Shooting Wildlife
at Bullards Beach
State Park
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Tips from an
expert on how to
take wildlife photographs.

Hermit Thrush

Words and Photos by Airlee Owens

The casual visitor to Bullards Beach State Park might drive through the park, go out and visit the Coquille River Lighthouse, and see only one or two birds flitting across the road along the way. To those who go there frequently, and to those that work there, Bullards is teeming with wildlife.

ruby-crowned kinglet
Ruby-throated Kinglet

Racoon
Racoon

If you sit in your vehicle, make little movement, or very slow movements, and just observe, you begin to see a lot of animal activity.

To get great shots of birds, or other wildlife, you have to be prepared to wait patiently for long periods of time, sometimes for hours.

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If you stake out a place where you can sit undisturbed for hours, you will become acutely aware of your surroundings. Even the slightest movement, the glint of the sun on a single strand of a spider web, the shadow of even the smallest bird as it zips by, or the turn of a single blade of grass moved by the gentlest of breezes is obvious.
Chipmunk
Chipmunk
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Oregon Junco
Oregon Junco
Stellar's Jay
Stellar's Jay
Spotted Towhee
Spotted Towhee

In time you learn the individual sounds of birds and other wildlife.

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I use a Nikon D200 digital camera with a Sigma 50–500mm lens, and a beanbag to drape over my window as a rest to steady my shots.
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Oregon Coast January/February 2008
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