TOURS THAT CATER FOR BIRDING WITH A CAMERA

Imagine dawn in the Australian bush. You are with a small group on a Tropical Birding BwC tour. Everyone has binoculars, and is carrying a camera; although they range from point-and-shoots to big-lens SLRs. It is still twilight, but the dawn chorus is amazing and your guide is calling out what is around.

The regulars, such as Noisy Friarbird, Pied Butcherbird, and Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike are all singing. But she also hears a distant call of the Painted Honeyeater, so you go after the rare bird immediately and get some great views, plus noisy record shots. A mixed flock moves through, and you see most things and get a couple of good photos of Rufous Whistler and Jacky Winter. The light improves and a Spotted Pardalote calls nearby.

The guide knows that if she works it, all the clients will get fantastic shots of this snappy-looking bird, so the focus changes immediately. She says “Guys, this is a tiny bird, but it will probably come in really close when I ‘pish’. It is most likely to settle on these branches at eye-level so get ready for that, and I suggest you set your depthof-field to be between f5.6 and f8 so you get a good out-of-focus background.”

The bird duly arrives and everyone gets cracking photos. Meanwhile, the guide has noticed a group of Little Lorikeets high in some tall eucalypts, so she puts the spotting scope on them and explains that the backlighting is so terrible it is best to probably just get good looks at these temperamental little parrots, as you might not see them again on tour. “But be quick guys,” she says, “I hear a Crested Shrike-Tit singing nearby and we are going to want to see and photograph that baby”.

Sound appealing? It certainly does to us.