Finally a bit of success?

[BillyPilgrim]

I've been visiting the nature reserve at Bretton Lakes (near Wakefield in West Yorkshire) since last summer. Trying to get close enough to the birds to get some decent shots but to no avail. Until this morning that is. Suddenly there were Nuthatches, Blue Tits and Great Tits almost feeding out of my hand.

For the past week or so I have been wearing a bit of camo and leaving food in the place where I took the photos. Maybe this has had an effect because this morning the birds seemed almost to be waiting for me to arrive with the food. I actually got to within 6 feet without putting them off.

Please feel free to comment on the attached photos. Especially the colours as I’m a bit colour blind and am always a bit wary of over doing things. They were taken in poor light using high ISO’s (640-1000) so I have cleaned them up with Neat Image. They are also cropped and I may have adjusted the white balance. No sharpening has been used though.

[ron1863]

Hi, I especially liked the last shot, which shows the Nuthatch's tongue. The other shots are also excellent but look a bit too set up, due to the line of nuts showing in the shot.

[John D]

Well captured Billy. Your perseverance along with some 'nuts' paid off. Now you have the secret things can only get better. Keep up the good work!
John D

[GerryNick2]

Hi

Nice images, Neat image seems to have done a good job on reducing the high ISO noise without smoothing too much of the detail.

Gerry

[BillyPilgrim]

Originally Posted by ron1863

Hi, I especially liked the last shot, which shows the Nuthatch's tongue. The other shots are also excellent but look a bit too set up, due to the line of nuts showing in the shot.

Cheers Ron - he was a bit quick so I had to compromise!

I put the nuts on one end of the handrail of a wooden footbridge. The Nuthatch would land at the other end and quickly hop along, snatch the nut and scarper. So I had my camera pre-focussed on his intended nut and waited for him to appear in the viewfinder!

[snowdrop]

The pics are splendid Billy, lucky you, I have yet to see a Nuthatch myself.....or Badger, or Otter. Best stop, starting to feel sorry for myself. (smile)

[willing to learn]

Well done nice pics, you're perseverance has paid off
Regards
Colin

[Ollie]

Love the last one Billy, great detail and the tongue showing is excellent
Roger

[BillyPilgrim]

Originally Posted by snowdrop

The pics are splendid Billy, lucky you, I have yet to see a Nuthatch myself.....or Badger, or Otter. Best stop, starting to feel sorry for myself. (smile)

Thanks, it was only the 2nd time that I'd seen one so I guess I was lucky. Everything seemed to come alive this morning and it felt like the start of spring. Even the Herons were pairing up and starting to sort their nests out!

[glsammy]

Excellent shots.
When you get the Nuthatches to come and feed regularly, try and find a spot where there's an small tree with little foliage close to the fence. I tend to find the Nuthatch will often pause before coming down and give the classic Nuthatch pose on the tree/branch.
The Nuthatches I get in Sherwood Forest do this, so you can have your camera pointing away from the food source to give a more natural looking background.