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Any day of birding in New York State that includes a sighting of a Vesper Sparrow is a better-then-average day. Between the two breeding bird atlases in the state – one done in the early ’80s and one in the early ’00s – the number of atlas blocks with Vesper Sparrows declined 49%, a decline [...]

Though it was pretty warm for an October morning when I spotted this bird at Fort Tilden, Queens, it was fluffed up as if it was suffering from extreme cold.  Maybe it was trying to be a big tough guy considering the volume of sparrows in the vicinity of where it was foraging?  Somehow, I [...]

Despite regularly hearing their bubbling song emanating from undergrowth and the fact that they are widespread and common I have never managed to get a really good picture of a House Wren.  Whenever one would show itself to me at close range I wouldn’t have my camera or the light would be bad or a stick would [...]

The Tennessee Warbler is a poster child for the boreal forests of Canada and the far northern United States.  Its population actually fluctuates in response to the availability of Spruce Budworm and though it nests on the ground it is entirely inseparable from the forests of the north during breeding season.  As autumn arrives and the days [...]

Just a little ways south of Bangkok is a system of wetlands, mangroves, paddies and salt marshes famous amongst local and international birders not the least because Laem Pak Bia and Pak Thale make up THE area to find wintering Spoonbilled Sandpiper. The thought of which takes me way off topic to think about this [...]

One of the coolest things I did in Thailand (we were just on holiday there), and undoubtedly one of the coolest things I have done since getting in to digiscoping, was to spend a day with Alex Vargas in a bird photography blind in Thailand’s Kaeng Krachan National Park – Kaeng Krachan is part of [...]

Doi Inthanon National Park in northern Thailand is a birding paradise (IMHO). I only got to spend a couple of days there, but the altitudinal range – and corresponding habitat and bird assemblage variation – really touched me. We were visiting Doi Inthanon with Jan and Tu – two of Thailands most extraordinary birders (great [...]

There are tons of interesting birds in this world and so, every now and again, I would like to share something of some of the exceptional people I meet along the way. So, meet Hannes: I first met Johannes early last year and his sponge-like desire for knowledge and a deeper understanding of digiscoping was [...]

Yellow-crowned Night Herons have a presence about them when they are hunting that reminds me of Buddhist monks.  If “The greatest prayer is patience,” as the Buddha is alleged to have said, then the comparison is perhaps apt, as nothing embodies patience more than Nyctanassa violacea.  I spent forty-five minutes in the company of the Yellow-crowned [...]

On the same day that I tracked down and digiscoped Cerulean Warblers at Doodletown Road I had the genius plan of also getting over to Sterling Forest State Park and digiscoping some of the Golden-winged Warblers that breed there.*  Now those who bird in New York State regularly are probably shaking their heads right now [...]

There are many reasons to visit Doodletown Road in Bear Mountain State Park, a jewel of a park in Rockland County, New York.  Perhaps it is the history of Doodletown that interests you?  Maybe you are hoping for an encounter with Crotalus horridus, otherwise known as the Timber Rattlesnake?  Or could the steep uphill climb [...]

Savannah Sparrows have been very kind to me over the last couple of years, whether at Brigantine, Breezy Point, or Lake Perris.  Passerculus sandwichensis just seems willing to be confiding, a trait about which I certainly can’t imagine complaining.  My recent outing with Seth and Mary when we found probable breeding Bobolinks in Queens was [...]

Just like last year when I spent a goodly chunk of a Saturday at the end of May at Jamaica Bay I spent this past Saturday birding one of the premiere birding destinations of the northeastern United States, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.  Though I had hoped for nice variety of passerine migrants I was disappointed by the [...]

Digiscoping is really hard. Isn’t that what everyone keeps saying? That it is almost impossible to get a good quality shot. That it is only really for record shots of something sitting still. Digiscoped with a Swarovski STM80 HD, TLS800 and Nikon D300s. Click images to enlarge Well, the winners of the Digiscoper of the [...]

Lately, I have grown a bit obsessed by Ruddy Ducks, those lovable little stiff-tailed ducks that are nearly ubiquitous on any sizable freshwater body of water in New York City this time of year.  The variety of plumages that they show and the way different individuals molt at different times is interesting to me and [...]

The Redhead is one of the sexier of our ducks, if searches on Google for “sexy redhead” are any indication.  It is a well-named duck, as the male does have a red head.  Of course, other ducks have red heads too but for whatever reason Aythya americana got the name and now has to live [...]

Birding at Viera Wetlands near Titusville, Florida, while speaking at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival in January. My old friend, the osprey, took five to preen atop a snag. I quickly set up my Leica scope and camera to capture a few shots. I was bemused by a photographer with a very long [...]

Look on pretty much any digiscoping website and you will see the same story being told of digiscoping being invented by a Malaysian in the late ’90s. Laurence Po turned out to be an incredibly gifted photographer and ambassador of digiscoping. Instruction manual,  May 1962 A few days ago, one of our assistants (Beate, a [...]

The results of the 2010 Swarovski Digiscoper of the Year have just been released. A whole pile of stunning entries this year really made the judges lives difficult. But that just sounds like a cliche because pretty much every photo competition thing says that. But I found it really incredibly interesting to be behind the [...]

If you really would like to get better digiscoping photos, then here are a few points and some base-line knowledge that will hopefully help you understand what you need to do and why. Brown-headed Parrot (Poicephalus cryptoxanthus) digiscoped with Swarovski STM80HD, UCA adapter, and Canon 1000D A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a 10,000 [...]