shoot photos on Flickr

If you're interested, you'll find a more detailed closeup here (it's the 8th photo from the top): www.lacerta-bilineata.com/western-green-lizard-lacerta-bi...

My latest ANIMAL VIDEO (it's very brief but pretty unusual: a tiny wall lizard attacks two young great tits): www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQqkSsyrm7E

THE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: MY LONG AND ARDUOUS JOURNEY TO BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY

If you've set yourself the challenge of exclusively shooting the wildlife in your own back yard, you might find - as I did - that bird photography is really, really hard.

It's not that reptiles are easy to photograph either, mind - but at least the ones in my garden stay (for the most part) on the ground, and one can learn how to carefully approach them with a camera. They're also clearly egoists, which from a photographer's point of view is is a great character trait: if a lizard detects a human in its vicinity, it's only interested in saving its own skin, and it won't alarm its buddies.

But birds... oh man. Over the years, my feathered friends and I have developed a lovely routine that now defines our peaceful co-existence. As soon as I as much as open a window (let alone the door), I'm instantly greeted by an eruption of panicky fluttering and hysterical shouts from my garden: "SAVE YOUR WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND FLY FOR YOUR LIVES: THE HAIRLESS, PINK MONSTER IS COMING!!! (Yes, I speak bird, and I know that this is exactly what they are shouting 😉).

Needless to say, with the exception of the redstart I already showed here, all my efforts to get the kind of detailed shots I usually strive for with my nature photography ended in complete failure and utter disillusionment. I was ready to give up on stalking the winged misanthropes in my garden altogether, but then winter came - and changed everything.

One day this past January I observed my neighbor Signora P - a kind, elderly Italian lady - putting something on the low garden wall in front of my house. At first I thought she was just putting some treat there for her cat Romeo; the young tom patrols that wall constantly (it's his favorite spot in the garden, and during the warmer months he usually lurks in the thick foliage next to it to prey on lizards).

But once I detected a lot of movement on that wall through my window, I understood she had put a little pile of bread crumbs there; she was feeding the birds who soon arrived in flocks. This was certainly well-intended on my neighbor's part, but her noble action came with a catch, and I'm afraid quite literally.

When I took a stroll through my garden the next day I discovered a suspicious amount of feathers on the ground next to the wall. Romeo had apparently switched from his low-calorie summer diet (lizard) to more energy-rich meals consisting of "fowl" (it was winter after all, so from a nutritionist's point of view this made sense).

I would find fresh traces of Romeo's victims (mostly feathers, but also the odd wing) in my garden over the following days; so my first intuition that my neighbor was feeding her cat hadn't been that far off after all, as Romeo was now clearly being "served" fresh birds on a daily basis. And although the hungry visitors seemed to be aware of the danger and became slightly more prudent, they just couldn't resist the tasty snacks Signora P put on that wall - and neither could Romeo.

It was obvious that I had to act, but talking to my neighbor - who is as stubborn as she is kind - would have been futile, I knew that much. I pondered the matter long and hard - until a light bulb went off in my head. The idea was genius. If successful, what I had in mind would not only increase the birds' chances of surviving Romeo's appetite, but also greatly benefit my own photographic endeavors.

I started to enact my master plan the very next day by buying a giant bag of bird feed (consisting mainly of sunflower seeds) from the store. Then I dragged a huge piece of a tree trunk (approx. 120 cm in height) that we normally chop firewood on from the shed out into the garden and emptied almost half of the bag's content on top of it. Signora P's buffet for birds (and cats) was about to get some serious competition 😊.

My reasoning was as follows: not only would the birds be lured away from the fatally low garden wall to a place where they were safe from the cat - there was nothing around that tree trunk that provided cover for a predator, and the birds had a nice 360° view around it at all times - but I was also able to photograph them while hiding in the shed.

However, in order for my plan to work there was one little extra measure I had to take, and it was one that risked lowering my own life expectancy considerably once the owner of the property - my mom - discovered it. You see, our shed is completely windowless, so if I wanted to use it as a blind, I had no choice but to cut a hole into one of its wooden walls... which I promptly did (I figured all's fair in love - and photography 😉).

Granted, I have absolutely zero carpentering skills, and it showed. That hole was an ugly mess: the shed's wall seemed to have had an encounter with Jack Nicholson's ax-wielding lunatic character from the film 'The Shining'. Needless to say, I was incredibly proud of my work (I mean, come on: there now was a hole where before there wasn't a hole, and it was big enough for the lens of my camera to peek through, so it was mission accomplished as far as I was concerned).

Now all I had to do was wait for the birds to discover the tree trunk. In the meantime I started to mentally prepare myself for the inevitable confrontation with my mom and go through possible explanations for that splintering hole in the wall (it was either gonna be a rabid woodpecker attack or an emergency rescue mission with a feeding tube for a little kid that had accidentally locked himself inside the shed - both seemed valid options, though I slightly preferred the locked-in kid due to the involved drama and heroism 😉).

A whole day went by, and not a single bird visited the sunflower seeds. I had expected that it might take a few hours until the first of the ever curious great tits or blue tits would show up, but given how tiny my garden is, an entire day seemed excessive. Then another day came and went: the birds kept flocking to the bread crumbs on the wall, and my tree trunk kept collecting dust. To add injury to insult, a few fresh feathers on the ground were proof that Romeo was still feasting.

It was incredibly frustrating: I provided my winged guests with a much better view - plus a higher chance of surviving the cuisine - than Signora P's place; I risked (almost) certain death at the hands of my own mother (OK, the act of vandalism on the shed I had committed for my own benefit, but still), yet the birds kept ignoring me.

Then, after three days, just before sunset, I spotted a single blue tit on the tree trunk picking away at the sunflower seeds.

When I got up the next morning I immediately realized that the loud noise that accompanies each and every tit activity had shifted from the wall to the shed. At last the dam had broken: there was a flurry of movement around the tree trunk, and I counted at least 5 different species of birds feasting on the sunflower seeds.

From day 4 onward my plan worked beautifully: the birds now indeed mostly ignored Romeo's "snack wall" and kept to the tree trunk. And yes, I was able to play peeping tom from behind the shed's wall and photograph them!! 😊

Thus, dear readers, I finally managed to produce some acceptable bird photos, and I had even saved my feathered friends from a deadly foe in the process. All through winter and spring I took advantage of my new bird hide, and in late May I started mixing some cherries with the sunflower seeds. The idea was to attract a Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius), and as you can see, it worked!

It took me almost three weeks and more than a few tricks to capture that clever fella, but given how long I've been rambling here already, that's a story for another day. As for my mom, she still doesn't know about the hole in the wall, so please don't snitch! 😉.

I hope you like the photo and wish you all a wonderful weekend! Many greetings from Switzerland, and as always: let me know what you think in the comments 🙏 😊 ❤!

P.S. if anyone has their own funny tale about the obstacles we photographers are prepared to overcome for a desired photo, please write it in the comments: I love such stories 😊

Shooting by Pascal Colin

282 18

Look 782 - Year of the pig by Kitty Von Cat

154 12

Credits :

Bouquet : ERSCH : Andrea Flowers Bouquet (Pink Paper) @ Shiny Shabby

Bodysuit : Luas : Arabella @ Kinky

Stole : Luas : Arabella @ kinky

Earring : Dahlia : Kori @ A Plus

Hair : Love : - [Bunny Bae] @ N21

LIVIA::Sidra Bento Nails

G&D Sandals Tessa

DISORDERLY. / Wood be Spring / Letter Crates / Purple

[ keke ] wild crocus blush . many

=Zenith=2019 Year of the pig doll x3

LB_MysticBirch{4Seasons}

Taken at Ippos Colletive

Love SL photography and looking for like minded artists or places to shoot? Come visit the Ippos Collective: 4 Picturesque SIMS to visit and/or settle. Come for the magic....stay for the friends. <3

Shooting a Poem by Trond Stordal

45 18

Shooting balloons by Meral Crifasi

31 48

Shoot local by tony semmens

82 4

#lovewhereyoulive St Michael's Mount

Red Shooting Red by red stilletto

53 36

Another fabulous day with the Famous Flickr Five+ group shooting in the Dandenongs.

We all spent quite a bit of time face down on the ground as I did for this capture, which you can see in David's lovely capture here: Lisa Getting Serious About The Shot.

Thanks again Dave and thanks to Beverley for the idea for the title of this one too!

Mein erstes Fotoshooting - My first fotoshooting by Erich Schmid

106 9

Shooting the pier by Alan Greenberg

88 5

Morning shooting by Simone

45 15

Hoan Kiem lake, Ha Noi

V Shooting Star by CameliaTWU

37 8

Shooting Star, Dodecatheon meadia, is a native plant in Texas

Shooting back by Ian@NZFlickr

32 13

But at her friend, not me who was working candidly :)

Seen in a stairwell at Auckland Art Gallery.

Have a good Sunday. Now we are supposed to be in Spring we had hail storms yesterday.

Raw Shoot by Glam

74 1

RAW SHOOT!!!!

FULL OUTFIT @ 2MUCH EVENT

Wildflower (Shooting Star) by Kim Tashjian

57 20

One of my favorite spring flowers.

Synchronize shooters by Vince

44 2

Shooted Leaf by .fulvio

71 94

Sorry guys. Unusual posting on Saturday....almost for me. A "POST A RUN", I could only fave without commenting. Enjoy your w.e.!!!!

Shooting Star by Pedro Abadía

2.1K 627

Red kite by Mixed up photography

67 56

fashion shoot by Mark Rigler

61 4

Shooting games by mk✨📷

174 28

M31 - The Andromeda Galaxy by Sean Richardson

46 11

This is now my 3rd time shooting Andromeda. It was my very first target back in 2020 with a DSLR and a star tracker. This is now my first time shooting it with a mono astro camera. Each time has been a huge improvement so I am very happy

Telescope: William Optics GT71

Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5

Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro

Filters: Astrodon 5nm Ha, Gen2 LRGB

Frames

H-alpha: 68x300" (5h 40')

Luminance: 254x90" (6h 20")

RGB: 120x180" (6h)

Total Integration: 18h

2020 - www.flickr.com/photos/seanmrichardson/50259501227/in/albu...

2021- www.flickr.com/photos/seanmrichardson/51447686878/in/albu...

shooting Eléna--7 by Yannick Benassi

34 4

anna. by ANNEMARIE HOERR: FOTOGRAFIE

67

Shooting Strangers by Mircea D. Tagui

115 25

“When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their souls!”

Portraits by Tóth Imre

402 31

My first photo shooting in school

Shooting with bullets... by Franzisko Hauser

77 37

...i´m to old for that Shit.

"Bullets against the War"

U2 - Bullet the blue Sky

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqwovrZKTm8&list=RDHqwovrZKTm...

made with stable diffusion,topaz and photoshop.

Shooting Boot Arch by Karen Portin

37 2

Wilbur gets ready to shoot Boot Arch in the Alabama Hills. The free-standing rock pillar is 12 feet tall by 11 1/2 feet wide, but the arch is 3 1/2 feet tall and 4 1/2 feet wide.

Shooting Star by Ryan Kole

84 13

It was a very interesting night last night... All sorts of satellites, shooting stars and all sorts of other crazy things were going on.

I was standing at Lake Minnewanka and there were faint pillars of Aurora. Out of no where there was all kinds of white flashing... At first I thought it was lightning... My new theory is space debris entering the Earth's atmosphere.

Anyway... It was a very fun night with a lot going on haha.

Palace & Shooters Island by Tony Prendergast

78 6

The Vltava is the longest river within the Czech Republic, running southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice and Prague, and finally merging with the Elbe at Mělník.

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