BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY G09 



fairly long focus, and although telophoto lenses of high power are not very suitable owing to 

 the prolonged exposure necessary, there are at the present day several good ones of moderate 

 power that should be invaluable to the stalker. They are light and compact, and can be used 

 on a Reflex camera. 



Let us now turn to methods of photographing birds from a fixed hiding-place. In the first 

 place there must be some degree of certainty of the bird or birds coming to a particular spot on 

 which the camera is trained. Food, either natural or placed for the purpose, will attract many 

 species especially in the winter, when the various species of tits and other birds are easily 

 photographed from a tent or other hiding-place. The Messrs. Kearton have obtained some 

 particularly interesting pictures of birds at a favourite drinking and bathing place. It is a 

 method deserving of far more attention than it has received. 



The most effective attraction, however, and the one offering the most certain and perhaps 

 interesting results, is the bird's own nest, either when it contains eggs or young. For 

 all Passerine birds, and others of which the young are helpless and remain in the nest for some 

 time, the best results are obtained after hatching. For others, such as the Waders, whose young 

 leave the nest almost as soon as they are hatched, operations must be conducted before hatching 

 takes place, preferably when incubation is well advanced. 



Birds which have young to feed soon become accustomed to the presence of a small tent 

 six to ten feet from their nests, and as most species visit the nest with food fairly frequently, 

 the photographer may in two or three hours expend many plates in depicting the birds during 

 the interesting process of feeding the young, cleaning the nest, etc. In addition to the camera 

 work, observations can be made, and at such close quarters as almost to eliminate chances 

 of error. 



The tent may be of almost any form ; it should not be larger than is necessary to completely 

 conceal the worker and his apparatus, but there must be room enough to ensure that in 

 manipulating the camera the sides of the tent are not disturbed, as birds are more easily alarmed 

 by a slight movement than by sound. The cover should not be conspicuously coloured or new 

 looking. A dull brownish green is a good serviceable colour, which when weather-worn and 

 faded in patches will conform well with almost any surroundings. 



The tree-trunk tent described by Kearton in Wild Life at Home, How to Study and 

 Photograph It, is very useful in a garden or other place near home where portability is no great 

 object, but it is too large and cumbersome to carry about on extended expeditions. In addition 

 to this, I doubt whether birds are deceived by an imitation of a tree-trunk or other natural 

 object. They at first regard with suspicion any object added to the immediate environment of 

 their nests, but, so long as it is not startlingly conspicuous, very soon assure themselves of its 

 harmlessness, whatever its form may be. 



It is not a difficult matter to devise a light portable framework, with a cover of thin but 

 dense material, capable of being erected in a few minutes. I have one made of an old sketching 

 umbrella, which originally opened out to a diameter of about six feet. As this was considerably 

 larger than necessary, I removed one half of the cane and wire ribs, so that when open the plan 

 was a half-circle of a radius of three feet. I then cut a foot off each outer rib and a few inches 

 off those coming next, converting it into a rough oblong four feet by three. The upright 

 support is four feet long, furnished with a brass socket at the end. This is convenient, as by 

 providing two or three extensions of the upright of various lengths, each shod with an iron 

 spike to go into the ground, I can erect the tent at different heights according to 

 requirements. 



An ordinary large sized umbrella would make a good tent frame, but that the stick coming 

 in the centre would be in the way. With half an umbrella as described above, the supporting 

 stick comes against one wall of the tent. Moreover, the oblong shape is rather more economical 



