Friends have a little dog. He’s only young but he’s had a very tough life, brought to death’s door by thrombocytopenia. Saved by a blood transfusion and a lot of medication, he is very precious to them. They’ve recently had a well deserved holiday and rather than put little Wilco in a kennel they opted to have people that he knows look after him in his own home. That’s Gayle and me. It just happens that they live on a bush block and routinely put out water for the birds. So much birdier than in town. Volunteering was a no brainer.
Then came some unexpected rain, very high tides and a steady wind that delivered hordes of ravenous mosquitoes. All of which reduced the opportunity to wander around enjoying the outdoors.
My usual mode of bird photography is to go for a walk and take photos opportunistically. I enjoy it but backgrounds are often messy. Branches intrude on the subject or twigs seem to grow out of their heads. The alternative is to build a set-up and entice the birds to come to you. In a dry country water is usually a sufficient bribe to bring in some birds. If the background is uniform and well behind the subject it will produce a nice creamy bokeh. You can even scour the countryside looking for a particularly photogenic perch.
So I set up close to the house, offered water and took some photos standing at the kitchen sink straight through the window. The frustrated mosquitoes queued up at the door.
bobmcgee 