House Finch, Male, (c) Photo by Steve Kaye

House Finch Project | May 2016

The House Finch Project


House Finch, Male, (c) Photo by Steve Kaye, in House Finch Project

House Finch, Male


Welcome to the House Finch Project

This began as a challenge (what to do with a month of cloudy mornings), evolved into a solution (take photos at home), and produced a result (a photo article about the House Finch – See the link below).

The benefits were:

Convenience

I could simply walk outside to take photos for brief periods of clear sky, rather than use that time driving to a park.

Practice

Any photo is better than no photo. Now I could work on technique, striving to capture sharp feather detail.

Challenge

I could experiment with creative ways to take photos of a plain brown bird.

Fascinating

I was able to take photos of: a) Male House Finches with different shades of color, b) Juveniles being fed, and c) Birds showing implied personalities through their pose, posture, and head angle.

Useful

While waiting, I could relax by immersing myself into the serenity of Nature.


House Finch, Female, (c) Photo by Steve Kaye, in House Finch Project

House Finch, Female


There’s an important point here.

We encounter challenges everywhere.

These challenges test our commitment, our creativity, and our passion.

So we need to think our way toward solutions. Because that’s where we make a difference.

Much success,

Steve Kaye

See the results of the House Finch Project:

Meet the House Finch

Here are the results of a similar project:

Seasons with a Black Phoebe

And here are other possibilities near home:

Visit Your Local Park


House Finch, Female Feeding a Juvenile, (c) Photo by Steve Kaye, in The House Finch Project

House Finch, Female Feeding a Juvenile


Did You Know?

The most effective way to help birds is to buy land.

Here are three organizations that excel at doing this.

1) American Bird Conservancy

2) The Nature Conservancy

3) The Trust for Public Land

Please visit their web sites to learn about the work they do.

Here’s an excellent book: The American Bird Conservancy Guide to Bird Conservation


You can help – Please share this blog with others.
Inspiring Respect for Nature, one bird at a time.

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7 Comments
  • Sneed Collard
    Posted at 16:17h, 31 May

    Steve, I’m glad you’ve learned to love House Finches. Maybe it will inspire me to do the same. They really are beautiful birds. I just resent them eating all my bird seed! Sneed

  • Hal Sharp
    Posted at 12:53h, 01 June

    Enjoyed you House Finch project. Thanks for including me in your web site. BTW I just ordered on Ebay
    a Kelda 420-800mm F/8.3-16 Telephoto Manual Zoom Lense foe Sony NEX E-Mount AQ1M for $110 including S&H.- from China which now makes many of the Japanese lenses. At that price it is worth trying. I will try it on my Sony A66 and Sony comcorder NEX 30. Will post the results later.

  • Bob Franz
    Posted at 15:45h, 03 June

    I wasn’t a big fan of House Finches – until now. Thanks.

  • Rose Webster
    Posted at 15:50h, 03 June

    Wow, you manage to capture the most stunning detail of these wonderful birds (and all birds). And it’s obvious you are have incredible patience to wait for the “perfect moment” to snap a photo. Absolutely love your work Steve and thank you for your dedication in helping our feathered friends survive on our planet.

  • Russ
    Posted at 21:07h, 03 June

    I get a ton of different Finches on my backyard seed feeder, along with a handful of Doves that forage beneath it. I don’t have any particular favorites, and like just about all birds, regardless. Their high speed lifestyle is so much fun to watch that it makes the expense and hassle of buying bulk seed worth all the effort.

  • Kathryn
    Posted at 19:11h, 04 June

    Having tried–and failed–last week to capture a couple of small brown birds on my iPhone camera so I could go home and try to identify them, I’m ever more impressed with the patience and skill it takes to get such incredibly clear shots of creatures who flit and move constantly. Your pages are ever a wonder, Steve.

  • Sarah Thomson
    Posted at 11:07h, 25 August

    Hi Steve,

    I’m having a similar experience with birding.. I work from home, and from my couch, where I ususly work these days doing website design, I can see my bird feeders. There are many types that come to the feeder, but the the other day I noticed that the House Finch was the only type that seemed to be curious about what’s going on inside my apartment. That lead me to do a search on their level of intelligence, and this is how I found your blog. 🙂 So fun to get great photos of these creatures from my couch 🙂

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