[Please feel free to suggest a better forum if appropriate.]
I'd like to get a reality-check by hearing from folks that travel locally by car (not by airplane/bus/train) to get to their avian photography destinations. If you have more than one location (I assume most people do), feel free to give multiple drive times.
I ask because I've been travelling quite far with a couple recent trips (11 hours round trip & 12 hours round trip on a different trip) and I'm wondering if these are extremes for single day trips or if there are a lot of other folks who are doing this as well. A couple of my more frequent locations are about 3 hours round trip for the first and 7 hours round trip for the second. My two recent trips were pretty taxing to say the least.
If you stay in a hotel, feel free to mention that as well, but please let me know how far you're driving to get there.
You don't say where you live or what you are driving to photograph.
You are traveling a long ways for birds, unless you are going after something pretty exotic.
I live in a major city in the northwest and I ride a bike ten minutes to a local pond in the city to get
Photos of a lot of migrating ducks.
I drive 20 minutes to get to two or three wildlife refuges with deer, coyotes, cranes, all kinds of raptors.
I get hummingbirds and songbirds in my backyard.
I do drive an hour or so to the coast occasionally for Sea birds, shore birds, etc.
Hope this gives you an idea, birds are everywhere it seems to me, some places certainly better than others,
But the Northwest is pretty good, people here live in cold places in the far north and get lots of great photos.
Thanks for your reply. I live about 20 minutes east of Seattle - I guess I should have mentioned that. Also, I'm photographing birds of prey only at this point, although I've photographed many other types of birds in the past.
I've driven down to the Ridgefield NWR many times (about 5 hours round trip), the Nisqually NWR a few times (about 2 hours), the Columbia NWR only once since I couldn't find much there (about 5.5 hours), same with the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge and many other of the NWRs in the state. Most of them aren't very close to where I live and while I've had some success at Ridgefield on the auto route, not so much at the other locations.
I'm looking for some very specific birds of prey at this point, as I've photographed 14 of the 19 that are found within the state on a regular basis (not including owls.) My drive times for my most recent trips represent pursuit of the birds that are only found within a very specific area (for example, the Golden Eagle which is found most commonly in the Okanogan Highlands or in southeastern Washington near the Idaho border; there are other places too.)
Most of my trips are only 3 to 7 hours round trip, and 7 hours is because I drive to the Waterville Plateau in search of Prairie Falcons and Gyrfalcons. I guess the Golden Eagle is considered "exotic"?
I used to visit a local park in the Kirkland area, but there aren't many birds of prey there. I did get an occasional Bald Eagle, but there are better places (Skagit Valley/Rockport/etc.) for those.
Raymond, I see, you are going after distinct species, that could take some doing. The only bird I would consider right now would be the Snowies in Vancouver, I have thought about that seriously. I live in Portland and can get a lot right around here. I go to Ridgefield all the time for Red Tails and Harriers.
I like Nisqually a lot but only stop there when I go to Seattle a couple times a year. A lot of Harriers there.
Bald eagles and Ospreys are really common right in the city because of the river.
There are Goldens at times at Ridgefield but Eastern WA is probably better.
Good luck and post some of your photos here.
By the way, get bird feeders, I feed songbirds in my yard and get Coopers and Sharp Shins every couple of
Weeks in my yard. They are attracted to feed for the food I attract for them!
I live on Long Island, just about in the center on the North Shore. My haunts range from about one hour south and west to an hour and a half south and east and anywere in between. I try to do a couple trips year to other locations on the east coast, have been as far North as Maine for moose and puffins and as far south as Florida for birds.
My routine spot is about 45 minutes from my home, but I have another spot I go to relatively frequently that's about 1.5 hours. I guess the furthest I've driven specifically for bird photography was The Bosque back in November which is a bit under 8 hours from here.
BTW, I'm not sure that bird photographers are the right people to ask for a reality check!
Last edited by Ian Cassell; 12-31-2011 at 10:03 AM.
I mostly photograph the birds in my yard and I have feeders. However I live in a remote area and just to get groceries I have to drive 45 minutes one way! If I have time I take my camera with me when I go into town and see what might be at the local ponds.
It's rare that I drive more than 30 minutes one-way locally, and one of my favorite places is only five minutes away. I do venture a bit further the odd time for "day trips" that may be 2-3 hours away but that is not often. Lucky for me my parents' cottage is only about a 55 minute drive so I do take advantage of that during the summertime.
How far do you travel locally?
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I did get an occasional Bald Eagle, but there are better places (Skagit Valley/Rockport/etc.) for those.
