The colder Winter days bring the Silvereyes / Tauhou back to their flocks. Each year we have a flock of them visiting our garden. I really enjoy what I call the Silvereye Season. Photographing their antics as they fight for the best branch, or the juiciest piece of banana that I have put out for them is such fun. I am always on the lookout for baking bananas or damaged fruit in the supermarkets. These are usually much cheaper.
Practice Makes Perfect
These little birds are very quick. Being able to capture them in flight is always tricky to do. It is even more challenging when I am inside photographing them through a not always clean window. If it was easy it wouldn’t be fun, right? Each year I try to capture something new, or use a different technique. I aim to achieve something new. They are excellent birds to practice my photographic skills on.
I look for quirky poses, or super cute faces that they can make. I use aperture priority on the camera and position myself where I can see an appropriate background in the viewfinder.
I really enjoy soft out of focus backgrounds. Playing with the camera settings when I am photographing these little birds gives me a chance to get to know my camera better. Because I can do this day after day, if I mess something up it doesn’t matter. I just learn from it.
Our garden has many different birds that visit us. I never let an opportunity go by. I finally managed to capture an image of our resident fantail or piwakawaka. This stunning little bird is so fast. I usually miss capturing an image because the camera is not always at the ready.
While I hope to get more practice with the fantails, for now I am happy to focus on the Silvereyes. When I have the time I sit and watch them at the window. It is like watching reality TV with them dancing about in the garden. Some of them are easy to identify by their different feather markings and it is great to see them returning year after year.
I hope you have enjoyed this selection of images. There will be another post in a day or so about my trip out today with the camera. I have some birds I haven’t posted for a while, so do watch out for it. As always, feedback is welcomed here.