Eric wrote:

You will struggle to get nuthatches and wrens (and most small birds) close enough without some form of enticement.

I suppose it depends on how prepared you are to sit and wait for serendipity to happen. 

Baiting doesn’t have to be obvious. It also doesn’t have to be for your target bird. Quite often the presence of other birds coming for bait, will spike ‘your’ birds curiosity.

For example…this area of a woodland is baited for small birds. But the nuthatch still brought natural food to the table for its mate.



SONY - ILCE-1 f/11.0 : Speed 1/2500 : ISO 12800 : Lens FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS + 1.4X Teleconverter


Similarly, this Robin posed on an adjacent branch at the same location, with naturally collected food….



SONY - ILCE-1 f/11.0 : Speed 1/2500 : ISO 12800 : Lens FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS + 1.4X Teleconverter


Most of my Wren shots were taken in the garden, where bird feeders attract finches and tits. The wrens ignore that food source but still gain some confidence of having other birds around. 

I do find that pots of plants like pansies (with greenfly and spiders) close to the house will bring Wrens in closer…



NIKON D500 f/8.0 : Speed 1/125 : ISO 4000 : Lens AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR




NIKON D500 f/8.0 : Speed 1/100 : ISO 4000 : Lens AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR

Last edited on Tue Jan 13th, 2026 20:16 by