, Canada
Had a nesting box for over 30 years now with a new brood each year. Actually, this is the fourth box - they eventually peck through the sides from the inside. Secret to the box is high enough off the ground, lots of nearby perches, and protected from squirrel access. Have a pond and lawn (bugs/worms) between me and the nesting box. Often have multiple flickers in the yard and surrounding trees. M6II, 100-400LII

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Here's my hide, conveniently located in my office.
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Thanks for the fun read. Do you have any suggestions for me making a box and since yours works well, do you have the plan or some guidance. I have a small creek and a small beaver pond within 150 feet of my house and the flickers do show up from time to time. They seem to be much more wary than say the Downy.

BTW Wrens have a habit of filling everything/anything that I put up!:(

I built an observatory/hide on the top of my small barn/shed and it is a great setup but a variety of factors including health issues have somehow kept me from frequenting it in the last couple years. Shots of it when being built ... it now has a really nice reclining leather seat and a heater for the cold, although it's still cold standing up at the opening!Observatory_20870.JPGObservatory_25222.JPG

Jack
 
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Don Haines

Beware of cats with laser eyes!
Jun 4, 2012
8,246
1,939
Canada
Hateful creatures. They make lovely pictures. They have a habit of attacking unsuspecting pedestrians during nesting season around here. I alter my running routes during the spring and have often contemplated carrying an umbrella to work full time.

Edited to add: True story. Almost purchased a parcel of land to build a house on. Walked the parcel on my own one day and got attacked by one of those monsters. That was the end of that. Walked away from it. We had met with the realtor a couple times. Started chatting with a builder.

I wasn’t about to deal with being unable to mow the grass every spring. Protected wetlands bird as well I think.

I still drive by it. There’s a house going up there now. I think they looked and bought in late summer / fall. Boy are they on for a surprise!
Yes.... they are known for that..... we also have bad tempered geese and for some strange reason the wild turkeys are able to chase the city dwellers out in the suburbs. The last time a turkey chased me it ended up on the BBQ.
 
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I've been hoping to capture the local kingfishers for years, but they are super shy and always in motion. My at home covid break gave me some daylight hours this week to observe their perches and I got a few decent pics. I'll go back on a sunny day and hopefully get a little closer for a better shot (pic 2 is about 80% of the frame with 840mm, so I was too far away for really good resolution). Have to get this done before the leaves are fully out! 5DMKIV, 600 II + 1.4XIII, f7.1, 1/200, ISO800, fill flash with tele extender._I4A5546_v2_hires.JPG_I4A5556_medres.JPG
 
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Got a little closer to the Kingfisher yesterday. Of course, the pair selected a perch a little behind this one for mating and fish gifting. Improving on these is my goal for this morning. I have to steel myself to walk over the creek_I4A5566hires.JPG on a sewer pipe while carrying my gear (also pictured). The pipe is easy with nothing to carry, but being a little top heavy and worrying about dousing my camera makes me nervous. I decided I’d pack my stuff into a big camera backpack and reassemble it once over the creek – that will give it some protection. From the other side of the creek I should have a less impeded view of the birds.
 

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