I don’t always have the time or the energy to go out looking for birds to photograph all the time. If I still want my camera fix as often as possible. So, I have a cunning solution. I will attract the birds to our garden!
Along time ago someone told me that you can’t get the wild birds to do what you want, they are wild creatures. I immediately started looking at ways to make it happen. To get the birds to pose where I wanted them to of their own free choice. After much research on how to attract birds to your garden, I can smugly say that over time I achieved what I set out to do.
Wild bird feeder
We started with a sugar water feeder which we set up in the winter months when natural food is not so easily available for the nectar feeding birds. It is a simple structure with a tray for the sugar water and branches cable-tied to it for perches. We then placed it on a small post concreted it into a large plastic plant pot allowing it to be moved about easily. This brought tui, silvereyes and even a bellbird into our garden.
From time to time, I change up the branches to give something new for the birds to perch on, and I move the feeder about to get the best light available. We did have to take care that the feeder was not out in the open as we had a NZ falcon visit the feeder and help itself to a silvereye. We removed the feeder for a time, and it didn’t return. Now we make sure there is no clean flight space for the swoop and grab tactic of the falcon.
Hanging fruit on the trees
We also purchased some hooks to hang bananas and oranges in the trees, with windows cut in their skins for the silvereyes to feast on. It wasn’t long before we also noticed that the tui also enjoyed both banana and orange too. Feeding the birds fruit can get expensive, however most supermarkets will sell you damaged or bruised fruit for a cheaper price if you ask for it.
Springtime trees in flower
Once springtime has arrived, we retire the feeder for the year. It is important for the birds to find their own food, giving them a varied and natural diet. In our city there are kowhai trees everywhere! They all flower at the same time. I never have to go far to be able to photograph the tui in them. Our two kowhai trees in our garden of a different variety to the others in our area, that flower a little later. We get a lot of tui visiting around this time.
Garden plantings
More recently, I have purchased some tree fuchsias to plant around our property to encourage more bellbirds. Bellbirds can often be seen with blue pollen over their beaks when they have been feeding off the fuchsia trees. I have also purchased some red-hot pokers which are also loved by silvereyes, tui and butterflies. Natural food sources are best for the birds. Planting trees that the birds feed on are the best options to attract birds to your garden.
Bird baths
There is one more item that is essential to your bird garden – a bird bath with clean water in it. I place a few rocks in the bird bath, so the smaller birds can wash without going too deep. This year the bird bath has also attracted fantails. When we have the long hot dry summers a water bath is a must. Just a tray or dish of water preferably up off the ground to give protection from cats.
I hope you find some of my ideas useful. Even if you have to modify them to suit your local birds and plants. Water never goes amiss when it is hot. It is easy to create your very own outdoor wild bird studio. All the images on this page were photographed through my dining room window.