With the arrival of spring I love to do bird photography. That's not to say I don't like doing it at other times of the year, but in the spring birds are in their breeding colors. Also, because I live in Northern California all the water sources start drying up. You know the song "it never rains in California..." This means that birds start looking for places to drink and bathe. This is where the Dollar Tree comes in handy. Believe it or not I finally noticed the sign. It's a Dollar Tree not a Dollar store. Oh what ever it's cheap! They have all these wonderful flat platters and shallow bowls that work perfectly for cheapo bird baths. Add some rock, sand and gravel around them and even some plants and you have a perfect water set up to photograph birds drinking and bathing. I start with scrap plywood and cut a hole bigger than the base of the platter with a jigsaw. Next I set the platter in the hole and spray paint it with flat black spray paint. Following that I find something level to support the plywood on. I have used saw horses, cinder blocks and bricks in the past. This time I'm puting the plywood across a raised bed in my garden. The last and most creative step is to decorate around the outside of the platter on the plywood with rocks and stuff to make it look natural. You can put in mossy rocks, branches, plants and leaves etc. Add some water dripping into it overhead from a hose and wait for the birds. Most of the time I also place a few seed feeders close by. This seems to attract more birds. It's kind of like. Well, we've had dinner might as well go have a drink while were here. The last thng you will need to do is set up some sort of blind (or hide as the other English say.) Mornings are usually best both for lighting and the birds. On hot days mid afternoon seems to work best.
God's blessings to all,
Chris
To be continued
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