Adorable aren’t they?

Colourful dazzling within their feather gown.

Sitting quietly minding their own business.

Apart from photographic challenges, it is fairly easy to point the camera and push the button.

Until another chases them off. And that’s the moment I was waiting for.

All birds reveal their true colours in their wingspan.

Breathtaking visuals and remarkable patterns are especially well seen whilst the birds are in flight.

And only then visualised, if freeze-framed in the act.

One could imagine the challenge I was up against.

I didn’t discriminate against which object flew into my frame. It was all down to timing. And a bit of luck.

Bowerbirds in particular are sky rockets in thin air.

The bouncy spring in their shanks propels them out of the frame before opening their wings.

In split seconds, they are gone. I needed a plan. I needed time and I needed the remote shutter control on my camera. As well as patience. A lot of it.

I devoted a few early mornings, multiple camera batteries and anxious moments to achieve some surprising and outstanding snapshots.

Ever-changing light and shadow factors determined shutter speed. Which then determined ISO.

Which leads to an ever changing focus point. I had to study my objects’ movements over a certain timeframe. Where are they landing?

From which direction are they coming?

Which direction are they likely to fly off?

What is my foreground?

Is my background outstanding?

Is my angle in line with the object?

Which colour setting should I use?

And after all that, the birds were still out of focus.

Or out of the frame.

I tried several favourite locations at different times of the day, depending on sunlight.

Birds prefer to stay in the shadow world rather than being exposed to the sun. They are feeling the heat just as much as we do.

Shiny beacons are more likely to be attracted by predators.

Food and water stations were a magnet to draw the birds into position.

Easier said than done. The birds had their own schedule.

The rosellas preferred the bamboo and feeding platforms of the ground.

Often enough they were chased off by the same or a different kind.

They emerged as miniature rainbows over the spectrum.

They are quite feisty within their kind, but generously give way to others.

The pair of rainbow lorikeets was particularly territorial. Which was a factor that I integrated into my theory.

One burnt tree stump in front of the house turned out to be the go-to location.

The stump itself was charcoaled and intriguing square patterns were clearly visible.

I lured the bowerbirds to the black spot with grapes to capture both, the bird and the patterns.

Monochrome frames were my favorable choice.

This stump had another benefit.

It captured the rising sun as a backdrop in early mornings.

Some chilly mornings over the foggy land looked outstanding by itself. The cloudy backdrop created a grey blanket in the background.

This huge fireball, encircled by misty skies mirrored awe inspiring.

I could not believe what my camera and eyes were catching sight of.

What a wonderful world we live in. And most people don’t notice.

A plate with water and a few pieces of sourdough bread was an evident inducement.

A few kaffafels were captured as to eating rights. Size does matter here.

Often enough, the birds agreed to disagree with Take-away.

Due to velocity, this breakfast plate shifted like the earth’s crust.

Until it came tumbling down.

The front garden proved to be a very popular location much to my liking.

It gave the birds another drinking and feeding option to the busy backyard.

Once the sun was high enough, I changed the camera angle by 180 degrees and placed it on the opposite side. This way I could use the soft early morning rays reflecting off the birds.

Particularly in the moment they spread their wings.

The evenings, after long hours at work, were spent with many hours of sorting through the photos. Some days I had taken 1000’s of picture frames, only to keep a few. It was both, satisfying and frustrating.

In my opinion, some photos are simply outstanding. Or outflying. Some of my favourites you have just seen.

Which one is yours?