Bird Watching Hide, New Build – an informal Chat with Jeremy Shimmin

I had the pleasure of visiting Jeremy and his brand new bird watching hide, when I delivered his camera hide plate. Of course I took my camera with me! It would be rude not to take advantage of snapping some of the local wildlife, and asking lots of questions of course…

So when did you decide to build a bird watching hide?

Having a bird hide for photography had been a project in the making for around 2 years, I just needed the right property which had the land. Once we had bought the house in Meolfre, near Oswestry, North Shropshire, it was then a matter of watching the sun, where would be the best position for the hide to maximise the light, both in mornings and evenings.

Once I had a rough idea of placement it was a matter of removing trees that restricted the light. There were lots of overhanging trees that needed to go, so they did!

It’s not a small hide, is it?

The next question was, would I have to build two hides for two shooting angles or one large hide with multiple apertures? Once I had discussed this with the chippy, it was decided one hide would be best, then it was all about size!

How did you decide on the size, because it is huge, easily the biggest hide for photographing birds I have ever been inside.

Over the past few months, any bird watching hides I have been in I would take a tape measure with me and measure the sizes of the openings, the height from the floor, depths of openings etc, any measurement really to ensure my hide would be comfortable but give the optimum view with the land I had available. Then it was the openings themselves, inward or outward, shelf height etc.

The next issue was seating. The hard bench type wasn’t an option if I was going to be spending hours at a time sitting still. Eventually I opted for gaming chairs, for comfort during those long sessions.

Did you build it yourself?

So, once all the measurements had been decided, the drawings made, it was time for the chippy to make a start.

You can see from the images, how it was erected. I went for a forward slanting roof at the last minute.

A lot of bird watching hides have the slant front to back to take the rain away, but that means the low roof is at the back, and the high bit at the front where you are seated, didn’t make much sense to me; I thought if you’re seated, the roof needs to be lowest. A water butt and guttering looks after the runoff water.

I added extra canopies over the openings to prevent and rain dropping on protruding lenses, it works a treat!

So following completion, it was 2 coats of paint on the outside and thick heavy duty stuff on the floor inside. Scrim curtains were added to the outside for concealment and I was good to go!

What about the surrounding area?

Then it was a matter of creating the outside area of the bird hide. I researched all sorts of ideas and used some I have seen first hand. I really wanted something of interest for the wildlife to enjoy, but more importantly to help create the images I was after.

**Aren’t you worried the images will eventually all ‘look the same‘?**

Actually, that was a big concern for me, so the reserve is constantly changing to keep the images fresh. I have an endless supply of mossy branches and twigs lying around that will all be used at some point. I will also move things around so the birds and other wildlife are seen in different positions and locations. This will keep my images fresh. I can recognise some photographer’s images purely from the setting, and I don’t want that to be the case here.

Now for one of the most important questions, what birds are visiting?

There are a wide variety of birds visiting already, including, Nuthatch, Jay, Jackdaw, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Wren, Dunnock, Blackbird, Long Tailed Tit, Pheasant and Great Spotted Woodpecker.

I am hoping in the summer months we will see the return of the Siskin, along with the Spotted Flycatchers.

This question is more for my benefit than anyone else’s, but what do you think of the camera hide plate? I know you were impressed when you sat your camera on it in the office. Has your opinion changed now you have had chance to use it in the hide?

It’s great. It has no problem with the weight, and it is as stable as a rock. I just made a small adjustment with the feet to level it up. It makes shooting so easy. I love it.

Camera Hide Plate