For those shooting birds in their back yard or garden, share your environmental features

[Brownie]

I recently moved my bird feeders closer to the house for winter, just to make it easier to keep them filled. I moved it thinking I may be able to shoot through a window over winter. What didn't occur to me was that it ended up about 20' from the service door on my garage. Last weekend I stood in the garage, back a little from the doorway and got some pretty decent shots of a red bellied woodpecker. Tomorrow I'm going to improve my feeder setup, as well as a place for me to set in the doorway out of site, and with some heat.

A few weeks ago I made a bark butter log and put it on the feeder pole. It took only a few days, and now there are Downy and Red Bellied Woodpeckers and Nuthatches cleaning it off about every two days. I made a quadruple batch last time and a second log so I can just fill it and swap with the empty one.

So, what's your setup? What tips can you give me? Do you shoot from indoors through glass or have a good spot outdoors? How far are you from the target area?

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I have a sunroom, so I'll set the feeders up near it, and then I just open a window and shoot from there. I do need to hide myself a bit since I'm pretty visible, but I'll get all sorts of birds, and squirrels and chipmunks come fairly close. It's still cold in the winter, but not near as bad as outside in the elements.

 

[Brownie]

I have a sunroom, so I'll set the feeders up near it, and then I just open a window and shoot from there. I do need to hide myself a bit since I'm pretty visible, but I'll get all sorts of birds, and squirrels and chipmunks come fairly close. It's still cold in the winter, but not near as bad as outside in the elements.

Does it get really cold in Tanagra, or is it more like a Northern Florida cold?

I bought one of these. Indoor safe, 4000 or 9000 BTU. It won't be bikini warm, but it'll keep the chill off!

 

[Hendrik]

I haven't yet acted on any of his suggestions, but I've been impressed with the approach to be seen in YouTube videos by Roger Hance.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Does it get really cold in Tanagra, or is it more like a Northern Florida cold?

I bought one of these. Indoor safe, 4000 or 9000 BTU. It won't be bikini warm, but it'll keep the chill off!

View attachment 352126

It’s midwestern cold. I can recall it getting as hot as 108F, and as cold as -20F here, but I’d say the average winter temp might be in the 20s, but it’s rarely the same for long, so one can never really adjust!

 

[Brownie]

I haven't yet acted on any of his suggestions, but I've been impressed with the approach to be seen in YouTube videos by Roger Hance.

Watched a couple of his videos yesterday. Very knowledgeable and talented. Thanks for the tip.

I was pointed toward Paul Miguel, this is a good video for people trying to attract birds with tips on natural looking setups for photography. I made a platform feeder out of logs yesterday, will post some shots (hopefully with birds on it!) later. Today I'm going to fix up my 'hide' (garage).