The silvereyes in our garden are my practice birds. They are always available during winter even when the weather is not so great. Today, being somewhat overcast and dull, was not a great day for heading out but it was perfect for practice time.
The key with bird photography is to know you subject, know their behaviour and be able to predict their movements to some degree. Silvereyes are very quick little birds but they are reasonably easy to predict. You do need extremely good light to be able to catch them in flight and on a day like today I didn’t even try.
I know the Silvereyes like bananas and oranges – today I tried a mandarin just for something a little smaller and easier to hide. I put food out for the birds in my garden when I am photographing them as a means to keep them where I want them, however they are in no way captive birds. One sharp movement or one glimpse of the neighbours cat and they are gone.
I like to place the food so that I can capture the birds around it without it necessarily being in the shot. Today that mean using a cable tie to place the mandarin on the fern with plenty of open space around it. You really need to think about where the birds are going to land, which direction they will come from and leave. It all comes from practice and plenty of it.
