2015 images - Blue Tits

More from last year's trip to Wales soon.

I have had a slow start to 2015 photographically speaking, with work and family commitments meaning I have limited opportunities for taking photos. After last year's very successful sessions in my garden bird hide, I thought I would set it up again - at least I don't have to go very far if I do get a spare moment.

The key principle with my garden set up is to arrange a series of photogenic perches around bird feeders, attracting the birds down to feed, taking their pictures on route to the food. As I am choosing the perches and deciding where to put them, I have full control over how the light falls on them and the background to the resulting images.

Each year I visit a nearby wooded area and select a few photogenic branches, setting up them up in the garden with my hide a short distance away. It is often a bit hit and miss, with several sessions in the hide before I am happy with the set up. Last year, I used a combination of a small vertical perches and a horizontal moss covered log, with the added bonus of being able to put food in the nooks and crevices in the back of the log.

I have to be honest I have yet to be fully happy with the 2015 set up. And, so far, the number and variety of birds has been quite limited. Having said this, one of the birds that I have had some success with is the Blue Tit. I have actually taken more Blue Tit images in the past three weeks than the whole of the session last year.

It might sound quite obvious, but Blue Tits are quite small and they move very quickly. They also have a very annoying habit of flying straight into the feeders, missing out the perches altogether. But with patience you can start to work out when they might land, and get the camera ready for a few quick shots.

Blue TitPrivate Location, Grantham, Lincolnshire.

Blue TitPrivate Location, Grantham, Lincolnshire.

Blue TitPrivate Location, Grantham, Lincolnshire.

Blue TitPrivate Location, Grantham, Lincolnshire.

Blue TitPrivate Location, Grantham, Lincolnshire.

Blue TitPrivate Location, Grantham, Lincolnshire.   Blue TitPrivate Location, Grantham, Lincolnshire.

Blue TitPrivate Location, Grantham, Lincolnshire.

Blue TitPrivate Location, Grantham, Lincolnshire.

Blue TitPrivate Location, Grantham, Lincolnshire.

Blue TitPrivate Location, Grantham, Lincolnshire.

For more images of these great little birds, please go to the Garden Birds gallery here