How to Begin Bird Watching at Home

How to Begin Bird Watching at Home

by Francesca Sharpe

Bird watching is an excellent hobby to take an interest in. It's slow, measured, and can be extremely satisfying when you capture the perfect shot, or spy an interesting and unexpected piece of behaviour.

A lot of bird watchers have been known to travel quite far in pursuit of their passion. They move up and down the country to catch a glimpse of rare migratory birds, or visiting woodlands to seek out creatures in their natural habitat. These enthusiasts need high quality cameras or binoculars, with up to 8x or 12x magnification, along with a good degree of spare time and patience. But with the right preparation, you can begin bird watching without even leaving the home.

First things first, you'll have to bring the birds to you. Attracting birds to the garden is entertaining in and of itself, so start off with some feed. Hanging feeders filled with a healthy mix of seeds and nuts will keep birds coming back to your garden throughout the entire year, particularly during the sparse and hostile winters when you especially want to stay indoors.

By placing your feeder within reasonable distance of the home, you'll be able to get a good look even from indoors, or using an average quality camera. If you want to get more natural views, it may be worth investing in some kind of water feature, for instance a bird bath. Feeders are utilitarian devices to be visited briefly, but birds spend a good degree of time on water features, using them to drink, wash, and socialise. You'll attract more birds and keep them interacting for longer, giving you that bit more time to take a few excellent photos.

A handy convenience of bird watching from home is you know where the birds will be. Feeders and baths are static locations, which free you up to experiment with recording equipment around the garden. There's a wide variety of products offering live feeds, or regular snapshots, able to be powered by battery or through the mains. Cameras might lack the human touch of composition, but you're bound to get a few interesting shots you might otherwise have missed.

It's even possible to get views that simply can't be found traversing the wilderness. Fairly common bird care practice is to set up boxes and shelters around the garden, offering a place for the animals to sleep, and hatch their young. There are models of bird box out there with accompanying cameras, for a view of the birds' nest you'd usually be cut off from. Again, some take photos or offer a live feed, and being able to see wild eggs hatch in real time is an unparalleled experience.

Follow these tips, and you'll be bird watching from home in no time at all.