When I first got into birding and photography 2 years ago I was pretty bummed that I didn't have a back yard to set up feeders and shoot from. Now, I think I'm better off being in a apartment with a balcony, at least in the winter. I've developed a setup that is now yielding fantastic results and it's super easy to get going. I must state that I only use the setups on overcast days as to avoid harsh shadows and that our patio never gets direct sunlight at any point during the day. If you have the sun directly facing your balcony it may prove difficult to get any good images.
Here's the basic setup
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The perch, which is straight from Algonquin Park BTW ;-), is attached on the rail just off to the right by using picture framing wire. Using a basic perch with one or two branches is ideal, also you want to stock up on perches and change them often so your images don't get stale. Though I rarely use a tripod in the field, I always use one at home and the main reason for that is the slow shutter speeds. Also be aware what the background is behind the perch and where you're going to be shooting from as you have direct control over this. I personally love smooth clean backgrounds for most of my bird images. Here's some examples from the perch.
White-breasted Nuthatch
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House Sparrow
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Chickadee
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Downy
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Now the second set up revolves around the planter box attached to the railing. During the summer my wife and I have have flowers and herbs in them and for winter I leave them filled with dirt. If you lower the camera a bit, you now have a setup that gives the illusion of the birds being on the ground. Here's an recent example, but I mainly use this setup when snow is covering it.
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Here's one from last winter of a Tree Sparrow
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I forgot to mention a tip for placing seed in the dirt/snow, which helps to reduce the amount of seed all over the ground; you just poke a shallow hole in the dirt/snow with your fingertip and fill it with seed......full credit to Authur Morris on that one ;-)
The last setup, though it's hard to call it one, is the balcony railing. As long as you have feeders up you'll have birds around and often I find them on the railing. For bigger birds like Blue Jays and Mourning Doves you can try some portraits when the railing is exposed.
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and when you have snow/ice the possibilities are endless; here's my favourite Pine Siskin image which the little guy was on the railing at the time,
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Wow, I just wanted to post a few images and ended up with a entire post ;-) I don't spend a lot of time photographing this way as I prefer to be outside walking around but it's nice sometimes to be in complete control of the scene and just wait for a bird to do something photogenic. Have a great weekend everyone.
Nathan
