I See Beauty All Around, by Rob Paine

Juvenile Tufted Titmouse and an American Goldfinch

Rob paine titmouse

It is fun for a change to photograph baby birds. They look different and act differently much like this juvenile tufted titmouse that was at our feeder one late afternoon last week.

The sun was low to the side of the feeder. The light bounced off our sliding glass doors on the porch to provide a little fill on the birds as seen in these juvenile titmice photos above and below. (Please see rest of post for more photos and text)

Rob paine titmouse

Instead of shooting these photos from behind the glass doors I tried sitting outside on a deck chair just 4-5 feet from the feeders.

It took a while but after 20 minutes the birds retuned to the feeders for me, including this American goldfinch seen below.

Rob paine goldfinch

A couple of quick tips to keep in mind for backyard birding photography.

1. You can arrange the feeders in any order or position you like. Our feeders are set up in such a way that the light will face the birds in the morning yet in the evening, there is enough foliage to filter the sun so the backlighting is pleasant and not harsh.

2. It’s important to be consistent in your feeder use. Sometimes it might take a day or two for the birds to find your feeders if you have not posted feeders before. Once you start you should keep the feeders up and filled every day.

Please note, if your feeders are in a place like Deep Creek Lake where black bears live, do not leave the feeders up over night. The hungry bears will find your bird feed during their nightly outings and could end up destroying your feeders.

For all of the bird  lovers who follow my blog I have started a special gallery page on Iseebeautyallaround.com called  Winged Wonders featuring bird images that have run in past posts.   I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you so much for reading my blog today. I look forward to your feedback and comments. Cheers, Rob

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Comments

12 responses to “Juvenile Tufted Titmouse and an American Goldfinch”

  1. What a Mouthful ! | I see beauty all around by rob paine Avatar
    What a Mouthful ! | I see beauty all around by rob paine

    […] Juvenile Tufted Titmouse and an American Goldfinch […]

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  2. Reflective Titmouse | I see beauty all around by rob paine Avatar
    Reflective Titmouse | I see beauty all around by rob paine

    […] Juvenile Tufted Titmouse and an American Goldfinch (iseebeautyallaround.com) […]

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  3. Young birds at the feeders | Dear Kitty. Some blog

    […] Juvenile Tufted Titmouse and an American Goldfinch (iseebeautyallaround.com) […]

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  4. hitandrun1964 Avatar
    hitandrun1964

    These are so wonderful.

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    1. iseebeautyallaroundbyrobpaine Avatar
      iseebeautyallaroundbyrobpaine

      Thank you!

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  5. acuriousgal Avatar
    acuriousgal

    Say, is that a coyote on your header? Never seen one up close, I know they roam around our neighborhood. My daughter was leaving for school early one morning and she said one was right at our front door..scared the crap out of her. Also, my neighbor came over one day to let me know not o let my 4 year old run up the hill by his house (basically a forest)he was worried the coyotes would think he was a small animal….yikes!!!

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  6. acuriousgal Avatar
    acuriousgal

    Just gorgeous!! Great tips too for bird photography. I just have my Canon EOS with the original lens. Do you think I need another lens to take pics like these?

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    1. iseebeautyallaroundbyrobpaine Avatar
      iseebeautyallaroundbyrobpaine

      I would look into either a 60 mm or 105 macro. I have a 60 but wish I had bought a 105. It is an easier lens to use and gives you more compressed backgrounds for one thing. Thanks for the question and keep up the great work

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  7. ken and agnes photoworks Avatar
    ken and agnes photoworks

    beautiful bokeh and green, rob. love it!
    btw, what lens did you use to photograph these birds?
    best regards,
    kap

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    1. iseebeautyallaroundbyrobpaine Avatar
      iseebeautyallaroundbyrobpaine

      Thanks so much for following my blog and for your kind words. I usually use a 70 to 200 2.8 for the birds. Some times I rent a zoom that goes up to 400mm for big trips. I use lens rental.com they are great to work with and have very reasonable rates cheers, rob

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      1. ken and agnes photoworks Avatar
        ken and agnes photoworks

        thanks, rob. your birds look awfully close for 70-200, crop body? i tried with my 50-200 on the X-E1 (1.5 crop factor) but i just could not get close enough to the birds (the smaller ones) to get some decent shots in before they fly away.
        i have heard of lensrental, they are not present where i am, roger’s articles are really a good read,
        best regards,
        kap

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        1. iseebeautyallaroundbyrobpaine Avatar
          iseebeautyallaroundbyrobpaine

          I definitely do some cropping on the photos but not on all of them. For these photos I was sitting outside near the feeders so I was about maybe 10 feet away from the birds. Some birds are more timid than others but
          if you wait a while and do not move or make noise after some time the birds seem to get more comfortable. The other thing I do is set the camera up on a tripod and use a remote. The only challenge there is your focus has to be dead on and you need a fair amount of depth of field to make it work. I shoot a lot to get the photos I post. Some days are better than others. Thanks for the comment. Rob

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