Learning to Shoot Birds (With My Camera)

In early November, I took a spill during a trail run resulting in some badly bruised ribs.  Needless to say this little injury threw a huge monkey wrench in my outdoor activities.  No running....no hiking.....what to do?  After a long week of taking it easy, I was already going stir crazy.  Then a chance encounter with my neighbor saved my sanity.

Foggy morning on Sauvie Island

My neighbor Cheri is an amazing wildlife photographer.  Most weekends she's out capturing the local critters, her specialty being birds.  I happened to run into Cheri a week after my mishap, and she invited me to come shooting with her that weekend.  I assumed photographing wildlife we'd spend a lot of time sitting around.  An activity I could do without stressing my injured ribs!

Birds in the air!

Northwest of Portland, where the mighty Willamette and Columbia Rivers meet, is Sauvie Island.  Although agricultural in nature, a large portion of it is a designated wildlife area.  An important stop on the Pacific Flyway, about 300 species of wildlife inhabit the island.  Any time of the year it's a birdwatchers paradise.  And it happened to be Cheri's favorite local haunt.

Snow geese take flight

Early one Sunday morning Cheri picked me up before sunrise and we followed dark, winding roads over the West Hills to the island.  Dawn was breaking as we crossed the bridge onto Sauvie Island.  The rising sun illuminated foggy fields in lovely shades of pink.  It was so breathtaking, Cheri pulled over the car and we both hopped out, cameras in hand to capture the scene.


 

I was thrilled to see bald eagles

 

A frequent visitor to the island, Cheri knew all the best places to find birds.  From many years experience, she also knew what times of the year were best for each species.  Today she was on the hunt for snow geese and sandhill cranes.  We stopped at a couple of viewing areas, but the birds were too far away.  Then passing by an old dead tree, Cheri spotted two bald eagles perched high in its branches.  We got some great shots of the eagles before moving on.

Nice Mt St Helens views from the island

Cheri spotted a huge flock of snow geese near a farmer's field.  Luckily the geese were right next to a large elevated viewing platform.  Cheri loaned me one of her big zoom lenses and armed with a 400 mm maximum range, I zeroed in on the flock.  We waited patiently for the birds to take flight.  Luckily, the birds took to the skies multiple times - which gave me lots of opportunities to practice capturing the geese in the air.

Sandhill cranes in flight

It was way harder than I'd imagined.  Holding a heavy lens in my hands, trying to keep it as steady as possible, and controlling the focus so it tracked on a moving bird was extremely difficult.  My first batch of images were all blurred, as were most of my second.  By the third try I got a couple photos that were half-decent.  But my injured side was beginning to ache from holding up a large camera lens.

More cranes

After spending a good part of an hour at the viewing platform, Cheri decided to move on.  We drove down a muddy country road through more farmer's fields.  All we saw was a large flock of Canadian geese.  About ready to call it a day, Cheri suddenly spotted a bunch of sandhill cranes - and they were really close.  Excited, we grabbed our cameras and waded through a muddy ditch to the edge of a field. 

Legs down for landing

The sandhill cranes were fascinating.  I loved listening to their calls.  When the cranes really got vocal, Cheri said it meant they were getting ready to fly.  Sure enough, the birds flapped their huge wings and soared skyward.  This time, I mounted my camera on a tripod, and although it took some practice, I was able to get a couple of decent images of the cranes in flight.

I liked their red eyes

Cheri said we'd been extremely lucky to see so many birds.  Normally the geese and cranes were not always so close by or plentiful.  And after some initial fog, the skies cleared into a lovely sunny fall day - producing great light to capture our feathered friends.  A perfect introduction to wildlife photography, it left me hungry for more.

Snowy plover at the coast

The following weekend, another opportunity arose.  My hubby wanted to go to the coast and try for crab.  He usually frequented a beach near Astoria, where in the past he'd seen lots of pelicans.  The promise of photographing pelicans was too tempting.  So I asked my hubby if I could tag along, and invited Cheri to join us too.

Ready to take flight

The sun was just beginning to brighten the eastern sky as my hubby eased his truck onto the sand of his favorite crabbing beach.  But high winds were blasting the shore, so much that we stayed huddled inside for several minutes.  Then as the sky began to turn several shades of orange, Cheri and I bundled up and decided to brave the weather.

Funny how they move in a group

The wind was a huge disappointment.  Even worse, we walked up and down the beach and there wasn't a pelican to be found.  But eagle-eyed Cheri spotted a flock of snowy plovers skittering along the waterline.  Yahoo!  Birds to photograph!

Snowy plovers in the air

The little plovers were fun to watch.  They'd all move as a choreographed group to the surf's edge, and then retreat en masse when a wave rolled through.  The birds were fast.  I had to be quick on the shutter to capture their antics.  I got mostly blurry shots for my efforts, with only a few keepers. 

Then a lady with two dogs came walking by.  Her dogs ran straight for the snowy plovers, scaring them into the air (again in unison).  At first I was miffed that the lady's dogs disrupted our photo subjects.  But Cheri wanted to get photos of the birds in flight, so she was quite okay with the canine interruptions.  And, surprise surprise, I even got one good shot of the plovers in the air.

Random wave shot

Sometimes when life hands you lemons, the best thing you can do is make lemonade.  Normally a landscape photographer, being injured forced me to try a new type of photography.  And, now I'm hooked!  I need lots more practice to be able to capture moving animals and keep them in focus (I'm used to mountains and trees that don't move).  But I'm motivated - I'll get there. 

Thanks to Cheri for taking me under her wing (pun intended!).  Check out her website here:  Cheri Kanaan Photography.