Photo Safaris By Region AFRICA - Botswana Wildlife - Madagascar - Masai Mara Wildlife Reserve, Kenya ANTARCTICA - Ultimate Antarctica ASIA - Essential China—Iconic Landmarks & Landscapes - India—Rajasthan & Puskar Fair - Japan's Winter Wildlife - Laos & Vietnam - Mongolia—The Golden Eagle Festival EUROPE - Best of the Greek Isles - Eclectic Holland - Finland's Arctic Wildlife - Turkey—Continental Crossroads - Tuscany - White Horses of France's Camargue NORTH AMERICA - Alaska Overland - Aurora Borealis—Fairbanks, Alaska - Bald Eagles of the Chilkat River, Alaska - Bosque del Apache & White Sands, New Mexico - Brown Bears of Katmai National Park in Summer - Brown Bears of Katmai National Park in Autumn - Colorado Fall Colors - Denali National Park in Autumn - Exploring Lake Powell - Florida Birds—Best of the West - Grand Canyon at Havasu Falls - Great Smoky Mountains - Horses & Icons of the Wild West - Humpback Whales of Alaska's Inside Passage - Mexico's Colonial Heartland - Monument Valley & Slot Canyons - Nova Scotia—Photo Tour for Women - Olympic National Park, Washington - Predatory Animals of North America - Springtime in Callaway Gardens, Georgia - Ultimate Wolves - Ultimate Yellowstone - Washington's Palouse Country - World's Best Raptor Shoot - Yellowstone & Grand Tetons in Autumn - Nature & Digital Photography Seminars with John Shaw PACIFICA - Midway Atoll SOUTH & CENTRAL AMERICA - Galápagos - Patagonia's Mountain Landscapes - Ultimate Dolphins Wildlife Models Shoot - Wildlife of Brazil's Pantanal Photo Safaris By Date JANUARY - Ultimate Wolves - Nature & Digital Photography Seminars with John Shaw, Dallas, TX & Raleigh, NC - Ultimate Yellowstone FEBRUARY - Japan's Winter Wildlife MARCH - Florida Birds—Best of the West - Nature & Digital Photography Seminars with John Shaw, Phoenix, AZ & Boston, MA - Midway Atoll - Aurora Borealis—Fairbanks, Alaska - Monument Valley & Slot Canyons - White Horses of France's Camargue APRIL - Springtime in Callaway Gardens, Georgia - Galápagos - Finland's Arctic Wildlife - Patagonia's Mountain Landscapes - Eclectic Holland - Great Smoky Mountains - Grand Canyon at Havasu Falls - Mexico's Colonial Heartland MAY - Wildlife of Brazil's Pantanal - Turkey—Continental Crossroads - Ultimate Dolphins Wildlife Models Shoot - Best of the Greek Isles - Tuscany JUNE - Washington's Palouse Country - Predatory Animals of North America JULY - Brown Bears of Katmai National Park in Summer - Olympic National Park, Washington AUGUST - Washington's Palouse Country - Humpback Whales of Alaska's Inside Passage SEPTEMBER - Masai Mara Wildlife Reserve, Kenya - Denali National Park in Autumn - Alaska Overland - Essential China—Iconic Landmarks & Landscapes - Brown Bears of Katmai National Park in Autumn - Madagascar - Yellowstone & Grand Tetons in Autumn - Botswana Wildlife - Colorado Fall Colors - Predatory Animals of North America - Horses & Icons of the Wild West - Mongolia—The Golden Eagle Festival OCTOBER - Exploring Lake Powell - World's Best Raptor Shoot - Nova Scotia—Photo Tour for Women - India—Rajasthan & Puskar Fair NOVEMBER - Laos & Vietnam - Ultimate Antarctica - Bald Eagles of the Chilkat River, Alaska DECEMBER - Bosque del Apache & White Sands, New Mexico

		Ultimate Antarctica February 2–March 1, 2006 Spring Fever in Galapagos April 29–May 15, 2006 Polar Bears & Wildlife of Spitsbergen June 26–July 8, 2006 Masai Mara Wildlife Reserve, Kenya September 8–22, 2006 Emperor Penguins of Snow Hill Island, Antarctica October 19–November 3, 2006 and October 31–November 15, 2006 Our friend, Tom Webb, lives in the foothills of the Rockies, on a lovely wooded acreage along the banks of the Highwood River, only 45 minutes from our home in Calgary. Over the years, Tom has had many exciting critters wander through his yard: mountain lion, lynx, wolf, black bear, coyote, red fox, deer, moose and elk, and he has captured most of them on tape with his video camera. There's no question that these large hairy mammals are exciting to see and photograph, but what we like most about Tom's place is his large selection of bird feeders, which attracts a varied array of avian visitors, especially in the winter. Whenever Tom calls, we know he's got something special for us. Tom's a quiet, gentle soul who talks softly, but his calm demeanor never quite masks the excitement he feels when he's about to tell us about his latest "hot sighting". Last December our conversation with Tom went something like this. "For the last two hours I've been video-taping a sharp-shinned hawk, feeding on a ruffed grouse that it killed in the yard beside the big feeder. I got 20 feet from it, and it just ignored me. I thought you might like to come out and have a look." Within an hour, Wayne was in Tom's backyard blazing away at the unwary hawk. The success of this photo shoot was not in owning the latest camera body and telephoto lens, nor in calculating the tricky exposure in the dappled light of the forest. The vital element was Tom's bird feeder, and his ability to habituate wildlife, and lure it into camera range. Photographing at bird feeders is a great wintertime activity, and we do it every year. Here are nine of our best tips for bagging backyard birds. Backyard bird feeders sometimes attract exotic predators, such as this tiny boreal owl. We photographed this unwary bird with a Nikkor 300mm f/4 lens on Fujichrome Velvia film. Number One Feeders don't need to be fancy. Birds are interested in food, not esthetics. In fact, food simply scattered on the ground, will lure many species within camera range. One common and inexpensive bird feeder is a clear plastic tube filled with seeds, and studded with perches and feeding holes. These feeders are popular with small agile birds, such as chickadees, redpolls and pine siskins. A simple shelf feeder, elevated on a stump or post, is another good choice. Larger birds such as grosbeaks, finches, crossbills and mourning doves are attracted to these. A nylon mesh bag, filled with suet, is another cheap way to entice hungry birds. Today, you can purchase feeders to suit every whim and wallet. We've seen feeders shaped like tugboats, cathedrals and farmhouses, but the funniest one was a replica of the Canadian parliament buildings in Ottawa. The builder clearly saw the link between birdbrains and politics. Number Two Stale bread is not good food. Food scraps and other garbage will mainly attract birds such as starlings and house sparrows — the flying rats of the avian world. The food you choose for your feeder will largely determine which species of birds you will attract. Unshelled sunflower seeds are probably the most popular choice. Energy-hungry birds love the oil-rich kernels and, for most birds, the thin shells are relatively easy to open. If you buy sunflower seeds as part of a prepared mixture (sold in bags at a grocery store) they are usually quite expensive and contain "filler" seeds, such as canola, which few birds will eat. You get greater value for your money if you buy pure sunflower seeds from a garden outlet, feed store or bird specialty shop. One evening we scattered millet on the ground, and the next day we had half a dozen dark-eyed juncos feeding in the backyard. Aubrey sprinkled snow on the spruce tree to make the shot look more wintry. Millet seed is another good choice. We've used these small seeds to lure in fox sparrows, tree sparrows, juncos, rosy-finches and redpolls. If you've got your sights set on game birds such as ringed-necked pheasants, gray partridge, bobwhite quail or ruffed grouse, then scatter cracked corn on the ground. Frozen suet is also a very good food for winter birds, especially woodpeckers, nuthatches and chickadees, which readily hammer off tidbits of fat. Unfortunately, suet and seeds may also attract furry critters, as well as feathered ones, and you may need to use some device to deter thieves such as squirrels and mice. Our friend Tom coils barbed wire around the trunks of his trees that hold suet feeders. He told us it's the only way he can keep hungry black bears away, luckily not a common problem in most backyards. Number Three Locate your feeder where birds can escape. Shrikes, hawks and owls soon learn that bird feeders attract a wealth of prey for them to hunt. Because of this, most songbirds (except of course, house sparrows) prefer feeders with shrubbery or bushy conifers nearby where they can flee when an unwelcome raptor swoops in for dinner. Knowing this, you should always position your feeder near a cluster of trees or near bushes. Even an old Christmas tree, propped beside a feeder, will increase the number of songbirds that will visit, and improve your shooting opportunities for at least part of the winter. Number Four Set up an attractive perch. We assume that everyone reading this column is smarter than your average songbird, so use that brain of yours to outwit your subjects. Most birds will perch nearby, to scan for predators, before they land at a bird feeder to eat. Watch the birds for a while to see if there is any pattern in the way they fly to and from the feeder. If there is, that's where you set up the perch. We use old dried branches for this. Avoid freshly broken ends that look unnatural, and pick thin branches that mirror the delicacy of the songbirds you wish to photograph. Textured bark, adorned with lichen, is a real plus if you can find it. We'll sometimes spend half an hour searching for just the right perch. Once you have found a pretty perch you can lash it to a tree limb or jam it into the top of a fence post. You can also tie the perch to the head of your tripod and position it beside the feeder. A perch gives you a clean, predictable location where you can focus on the birds. Number Five Beware of distracting backgrounds. Feeders in urban areas often have distracting subjects in the background — the side of a house, a garage, a fence or a driveway. When you position your feeder or your blind, select a clean background. Use an old tarp to mask the side of a building or a chain-link fence. At one feeder we worked, the neighbors had a white birdhouse in their yard that registered as a annoying bright spot in the background, so we temporarily covered the birdhouse with a piece of black cloth. Hoary redpolls are winter visitors to southern Alberta. They often travel in large flocks, sometimes numbering over a hundred. We used a pocket blind to get close to the feeder, because these birds are often quite nervous and easily spooked. Seeds scattered on the ground always attract birds, but the background often looks messy and distracting. If you place your bait in a shallow trench and then shoot from ground level, the seeds are hidden, the background is more pleasing, and the photograph looks more natural. Number Six Blind photographers get more photographs. Within a flock of grosbeaks, redpolls, chickadees or waxwings, there are always a few naturally unwary individuals, many cautious ones, and some that are extremely shy. Using any kind of blind makes all the birds more relaxed, and you will have a greater choice of individuals to photograph. When you photograph without a blind, slight body movements may frighten the wary members in a flock and cause the entire flock to flush and scatter. We often use a pocket blind, which is simply some camouflage cloth that we drape over ourselves. Songbirds quickly ignore the blind and go about their business. They've even perched on our heads and on the end of our lenses. Number Seven Hope for cold weather. When a cold front sweeps in, wintering birds must eat more food to fuel their internal furnaces. That means they will spend more time foraging at bird feeders. On a warm winter day, birds may visit a feeder for just a few hours a day, whereas when temperatures plummet, the birds may spend most of the day at the feeder. Cold weather usually also brings clear blue skies, with lots of sunshine. To get this closeup shot of a tiny black-capped chickadee we added a 27.5mm extension tube to our Nikkor 600mm lens. Number Eight Buy an extension tube. In our September/October 2000 column we raved about the benefits of adding an extension tube to your telephoto lens to photograph songbirds. An extension tube is a simple metal spacer, which fits between the lens and the camera, and allows you to focus the lens closer than normal. Working at a bird feeder you will generally need a telephoto lens in the 400mm to 600mm range. Adding an inexpensive extension tube to these lenses will help you to get a tighter composition of small songbirds, such as sparrows, chickadees, nuthatches and redpolls. Number Nine Improve on nature. Winter birds look especially nice when they are perched on snow-ladened branches. The only problem is, fluffy snow rarely stays on the branches very long, before the wind blows it off. In cases like this, we try to give nature a second chance. When we can, we sprinkle fresh snow on the boughs where birds are apt to perch; invariably, the effort yields a stronger, more pleasing "wintertime" image. Our friend, Tom Webb, called again last week with another critter sighting at his bird feeder. "I was standing in the yard," Tom enthused, "when a northern pygmy owl swooped in and snatched a redpoll, right under my nose. The jays mobbed the owl while it ate its catch. I couldn't believe how close the owl let me get. The bird finally got tired of being harassed by the jays and flew into the spruce trees behind the house." "Wow, that's great," Wayne replied. "Is the owl still around?" "No, I don't think so," Tom bubbled, "but I would be happy to show you my video." "Thanks, Tom. Glad you called."

	Joseph Van Os Photo Safaris, Inc. P.O. Box 655, Vashon Island, Washington USA 98070 Phone: (206) 463-5383   Fax: (206) 463-5484    Email: info@photosafaris.com Copyright © 2008, Joseph Van Os Photo Safaris, Inc.