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Digiscoping: The following photos were taken before Birding Lite was published, using the digiscoping method described in the book – a Canon Powershot A510 digital camera (4X zoom, 3.2 megapixels) coupled with a Nikon spotting scope with a 60 mm lens and a 15-45X eyepiece. With digiscoping, one can occasionally get an excellent photo of a stationary bird at great distance or a close-up view of a nearer bird. But it is very difficult or impossible to shoot a moving bird with that technique. The Cinnamon Teal on the home page was shot this way, and here are a few others:
American Avocet on nest	Anna’s Hummingbird			Black Oystercatcher
Burrowing Owl	California Thrasher			Double-crested Cormorant, turquoise eye
Great Blue Heron “teenagers”	Harlequin Duck			Northern Shoveler
Peregrine Falcon	Ruddy Duck			Snowy Plover
Pocket Camera without Scope: After Birding Lite was published I upgraded my camera to a Nikon S8000 with 10X zoom and 13.5 megapixels. With its larger lens, I could no longer get photos through the scope without “vignetting”, the sensation of looking at birds through a piece of pipe. With this camera alone I cannot pull the birds as close as with digiscoping, but can get them in motion. Since it has this ability to catch birds being birds with a much higher success rate than digiscoping, it’s a good tradeoff for me. Add the capability to take quality video and it’s a slam dunk. (Click here to see a few bird videos) The S 8000 is still a pocket camera, not a professional model with a telephoto lens. Click here to see the amazing bird photography of Ranger Chuck Bancroft of Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. But as a birder first and a photographer as an afterthought, the ease of carrying this camera every time I go birding more than makes up for its inability to take the magazine-quality shots I could get with gear that takes some lugging. And as you might have guessed, it cost a small fraction of its Nikon big brothers. Here some of my favorite shots with this camera:
The great thing about having a boatload of megapixels is that you can crop like crazy and still have a decent picture.
The photo below captured a Peregrine Falcon that was working the Carmel River about 100 yards away from me. It was just a lucky shot, with the camera aimed in the general direction of the flying bird, which appears in the top-right corner.			Here is a cropped and lightened copy of the same photo. It is not exactly crystal-clear, but the lack of definition gives it an impressionistic look. I use it for photo greeting cards, and it’s the background on my computer’s desktop.
Walking by a cove at Point Lobos, I noticed people looking up into the tree over me. An Osprey was perched there, and about the time I got my camera on it, it took flight with this amazing posture. Click on the picture to see amazing video of this ace fisherman, and be surprised at what’s happening with the wings out front.		Birding with a group at Laguna Grande in Monterey, we saw two Western Bluebirds perched on a metal sign, including this chubby character. The photo is cropped, but the aspect ratio was not changed.		White pelicans are infrequently seen in our area, and always a treat. On a sunny day at Elkhorn Slough we saw two of them with the “horn” on the upper part of the bill, only present during breeding season. (See original photo below.)
A Snowy Egret on Carmel River State Beach was doing its best to emulate a bird dog.		Here is one of several Wild Turkeys that happened to be on the grounds of a restaurant/resort in Big Sur when we went there for lunch.		This American Coot with big feet was seen under a footbridge at Laguna Grande (Monterey)
This Western Scrub Jay has been coming to visit us often when we are eating on our deck. Occasionally it will talk to us in its quiet voice, which is much unlike the usual squawk.	It was a surprise to see this Common Murre, a pelagic bird, on the beach. Possibly in distress. You can see some video on the Videos page linked above.				Click on the Great Kiskadee photo below to see the photos from my November 2011 trip to the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival
Uncropped version of the White Pelican photo
One morning from my deck I noticed a lot of activity in a cypress tree at the house two doors down the street. Turns out that it was a Turkey Vulture party! How many can you count?
A new subspecies of Dark-eyed Junco has been discovered at Point Lobos. Almost identical to the Oregon Junco, the California Junco differs only in its hyper-aggressiveness to its own kind. They have been seen on numerous occasions attacking their own images in the side mirrors of cars, as this one is doing on mine. Some people have suggested that the behavior is related to attraction instead of aggression. However, biochemical analysis of the deposits near the mirrors shows the presence of anger hormones. (Believe that, and I’ll sell you the naming rights of the next bird species discovered.)
Videos: My new camera provides much greater capacity for capturing moving subjects and their sounds, and this is a big advantage when the subjects are birds. Whether it is the beautiful song of the California Thrasher or the sharp whistle of the Black Oystercatcher, it is so nice to be able to take it home for later enjoyment. Go to the Videos page to see a variety.