Fall Splendour – enhancing your bird photography with autumnal colours

A25K8348d&b-fb

A Yellow-rumped Warbler – the colours and leaves clearly convey that this autumn!

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” – Albert Camus

A25K1278-blend3-fb

I like Chickadees any day of the week, but I like them even more with a splash of colour in the image

I love the quote above from Camus as I wholeheartedly agree with him. Having grown up in Australia, I find the autumns here so much more vibrant with colour – thanks to the many native North American deciduous trees. And just as an image of a bird is enhanced with a colourful spring flower, so is an image that uses fall colours.

A Rusty Blackbird in its striking fall plumage

A Rusty Blackbird in its striking fall plumage

However, the colourful leaves fall fast & I find I only have 2 to 3 weekends before most of the colour has gone. My favourite spots to visit are obviously those with colourful trees & shrubs, but if I can find a spot that has water (a lake, pond, stream or even irrigation canal!) then I get twice the bang for my buck as water reflections of fall colours are just as good, if not better!

A25K9357d&b-fb

An Eared Grebe paddling through some reflected aspens.

A25K9127-fb

A Northern Shoveller stretched its wings

A25K9094d&b-crop-fb

The same Shoveller giving a view from the back

A25K0833d&b-fb

A Canada Goose on a pond of liquid gold

Indeed, even the common local birds that don’t always rate a 2nd glance normally (gulls, anyone?) look a little more interesting with some autumnal upgrading…

A25K1037fb

Ring-billed Gull reflected

A25K0982-crop-fb

Ring-billed Gull again – this was taken in the middle of the day

A25K8897-blend-fb

Bonaparte’s Gull with a little splash of fall yellow

A25K8844d&b-fb

Forster’s Tern

So here is my 2014 ‘fall collection’ – I hope you enjoy. And if the leaves are still around where you live in Canada I very much encourage you to get out & try some using the fall colours to transform your images into something a little more colourful!

A25K1756d&b-extend-fb

Wood Ducks are a might handsome bird on any background, so I was pretty chuffed to get to shoot this one on a fall background!

A25K1444-fb

Wood Duck again – not a lot colours from the rainbow missing here!

A25K1838-fb

Hooded Merganser – love that hair do 🙂

4 Comments

  1. Tim, once again, beautiful shots!!! Pierre

Comments are closed