how to
photograph
wild birds

There is a boat cruise tour for photographing eagles at sea on the drift ice. At first the eagles busily hunt for food, but after a while their hunger is satisfied and they take a break on the drift ice. When resting some of them will not fly off even when the boat moves closer, so you can try for a bust shot or a headshot by extending the focal length up to 1000mm. Since this is the only place where you can do this kind of photography, I always make sure to do it.

When I went to a place the Malayan Night Heron is often seen, I was able to spot one right away. I went in the direction he was heading and waited in the shade of a tree, and he soon made his way toward me completely unaware of my presence. At first I was shooting with a zoom lens at 400mm, but since he was gradually coming closer, I changed the focal length to 100mm, and he still kept coming. Then I went back to a zoom lens at 400mm again and got this close-up shot of his face.

Of all the birds that live in Japan, the Rock Ptarmigan is probably the one least afraid of people. This is evidence that in the past they had nothing to fear from people in Japan. In other countries though they are very afraid of people because they are hunted.
If you wait along the path where the bird is heading, it will soon come toward you. If you stay still there is no need to hide yourself. It was the end of April and I was out looking to get a close-up shot of a Rock Ptarmigan with its white winter feathers, and as luck would have it, I found a white male. I went ahead of him and waited, and was rewarded with a nice shot of his red wattles standing out.

While I was photographing a male Rock Ptarmigan, another male suddenly appeared and started a fight. They sometimes get into violent fights, but since this time the males started their skirmish with posturing, each extending their necks as they exchanged threats with sharp calls of “Gwa-a, Go-gwe”, I took the shot at the moment one opened its mouth.

Female Northern Pintails are surprisingly strong-willed. Sometimes you see a female angrily chasing after a male. Such strong-willed females should not get along well with each other. They are not always fighting, but it seems that there is tension between them and when they do fight, they carry on for quite a long time. When they are in the midst of fighting, they are quite oblivious to your presence, so I could move in close and get some photos. Framing the shot to capture two females pushing their chests up against each other made for an interesting photograph.

When I saw a Whooper Swan resting with its bill tucked under its back feathers, I approached slowly. But, its guard went up knowing that I didn’t have any food for it. Since I wanted a headshot of the swan at rest, it would be a problem if the swan pulled its neck back. So I waited there without moving for a little while. A number of times it moved its neck, ruffling its feathers and pushing in its bill. Giving it a slightly backlight tinge, I took a close-up shot with the feathers where its bill is tucked in standing out.

If you photograph a white bird against the light, the shaded part remains distinct, making a good picture. It’s even better when the bird itself functions as a reflector like the Whooper Swan. Since the swan’s white body stands out from the dark background, I aimed for a dramatic shot of the swan bending its neck to groom itself.

Female Northern Pintails have very plain coloring, but if you look closely you see that they have very complex patterns in their feathers, and you can sense that “nature is an artist.” Although they do not have bold coloring, male Northern Pintails rival the females in this way. Since you get a greater sense of this beauty when you take a close up, I went for a close-up shot of the belly and wings. I was able to capture a nice gradation of shadow by shooting with side light more than front light.