Anyone ever use one of these Portable Bird Blinds? I was thinking I could use this to get closer to birds (and also to hide from my family when needed). It seems way cheaper than a new fancy birding lens.

It will help some. For bird photography, there is no substitute for a good telephoto lens. APS-C format, with its conversion factor, is an asset.

You'd be in good company with many pros. In the accounts I've read, the photographer spends many hours sitting in the blind. Sometimes they use an assistant: two people go to the blind and one walks away, on the hypothesis that birds can't count and will be duped into thinking that no one is in the blind. Some of the blinds I've seen pictured have fabric snouts to further camouflage the lens.

NotLight,
If you decide to get a blind, please let us know how you use it and what impact it has had on your photography. I'd be interested to hear about your experiences.

I looked at the doghouse blind at Dicks Sports. A bit too heavy for me to lug around taking pictures. I saw this warbonnet camouflage superfly on the web that looked much nicer. But $140 and not quite the right shape.

So then I found some camouflage 1.1oz camouflage silnylon remnants an the web, so I ordered, and ordered that. I will make my own blind. If I can't get my kids to help me sew something, then I'll just tape it together.