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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 [...]

Ten years down the digiscoping road and pretty much everyone (here) has tried taking a photo through a telescope or binocular.  And I am guessing you have too.  Chances are your first photos were crap not good. Oystercatcher digiscoped with Swarovski STM80HD, TLS800 and Canon 7D The vast majority of us have a digital camera [...]

When I think of the birds of the Alps, the first names that come to mind are Alpine Chough, Bearded Vulture, Snowfinch, Alpine Accentor and – of course – the Wallcreeper. When I first moved to Tirol, the Wallcreeper Tichodroma muraria was probably the number one bird I wanted to find – everything I had [...]

As folks who read this blog already know, I am a fan of birds, Queens, and digiscoping.  Yesterday morning I combined the three on my favorite birding walk from my house through Flushing Meadows Park, Kissena Corridor Park, and Kissena Park.  A horde of birds had descended on New York City and environs overnight Thursday [...]

While out and about of late watching wood-warblers, vireos, and other neotropical migrants pausing on their long journey south I have been enjoying watching the different foraging strategies and foods that different species and even individuals of the same species use.  Their migration is long and full of perils and at each stopover point the [...]

This blog post has one purpose and one purpose only; to showcase the amazing array of wood-warblers that made their way to the Forest Park waterhole during spring migration in 2010.  There are a couple of species of which I wish I had gotten better pictures (especially Cape May Warbler), there are a couple species [...]

This past Saturday morning was spent birding at Jamaica Bay with Carrie Laben, and a fine time we had, though, perhaps, my expectations for good birds are a bit high of late.  May 22 is a late day to expect passerines to still be migrating and the gardens were relatively dead, despite our efforts and [...]

Forest Park’s waterhole is known as a great place to see lots of wood-warblers without having to walk for miles or suffer from “warbler neck” because you are looking up into the canopy too much.  At the waterhole the birds come to you; you just have to patiently wait for them and eventually they come [...]

My job, union job that it is, is lousy with holidays.  Our contract is solid enough that we get Good Friday off – even those of us who are atheists!  And seeing as forecasters were unanimous in calling for sunny skies and warm weather I planned, once again, to take what has become my favorite [...]

As I did about a week and a half ago (and described here) I recently took another stroll across a large chunk of Queens, during which I digiscoped the Double-crested Cormorant pictures I already shared.  Rather than bore you, dear 10,000 Birds reader, with a detailed account of the walk I figured I would just [...]

Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus is a much-maligned and persecuted creature.  Like cormorants and shags the world over they are hated by fishermen who blame them for decimating fish populations.  Their rather unkempt appearance at a distance does not make them a favorite of those who like their birds to be aesthetically pleasing and they look [...]

As I described in my recent blog post about my walk across Queens, I was fortunate enough to have a male Ring-necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus cross my path as I made my way through the Kissena Corridor Park.  It was perhaps the most cooperative pheasant ever; though Europeans mostly refer to P. colchicus as Common [...]

For some reason, maybe because of the heroic effort I have made of late to get our new apartment completely unpacked and set up, Daisy agreed to let me out of the house for a few hours Monday morning to take what is perhaps my favorite walk in Queens, which is through Flushing Meadow Park, [...]

With sun all weekend in New York City and temperatures north of fifty degrees Fahrenheit we can all be forgiven for thinking that spring is here early, and here to stay.  Not only was it warm and sunny but the enormous snowbanks from the recent blizzards have dwindled to virtually nothing, saturating the ground and [...]