First Snow Offers A New Setting For Photographing Birds

With snow in the forecast, I had Tuesday circled on my calendar as a day to head out with my camera. The potential for snow had me excited as it has been months since I have photographed birds under these conditions. In my opinion, snow provides one of the most beautiful scenes to capture images in. 

Fortunately, the forecast was correct, and squalls overnight Monday and into Tuesday left a thin blanket of snow on the ground and trees presenting a gorgeous backdrop. Having readied my gear the night before, I grabbed my coat and walked out the front door.   

I decided to visit a small park walking distance from where I live. The mixed habitat complete with a creek and small pond is home to a variety of birds, and I had seen a good number of species just a few days prior. Arriving shortly after 9:00 a.m. I was instantly treated to plenty of songbird activity. Goldenrod and aster line the path here and Dark-eyed Juncos and American Goldfinches could be seen feeding on the seeds of these native wildflowers. 

Goldfinches weren’t the only finches present as several House Finches were also observed feeding on the bounty of seeds. Carolina Wrens could be seen and heard as they moved through the underbrush but capturing a picture proved impossible on this day. 

As I carried on further down the path the sky became dark as another squall moved in. Reaching the pond the snow was coming down rather quickly now. I watched as several Mallards were busy preening to protect themselves from the elements. Birds have a gland located at the base of their tails called the uropygial gland or preen gland. This gland contains oil that birds pick up with their beaks and rub on their feathers making them waterproof.  

Three woodpecker species were observed including Red-bellied, Downy, and Hairy. White-breasted and Red-breasted Nuthatches were among other tree-clinging birds present. Large numbers of Red-breasted Nuthatches have moved south this year, known as an irruption, due to a poor cone crop to our north resulting in a lack of food.  

Hearing the soft calls of the Golden-crowned Kinglet I scanned the goldenrod and other vegetation beside the path to see several of these tiny songbirds flitting about. If you ask me kinglets are by far the most challenging bird to photograph as they do not hold still for more than a second. A fast shutter speed is crucial for freezing the action of these birds. With the autofocus system no longer working on my primary lens photographing them was even more challenging and I missed a lot of shots as a result. 

London has long been known as the cardinal capital of Canada and this certainly was evident with roughly a dozen of these beauties seen. Their soft chip, chip, chip calls coming from the dense thickets filled the air.  Fortunately, a few of these birds offered reasonably unobstructed views allowing me to capture a few images. The snow-covered branches were exactly the backdrop I was hoping for when I ventured out. 

When photographing birds and wildlife in the snow be extra cognizant of your exposure. It’s easy to end up with underexposed images based on the fact that all camera meters are programmed that an even exposure is mid-grey. What this means is when you look through your viewfinder and press your shutter halfway to meter the shot, when your meter is at 0 this is mid-grey or halfway between white and black.

The problem is snow is white, not mid-grey something not recognized by your camera. Further pressing the shutter all the way and taking the shot in this situation often results in an underexposed image and the snow appearing grey. In most cases when photographing birds in snow you need to overexpose your images to achieve white snow. That being said, on really sunny days you can end up overexposing your images as the sun reflects off the snow. Be sure to use your histogram and turn on your highlight alert or “blinkies” to ensure proper exposure and always expose for the whites. 

With temperatures expected to return to double digits this week the recent snow will be short-lived. Who knows how long it will be before we see another snowfall so I’m glad I took this opportunity when I did. The birding around the Forest City has been fantastic this fall and regardless of the weather conditions or backdrop, I can’t wait to get back out there again soon with my camera.

Good birding,
Paul 

*Since taking pre-orders for my 2021 calendars earlier this week they are now over 50% sold. If you are wanting to get a copy don’t delay supply is extremely limited.*