Thanks for the comments Miles and I understand what your are saying. Funny, I didn't think about it until you brought it up, but you are right about the vertical-red drainpipe-ish blur in the background. It's actually a telegraph pole on my neighbour's land. I think attracting birds, as you suggested, is a great idea and one I will try. I do, however, get a kick out of photographing birds as and when they appear. For me the challenge is capturing them in their natural habitat. Needles to say, I get it wrong most of the time. On another note, I was looking at your photo of the blue tits eating from your camera - what a novel and fantastic idea! Thanks again.
Good try, but to me this image just doesn't work. To me it lacks detail and sharpness, the branch covers up the body of the bird, and the background is quite distracting, especially with the drain pipe(?).
I would suggest you try to get much closer to the birds, this is actually quite easy when they get used to being fed in a certain place, and they become quite tolerant, and when you keep your movement to a minimum. I would also suggest that you try to keep the birds from being covered by obstructions such as branches. It can be fun to make a little hide, with some craftily placed perching twigs" for the birds to sit on around a feeding station. Best time to photograph small wild birds is in winter when they are hungry and desperate... and will come much closer and stick around for longer.
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