How do you get your bird shots??

[Trev Rich]

I really want to start getting some nice shots of birds.
i have quite a few that land in the garden.
Do you stay in the garden... go for a walk?
Either way.. how do you set up?
Im not talking about camera settings..
I mean where you position yourself... Where you hide.. how to entice..
How long do you find you normally stake-out before you get a shot...
Do you use a tripod, monopod, handheld.. beanbag?
I think that lots of people will use different ways.
Would be nice to know "how do you get yours" to help me and others to start out.

 

[Veracocha]

Two words that sum it up for me. Bait & camouflage. In the garden I use peanut butter on a branch with various titbits and a hide net for concealment. In the wild I walk & walk and walk some more. When I see activity of a bird I am after I set up camp and wait & wait & wait. My photography skills fall way behind my bushcraft. I scour birding forums for latest sightings and rely on local knowledge for info. It's the hunt for me more than the shot. I hope to get better at photography to do my stalking credit.

 

[dseered]

I go to the RSPB reserve at Leighton Moss, it has a great feeder area but the shots are in the branches and twigs surrounding them. Also loads going on on the paths around the reedbeds.

 

[susie]

I would be very interested in this as well - I have a feeder and a fat ball in the garden and have never seen a bird on them (no seed on the floor or evidence of any fat being pecked!!
If I go for walks I hear them but never see them for long enough, pheasants hide in the wheat, or dogs run up and frighten them off before I can get close enough!!

Today I went elsewhere and sat watching a feeder and finally got a few, I just need to find out what I got now!