While fall may signal that many birds have migrated south (or soon will be) and general bird activity will locally decline for the next several months, I find it’s not all bad…why?
An example of making the ordinary – the very common Mallard – a little less so with golden autumnal reflections
Apart from the excitement of the pending arrival of winter visitors, the vivid and saturated colours of autumn offer an excellent, albeit brief, opportunity to add some real ‘pop’ to your bird photography.
The fall background goes at least some way to make up for the Yellow-rumped Warbler’s less colourful non-breeding plumage.
Orange-crowned Warbler
Generally speaking, any bird photographed against a colourful backdrop will stand out from the crowd of the more common green leaf and blue sky backgrounds. This works particularly well for your more common local species (chickadees, gulls, ducks here in Calgary) where fall colours can really improve any shot of a common species.
Another ‘ordinary’ bird – the Black-capped Chickadee – enhanced with some autumn background.
A real character – the White-breasted Nuthatch
A Ruby-crowned Kinglet – the blue and green background compliments the deep red of the foliage.
Northern Flicker
Birds that spend most of their time on or near water offer even better opportunities to heighten the visual appeal of a shot – via fall leaf reflections on water.
One of the most skittish birds around: the Belted Kingfisher. I was delighted just to get a shot & the fall yellow background was a bonus.
Had this shot of a Bonaparte’s Gull been again a pale blue sky it would have been a little ‘ho hum’, but against the golden yellow we have something a little more visually appealing.
The deep yellows of fall can transform ponds into pools of liquid gold that will spruce up any shot:
An American Wigeon seemingly swimming in a sea of molten gold.
Blue-winged teal
I really like this type of shot, and my personal favourites are ones where you get both the fall colour reflection, plus a reflection of the bird itself in the water:
A male Bufflehead in breeding plumage.
I was trying to get a shot of a gull taking off – the fish was an unexpected bonus!
To achieve the latter, you will need calm conditions with little to no wind (and therefore no ripples) and this more likely to happen early in the morning or later in the evening.
A grebe of the Horned variety, this time with fall reflections. Contrast this shot with the Eared Grebe below.
This shot was taken at the same pond on the same day as the grebe above, but there were no trees close to the bank & hence no lovely golden colours. I know which shot I prefer!
Hopefully you read this article before all the fall colours are gone in your area as it really is a short but wonderful time to bag some very appealing shots. Good luck & good shooting!
Like the mallard, Downy Woodpeckers are quite common in Calgary…but some fall yellow will add some pop to any shot.
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Terrific shots, Tim. I agree that the fall colours make for fine background colour and light. And you sure have made the best of them. Love the Kingfisher shot. They are hard to get!
My praise comes a week late, but it is heartfelt: Beautiful photos, gorgeous colours! Each season is appealing in its own way when you are photographing birds, but fall can be quite stunning.
I oohed and ahhed scrolling through all of these magnificent photographs! The colors of autumn certainly do enhance the images. I am very taken with the wigeon and blue-winged teal shots, but they all are quite spectacular!
Hermosas fotografías, son un deleite para la vista y el alma. Contratulations!!
These are absolutely breathtaking! Excellent post!!