I recently had a bit of a revelation. It concerns how I watch birds. And it’s kind of neat, now that I’ve thought about it.
While plowing through my computer-hard-drive-clogging downloads of recent bird photographs from my various cameras and trying to delete the crummy and enhance (or even just keep track of) the keepers, I noticed that I had a long series of images of a displaying male Ruddy Duck. There’s nothing remarkable about this. And no one is going to mistake my images for those of Arthur Morris or Marie Read anytime soon. But what DID catch my eye is that, noting the image time stamps, I spent 45 minutes watching this one male duck doing his “bubble dance.”
Normally, when out birding, I might note the ruddy duck, note that he was displaying, say “How cool!” and be on my way looking for other birds. If I were leading a field trip of fellow bird watchers, I might even share some obscure facts about the male ruddy duck. For example: did you know that males of this species are particularly and unusually “well equipped?” Well they are, and that’s a “Wow” fact for you… But I digress…
Rather than note the bird and move on, I did the opposite. Presented with an opportunity to capture images of a nearby bird under ideal light conditions, I stayed to shoot and in the process got to observe a range of bird behavior that I would have missed otherwise. Getting keyed in to the behavior only made me want to stay longer and capture more images of this pretty remarkable display.
I think this is a change for the better. For me anyway, it greatly enriches the experience. I spend more quality time with the birds!
I’ve heard that birding and bird photography are not always simpatico. Birders sometimes spook subjects for photographers and vice versa. I’ve experienced both sides of this. However I’m not here to takes sides. I’m just here to share this small revelation.
I enjoy my days afield whether I’m primarily using my optics or my cameras, or both! I get a bit of a Zenlike buzz going when I’m deep into photo mode with a cooperative bird. And isn’t feeling good part of the reason we keep heading out the door seeking those things with feathers? I think it is!
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I know what you mean Bill. Having a camera can motivate you to sit for far longer with a bird than otherwise…the zen zone is pretty great. On the other hand, I find myself flushing birds when with a camera (in order to get “just a little bit closer”…) far more often than without. I don’t particularly like doing this, and I know many photographers have no qualms about it at all…its a blessing and a curse!
It’s amazing how different the approach is to birds in straight birding and in photography. With video (using a 1/3 or 1/2 inch chip camcorder) what you describe is even more so. You can get such extreme close-ups that it’s easy to spend an hour fussing with the same bird. Nothing could be more fun than bird photography (no, sometimes I think not even “that”).
I now sit and watch birds to catch there song and familarize myself with their call so when I hear it next time I can say ” I know that songbird.” Taking pictures is a whole another ballgame, I have only a small Kodak digital camera and capturing birds on pictures is hard for me because the bird has to be closer than normal to catch that perfect shot.
Excellent post 🙂
I got into birding via my photography and I honestly never understood the ‘problem’ some birders have with ‘photographers’.
I did learn later that in areas where there are more of both things don’t always go as smooth as in the well deserted areas I tend to roam 😉
I hope that one day we all just get out there to enjoy the Zen 😉
i was photographing a male Ruddy Duck woo a female Ring Necked Duck in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park’s North Lake. when I reviewed the pictures, it was a shock to see all that junk on such a small bird.