Backyard Birding setups!

[nmerc_photos]

Birds don't mind Cayenne Pepper. Mammals do.

Bird seed soaked in Cayenne Pepper oil is commercially available, and I mix a generous amount of Cayenne Pepper powder into peanut butter for my woodpeckers.

if this works... I'm going to drown my yard in cayenne pepper... looks like I have some research to do!

----------------------------

this pic was taken Friday, and although he wasn't in the backyard area - I was standing inside of the fenced area when I took the pic. so sweet to have bald eagles around

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

 

[Patty15]

Birds don't mind Cayenne Pepper. Mammals do.

Bird seed soaked in Cayenne Pepper oil is commercially available, and I mix a generous amount of Cayenne Pepper powder into peanut butter for my woodpeckers.

We use a cayenne flavored suet after the raccoons went after our suet feeder. I agree. The birds can't taste it. Mammals can. Works a treat.

 

[Username]

I’ve found that moving water is the key to attracting birds to a setup location particularly on migration. Many species will come to food but not all, warblers for instance, they all come to drink and bathe. These are from yesterday. Waterfall Setup

I use a Tragopan V6 Blind, expensive but tailored made for birding. Tragopan V6 Blind

 

[hef19898]

Considering your photos, I wouldn't worry too much about the setup. It is your backyard, birds are used to whatever there is, photographer and camera with big lense included. And, but thats just personal, i like shots of birds showing their habitat, so I wouldn't cut anything. Birds are nature, they look best in it.

 

[Patty15]

Considering your photos, I wouldn't worry too much about the setup. It is your backyard, birds are used to whatever there is, photographer and camera with big lense included. And, but thats just personal, i like shots of birds showing their habitat, so I wouldn't cut anything. Birds are nature, they look best in it.

I sit on my deck to photograph them. At first, in the spring they're a bit shy, but when we're out there all the time, the food and water become more important to them than us. My husband has a high stool he brings out so I can sit higher above the deck rail (since I'm so short, and getting shorter all the time as I get older. ) After awhile, the birds ignore me and my camera. Our Bluebird's box is not too far from our grill area and at first they were hesitant, but now that they're feeding five babies they give us no mind. It's all in what they get used to in their environment. When I go down to fill the feeders, the Titmice and Chickadees sit next to me in the lilac bush yelling at me to hurry up.

 

[Calson]

The relatively new Auto Capture feature for Z cameras has produced some great videos of very shy critters with unattended cameras and no additional devices needed other than a tripod.

 

[MarkB]

I find that baffles work well to keep squirrels and raccoons away from my feeders.

 

[nmerc_photos]

the backyard has grown in quite a bit. we added some hanging plants around the house in hopes of attracting hummingbirds - and so far we have exactly one!

I usually just sit out there for at least an hour a day with a different lens each time and see what I can come up with. I'm enjoying the 180-600 and 800PF more, and thinking the 100-400 might get the boot. I really only need a zoom for travel, and the 100-400 is usually too short. with the 1.4x on it, the quality is much worse than the 180-600.

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.